Country Representative, Port Sudan, SUDAN P5 FTA
- Organisation: UN Women
- Location: Port Sudan, Sudan
- Deadline: 1 December 2026
Background:
UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.
Summary of Country Profile
The armed conflict in Sudan, now in its fourth year, has resulted in the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with an estimated 33.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, and more than 8.6 million internally displaced across all 18 states, amid acute food insecurity, near-collapse of basic services and repeated attacks on civilians, particularly in Darfur and Kordofan. Women and girls bear a disproportionate burden and impact of the conflict. Sexual violence has been used systematically as a weapon of war, and the number of women and girls needing gender-based violence (GBV) services has quadrupled since the conflict began.
Women-led organizations (WLOs) are at the forefront of the humanitarian response and local peacebuilding, often reaching communities that others actors cannot access. In 2025, 85 WLOs surveyed by UN Women reported supporting more than 17.5 million people, underscoring their critical role in delivering assistance, strengthening community resilience and advancing locally led peacebuilding. Yet, despite their contribution, WLOs continue to face significant funding and capacity constraints, with limited access to humanitarian financing and continued exclusion from formal peace processes.
Against this backdrop, aligned to the UN Women Strategic Plan, relevant regional and country planning frameworks, and the Sudan UN Interim Cooperation Framework, the UN Women Sudan Country Office implements programmes across the country. Guided by the UN Women Sudan Strategic Note 2026–2028, the country office prioritizes women’s leadership and meaningful participation in peace processes and mediation; gender in humanitarian action (GiHA) and coordination; prevention of and response to GBV and conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV); women’s economic empowerment and resilient livelihoods for displaced and host-community women; and strengthening and resourcing women led organizations, including through the Women, Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF).UN Women Sudan plays a strategic role in advancing the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, strengthening gender-responsive humanitarian action, and ensuring that women's leadership, priorities and rights are integrated into peacebuilding, recovery and development processes. The Country Office works through national institutions, women-led organizations, civil society networks and UN system coordination mechanisms to strengthen local leadership, accountability and sustainable results in an exceptionally complex operating environment.
Under the overall supervision of UN Women Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, the Country Representative is responsible for providing strategic direction to advancing gender equality and women's empowerment across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus in Sudan. The Country Representative positions UN Women strategically within the UNCT, HCT and broader international engagement on Sudan, while strengthening partnerships with national and local actors, regional institutions and international partners.
As a UNCT member, the Country Representative has mutual accountability with the Resident Coordinator for periodically reporting on contributions to, and support for the implementation of the United Nations Interim Cooperation Framework (UNICF), including substantive contribution to the Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) and the UNCT-SWAP Gender Equality Scorecard, among other planning and gender accountability frameworks.
The Country Representative is responsible for leading and managing the Sudan Country Office (CO) portfolio and for translating the UN Women's Strategic Plan (SP) into humanitarian, peacebuilding and development initiatives and results by developing, implementing and managing programmes and projects under the Sudan CO; and developing effective partnerships with Government counterparts, UN system agencies and organizations, civil society and women led organizations, and with bilateral and non-traditional donors in order to promote inter-agency partnerships, support for UN reform, and mobilization of visibility and resources to advance gender equality and women's empowerment.
Key Functions and Accountabilities:
1.Manage the strategic country programme planning and development:
• Develop and implement the strategic direction of UN Women in Sudan, adapting it to the evolving conflict, humanitarian and political context;
• Lead the design, planning and development of the Country Strategic Note in close consultation and collaboration with the government, civil society, donors, UN system partners and the Regional Director, Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator in the country and other national development stakeholders and partners, taking into account national priorities, and the Country Analysis and UNICF, the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), among others.
• Provide substantive advice to the UN Women Executive Director, Regional Director and Senior Management on the country strategy, direction, planning and implementation of programmes and projects in the country;
• Manage and ensure high quality, results and rights-based programming for the CO;
• Lead the monitoring and reporting of the results under the Country Office Strategic Note;
• Define and assert accountability for UN Women’s results and its ability to operate as a nimble, innovative and enterprising thought leader, programme and business partner capable of taking and managing risks;
• Ensure strategic integration of humanitarian, development, peacebuilding and recovery programming, applying the humanitarian-development-peace nexus and promoting coherent, conflict-sensitive and gender-responsive interventions;
• Ensure that the Country Office's programme portfolio is evidence-based, results-oriented, responsive to changing needs and supported by robust monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning mechanisms;
• Provide strategic oversight of programme performance, expenditure, delivery and achievement of results, ensuring timely corrective action where implementation, financial or operational challenges arise.
2. Lead Enterprise Risk Management and Organizational Resilience:
• Establish and maintain the CO's risk management framework in alignment with UN Women's Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) policy and institutional risk appetite;
• Lead regular risk assessments covering programmatic, operational, financial, reputational, fraud, safeguarding, and security risks; ensure risks are identified, assessed, monitored and mitigated;
• Chair or designate the Country Office Risk Focal Point; ensure risk register is regularly updated and escalated to Regional Office as appropriate;
• Integrate risk considerations into strategic planning, programme design, partner due diligence, and resource allocation decisions;
• Ensure implementation of internal control frameworks and compliance with UN Women's policies on fraud prevention, anti-corruption, and protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA);
• Oversee business continuity planning and organizational resilience measures to ensure programme continuity during crises or disruptions
• Monitor external risk factors (political, economic, social, environmental) that may impact programme delivery and organizational operations; develop mitigation strategies;
• Ensure adequate risk transfer mechanisms (insurance, contractual protections) are in place for major programmes and partnerships;
• Promote an organizational culture of transparency, accountability, ethical conduct and proactive risk management.
3. Manage the Sudan Country Office;
• Lead the office in the delivery of operational goals; annual work plan and budget; and oversee the implementation, providing direction, guidance and technical support;
• Review and manage high-risk transactions, partnerships, and programmatic decisions;
• Oversee and approve programme work plans and monitor the overall progress and compliance of the CO;
• Manage the preparation of UN Women mandated country reports;
• Manage audit review processes including timely response to audit reports; oversee implementation of audit recommendations and corrective action plans; ensure systematic tracking and closure of audit findings; proactively address recurring or systemic control weaknesses;
• Provide managerial direction, guidance and leadership. Ensure effective workforce planning and timely recruitment; manage the performance of personnel under their supervision; provide ongoing performance and career development feedback, timely completion of performance assessments and coaching;
• Ensure that personnel are familiar with and follow UN Women’s regulations and rules, policies and procedures in the Policy, Procedures and Guidance Framework (PPG); Ensure personnel are aware in particular or of UN Women’s standards of conduct including but not limited to policies and procedures on preventing, reporting and addressing misconduct, Fraud and Corruption, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) Harassment, Sexual Harassment, Discrimination and abuse of authority, Protection from retaliation, and ensure mechanisms are in place to support personnel in this regard;
• Promote teamwork to ensure harmonization, linkages, collaboration and synergy; Ensure a respectful, inclusive safe and healthy work environment for personnel;
• Ensure effective financial stewardship of the Country Office portfolio, including budget management, expenditure monitoring, delivery performance, financial forecasting and appropriate resource allocation in line with institutional policies and donor agreements;