Information Management Specialist (Humanitarian Action)

UN Women, a leading advocate for gender equality and women’s empowerment, actively seeks a highly skilled and experienced Information Management Specialist to drive Gender in Humanitarian Information Management. This critical role, furthermore, will significantly bolster its humanitarian response in the State of Palestine. This urgent consultancy, therefore, directly addresses the unprecedented humanitarian crisis, particularly following the escalation of hostilities since October 7, 2023.

As an Information Management Specialist, you’ll play a pivotal role. Specifically, you’ll highlight the gendered impact of the crisis, inform and enhance humanitarian interventions, and strengthen coordination efforts among humanitarian actors. This home-based consultancy, moreover, offers a unique opportunity to contribute to life-saving assistance, strengthen accountability, and empower Palestinian women to shape critical decision-making.

Background to the Crisis and the Need for Gender Information Management

The Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) currently faces a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. The protracted Israeli occupation, coupled with 16 years of the Gaza blockade and recurrent hostilities, severely impacts the lives of millions. Consequently, since October 7, 2023, the situation has dramatically worsened. This context underscores the critical need for effective humanitarian information management.

Devastation in Gaza: Demanding Gendered Data

In Gaza, the humanitarian crisis has indeed reached unprecedented levels. As of May 14, 2025, over 52,862 Palestinians have been killed, including 8,304 women, and more than 119,648 injured. Furthermore, a staggering 90% of the population faces forced internal displacement, often multiple times. A deeply concerning 470,000 people now face catastrophic (Phase 5) levels of acute food insecurity. Moreover, Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid since March 2, 2025, exacerbates this critical food and medical crisis. This pervasive lack of access, therefore, significantly intensifies suffering across the Strip, making accurate gender data for humanitarian planning more crucial than ever.

Escalation in West Bank: The Role of Humanitarian Information Management

Violence has also continued to spread beyond Gaza. In the West Bank, Israeli forces or settlers have killed an unprecedented 970 Palestinians (including 21 women) and injured 8,578. Additionally, demolitions of public infrastructure and housing continue, significantly impacting livelihoods. Revocation of Israeli work permits and other movement restrictions, likewise, further worsen the economic situation for Palestinians in the West Bank. Consequently, widespread economic hardship prevails throughout the territory, necessitating robust humanitarian information management in this context as well.

Psychological Toll & UN Women’s Strategic Response in Humanitarian Information Management

Beyond the severity of everyday needs, the immense psychological toll of the crisis on the population across the OPT is devastating. Therefore, UN Women Palestine’s crisis response framework focuses on three pillars: first, providing life-saving assistance to women and girls (including through supporting women’s organizations); second, strengthening accountability towards gender commitments in humanitarian response coordination and implementation; and third, supporting Palestinian women to meaningfully influence political decision-making at all levels. These fundamental pillars, evidently, guide all of UN Women’s actions in the region, with gender in humanitarian information management serving as a foundational element.

Key Responsibilities: Driving Gender-Responsive Humanitarian Action

Reporting directly to the Head of the Gaza sub-office and working closely with the Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group (GiHA WG) co-chair, your responsibilities will actively support these pillars. This role significantly contributes to advancing Gender in Humanitarian Information Management.

1. Integrating Gender into Humanitarian Data Collection & Analysis

You will play a crucial role in ensuring that data collection and analysis efforts in the humanitarian context are gender-sensitive and effective, directly impacting Gender in Humanitarian Information Management.

• Leading Gender-Sensitive Data Production: You’ll lead the production of gender/sex and age disaggregated data (SADD) in Palestine. This critical process involves both primary and secondary data collection. It furthermore ensures the systematic application of new UN Women data collection tools in emergencies, always in close collaboration with the data and results team. This effort directly contributes to strengthening gender information management.
• Advising on Gender Integration in Assessments: You’ll advise on gender integration in inter-agency assessments, analysis, and methodologies planning. This, consequently, ensures that data collection efforts are gender-responsive and effectively capture the gendered impacts of the war. Such integration is, therefore, paramount for designing truly relevant humanitarian interventions based on sound gender data.

2. Enhancing Information Management for Accountability in Humanitarian Settings

This role involves strengthening information management systems to promote accountability to affected populations within humanitarian operations, a core facet of humanitarian information management.

• Supporting Community Feedback Mechanisms: You’ll support the information management of the new interagency community feedback mechanism. This includes producing and disseminating accurate information and data on trends, needs, and priorities of affected people. This robust process is vital for ensuring accountability to the affected population through effective information management.
• Contributing to Information Management Bodies: You’ll actively participate in and contribute inputs to humanitarian data and information management bodies, such as the Information Management Working Group and the Assessments and Analysis Working Group. Your input will, therefore, directly shape broader humanitarian information management strategies.

3. Mainstreaming Gender Across Sectoral Assessments for Comprehensive Data

You will be responsible for ensuring that gender considerations are systematically integrated into various humanitarian sectors, a key aspect of effective Gender in Humanitarian Information Management.

• Coordinating Gender Mainstreaming Efforts: You’ll coordinate specific efforts to mainstream gender in sectoral assessments. This crucial task covers vital areas including WASH, Education, SGBV, Child Protection (CP), Health, Nutrition, Shelter, Food Security, and Multi-Sectoral Needs Assessments (MSNAs). Consequently, gender considerations will be thoroughly integrated across various sectors, thereby improving response efficacy through targeted gender data collection.

4.Fostering Regional Collaboration and Capacity Building for Gender Data

Your work will also extend to regional efforts and building local capacities in gender information management.

• Developing Regional Dashboards: You’ll work closely with the Regional Data and Results team. Furthermore, you’ll contribute to the development and promotion of a regional gender in emergencies dashboard, namely “GenForm.” This, undoubtedly, enhances regional gender data sharing and analysis capabilities significantly.
• Building Partner Capacities: You’ll build capacities for Women’s Local Organizations (WLOs) and Women’s Rights Organizations (WROs) in data collection and gender analysis. This is crucial for strengthening local response capabilities and, equally important, ensuring sustainable impact in humanitarian information management.

5.Improving Gender Data Accessibility and Visualization for Impact

A key part of your role involves making gender data understandable and actionable for various stakeholders in the humanitarian context. This is central to effective Gender in Humanitarian Information Management.

• Developing Robust Data Systems: You’ll develop data collection and analysis systems in coordination with inter-cluster information management efforts. Additionally, you’ll devise strategies that optimize statistical efficiency and quality in humanitarian affected areas. This aims for maximum data utility and, consequently, informs better programming, particularly for gender information.
• Producing Timely Gender Alerts: You’ll conduct data collection and analysis, supporting UN Women and GiHA WG in producing Gender Alert infographics as needed. This ensures timely dissemination of critical gender data to all stakeholders.
• Providing Technical Support for Gender Mainstreaming: You’ll provide technical support to inter-agency coordination groups to ensure gender mainstreaming in assessments, as well as in data presentation and utilization. This facilitates consistent application of a gender lens across all humanitarian information management outputs.
• Briefing Leadership Effectively: You’ll provide key gender data to UN Women leadership and GiHA WG co-chairs. This enables them to adequately brief the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT), Inter-Cluster Coordination Group (ICCG), and other coordination mechanisms on the gender dynamics in the current crisis. This directly informs high-level decision-making processes, as a result.
• Developing Visualization Strategies: You’ll support the development of comprehensive visualization and data dissemination strategies for GiHA WG (e.g., maps, dashboards, infographics). These tools, ultimately, enhance understanding, facilitate advocacy, and communicate needs effectively through compelling gender information management.

6. Supporting Joint Planning and Learning in Humanitarian Settings

You will contribute to broader inter-agency planning and the cultivation of best practices in humanitarian information management.

• Participating in Joint Exercises: You’ll participate in and provide support to joint inter-agency UN planning processes and similar exercises. This ensures integrated and coordinated humanitarian efforts, enhancing overall effectiveness.
• Identifying and Disseminating Lessons Learned: You’ll identify and disseminate lessons learned and good practices in collaboration with the Country and Regional offices and the humanitarian team of UN Women. This fosters continuous improvement and knowledge sharing within the humanitarian community, therefore.

7. Providing Information Management Support for UN Women’s Programs

This involves direct IM support to UN Women’s programmatic activities in Palestine, crucial for effective gender in humanitarian information management.

• Collating Partner Reach Data: Working closely with M&E colleagues, you’ll collate reach data from UN Women partners. You’ll then share aggregated results through the design of snapshots and reports, offering a clear overview of programmatic impact and reach. This is essential for humanitarian information management.
• Providing Technical and Capacity Building Support to Partners: You’ll provide technical and capacity-building support to UN Women partners on humanitarian analysis, SADD, data collection, and M&E. This strengthens their own capacities for evidence-based programming and reporting, thus empowering them further in gender information management.
• Supporting Report Preparation: You’ll support the preparation of technical reports, data snapshots, and provide inputs for documentation, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and relevancy of information and results. Your meticulous attention to detail will be key here for robust humanitarian data.
• Developing Primary Data Visualizations: You’ll develop visualization, collection, and quality assurance of primary data and information elements (e.g., maps, dashboards, infographics, and financial/resource analysis). This ensures data is presented clearly and effectively for all audiences.

The incumbent, furthermore, performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Qualifications for a Specialist in Humanitarian Information Management

Education and Certifications relevant to Information Management

• A Master’s degree or equivalent in gender, international relations, international development, or other social science fields is required.
• Alternatively, a first-level university degree combined with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A project/programme management certification would be an added advantage, naturally, especially for roles involving humanitarian information management.

Experience in Gender-Focused Humanitarian Information

• At least 5 years’ experience in humanitarian information management, including M&E, results-based management, and humanitarian action.
• Experience working on cross-cutting issues including gender, and/or protection, and/or accountability to affected populations (AAP) is required. This aligns directly with gender in humanitarian information management.
• Experience working in humanitarian response and on humanitarian coordination, including experience with the cluster system, is strongly desirable.
• Experience working with diverse stakeholder groups or multi-stakeholder partnerships is highly desirable.
• Experience working with the UN and/or NGOs is desirable.
• Experience working in the Arab region is desirable, moreover.

Languages

• Fluency in English is required.
• Working knowledge of Arabic is desirable.

Core Competencies for Information Management Roles

Foundational Values

• Core Values: Integrity; Professionalism; Respect for Diversity.

Key Competencies

• Core Competencies: Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues; Accountability; Creative Problem Solving; Effective Communication; Inclusive Collaboration; Stakeholder Engagement; Leading by Example. (Visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework.)

Functional Expertise for Information Management

• Functional Competencies:
  • Excellent information management, analytical and research skills.
  • Demonstrated ability to analyze data and develop data collection tools and databases, as evidenced by previous work experience and/or outputs (e.g., dashboards, assessment tools, or database systems). This is key for gender information management.
  • Strong understanding of and commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment and its policy implications.
  • Excellent writing and organizational skills.
  • Excellent knowledge and experience of gender-related humanitarian issues in the country.
  • Strong knowledge and use of computer office tools and statistical software.
  • Demonstrated ability to work in a team and in a cooperative and productive fashion both with internal and external colleagues.
  • Excellent interpersonal and networking skills, and ability to work in multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary environments.
  • Ability to work under pressure on multiple projects whilst maintaining high-quality and timeliness.
  • Self-management.
  • Continuous awareness of political and gender sensitivity, particularly for gender in humanitarian information management.

Diversity and Inclusion at UN Women

At UN Women, we actively commit to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment decisions base themselves on qualifications, competence, integrity, and organizational need.

If you require any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women upholds a zero-tolerance policy on conduct incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women. This includes sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination. All selected candidates will adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel. Therefore, they will undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may need to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. Applications that do not meet this requirement may face disqualification from the recruitment and selection process.

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