National Post: Programme Assistant G

The Position:

The Programme Assistant position is located in the Country Office of UNFPA in Pretoria, and provides support to officers in the programmes unit. S/he is part of the Programmes Unit, which provides programme and technical support within an engagement and solution center approach, fundamental to UNFPA South Africa’s overall strategy. The Programme Assistant is responsible for supporting the activities of the programmes unit including, among other things, programme design and implementation, research, and data analysis.

S/he will work under the overall guidance of the Representative and will be directly supervised by the Assistant Representative.

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young people's potential is fulfilled. The UNFPA Strategic Plan for  serves as a final push to achieve the goals of ICPD by 2030. It aims to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, placing the rights and choices of women, adolescents, and marginalized populations at the center of sustainable development.

The plan focuses on four key, interconnected outcomes: accelerating progress on ending unmet need for family planning, preventing maternal deaths, eliminating gender-based violence and harmful practices, and adapting to demographic change through evidence-based policies.

The transformational journey mapped out in the Strategic Plan leads to 2030 and the achievement of universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights. Emerging trends inform the plan, new and expanded priorities add to longstanding commitments, and “how we work” is changing. To address global challenges and protect past gains, the plan strengthens UNFPA's leadership and operational capacity, particularly in fragile settings.

It emphasizes working with partners through country-led strategies, sustainable financing, and evidence-based advocacy. In South Africa, UNFPA’s work has transitioned from fund management to an engagement and solution center.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.

UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

This position is integral to the programme unit's engagement and solution-centered strategy, providing essential administrative and operational backing for the design and implementation of the country programme. The Programme Assistant contributes to the team's effectiveness by assisting with the preparation of reports, compiling background materials, and maintaining accurate partner and project files in compliance with UNFPA guidelines.

The core purpose of the role is to ensure the smooth functioning of the programmes team through diligent logistical and knowledge management support. This includes organizing workshops and missions, providing research assistance, and managing the procurement and financial reporting for programme activities. Furthermore, the Assistant is responsible for drafting responses to inquiries, preparing presentations, and maintaining information systems to facilitate knowledge sharing and institutional memory, thereby enabling the team to focus on strategic programme delivery.

• Assist in the preparation of programme work plans, budgets, and proposals.
• Perform data entry and updates in the UNFPA Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system especially Quantum and Quantum Plus related to programme activities, including project details, budgets, and expenditures.
• Support the monitoring of programme activities and expenditures against approved work plans and budgets.
• Collect, compile, and analyze programme data and…