Background

The UN Joint Programme on Local Governance and Decentralized Service Delivery in Somalia (UN JPLG) is a five year joint programme comprising of ILO, UNCDF, UNDP, UN-HABITAT and UNICEF. 

JPLG’s goal is that ‘Local governance contributes to peace and equitable service delivery in Somalia‘. The Joint Programme has two specific objectives which are:

• Communities have equitable access to basic services through local government;
• Local governments are accountable and transparent.

JPLG commenced in April 2008 and has now entered in its second phase (2013-2017) and it expanded programmatically and geographically with average annual work-plans budgets of USD 25-32M/year. JPLG works with the Federal Government of Somalia, the Governments of Puntland and Somaliland, local governments, communities and non-state actors. The M&E Specialist position will be located within the JPLG Programme Management Unit (PMU) which is responsible for the overall coordination and management of the Joint Programme. The PMU Unit is headed by the Senior Joint-Programme Manager to whom the M&E Specialist will report.

For additional information please visit: www.jplg.org.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead, support and advice on all M&E activities: Help JPLG manage, monitor and report its activities in Somalia;
• Research and analysis: Consolidate high quality M&E data and analysis on local governance, risks and conflict sensitivity;
• Report progress and challenges: Track and prepare reports on JPLG’s impacts, results, progress and challenges on a timely basis;
• Capacity development: Strengthen M&E capacity of Somali counterparts;
• Local Planning and Monitoring: Support districts improve planning and M&E;
• Knowledge management: Develop and implement JPLG knowledge management tools.

Lead, support and advice on all M&E activities: Help JPLG manage, monitor and report its activities in Somalia, including:

• Oversee, manage and develop the Joint Programme’s Monitoring and Evaluation system, including development and implementation of M&E annual plans to track progress, results and impacts at local, regional and central levels
• Regular review and monitoring of progress against programme log frame. Provide updates on progress, concerns, divergence and recommend corrective actions or measures to the Programme Management;
• Develop procedures and processes to gather, measure, and objectively verify delivery/progress of results against indicators including definition of information/data requirements, sources, data collection and analysis
• Develop information and database management systems for use by JPLG and its counterparts – LG and MOI
• Develop, monitor and report progress and challenges in the implementation of the JPLG Annual Work-plans and Budget (including development and application of M&E and RBM tools);
• Support the UN JPLG Senior Programme Manager and the Technical Working Group in the preparation of the Annual Work-plans and budgets (including developing the results-chain, defining results, indicators and means of verification, etc.)'
• Provide quality data and timely information to the SPM, TWG and the JPLG local teams to improve planning, implementation and M&E of the Joint Programme;
• Backstop, coach and supervise the PMU M&E officers to ensure proper reporting and data collection (including trainings);
• Develop Terms of Reference, provide coordination support to evaluation and audit missions, ensure relevance, quality of results and implementation of recommendations;
• Liaise with UN Agencies, donors and other institutional partners to ensure that JPLG M&E data/results are shared and mainstreamed in other M&E and Aid effectiveness programmes and systems;
• Collect all documents of relevance to the Joint programme, including reports from the Joint Programme, minutes from meetings and internal committee decisions. Facilitate a proper filing system to ensure quick and easy retrieval of all reports and support documents. Conduct regular field trips to monitor the progress of JPLG’s work in regions and districts and strengthen the M&E capacity of local and central counterparts;
• Provide substantive support to all activities carried out by Somali government staff on the Management Information System.

Research and analysis: Consolidate high quality M&E data and analysis on local governance, risks and conflict sensitivity, including:

• Conduct regular assessments and produce quarterly notes, success stories and/or fact sheets analyzing local governance and capacity development trends;
• Assess and provide bi-annual analysis of value for money and effectiveness of the Joint programme;
• Develop and maintain the Joint Programme’s MIS on-line system, warrant accuracy of data and promote the system for public transparency and accountability;
• Develop the risk management matrix, monitoring procedures, triggers and mitigation measures;
• Monitor and report risks, conduct regular conflict analysis and update the JPLG risk and conflict analysis matrix on a bi-annual basis;
• Support the development, monitoring and implementation of an assessment tool to measure local governance at the district level (i.e.: accountability, transparency, access to equitable services, and capacity of local authorities).

Report progress and challenges: Track and prepare reports on JPLG’s impacts, results, progress and challenges on a timely basis, including:

• Consolidate Agencies’ inputs, prepare PMU inputs and draft quarterly and annual progress reports;
• Review report formats and suggest improvements for RBM;
• Provide support in conducting annual assessments to measure JPLG’s results, outcomes and impacts against the JPLG Annual work-plan and the 5 year Log-frame;
• Support the PMU in all other tasks related to monitoring and reporting results.

Capacity development: Strengthen M&E capacity of Somali counterparts, including:

• Conduct regular field trips to monitor the progress of JPLG’s work in regions and districts and strengthen the M&E capacity of local and central counterparts;
• Provide support to all activities carried out by Somali government staff on the Management Information System.

Local Planning and Monitoring: Support districts improve planning and M&E, including:

• Support and provide data and analysis for the development and/or review of DDFs and Districts Annual work-plans and help the JPLG local team ensure the districts plans integrate sector inputs, economic data and other relevant information and central priorities;
• Support Somali counterparts, JPLG local team and Agencies’ implementing partners;
• Plan and assist with the delivery of PEM trainings and assess progress and capacity development gains at institutional and individual levels;
• Develop M&E tools to help local authorities and non-state actors monitor and report progress and challenges in the implementation of District Annual Work plans.

Knowledge management: Develop and implement JPLG knowledge management tools, including:

• Manage the JPLG website, review and recommend improvements to the website, manage content ensuring regular updates;
• Ensure timely sharing of reports and other documentary outputs with key stakeholders including donors, national and local government stakeholders.

The UN JPLG M&E Specialist will enhance the JPLG M&E framework and the quality of M&E analysis and reports. This shall in turn contribute to improve the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the Joint Programme and support the strengthening of local governance and decentralized service delivery in Somalia. 

Competencies

Advocacy/Advancing A Policy-Oriented Agenda
Analysis and creation of messages and strategies

• Uses the opportunity to bring forward and disseminate materials for advocacy work

Results-Based Programme Development and Management
Contributes into results through primary research and analysis

• Assesses project performance to identify success factors and incorporates best practices into project work;
• Researches linkages across programme activities to identify critical points of integration;
• Monitors specific stages of projects/programme implementation;
  
• Building Strategic Partnerships;
  
• Level 2: Identifying and building partnerships;
• Identifies needs and interventions for capacity building of counterparts, clients and potential partners;
• Displays initiative, sets challenging outputs for him/herself and willingly accepts new work assignment.

Innovation and Marketing New Approaches
Developing new approaches

• Identifies new approaches and promotes their use in other situations;
• Documents successes and uses them to project a positive image;
• Creates an environment that fosters innovation and innovative thinking;
• Makes the case for innovative ideas from the team with own supervisor.

Resource Mobilization
Implementing resource mobilization strategies

• Identifies and compiles lessons learned;
• Promotes and encourages country office action with local missions of donor countries as well as appropriate government authorities for increased contribution to UNDP resources, including cost sharing modalities.

Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing
Developing tools and mechanisms

• Makes the case for innovative ideas documenting successes and building them into the design of new approaches
• Identifies new approaches and strategies that promote the use of tools and mechanisms

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise
In-depth knowledge of the subject-matter

• Understands more advanced aspects of primary area of specialization as well as the fundamental concepts of related disciplines;
• Keeps abreast of new developments in area of professional discipline and job knowledge and seeks to develop him/herself professionally;
• Demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments;
• Demonstrates comprehensive understanding and knowledge of the current guidelines and project management tools and utilizes these regularly in work assignment.
  

Global Leadership and Advocacy for UNDP’s Goals
Analysis and creation of messages and strategies

• Uses the opportunity to bring forward and disseminate materials for global advocacy work and adapts it for use at country level. 
  

• Anticipates client needs;
• Works towards creating an enabling environment for a smooth relationship between the clients and service provider;
• Demonstrates understanding of client’s perspective.

• Promoting ethics and integrity, creating organizational precedents;
• Building support and political acumen;
• Building staff competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation;
• Building and promoting effective teams;
• Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication;
• Creating an emotionally intelligent organization;
• Leveraging conflict in the interests of UNDP & setting standards;
• Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning. Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member;
• Fair and transparent decision making; calculated risk-taking;
• Prince 2 training and certification.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:          

• Master’s Degree or equivalent in Social Sciences, International Development, International Relations or related field.

Experience:      

• 7 years professional progressive work experience in monitoring and evaluation, project management, social research, etc.;
• Proven experience in conducting M&E, analyzing data and preparing high quality reports and evidence-based notes
• Field experience is required, preferably in conflict / post conflict environments;
• Strong knowledge of monitoring and evaluation tools is required, in particular results based management and impact evaluations;
• Substantive knowledge of development issues and local governance and/or decentralization;
• Experience in the development and implementation of quantitative and qualitative methodologies would be considered an asset;
• Experience in developing and facilitating participatory, competency based trainings would be considered an asset;
• Experience in usage of computers and office software packages, experience in handling web based management systems.

Language Requirements:            

• Strong written and spoken English skills.