UNDP Jobs - 50809- Re-advertisement - Head of UNDF Secretariat, Darfu

Re-advertisement - Head of UNDF Secretariat, Darfur Development Strategy

Location :

Khartoum with frequent travel to Darfur, SUDAN

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

17-Dec-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

One Year with posibility of extension

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Candidates who previously applied need not re-apply.Candidates who previously applied need not re-apply.

The United Nations Fund for Recovery Reconstruction and Development in Darfur (hereafter referred to as the UN Darfur Fund “UNDF”) is established to support the effective implementation of the Darfur Development Strategy (DSS) in pursuit of the overall objective of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) “to support the transition from humanitarian assistance to recovery and development.”

After a decade of conflict and displacement, the 2011 Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) strengthens the peace process and lays the groundwork for recovery and reconstruction. The Darfur Regional Authority (DRA), Government of Sudan and the international community have agreed on the need to have a coordinated and comprehensive strategy for supporting peace and development in the region. In accordance with the provisions of the DDPD, the Darfur Joint Assessment Mission (DJAM) was conducted in the later part of 2012. Informed by the needs and priorities of communities, identified through comprehensive, consultative workshops in all five Darfur states and the refugee communities in Chad, the Darfur Development Strategy (DDS) evolved. The DDS offers a sequenced, coordinated and holistic plan for equitable, sustainable and participatory development, vital to move Darfur out of a cycle of conflict and poverty, towards a stable and prosperous future.

To this end, the Darfur Development Strategy is supported by 3 interlinked Pillars.

Governance, Justice and Reconciliation Pillar aims to contribute policy support, technical assistance and capacity enhancement to State governments to enable them to more effectively execute their mandate, especially at the local (decentralised) level, and thus oversee recovery of the region and initiate the revival, staffing, equipping and maintenance of basic services, and support to conflict-affected populations through the provision of security, community policing and access to justice, compensation and land settlement;
Reconstruction Pillar is to support the recovery and stabilisation of war-affected populations, whose economic and social life have been severely disrupted;
Economic Recovery Pillar is to contribute positively towards poverty alleviation and transitioning Darfur to development in an equitable and environmentally sustainable manner. This will be achieved by technical and material support to key livelihoods, the promotion of the private sector, especially the creation of employment opportunities and access to financial services, and ensuring the sustainability of productive sectors through appropriate natural resource management.

The establishment of the UNDF responds to Article 32 of the DDPD which stipulates that “since the financial resources and expertise required to undertake such an operation are beyond Sudan's capacity, the Parties request the international community to urgently and fully participate in this initiative and assist in the provision of necessary resources and expertise and partake in meeting the needs set for this purpose through the establishment of a Multi-Donor Trust Fund.”

The UNDF is the UN window of the Facility, as described in the Section IV of the Darfur Development Strategy and is established under the overall leadership of the Darfur Regional Authority and the United Nations Country Team, represented by the UN Resident Coordinator, and with participation of the Government of Sudan (GoS).

All programmes/projects funded by the UNDF will be in support of, and strictly aligned with the priorities of the Government of Sudan and the Darfur regional Authority, as described in the DDS, ensuring full national ownership. The UNDF will complement other support that will be provided to recovery and development in Darfur by Sudan’s partners and bring strategic value in developing capacity and promoting sustainability. The UNDF will enhance coherence, transparency and accountability in the implementation of key components of the DDS.

The UNDF shall be administered by UNDP through its Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office (MPTF Office), as Administrative Agent (AA), on behalf of the participating UN organisations, as agreed with the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the Darfur Regional Authority (DRA) through the Darfur Coordination Board (DCB).

Scope of the UNDF

The UNDF is established to support the efficient implementation of key components of the Darfur Development Strategy. Specifically, it seeks to:

Restore peace, security, and social stability;
Improve government functionality at all levels;
Strengthen the civil administration;
Rehabilitate, reconstruct and construct physical, institutional and social infrastructure in post conflict Darfur; and
Implement a comprehensive structural reform of health and educational institutions, especially Universities, in order to transform Darfur into a developed society in terms of technology, industry agriculture and trade.

The UNDF Steering Committee (SC) is the main governance body that provides oversight of the Fund, establishes the fund allocation criteria under the guidance of the DCB, makes the resource allocation decisions for the programmes/projects based on the technical review by the UNDF Secretariat and the progress of the DDS, as determined by the DCB, with which the Steering Committee coordinates and shares information.

The SC is Co-Chaired by the representative of the DRA and the UN Resident Coordinator; the Steering Committee will include representatives from the GoS, contributing donors, participating UN organisations, and civil society.

The Steering Committee shall meet periodically in Khartoum and/or in Darfur. Reports, recommendations and minutes of its meetings will be shared with the UNDF stakeholders and the DCB.

The SC will be assisted by the Technical Secretariat of the UNDF in overseeing the Fund-level management, monitoring, reporting and evaluation, establishing UNDF requirements and priorities concerning, inter alia; programme/project management, programme/project costing, cost recovery, implementation modalities, results-based reporting, impact assessment and information management, including appropriate UNDF, GoS, DRA, and contributing partners’ visibility.

The Technical Secretariat will support the Steering Committee of the UNDF to ensure systematic progress and results monitoring, as well as monitoring of operational performance. It may also commission independent lessons-learned studies and / or review exercises relating to the operations and management of the UNDF.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the UN Resident Coordinator and the day-to-day management of the PMT Chair, the Head of the UNDF Secretariat will be responsible for the overall effective functioning of the UNDF Secretariat and substantive performance of the Fund.

Summary of key functions:

Ensure effective management of the UNDF and provide technical/policy advice to UN Resident Coordinator and PMT Chair and the UNDF Steering Committee to achieve UNDF objectives;
Develop strategic partnerships with relevant stakeholders, including DRA, governments, UN agencies, donors, international and national NGOs, and other civil society organizations;
Act as Project manager for the UNDF Secretariat support Project and supervise the UNDF Team;
Facilitate ion of knowledge management on different funding channels, including DRA, government, bi-lateral and private support to DDS and provision of strategic direction and effective implementation of the UNDF supporting programmes.

Ensure effective management of the UNDF Secretariat and provide advice to UN Resident Coordinator and the UNDF Steering Committee to achieve UNDF objectives:

Advise the UNDF participating organizations to alignment of their existing projects to the Darfur Development Strategy and the Darfur Doha Peace Document;
Implement formal Calls for Proposals in line with the UNDF TORs and Results Framework and based on the decision of the UNDF Steering Committee including: drafting the guidance note for Call for Proposal provide guidance to participating organizations on submission of the proposals, prepare recommendations and necessary documentations for approval of projects ensuring prioritizations, identify complementarity and avoiding overlaps following the UNDF ToR/results framework;
Organise programme/project vetting process/blind review, by calling upon a participating UN organisation that has been designated an authority on a Priority Objective under which the programme/project proposal is formulated, to review the technical and operational appropriateness of the submitted proposal in light of the respective objective areas of the three DDS Pillars;
Review programmes/projects submissions of participating UN organisations to ensure adherence to the UNDF TOR and any subsequent criteria approved by the Steering Committee;
Ensure that project approvals are properly reviewed and that all required information is contained in approval documents and in accordance with applicable UNDF guidelines for submission, as well as ensure the timely transmission of the UNDF Steering Committee approved projects along with duly completed Project Submission Forms and signed Project Documents to the Administrative Agent to ensure the timely release of approved funds;
Record the UNDF Steering Committee decisions, approvals and allocations and submitting those to the Administrative Agent. Track implementation progress, closure of projects and identifying challenges to be reported to the Steering Committee;
Ensure quality control of the UNDF funded projects by reviewing reports by participating organizations, implement the UNDF M&E plan, monitor fund level indicators and milestone, and advise on requests of financial and substantial project revisions in coordination with the UNDF Steering Committee;
Prepare consolidated quarterly updates and annual reports highlighting key achievements, obstacles and challenges of the UNDF and participating organizations;
Oversee regular conflict and context analysis to guide the UNDF programming/fund allocation in cooperation with different implementing partners and stakeholders;
Commission studies/researches based on the UNDF Steering Committee’s decisions and needs for guiding the UNDF programming/fund allocation;
Guide and oversee the UNDF support to improve and develop M&E capacity of the UNDF participating organizations, and undertake monitoring, reporting and evaluation on Fund level progress on periodic basis, and prepare analytical progress reports relating to agreed UNDF objectives;
Periodically reviewing the TOR and Rules of Procedure of the Steering Committee and recommending changes or revisions as necessary;
Coordinate with the UNDP Fund Management Unit and MPTF Office for timely preparation of quarterly financial reports for UNDF Steering Committee review and meetings.

Develop strategic partnerships with relevant stakeholders, including DRA, government, UN agencies, donors, international and national NGOs, and other civil society organizations:

Facilitate preparation and conduct of the Steering Committee meetings and necessary documentation, including the preparation of agenda and minutes, sharing information on behalf of the Resident Coordinator and PMT Chair, distribution of documents, distribution of programme/project proposals submitted to the Steering Committee for funding decisions, etc.
Develop, in coordination with the Administrative Agent, forms and templates to be used by the participating UN organisations, to submit project proposals and provide result-based reporting to the Steering Committee;
Update the Steering Committee on the conflict and operational context situation in Darfur and UNDF policy/procedural issues;
Develop and maintain partnership with the Darfur Regional Authority;
Development and implementation of the partnerships and resources mobilization strategies to achieve DDS outcomes;
Raise visibility of the UNDF by improving communications with the development partners and marketing strategically about the UNDF and DDS;
Deepen partnerships with other relevant fund management mechanisms in Sudan and the region for experience sharing and lessons learning;
Formalize practical engagement with MPTF Office with a view to institutionalizing the work of UNDF Secretariat and capacity development of the UNDF staff.

Act as manager for the UNDF Secretariat and supervise the UNDF Secretariat Team:

Manage the UNDF Secretariat budget and facilitate budget approvals and revision processes as per UNDF Rules and Procedures;
Prepare work plans, produce timely reports – financial and progress reports – as required by UN Resident Coordinator and the UNDF Steering Committee;
For UNDF Secretariat budget, ensure that UNDP rules and regulations concerning finance, procurement and human resources are adhered to;
Supervise, guide and mentor the UNDF Secretariat staff and short-term consultants to achieve their individual goals, develop their capacities and conduct performance appraisal;
Plan, monitor, coordinate and approve the movements of UNDF Secretariat Staff;
Ensure effective liaison with HR Unit of the Country Office for timely and efficient recruitment of the UNDF Secretariat Staff;
Perform other duties as assigned by UN Resident Coordinator and PMT Chair.

Facilitate knowledge management on aid management and accountability and provision of strategic direction and effective implementation of the UNDF supporting programmes:

Ensure that lessons learned and good practice from the UNDF funded projects are systematically recorded for sharing within and beyond Sudan;
Maintain and promote the profile of the UNDF through Global Net postings, case studies and engagement with related initiatives.

Impact of Results

The key results have an impact on the success of UNDF. In particular, the key results have an impact on the design, operation and programming of activities and creation of strategic partnerships.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
Displays strong cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favouritism.

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning

Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example;
Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development;
Stimulates learning among the UNDF Secretariat team and applies newly acquired skills.

Development and Organizational Effectiveness

Ability to conduct results-based management and reporting;
Solid knowledge in financial resources and human resources management, contract, asset and procurement, information and communication technology, general administration.

Management and Leadership

Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
Leads teams effectively and shows mentoring as well as conflict resolution skills;
Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Political Science, Social sciences or related field.

Experience:

At least 7 years of relevant experience at the national and international level in managing staff and operational systems and establishing inter-agency relationships among international organization and national governments; preferably in post-conflict countries;
Experience in the full cycle of programme/project management (planning, implementing, monitoring and reporting in a results based manner);
Experience with resource mobilization, donor coordination;
Experience in crisis and post-crisis settings;
Experience/understanding of conflict analysis and conflict sensitive approaches;
Experience in the usage of computers, office software packages, and handling of web based management systems.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in spoken and written English;
A good command of Arabic, or local languages is an asset.