UNDP Jobs - 53236- Area Civil Society Organization Associate

Area Civil Society Organization Associate - (Open to Myanmar Nationals Only)

Location :

Mawlamyine - 2 posts (1 post covering primarily Mon State and Southern Myanmar regional activities; 1 post covering primarily Kayin State and Delta region activities), MYANMAR

Type of Contract :

Service Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

10-Feb-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

SC-7

Duration of Initial Contract :

Up to October 2015 (possible 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

The Government of Myanmar is pursuing an ambitious, multilayered democratic reforms agenda. In parallel, there is a complex peace process, aimed at brokering a settlement between the Myanmar Government and the ethnic armed groups and achieving peace in the country’s ethnic states. Economically, Myanmar was forecasted to grow by about 7% in 2014. However, despite impressive economic progress, Myanmar still records low human development, positioned at 150 out of 187 countries in the Human Development Index (HDI) rankings for 2014. Graduation from LDC status by 2020 has become a key long-term policy objective of the government. Similar to other developing countries, the challenge for Myanmar is to enable growth and to tackle vulnerabilities (regions, the poor, informal workers, small farmers, women, people with disabilities, children etc) and to build resilience (to economic shocks, natural disasters, climate change, conflict and civil unrest) so that its economic progress translates into developmental benefits for all over the long term.

UNDP Myanmar’s Local Governance/Local Development Program seeks to support Myanmar’s reform agenda aimed at improved service provision, people-centered, bottom-up planning, good governance and clean government. Specifically, through this program the capacities of local governance institutions to efficiently deliver services that meet the needs of citizens are strengthened, whilst civil society organizations and media are supported to engage more actively in local development and in building civic awareness. The program also works to promote a sustainable livelihoods approach with local governance institutions and communities for enhanced social cohesion, dialogue and conflict prevention.

The program is made up of for components (or “Outputs”):

Output 01 - Strengthened institutional capacity of local governments and township administrations for area-related development planning, responsive and effective public service delivery, organizational management and conflict prevention;
Output 02– Citizens and communities engaged in local development and monitoring of service delivery (combined civil society and media support);
Output 04 - Strengthened capacity of institutions required to support livelihoods at the local level (microfinance, vocational training, technical extension centers);
Output 05 – Livelihood (LH) support for social cohesion.

With regard to UNDP Output 2’s Civil Society and Media programme, decades of military rule have restrained the role of civil society in promoting accountability. However, the effective participation of Civil Society Organizations (as representatives of the people) and the Media (as one of the organizations concerned with transparent, credible and accurate reporting of local news) is an integral element of sustainable human development and local governance. Within the framework of UNDP’s Local Governance Pillar (Pillar 1), Output 2 concentrates on improving the linkage between communities and Civil Society Organizations and local authorities to improve local governance and service delivery. Output 2 is in essence about developing bottom-up mechanisms where Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), acting as “organized representatives” for groups of citizens and communities at large, are strengthened in their ability to coordinate and network and present issues, and to understand and identify modalities to collaborate with the government officials at the township and village tracts. The program places emphasis on the inclusion of rural, ethnic and disadvantaged populations, and on empowering women’s leadership. It also focuses on developing more informative and responsible local media for these populations to access relevant local information and raise their issues in the public arena.

Grounded in the findings of the Local Governance Mapping exercises, UNDP’s Civil Society and Media programme seeks to address the deficit in the flow of official public information; i.e. from those that generate information, usually government officials at the township level, to those that are the ultimate users/beneficiaries, mostly citizens in the Township Wards and village tracts. It also seeks to address the need for citizens to become more involved and participate in local level decision making. Because capacities of civil society organizations and citizens for engagement with government and advocacy are overall low and there is also a level of mistrust on both sides that hinders further interaction, emphasis is given both to capacity development and to support for identification or establishment of appropriate means to rebuild these relationships whilst simultaneously growing into their roles as individuals and citizens’ groups.

At the program level, an Output Team composed of international and national staff is responsible for leading Output 2 in programmatic terms regarding overall programmatic direction and scope, program definition, partnerships and policy advice, development of work and implementation plans, monitoring and reporting and providing technical and capacity building support to the field teams.

Under the supervision of Program Specialist– Civil Society and Media (Output 2 Lead), the Area CSO Associate will provide support implementation of UNDP strategies related to building the capacity of civil society and media; will contribute to strengthening the UNDP position with government, donors, private sector, CSOs and media; and will facilitate knowledge building and knowledge sharing for increased civil society engagement in local governance and development, monitoring of local government services delivery, and participation in local peace processes.

The Area CSO Associate may be required to supervise and lead a team of experts, international and national consultants if authorized by the management, and to work with local partner CSOs and media organizations. All the activities are implemented in close cooperation with other Management Support and Business Development staff, Programme, local government, Operations and other stakeholders. The Area CSO Associate maintains a network with colleagues from UNDP, UN Agencies, local government officials, private sector, civil society and media organizations.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of key functions:

Implementation of CO strategies related to building the capacity of civil society;
Strong positioning of UNDP in the area;
Facilitated knowledge building and knowledge sharing.

Ensure effective preparation and implementation of strategies and policies related to civil society focusing on achievement of the following results:

Support local governments in the preparation and implementation of strategies and policies related to the engagement of civil society in local development;
Engage in mapping of CSOs and media and in formulation and implementation of capacity building initiatives;
Engage in research and analysis of the local economic, political and social situation in the area and coordinate closely with all relevant national counterparts;
Strengthen capacities of communities to participate in local governance including elections and committee structures;
Strengthen capacities of communities to participate in local peace processes;
Support related pilot activities for dialogue, access to information, and community radio;
Enhance capacity of civil society to coordinate and engage public and private sector in the provision of services and to monitor and evaluate services delivery to inform decision-making;
Strengthen institutional capacity of CSOs to provide community services including civic and legal awareness and advocacy on human rights;
Contribute to activities for civic awareness and empowerment;
Ensure inclusion of gender aspects into intervention design and implementation.

Strongly positions UNDP in the area level focusing on achievement of the following results:

Identification of opportunities for UNDP in its relationship with stakeholders and counterparts;
Provision of inputs to the development and implementation of CO strategy for partnering with civil society groups.

Facilitate knowledge building and knowledge sharing as required by the organization, focusing on the following results:

Identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learned directly linked to resource mobilization and capacity building activities;
Contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice;
Organization of advocacy training for the local civil society groups on resource mobilization issues.

Impact of Results
The key results of the post have an impact on the overall success of UNDP’s pillar 1 program and the UNDP Country Programme.

Competencies

Advocacy

Preparing information for advocacy

Identifies and communicates relevant information for a variety of audiences for advocating civic and legal awareness.

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

Assesses stakeholders‘ performance to identify success factors and incorporates best practices into project work;
Researches linkages across relevant activities to identify critical points of integration;
Monitors specific stages of projects/programme implementation;
Analyzes local situation to identify opportunities for project development;
Participates to provide input in the formulation of project proposals and ensures substantive rigor in the design and application of proven successful approaches.

Facilitates activities implementation with partners

Participates to provide input in the formulation of partner activities and ensures substantive rigor in the design and application and application of proven successful approaches;
Participates in implementation of activities with partners including facilitation, moderator and resource person roles in, e.g., conferences, forums, workshops, focus group discussions, roundtable discussions, dialogues;
Supports financial and operational implementation of project activities, with Area Office Associate and Programme Associate support.

Building Strategic Partnerships: Maintaining a network of contacts

Maintains an established network of contacts for general information sharing and to remain up-to-date on civil society groups‘ issues;
Analyzes and selects materials for strengthening strategic alliances with local civil society groups and stakeholders.

Innovation and Marketing New Approaches: Enhancing processes or products

Generates new ideas and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things;
Documents and analyses innovative strategies/best practices/new approaches.

Resource Mobilization (Field Duty Stations): Providing inputs to resource mobilization strategies

Analyzes information/databases on potential and actual issues;
Develops a database of civil societies’ profiles. Identifies opportunities for project proposals for presentation to donors.

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise: Fundamental knowledge of own discipline

Understands and applies fundamental concepts and principles of a professional discipline or technical specialty relating to the position;
Possesses basic knowledge of organizational policies and procedures relating to the position and applies them consistently in work tasks;
Strives to keep job knowledge up-to-date through self-directed study and other means of learning;
Demonstrates good knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments;
Demonstrates in-depth understanding and knowledge of the current guidelines and project management tools and utilizes these regularly in work assignments.

Client Orientation: Establishing effective client relationships

Researches potential solutions to internal and external client needs and reports back in a timely, succinct and appropriate fashion;
Organizes and prioritizes work schedule to meet client needs and deadlines;
Anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly.

Core Competencies:

Demonstrating/safeguarding ethics and integrity;
Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment;
Self-development, initiative-taking;
Acting as a team player and facilitating team work;
Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively;
Creating synergies through self-control;
Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others;
Informed and transparent decision making.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

Secondary Education, preferably with specialized certification or considerable experience working with Civil Society Organizations at the local levels;
University Degree in Business or Public Administration, Economics, Political or Social Sciences would be desirable, but it is not a requirement;
Training specific to community organization and/or CSO development will be an added advantage.

Experience

7 years of progressively responsible administrative or program experience with strong research and analytical skills is required at the national or international level;
Proven experience in CSO capacity development or in media sector is an added advantage;
Experience required in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc).

Language Requirements

Fluency in English and Myanmar language is required.

Must be a Myanmar National.