Jobs - 53429- Liaison Assistant for Recovery Activities

Liaison Assistant for Recovery Activities - (Open to Filipino Nationals Only)

Location :

Borongan, Eastern Samar, PHILIPPINES

Type of Contract :

Service Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

SC-7

Duration of Initial Contract :

Six Months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Six Months

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

At the 6th Joint ICC meeting on 4 July 2014the GoP announced the end of the Typhoon Yolanda disaster response phase and a full shift to rehabilitation and recovery. Through this declaration, the government phased out the national humanitarian cluster coordination system which it chaired, with the UN Humanitarian Coordinator as co-Chair, in favor of the recovery mechanisms under the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Recovery and Rehabilitation (OPARR), a special office created specifically for Typhoon Haiyan recovery, and regular development-oriented mechanisms at central and local government levels.

In line with the decision of the government, and after assessing the relevance, effectiveness and practicality of international humanitarian coordination arrangements in the current context, the Philippines Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) decided to close the Yolanda Strategic Response Plan (SRP) on 31 August, three months ahead of its originally scheduled end in November 2014. The closure of the SRP simply “accelerated” a transition that had already been well underway. Humanitarian clusters had, since February 2014, drawn up transition plans and were executing these plans, gradually phasing down from Yolanda-affected regions.

Phase-down notwithstanding, there continues to be a demand for “coordination” support. While fully supportive of government-led coordination mechanisms, including the Yolanda Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan (CRRP), international partners have observed that, in some instances, these are not yet fully operational and challenges in coordination, especially inter-sectoral coordination at sub-national levels, are anticipated. For instance, challenges have been encountered in the rehabilitation of settlements and shelter, where effective interventions require close integration with water, sanitation, livelihood, and other related social services, as well as central-local coordination for cross-cutting land use and housing policies. Similar inter-sectoral and context-specific challenges are expected in the rebuilding of livelihoods. Coordination between OPARR, government recovery cluster leads, and the UN and development partners has likewise resumed, and the PARR has requested the UN to continue its coordination role with international partners moving forward, to deliver and integrate work, build capacity and pursue results. Within the UN system, the UN Resident Coordinator (RC) has the coordination mandate in the development arena, and a transition logically occurs from the HCT to the RC system as response moves from relief to recovery and development.

A RC-anchored transition/recovery mechanism will have a 3-fold purpose:

To facilitate the interface of UN agencies and partners with national recovery management structures, with special attention on coordination concerns involved in resettlement, livelihood, shelter, and protection;
To facilitate greater consistency and complementarity of UN-supported recovery interventions, with particular emphasis on capacity development initiatives; and
To provide a forum for the identification of issues which may require collective advocacy through the RC, e.g. issues in the implementation of the CRRP, including the management of remaining humanitarian needs, if any.

The Liaison Assistant will be hosted by UNICEF/UNDP /FAO in Leyte/Easter Samar/Capiz-Iloilo, which will provide logistical and administrative support and day-to-day supervision of activities.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Senior Liaison Officer, the Liaison Assistant will carry out the following tasks:

Liaison and Office Management for the Recovery

Regularly generate/collect, update and maintain information on UN/Partners plans and programs on the field;
Assist in coordinating and facilitating the participation of UN agencies and development partners in local OPARR clusters, addressing cross-cutting and coordination-related issues and other capacity development requirements;
Assist the Senior Liaison Officer and Liaison Officer in supporting provincial/city governments, building capacity for their inter-sectoral coordination responsibility, particularly where humanitarian needs are thought to remain, if any;
Prepare information to the RC on the issues raised by UN agencies and partners in the field, in particular, issues which require national support or follow up, e.g. with the PARR, UNCT, or HCT.

Building of strategic partnerships

Assist in organizing regular meetings and discussions among/between UN agencies and development partners in the field, in order to facilitate information sharing, updating of progress, shared sectoral and inter-sectoral analysis;
Assist Senior Liaison and Liaison officers in networking, building and maintaining strong working relations with the Government, local governments and development partners;

Perform other functions which may be assigned by the RC and/or Senior Liaison Officer and as related to the liaising for recovery and office management.

Competencies

Core competencies:

Ethics and Values;
Working in Teams;
Communicating Information and Ideas;
Self-management and Emotional intelligence;
Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making.

Functional and technical competencies:

Advocacy / Advancing Policy Oriented Agenda;
Results-based Programme Development and Management ;
Building Strategic Partnerships;
Resource Mobilization;
Client Orientation.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

University degree in Management, Social sciences or relevant fields.

Experience:

At least three years relevant experience in development planning, coordination, implementation, monitoring and evaluation at professional level;
Familiarity with and good knowledge of recovery process is strongly desired.;
Previous working experiences with a UN agency an asset;
Proficient in the use of the PCs, including Microsoft Office and Windows XP.

Language requirements:

Fluency in the English and national language, Tagalog.

Note

The selected candidate will receive a salary that is commensurate with his/her background and work experience. Interested applicants are requested submit their application online and complete the UN Personal History Form (P.11), available in our website http://www.ph.undp.org/content/philippines/en/home/operations/jobs/ on or before 4 February 2015. Kindly note that only completed P.11 forms will be reviewed. Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

UNDP is an equal opportunity employer.

Please note that we will contact only the short-listed candidates.