Background

Like in many developing countries, Eritrea faces the challenge of youth unemployment, and it is one of the push factors for youth migration. While recent developments in the country indicate increasing investments in the mining sector and over the medium-term, the Government sees further prospects in improved trade with the Middle-East and Asia countries, additional mining activities, food sector and tourism, the number of jobs being created, especially by the mining sector is far limited to meet the growing unemployment rate. In addition, the economy faces many structural and transformational challenges, and its capacity to generate new jobs is rather limited. Apart from the socio-economic structural challenges, contributing to this widespread unemployment of the youth is the low educational and skills levels they tend to attain. Noting the paucity of specific data in Eritrea, there are labour market indicators pointing to high rate of school drop-outs and high school graduates in the major Eritrean towns and villages who have neither vocational training opportunities nor job offers that are easily available for them, a situation that needs urgent attention. Despite this, however,  Eritrea seems to have performed reasonably well in achieving health related MDGs with low levels of HIV/AIDs infection.

UNDP in partnership with the Government is currently implementing a project to stimulate young people to self-support and/or get opportunity to work in private and parastatal companies by allowing them to develop practical vocational skills and entrepreneurship capabilities and to provide business start-up financing small scale business schemes. The project is anchored on the GoSE-UN SPCF 2013-2016 and it is aligned with the national development priorities articulated in sector plans and to the new UNDP Strategic Plan 2014-17.  The project is built on the successes and lessons learned from the previous Youth Employment Skills Development project in Anseba and Gash Barka regions funded by UNDP from 2007 to 2011. The project will be expanded and replicated in all regions of the country with the goal to attain at least 30% of the target beneficiaries mainly girls, working either independently, as self-employed operators, or in newly created jobs and Eritrean youth in the Diaspora attracted to come and participate in various business enterprises in the country, as well as for those assisted to return voluntarily.

For UNDP, the full involvement of young men and women in participatory processes is vital to achieving sustainable human development. In 2012, UNDP embarked simultaneously on consultations on the post-2015 development framework, on the preparation of its new Strategic Plan for 2014-2017 and on the preparation of its first organization wide strategy to inform on-going and future programming and policy development on youth. The strategy preparation process coincided with a growing number of regional and country initiatives on youth emerging in UNDP Country Offices, Regional Service Centers and Headquarters; an increased involvement with youth networks and youth based civil society organizations; and a greater solicitation by partners for UNDP’s increased engagement in youth programming and policy development.

Under the overall guidance and direction of the DRR Programme and the direct supervision of the team leader, Strategic Governance Unit (SGU), the programme analyst will be in charge of overseeing and following up the implementation of the “Youth Skills Development Programme” in close collaboration with NUEYS and other implementing partners. The Programme Officer will develop close working relations and provide primarily interface with NUEYS to implement the programme through existing networks in the country, and by facilitating establishment of relevant infrastructures, which with dedicated support will be instrumental in providing identified vocational skills, on-the-job training programs

The Programme Analyst works in close collaboration with the operations team, programme staff in other UN Agencies, UNDP HQs staff and Government officials, technical advisors and experts, multi-lateral and bi-lateral donors and civil society ensuring successful UNDP programme implementation.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Programme Analyst  will be responsible for the following:

• Lead focal point for the “Youth Skills Development Programme” working in close collaboration with NUEYS and other implementing partners;
• Support to policy advocacy and institutional capacity development for the Youth Programme;
• Ensure that the technical and operational capacity of the Vocational Skills Training (VSTs) is adequately upgraded in order to deliver quality skills training and entrepreneurship courses and materials;
• Support the implementation of the AVR component;
• Effective application of RBM tools, establishment of management targets (BSC) and monitoring achievement of results;
• Communication and Donor reporting;
• Monitoring and Evaluation of the programme, including identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learnt directly linked to project and sharing them;
• Financial and substantive monitoring of the project, identification of operational and financial problems, development of solutions;
• Participation in audit of NEX projects;
• Follow up on audit recommendations;
• Resource Mobilization including, development of partnerships with UN Agencies, government institutions, bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors, private sector, civil society in the specific thematic areas based on strategic goals of UNDP, country needs and donors’ priorities;
• Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice;
• Other duties as may be assigned.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Continuous Learning:

• Contributes to colleagues' learning;
• Demonstrates interest in improving relevant skills;
• Demonstrates interest in acquiring skills relevant to other functional areas;
• Keeps abreast of developments in own professional area.

Accountability:

• Accepts and gives constructive criticism;
• Follows all relevant procedures, processes, and policies;
• Meets deadline, cost, and quality requirements for outputs;
• Monitors own work to correct errors;
• Takes responsibility for meeting commitments and for any shortcomings.

Client Orientation:

• Identifies the immediate and peripheral clients of own work;
• Establishes and maintains effective working relationships with clients;
• Identifies and monitors changes in the needs of clients, including donors, governments, and project beneficiaries;
• Keeps clients informed of developments and setbacks.

Communication:

• Actively shares relevant information;
• Clearly communicates, and listens to feedback on, changing priorities and procedures;
• Writes clearly and effectively, adapting wording and style to the intended audience;
• Listens effectively and communicates clearly, adapting delivery to the audience.

Creativity and Initiative:

• Actively seeks new ways of improving programmes or services;
• Expands responsibilities while maintaining existing ones;
• Persuades others to consider new ideas;
• Proactively develops new ways to resolve problems.

Leadership and Negotiation:

• Convinces others to share resources;
• Actively identifies opportunities for and promotes organizational change;
• Presents goals as shared interests;
• Articulates vision to motivate colleagues and follows through with commitments.

Performance Management:

• Provides constructive feedback to colleagues;
• Identifies ways for their staff to develop their abilities and careers;
• Provides fair, accurate, timely, and constructive staff evaluations;
• Uses staff evaluations appropriately in recruitment and other relevant HR procedures;
• Holds directly reporting managers accountable for providing fair, accurate, timely, and constructive staff evaluations.

Planning and Organizing:

• Sets clear and achievable goals consistent with agreed priorities for self and others;
• Identifies priority activities and assignments for self and others;
• Organizes and documents work to allow for planned and unplanned handovers;
• Identifies risks and makes contingency plans;
• Adjusts priorities and plans to achieve goals;
• Allocates appropriate times and resources for own work and that of team members.

Professionalism:

• Masters subject matter related to responsibilities;
• Identifies issues, opportunities, and risks central to responsibilities;
• Incorporates gender-related needs, perspectives, and concerns, and promotes equal gender participation;
• Persistent, calm, and polite in the face of challenges and stress;
• Treats all colleagues with respect and dignity;
• Works effectively with people from different cultures by adapting to relevant cultural contexts;
• Knowledgeable about and promotes IOM core mandate and migration solutions.

Teamwork:

• Actively contributes to an effective, collegial, and agreeable team environment;
• Contributes to, and follows team objectives;
• Gives credit where credit is due;
• Seeks input and feedback from others;
• Delegates tasks and responsibilities as appropriate;
• Actively supports and implements final group decisions;
• Takes joint responsibility for team's work.

Technological Awareness:

• Learns about developments in available technology;
• Proactively identifies and advocates for cost-efficient technology solutions;
• Understands applicability and limitation of technology and seeks to apply it to appropriate work.

Migration:

• Demonstrated understanding of migration issues and effectively applies this knowledge within the organizational context;
• Ably frames migration issues within the regional, global, and political context.

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrate neutrality, exercise politically astuteness, and possess diplomatic qualities;   
• 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;
• Fair and transparent  decision making; calculated risk-taking.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in Social Sciences or  a related field from an accredited academic institution.

Exprience:

• Two years of relevant work experience at the national or international level in providing programme management advisory and technical support services, hands-on experience in the design, monitoring and evaluation of youth programmes;
• Previous related UN experience will be an added advantage;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages, experience in handling of web based management systems.

Language:

• Fluency in the UN and national language of the duty station.