Background

This is a preparatory assistance project for a cross border and area-based joint initiative for Marsabit County and Southern Ethiopia to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience of communities affected by conflict in the target region by building their capacity and empowering vulnerable groups through identification and promotion of sustainable livelihood projects and conflict management strategies. The preparatory phase, with a functioning secretariat and M&E capacity to track all initiatives, will involve a consultative and participatory methodology in designing an integrated area- based programme.  It will also involve consultative meetings with the UN Country Team (UNCT) in Kenya and Ethiopia to develop an agreed working framework, with budget and time frame, and a fund raising strategy.

The preparatory phase will also include activities such as Participatory Action Research, GIS-based mapping of spatial data, etc. that will be used to develop an integrated and full-fledged long-term programme. It will ran a number of pilot activities, which will respond to immediate needs of the community and best practices which can filter into the long-term integrated programme.

The long-term and integrated programme will aim at improving the livelihood and resilience of the communities in Marsabit County and Southern Ethiopia who share common culture and language across Marsabit County and Moyale border. The objectives include improving peace and security across the border and stimulate socio-economic development to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience of communities affected by conflict. This will be achieved through effective utilization of resources, building the capacity and empowering of communities and individuals impacted by conflict through identification and promotion of sustainable livelihood projects and conflict management strategies.

To achieve these objectives, the project will focus on long-term conflict transformation initiatives which will be designed and implemented at multiple levels (Immediate emergency and humanitarian phase, building resilience and sustainable development project phases) aimed at changing the current political landscape and socioeconomic conditions of the communities in Marsabit County and Southern part of Ethiopia. In this regard, the project will not only address social injustices and economic inequalities but will also improve the communication skills and mindsets of both communities who are fighting over scarce resources, mainly pasture and water. The County faces high gender inequality as women and youth participation in development is alarmingly low, with low access and control over resources, limited mobility and access to information, leading to low engagement in economic empowerment and livelihood initiatives that make them susceptible to various forms of gender based violence (GBV), early marriage and girl child drop out, thus increasing their vulnerability. Moreover, despite bearing the heaviest burden of poverty and the problem of inaccessibility to infrastructure services, participation of women in development decision-making is significantly low in the County. Due to socio-cultural and community perceptions of the role of women in the society, women continue to have  less access to planning and decision-making forums that make crucial decisions on development issues in their communities. This notwithstanding the fact that women and the youth (both girls and boys) play a key role in every segment of the society. This project will focus special attention on the concerns of women, youth and disadvantaged groups in the society. This will be done in a bid to enhance their active participation at every stage of the project, and will involve them in the various capacity building seminars, livelihood projects, among others, so that they can fully benefit from the project.

Traditional resource utilization and conflict resolution mechanisms of both communities will also be revived and strengthened to bring about peace and equitable resource utilization.  At the same time, the project will come up with effective and amicable means of resource utilization that is acceptable to all sides so that there is equity, efficiency and sustainability. In furtherance of this objective, the UNCT has in the last few months been engaging with a cross section of leaders from the county including the Governor, Senator, Members of Parliament (MPs), members of the Marsabit County Assembly and civil society groups and the business community. The Resident Coordinator (RC) had also consultative meetings with UNCT and the Government of Ethiopia on the objectives of the project and possible areas of collaboration. The various engagements have taken the form of high-level consultations, including the discussion of a concept note of the project by the Governments of Ethiopia and Kenya. It is also important to note that the vision of this initiative is in line with the recent initiative launched in October 2014 by the UN Secretary General and the World Bank President, to boost economic growth, reduce poverty and promote business activities in the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda) through, among others, cross-border cooperation.

Under the overall guidance of the UNDP Resident Representative and Country Director, and direct supervision of Peace and Development Advisor (PDA), the Chief Technical Advisor (CTA) will oversee the effective implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the preparatory assistance phase of the project. He/she will ensure the delivery of inputs, work schedules and the target outputs and activities as scheduled in the preparatory assistance document. She/he will also coordinate project activities with UNDP’s Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention Unit and other UN agencies to ensure strategic complementarity as well as compliance with UNDAF principle of “Delivering as One.”

The CTA will build on the experiences gained during the preparatory assistance phase and will develop a comprehensive and long-term, integrated cross border joint programme.

Summary of key functions:

• Programme Development;
• Policy Advice;
• Programme Management and Delivery of Results;
• Marketing and Advocacy;
• Strategic partnerships, Coordination and Resource Mobilization.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Responsibilities:

Programme Development:

• Prepare an Integrated Cross Border and Area-Based Programme for Marsabit County and Southern Ethiopia;
• Provide policy advice during the preparatory assistance phase;
• Oversee the effective implementation and delivery of the preparatory assistance activities of the project, including supervising and coordinating programme preparation activities, including the Participatory Action Research for Marsabit County and Southern Ethiopia with GIS-based mapping of spatial data;
• Preparation of the Integrated Cross Border and Area-Based Programme for Marsabit and Southern Ethiopia through dialogue with GoK and all other stakeholders;
• Formulating joint work plan that is agreed on and signed by UNCT Kenya and Ethiopia and government counterparts in the respective regions;
• Establishing joint programme modalities for managing common secretariat services of the programme, signed by UNCT;
• Preparing necessary reports and documentation, aide-memoires of all PA activities;
• Liaising with UNCTs and Governments of Ethiopia and Kenya and facilitate and organize the joint UNCT workshop in Nairobi.Organizing development partners’ round table meetings and other potential investors to support the long-term programmes;
• Organizing the project launch workshop in Moyale.

Policy Advice:

• Serve as a senior policy advisor to the UN and the County Government of Marsabit as well as the Regional Government of Oromia in the field of area-based integrated development, resilience building, conflict analysis and sustainable peace building;
• Coordinate and oversee a team of experts who will undertake Participatory Action Research to identify the root causes of conflict and its impact as well as strategies to bring about peace and reconciliation;
• Establish close working relationships with organizations such as National Cohesion and Integration Commission of Kenya to create synergy and partnership to prevent, reduce; and manage the impacts of conflict and violence;
• Provide technical and policy advice on all aspects of human security, livelihood creation and building resilience to mitigate and reduce violent conflicts;
• Provide technical advice on devolution and its linkages with resilience agenda, conflict prevention and peacebuilding;
• Provide intellectual leadership and policy advice on cross border peace initiative, reintegration of IDPs and sustainable development through identification of alternative livelihood projects and peace building initiatives;
• Stimulate strategic thinking in the subject areas and tap into opportunities;
• Based on research supported conflict analysis, formulate policy options for UNRCO on supporting conflict prevention strategies, cross border and area-based development initiatives, conflict transformation, reintegration and sustainable development;
• Advise on means of strengthening peace committees, reviving and strengthening traditional conflict resolution mechanisms and enhance local communities' role in conflict prevention, peacemaking and peace-building;
• Provide technical and strategic policy advice on all aspects of capacity building and institutional building for sustainable peace and development.

Programme Management and Delivery of Results:

• Provide advice on organization structure and plan, including distribution of functions and responsibilities, decision-making and business processes;
• Identify, as part of international recruitment requirements of UNDP, highly prominent international and national experts (as approved in the project document and subsequent annual work plans);
• Provide substantial input in preparation and implementation of the annual and long-term work plans and results framework for the project;
• Develop a budget for the project and monitor the proper/effective utilization of the budget according to the objectives, outputs and activities stated in the work plan;
• Prepare capacity development plan, taking into consideration the needs of the governments, non-governmental organizations, local authorities and other development partners; supervise project capacity building efforts and team of experts who will monitor and evaluate the project against the stated objectives, outputs and activities;
• Provide technical advice on conflict analysis, including the context, causes, actors and dynamics of conflict as well as prevention, management and transformation strategies;
• Provide advice on close linkages between humanitarian support and development strategies.
• Provide advice on implementation and coordination of livelihood projects to improve the resilience of the local community against economic, social, and environmental threats.
• Coordinate and closely work with the UNCT of both Ethiopia and Kenya and other partners to ensure co-ownership and smooth implementation of the project, within the UNDAF strategy of “Delivering as One;”
• Provide advice on ways of mainstreaming conflict management and peace-building issues into county and regional development plans as well as the national agenda of the respective countries with the aim of bringing sustainable peace and national cohesion.
• Guide and advice on effective implementation of project activities;
• Provide strategic advice on monitoring and evaluation of the various project activities for successful project implementation;
• In close collaboration with UNDSS, conduct appropriate risk assessment and ensure security considerations and risk mitigation in the management of personnel, assets and project activities.

Marketing and Advocacy:

• Support the UNRCO in the management of high-level meetings with the UNCT, as well as external partners such as International Development Partners, etc.;
• Support the process of knowledge creation and dissemination to publicize and inform all stakeholders about the UNRCO’s activities in the area of conflict prevention, peacebuilding; and promotion of human security;
• Organize formal and informal and external networks or communities of practice covering prominent experts in government, non-government, think tanks, private sector, international development organizations and the UN System;
• Lead the analytical development work of the team of experts and ensure highly quality knowledge products. Promote the substantive quality of all knowledge products and reports and ensure effective integration and compatibility with other practice areas.

Strategic partnerships, Coordination and Resource Mobilization:

• Coordinate and forge partnership with relevant universities and research institutions in both countries;
• Develop strategic partnership with training and research institutions and develop relevant training curricula and conduct capacity building programmes on conflict prevention, peacebuilding and alternative livelihood creation;
• Network and forge partnership with experts in the international development community, government partners, UN system, research institutions and universities as well as appropriate think-tanks for effective implementation of the project;
• Prepare proposals for mobilization of human, technical and financial resources from international development organizations.

Impact of Results:

• Cooperation and partnership between Marsabit County, Kenya and Southern Ethiopia strengthened and peace and sustainable development achieved in the region;
• Opportunities created between the two countries for (a) trade, investment and tourism; (b) use and effective management of natural resources; (c) improved infrastructure; and (d) smooth cross-border movement of people;
• Spill-over of conflicts between the two regions reduced;
• Illegal armed and human trafficking reduced.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN values, impartiality and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Encourages and strengthens team work;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning:

• Promotes knowledge sharing and learning culture in the office;
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
• Extensive research and training experiences (over 10 years);
• Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development.

Development and Operational Effectiveness:

• Ability to lead formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects, and mobilize resources;
• Strong IT skills.

Management and Leadership:

• Exercises good judgment with due consideration to political, cultural and religious sensitivities;
• Leads the stakeholders and RCO team effectively and shows conflict resolution skills;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.

Communications and Networking:

• Has good oral communication skills and conflict resolution competency to manage inter-group dynamics and mediate conflicting interests of varied actors;
• Has good written communication skills, with analytic capacity and ability to synthesize project outputs and relevant findings for the preparation of quality project reports;
• Capacity to work under pressure, manage stress and adapt to rapidly evolving situations;
• Sound time management and organizational skills with the ability to handle multiple tasks;
• Team player, self-motivated and proactive, dedicated, creative, resourceful, flexible, and energetic with sound judgment;
• Dedication to the United Nations principles - promotion of equal rights of men and women, and respect for cultural, ethnic and religious diversity;
• Proven management experience with sound knowledge and experience in all aspects of project cycle in the field of conflict prevention, management; and peace building;
• Proven skills in effective fundraising, resource mobilization; and donor relations;
• Proven experience in partnership building and networking;
• Excellent interpersonal skills;
• Strong computer skills and strong knowledge of various software including excel, power-point and word.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced University Degree (Masters or PhD) in International Studies; Social Sciences, International Development, Economics or related fields.

Experience:

• At least ten years of relevant work experience in senior programme/project management;
• Relevant experience in research and assessment of the context, causes, consequences, actors and dynamics of conflict in northern Kenya and actors supporting peace and resilience;
• Experience in programme design and implementation;
• Experience in conflict-affected contexts and human security issues in Africa in general and Kenya in particular;
• Strong experience in alternative livelihood creation and sustainable development for conflict resolution and peace building;
• Good knowledge and experience in area-based integrated development;
• Knowledge of the social systems and institutional structures of communities in northern Kenya and Southern Ethiopia;
• Extensive knowledge of the UN system and of UN technical assistance programmes as well as working with local and regional governments;
• Knowledgeable of DaO, UNDAF-Kenya and area-based programming in that context would be an asset.

Language:

• Proficiency in English language;
• Knowledge of other languages relevant to the local area is an added value.