UNDP Jobs - 62995- Peace and Development Advisor

Peace and Development Advisor

Location :

N'Djamena, CHAD

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

18-Apr-2016

Application Deadline :

28-Jan-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-5

Duration of Initial Contract :

1 an

Languages Required :

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

There are a number of challenges to Chad’s peace, stability, and development, including those that can be considered internal, external, and a combination of both (transboundary) in nature. The major risks stem from volatility in neighboring countries, which could spill over into Chad. The ongoing crisis in the Central African Republic continues to have regional ramifications, as does the continued instability in Libya, Sudan, Northern Nigeria and the Sahel region. The more recent “front of de-stabilization” as a result of the activities of Boko Haram in Northern Nigeria has led not only to large population movements but also to severe economic downturn due to the border closure. Moreover, Chad’s active participation in the fight against Boko Haram has increased the risk of retaliation by Islamist extremists on Chadian territory. The group also has the potential to appeal to disenfranchised populations in Chad and to exacerbate existing regional, ethnic and religious divisions. Persisting volatility in the region has resulted in Chad currently hosting over 700,000 people in forced displacement from Sudan and CAR as well as IDPs, including the forced return of Chadians from Libya (in 2011), Darfur and Northern Nigeria. Given that Chad is approaching a period of elections, the country could witness a rise in political tensions.

Given this context, it is critical that the UN Country Team be supported with the requisite capacities to analyze, understand, and adapt to a continuously and rapidly changing context. The deployment of a Senior Peace and Development Advisor (PDA) through the Joint UNDP/DPA Programme on Building National Capacities for Conflict Prevention offers an important contribution in this regard. Working under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the Resident Coordinator, and in close collaboration with UN Headquarters, the Senior PDA will play an important role in ensuring the Resident Coordinator and UN Country Team are supported with the requisite analytical and strategic capacities needed in such a complex context and, importantly, build on such analysis to support the UN Country Team and national stakeholders develop effective responses that help to mediate, resolve, and transform ongoing conflicts and tensions at sub-national and national levels, including those with regional dimensions. The Senior PDA will, moreover, help support relevant ministries, other national institutions, associations, municipalities and civil society to advance a conflict transformation system at local and national levels and ensure that informal mechanisms for dialogue and dispute settlement, including mediation, are also available to local communities. The PDA will provide guidance to UNCT in the context of UNDAF and joint programming in close coordination with UNDP and DPA because of its focus on governance to promote a conflict-sensitive approach in different programme interventions. The Senior PDA will also be responsible for pursuing partnerships with key national and international partners on issues relating to peace and development, including supporting high-level discourse pertaining to mediation, dialogue, and early warning/ early response. Recognizing the cross-border nature of many of the threats to Chad’s peace and stability in the immediate and medium term, the Senior PDA will work in close collaboration with UNDP Country Offices in the sub-region, as well as UN country teams (UNCTs), the PDAs in the region, the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), DPA and UNDP at Headquarters. He/she will also liaise with senior government officials, multi-lateral and bilateral donors, the private sector, traditional, religious and women’s organizations, other civil society organizations and political leaders.

Duties and Responsibilities

Support the RC/RR/HC and the UNCT with analytical and strategic capacities:

Provide strategic and analytical support to the RC/RR/HC in his/her relations with government officials, academia, civil society, and with the wider political and civic leadership, where appropriate engaging directly with high-level officials and partners;
Provide support for strategic initiatives on conflict prevention, including convening on behalf of the RC/RR dialogue processes;
Assisting conflict resolution activities in conflict-affected communities; building skills for negotiation and mediation for leadership at national level, especially political party leadership, and for the relevant branches of government as deemed necessary; establishing and extending the capacities of networks of mediators and facilitators at the national and local levels, and undertaking confidence building measures;
Under the direction of the RC/HC/RR (and in some instances, as a representative of), engage with high-level representatives of government, civil society and partners to look into the possibility of doing a general inclusive and participatory conflict/fragility analysis that will support the broader definition of programmatic priorities;
Under the direction of the RC/HC/RR, engage with other national and international institutions and initiatives in order to promote a common approach towards supporting social cohesion, governance, conflict prevention, and other relevant efforts. In some circumstances, these interactions may be on behalf of the RC/RR with high-level officials;
Provide continuous analysis to the RC, UNCT, UNOCA, DPA and UNDP on political developments and conflict dynamics, with a view to identifying appropriate ‘entry points’ for conflict prevention and recommending appropriate strategic responses for the UN system and produce monthly internal updates;
Organize, develop, and implement community and national-level initiatives to strengthen confidence in local development capacities, including through the promotion of local dialogue capacities for conflict resolution at local and/or national levels.

Identify areas of programmatic engagement with national stakeholders and the UN Country Team, and support the RC/RR/HC in the preparation of the UN response and support to government requests, related to social cohesion, dialogue, social contract, democratic reform, conflict prevention, peacebuilding, or other relevant field:

Provide strategic advice and guidance to UNCT members in areas of programmatic engagement with national stakeholders in close coordination with UNDP governance programme interventions;
Lead related peace-promoting and conflict prevention activities, as appropriate, including but not necessarily limited to: dialogue processes; support to facilitation of national multi-stakeholder processes; skills building for negotiation, mediation, and reconciliation processes; support to capacities of networks of mediators and facilitators at national and local levels; strengthen women’s initiatives and groups in peace processes; undertake/ support confidence-building measures; training and capacity building workshops for national stakeholders at all levels; and other UN inter-agency process, as required. Support the inter-agency coordination on peace building, dialogue and conflict prevention amongst others, helping to lay down a division of labor, to ensure a joint annual and multi-year planning, facilitating and supporting the technical secretariat on the coordination mechanisms and helping the drafting of joint programmes and projects;
Ensure effective mainstreaming of conflict prevention and peace building in the UNDAF;
Undertake necessary activities to build/strengthen/apply/sustain national capacities/ institutions/ processes to prevent crisis and mainstream conflict prevention interventions throughout the work of the UNCT.

Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with key national, regional and international actors and development partners:

Establish and maintain networks and strategic partnerships for peace building related strategies and initiatives;
Liaise closely with high-level national, regional, and local stakeholders from Government and civil society and key international actors to identify entry points, foster dialogue and strengthen strategic alliances and partnerships on conflict prevention, reconciliation and confidence-building initiatives;
Lead the collaboration with the European Union and other partners on support to mediation and conflict resolution;
Maintain close contact with relevant staff in UN Headquarters including relevant focal points at UNDP and UN/DPA, as per Standard Operating Procedures of the Joint UNDP/DPA Programme.

Strengthen capacity of UNCT to undertake conflict analysis and mainstream conflict sensitivity in regular programming:

Support the design and implementation of strategy for identifying entry points for mainstreaming of conflict prevention and conflict sensitivity in the UNCT, including within the framework of common country planning processes (UNDAF, CPD, etc);
Facilitate and, if appropriate, conduct training for UN Country Team staff and key national partners on conflict analysis, conflict prevention and/or conflict-sensitive development;
Provide analytical and strategic support to UNCT.

Support UN Country Team in mobilizing resources for peace building, inclusive dialogues and conflict prevention joint programmes and initiatives and more specifically:

According to programmatic priorities identified by the UN country team, analyze fund raising opportunities, e.g. in particular with the Peace Building Fund;
Propose an action plan with priority actions to be include in the overall UNCT resource mobilization strategy;
Maintain close liaison with relevant donors and other actors supporting peace building efforts. In some circumstances, these interactions may be on behalf of the RC/RR with high-level officials;
Support the UNCT in the contacts and approaches with donors and partners, with a special attention to Chad’s eligibility to the Peace Building Fund, as well as World Bank fragile state facilities;
Support the UNCT in the proposal drafting process.

Support the Resident Coordinator and UN Country Team monitor and develop responses to regional dynamics and events, particularly in terms of mitigating potential effects on the peace and stability in Chad:

Work closely with relevant UN and external partners in neighbouring countries, including the PDAs in the region, both in monitoring and analyzing regional dynamics and cross-border implications for Chadian peace and stability, and also in pursuing complementary and coordinated programming responses;
Strengthen capacity of national institution such as Médiature de la République to build negotiation, mediation, and reconciliation skills.Support the UNCT adjust and adapt to regional dynamics, including through the provision of strategic guidance to the design and implementation of specific cross-border initiatives on conflict prevention, early recovery, and other related areas;
Support the Resident Coordinator in his/her engagements with key government, opposition, and civil society stakeholders in advocating for certain responses and efforts to address cross-border challenges.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of DPA and UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Good knowledge of UN/UNDP rules, regulations, policies, procedures, and practices;
Good understanding of the UN system;
Treats all people fairly without favouritism.

Functional Competencies:

Possesses specialist knowledge in the area of conflict prevention, social cohesion, dialogue and governance reform or related areas, as well as in-depth practical knowledge of inter-disciplinary development issues;
Sound political acumen and extensive experience of providing policy advice;
Sound skills and demonstrated experience in facilitation, consensus-building, multi-stakeholder processes and negotiation;
Sound analytical skills;
Proven facilitation, training, networking, coordination, team-building, consensus-building and organizational skills;
Excellent communication and inter-personal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relationships with internal and external parties in a multi-cultural environment;
Ability to contribute to strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
Ability to advise and oversee formulation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of projects and programs;
Sound understanding and capability to empower and develop the capacity of national counterparts;
Proven ability to incorporate into his/her work relevant international practices.

Management and Leadership:

Strong team-building, diplomatic, and interpersonal skills. Resourcefulness, initiative, and maturity of judgment;
Communication and advocacy skills;
Sound time management and organizational skills with the ability to handle multiple tasks;
Ability to build strong relationships with clients and external actors;
Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Capacity to work under pressure, manage stress and adapt to rapidly evolving situations.

Behavioural Competencies:

Team player, self-motivated and initiative taking, dedicated, creative, resourceful, flexible, energetic and sound judgment;
Builds strong relationships with partners, focusing on impact and results;
Demonstrates creativity, openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
Possesses positive and constructive attitudes to work;
Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree (BAC+5) in social sciences, conflict resolution, international relations, or a related field.

Experience:

At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience in conflict analysis, policy, and strategy development, in a governmental, multilateral or civil society organization;
Experience and specialist knowledge in building national capacities in good governance and building national reconciliation;
Extensive experience in research and project development, preferably in the area of peacebuilding; national reconciliation or governance;
A proven policy, advisory and advocacy experience with senior officials of government or the United Nations;
Sound skills and demonstrated experience in processes and negotiation;
Work experience in the United Nations and in the region will be considered an asset.

Language:

Fluent written and spoken English and French;
Knowledge of Arabic will be an asset.