Historique

As a result of the protracted political crisis affecting the country since 2009 and entrenched poor governance, the social and economic situation of Madagascar has steadily worsened. With an additional 4 million poor people to the most vulnerable segments of the population since the crisis began, over 80% of the population now lives below the poverty line. The country is unlikely to achieve any of the MDGs by 2015. Madagascar is currently one of the poorest countries in the world and income per capita barely reaches US$ 450 per year.

Madagascar has recently held presidential and parliamentary elections, with the support of UNDP and the international community, which have been judged by international observers as credible and transparent. The election of the new President, Hery Rajaonarimampianina raises considerable expectations in terms of political stabilization, national reconciliation and improvement of governance practices.

Contrary to some of its African neighbours, Madagascar does not suffer from open armed conflicts. However, the recurrence of serious political crises (1972, 1991, 2002, 2009) shows the existence of deep cleavages and tensions. These include competition over natural resources, pressure over land, the unmatched power of the presidency, weakness of checks and balances, limited accountability mechanisms and institutions, a polarized society, the political role of the armed forces, insecurity in the South and extreme urban poverty, among others.

Against this backdrop, Madagascar’s fragile post-crisis situation is a source of concern and requires close analysis and monitoring in order to prevent the country from relapsing into open crisis, which would have inestimable social and economic cost on a strained population. United Nations assistance is therefore crucial to help prevent potential conflicts and to consolidate peace. Such assistance would translate on one hand into specific reconciliation and peace-building activities, and on the other hand into mainstreaming conflict-sensitivity throughout all UNDP and UN programmes.

In this context, one of the three outcomes of the new UNDAF, recently finalized, precisely aims at contributing to appeased and pacified governance, while reconciliation remains as a main pillar. A Conflict and Development Analysis (CDA) was recently finalized, building on a Peace and Conflict Impact Assessment. Similarly, as recommended by the UN Secretary-General, AU, EU, SADC and other international partners in their statements following the December 2013 elections, the new Malagasy authorities have repeatedly and publicly committed to making national reconciliation and peace-building a key priority. The UN Secretary General met with President Hery Rajaonarimampianina and stressed the need for pursuing political reconciliation and inclusive policies and reforms that would deepen democratic and accountable governance, respect human rights and promote equitable economic recovery. He indicated the readiness of the United Nations to support Madagascar towards meeting its governance and development objectives.

UNDP Madagascar’s approach to peace-building is twofold. On the one hand, peace-building and conflict sensitivity are mainstreamed throughout UNDP programmes and activities. On the other hand, that a specific output of the governance programme is dedicated to supporting the national reconciliation process through strengthening the Council for the Malagasy Reconciliation, the Special Commission for Amnesty of the Supreme Court and national mechanisms to prevent election-related violence, among others.

The Madagascar country office therefore invites highly qualified candidates with proven experience in peace and development to apply for the present position whose main duties are described below.

Devoirs et responsabilités

Under direct supervision and guidance of the Deputy Resident Representative/Programme and overall authority of the Resident Coordinator, the Peace and Development Advisor (PDA) will allow the UNDP Country Office and the UN System to achieve the key results of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) and of UNDP’s Country Programme Document / Country Programme Action Plan (CPD/CPAP). He/she will also allow UNDP and the UN System to better position itself as leading partner in the peace-building field.

More specifically, the main deliverables the PDA is expected to contribute to achieve are the following:

• Support to national reconciliation process, particularly in terms of capacity building of the Council for the Malagasy Reconciliation and support to the development of a national reconciliation strategy and action plan;
• A comprehensive national crisis prevention architecture (including data collection, political analysis, early warning and response systems, including mediation capacities at regional and local levels) established and sustained on the basis of consultations with relevant stakeholders;
• Institutional and technical capacities for the development and implementation of conflict prevention initiatives, acquired and sustained by key partners;
• Ensure appropriate M&E system and communication mechanisms for better programme results are put in place.

In order to achieve these results, the Peace and Development Advisor shall perform the following tasks:

• Provide strategic advice and early warning to UN senior management and key partners on existing political crisis risks as well as on peace-building and reconciliation opportunities. This will include support and engagement with high-level government officials, academia, civil society, and with the wider political and civic leadership on behalf of the Resident Coordinator/Resident Representative;
• Strengthen national capacity for conflict prevention at central and local level;
• Lead UNDP’s peace-building, conflict prevention and reconciliation activities within the framework of the governance component and develop a Programme to support National Authorities efforts in Reconciliation linking together at the local, regional and national level;
• Maintain close contact with relevant staff in UN Headquarters including relevant focal points at UNDP and UN/DPA, through the submission of bi-monthly reports to UNDP and DPA as per the Standard Operating Procedures of the Joint UNDP/DPA Programme;
• Assist the UN system in elaborating and implementing development programmes and initiatives from a conflict-sensitive, culturally-sensitive and gender-sensitive perspective;
• Actively promote the mainstreaming of conflict prevention into UN programmes and projects, providing guidance and technical assistance when needed;
• Collaborate with other CPR and wider UN programme teams in developing strategic frameworks and programmatic strategies for country-specific engagement in post-crisis restoration of local conflict mitigation mechanisms;
• Monitor the political, security and socio-economic situation with a view to providing regular updates and analysis on the developments in the country;
• Provide technical support and liaise with relevant counterparts and existing partners in Government, the International Support Group for Madagascar (ISG-M), the Council for the Malagasy Reconciliation and civil society organizations;
• Provide advice on and help develop and implement a UN strategy of engagement in support of political dialogue and identify funding opportunities;
• Propose and support the start-up of relevant new areas of activities;
• Initiate and/or support any initiative to make the national environment more conducive to a constructive approach of political and social problems;
• Maintain and develop links with key governmental and non-governmental players in the area of national reconciliation and inter-regional relations, engaging with high-level officials on behalf of the Resident Coordinator/Resident Representative, when required;
• Provide technical support in the design and delivery of specific activities targeted at building national governmental and non-governmental capacities for the peaceful resolution of conflicts, based on dialogue and consensus building;
• Ensure transparent and conflict-sensitive stakeholder participation and involvement in the activities led by him/her (e.g. workshops, training on conflict sensitive approaches, guidance on national reconciliation processes);
• Assist the RC and other UNCT members, if and when requested, in their dialogue with Government, civil society and the international community.

Impact of results

The key results of the PDA’s work will have a major impact on consolidating peace in Madagascar. In particular, they will contribute to advancing national reconciliation, preventing the country’s relapse into a new crisis and strengthening national conflict prevention actors and mechanisms. The post will also increase UN and UNDP’s leadership role in peace-building as well as enhancing UNDP’s technical capacity and effectiveness in this field.

Compétences

Corporate capacities:

• Demonstrates integrity and adherence to the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes UNDP vision, mission and strategic objectives;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Demonstrates thoroughness, availability, attitude to team work and proactivity.

Functional skills:

Knowledge management

• Promotes knowledge management and an effective learning environment in the office through his/her own behaviour;
• Demonstrates attitude to strengthen his/her own capacity and to ensure his/her personal development in one or more fields;
• Demonstrates attitude to contribute to strengthen the capacity of the Country Office;
• Demonstrates the ability to conduct and lead conflict analysis.

Operational skills:

• Ability to lead strategic planning, ensure results-based management and reporting;
• Ability to support formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programmes and projects to ensure their conflict sensitivity;
• Capacity to mobilise resources;
• Good knowledge of results based management tools;
• Excellent knowledge of institutional, social and cultural reality in post-crisis situation;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills;
• Capacity to establish new systems;
• Capacity to understand, analyse and assess complex conflicts;
• Excellent research, drafting capacity;
• Negotiation, advocacy, advisory and capacity building skills;
• Attitude to establish good relations with partners and to provide quick and relevant answers;
• Ability to provide adequate advise to senior management.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Peace and Conflict Studies, Political Science, International Relations, International Development or related field.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of professional experience in strategic advice, programming or programme management in the field of peace-building or conflict prevention, including direct work experience in country-specific settings, particularly those in crisis-affected, post-crisis or fragile situations;
• Excellent knowledge of conflict analysis tools and experience carrying out several conflict analyses;
• Excellent knowledge of conflict-sensitivity mainstreaming tools and previous experience mainstreaming conflict sensitivity in development programmes or projects;
• Experience in participatory tools;
• Experience in networking, partnership building and coordination with local, national and international actors;
• Knowledge of Madagascar’s political and conflict context is an asset;
• Knowledge of UNDP and UN Country Team mechanisms is an asset;
• Experience in providing advice to senior management on political sensitive issues in a turbulent environment.

Required Languages:

• Fluency in oral and written French,
• Fluency in oral and written English is highly desirable.