Emplois au PNUD - 55790- Senior Regional Electoral Advisor

Senior Regional Electoral Advisor

Lieu :

Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIE

Type de contrat :

FTA International

Date de commencement :

Date limite de candidature :

03-Jul-15 (Minuit New York, États-Unis)

Niveau du poste :

P-5

Durée du contrat initial

Langues requises :

Anglais Français

Durée prévue de la mission :

Le PNUD s’engage à recruter un personnel divers en termes de genre, de nationalité et de culture. Nous encourageons de même les personnes issues des minorités ethniques, des communautés autochtones ou handicapées à postuler. Toutes les candidatures seront traitées dans la plus stricte confidentialité. Le PNUD ne tolère pas l’exploitation et / ou les atteintes sexuelles, ni aucune forme de harcèlement, y compris le harcèlement sexuel, et / ou toutes formes de discrimination. Tous/tes les candidats/tes selectectionnes /ées devront ainsi se soumettre à de rigoureuses vérifications relatives aux références fournies ainsi qu’à leurs antécédents.

Historique

Under the 2014-2017 Strategic Plan, UNDP’s integrated approach to supporting inclusive political processes aims to harness UNDP’s experience and comparative advantage in supporting and strengthening the capacities of political processes and institutions in order to improve citizen participation, voice and accountability and rebuild a stronger and more inclusive social contract.

The Governance and Peacebuilding Profession is managed, at HQ, by the Chief of Profession for Governance and Peacebuilding, a cluster that includes the Inclusive Political Processes. At each of the Regional Service Centres, a Governance and Peacebuilding Cluster Leader provides leadership for policy advisory and programmatic support in the region, to achieve UNDP’s overall Governance and Peacebuilding results specific to that region. , including the work in the area of inclusive political processes. This work includes all of UNDP’s work in support of the electoral cycle, meaning the enhancement of the credibility, transparency, effectiveness and sustainability of electoral institutions and processes on the African continent for those countries requesting assistance, in close cooperation with the Department of Political Affairs.

UNDP works across a variety of development contexts including stable, conflict/post conflict and transitional settings, and strives to ensure that inclusive political institutions and processes are capacitated and engaged in supporting national development efforts to achieve the MDGs and implement the post 2015 development framework.

Within the objective of supporting the “electoral cycle to enhance the credibility, transparency, effectiveness and sustainability of electoral institutions and processes,” UNDP provides support to countries to develop electoral laws, processes and institutions that strengthen inclusive participation and professional electoral administration. Elections are about much more than what happens on election day. Support includes the conceptual and programming guidance to the UN and national stakeholders alike in using an electoral cycle approach that grounds electoral administration and assistance in democratic governance. UNDP’s electoral work, at both the global, regional and national levels, is implemented in close coordination with the Department of Political Affairs’ Electoral Assistance Division (EAD).

Over the past two decades, UNDP has assisted, globally, more than 80 countries through coordination and management of about 342 electoral projects requiring more than USD 2.5 billion in expenditure. Over half (60 percent) of the UNDP electoral assistance is provided in Africa. Apart from supporting national actors, UNDP has collaborated with regional institutions, such as the African Union, the Pan-African Parliament, and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), in efforts to strengthen their capacities to promote democratic elections on the continent, mainly through support to activities such as the development of norms and standards, election observation and monitoring, technical assistance, and advisory services. Among others.

The Senior Regional Electoral Advisor recruited under this notice will be located within the Regional Service Centre in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. He/she will report to the Governance and Peacebuilding Cluster Leader in the Regional Service Centre in Addis Ababa as well as to the Lead Electoral Policy Advisor at HQ (who in turn reports to the Governance and Peacebuilding Chief of Profession, BPPS). His/her main focus will be twofold: to provide advisory support to UNDP Country Offices in the region, and also to lead UNDP’s regional electoral work and collaboration with regional organizations in Africa, such as the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), among others. He/she will provide support to the country and regional work of the UNDP Regional Service Centre for Africa. He/she will also be expected to liaise continuously with the Joint EC UNDP Task Force staff based in Brussels.

Devoirs et responsabilités

Functions / Key Results Expected

Provide high-level electoral policy and programming support to UNDP Country Offices and national stakeholders in the Africa region:

Under the supervision of the Governance and Peacebuilding Cluster Leader in the Regional Service Centre in Addis Ababa, and the Lead Electoral Advisor in the Governance and Peacebuilding Profession, BPPS, New York, and working closely with colleagues in the Joint EC UNDP Task Force based in Brussels, the Senior Regional Electoral Advisor will provide support, to the design, management, implementation, monitoring and reporting of electoral assistance projects at the country level.

In particular, she/he will:

Provide high level policy advisory support to UNDP Country Offices, national government counterparts and UNDP colleagues implementing the Africa Regional Governance Programme on electoral policies, norms and standards and other substantive issues;
Provide programme support related to the design, implementation oversight and results of national-level UNDP electoral assistance projects;
Advise Country Offices in leading consensus building and stakeholder engagement activities with government counterparts;
Liaise extensively with DPA counterparts working with the UN African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa;
Participate in DPA-led electoral Needs Assessment Missions, and, where required, lead project formulation missions based on recommendations by the UN electoral assistance Focal Point;
Provide gender mainstreaming support to Country Offices so as to ensure that the UN system-wide goal of improving the political participation of women, in line with the UN Policy Directive on Advancing the Political Participation of Women Through UN Electoral Assistance;
Promote the utilization of financial resources mobilized and allocated for electoral support in regional and country programmes within UNDP rules and regulations.

Within the Addis Ababa Regional Service Centre, lead on regional research and content development of the service area of electoral assistance from an Africa regional perspective including:

Lead on regional electoral research including data analysis, case evidence and research findings to distill relevant lessons;
Generate, based upon research and analyses, innovative operations concepts aimed at widening UN/UNDP policy/programming options;
Contribute to the development, testing and roll out of tools and methodologies in elections administration to provide “how to” guidance and ensure standards, including region-specific materials;
Share knowledge-based tools, such as policy positions/practice notes/concept papers and other research papers to help influence/advance policy dialogue on elections administration and present such material at global and regional forums;

Support the Governance and Peacebuilding Cluster Leader at the Regional Service Centre (RSC) in serving as the focal point for elections by providing him with up-to-date information and analysis on the GPECS and other electoral initiatives.

Within the Addis Ababa Regional Service Centre, lead regional electoral work and collaboration with regional inter-governmental organizations in Africa, such as the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the East African Community (EAS) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), among others.

Indicative activities will include:

Support regional bodies in their efforts to enhance their capacities on electoral observation;
Regularly liaise with and update regional bodies on UNDP’s global, regional and country level initiatives in electoral assistance;
Support regional bodies in their efforts to develop and adopt models of good practice in electoral administration;
Support regional bodies in the hosting of workshops and other knowledge gathering events on electoral administration.

Facilitate exchange of ideas in electoral administration with other intergovernmental bodies, including potentially those outside the African continent.

Facilitate policy development, knowledge management and coordination in electoral assistance.

Functions also include actively supporting knowledge sharing through inputs to comparative experiences and lessons learned at regional and global levels and participation in relevant fora.

Indicative activities include:

Advice on corporate policy and guidance in focus areas. Recommend alignments and quality assurance in electoral assistance in order to bring coherence and consistency to operational activities in the region while at the same time taking into account country-specific differences and needs;
Provide substantive inputs to international fora to help shape global and regional development strategies, policies, norms and standards;
Contribute global, regional and local experiences and case evidence into formulation of global policies, norms and standards with the Chiefs of Professions at BPPS HQ;
Liaise regularly with the Lead Electoral Advisor in BPPS, New York on policy development, knowledge management and coordination in particular;
Support the definition and communication of UN/UNDP’s global policy positions in electoral assistance.
Other related duties, as required.

Impact of Results

Ultimately the work in the areas mentioned in section III will have the long-term impact of supporting UNDP Country Offices in delivering better policy advice and programming to their partners in the area of elections administration, specifically by enhancing the integrity of the electoral process and public confidence in electoral outcomes, thereby strengthening democratic governance. Failure to provide the cutting-edge knowledge and well-grounded policy advice to COs in inclusive participation and responsive institutions seriously diminishes UNDP’s credibility among national partners and donors. Electoral assistance, in particular, is a high-profile area of support for the United Nations and one in which high performance and impartiality are critically important for the UN´s credibility and for the peaceful conduct of elections in Member States.

Compétences

Core Competencies:

Innovation:

Ability to make new and useful ideas work.

Leadership:

Ability to persuade others to follow.

People Management:

Ability to improve performance and satisfaction.

Communication:

Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transform.

Delivery:

Ability to get things done.

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge and expertise in democratic governance, electoral assistance and democratization, and, in particular, in strengthening inclusive participation;
Be able to work well with counterparts in government, electoral management bodies, civil society, political parties, academia, and the donor community; and know how to contribute to building national capacity for development;
Strong communication and interpersonal skills;
Ability to foster networks and partnerships, and good working knowledge of information and computer technology;
While representing UNDP views, the candidate should also be able to provide coordination among the UN family of agencies.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education:

Advanced University Degree in relevant social / political sciences, law or related discipline.

Experience:

Minimum 10 years specialized experience in international context in democratic governance, electoral assistance and democratization, majority of which must be in electoral assistance;
Regionally relevant experience is a must;
The candidate should have significant experience in providing practical advice to policy maker;
Strong technical knowledge of the field of electoral assistance, as well as a general knowledge of cross-cutting democratic governance issues that are often addressed through electoral cycle or deepening democracy programmes;
Extensive practical experience in designing, managing, and monitoring electoral assistance programmes in developing countries, preferably also with UNDP programmes;
Strong networks within the international electoral assistance community, and demonstrated leadership in the field of electoral assistance.

Language:

Fluency in written and spoken English is required;
French proficiency is a recommended advantage that will be assessed during the selection process.