Antecedentes

Despite remarkable progress in recent years, Burundi continues to experience considerable tensions in its efforts to consolidate democracy and the rule of law. With elections set to take place in 2015, a number of risks, including the decreasing of political space and a series of human rights abuses, threatens to destabilize the country. Efforts to address past grievances through the establishment of transitional justice mechanisms have been limited, and there are ongoing challenges regarding political dialogue. In this context, the Government has formally requested the UN to terminate the mandate of BNUB, and the deployment of UN observers, before, during and after the 2015 elections in Burundi.  In February 2014, the Security Council adopted Resolution 2137 (2014), which extended BNUB mandate until 31 December 2014 and requested the UN to prepare for the BNUB transition and transfer of appropriate responsibilities to the UNCT by this date. The Council also requested the Secretary-General to establish a UN electoral observer mission to follow and report on the electoral process in Burundi immediately at the end of BNUB’s mandate, and further requested this mission to report to the Secretary-General and the Secretary-General to the Security Council before, during and after the 2015 elections.

Having been placed on the agenda of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) since 2006, Burundi has received support from the Peacebuilding Fund across four main areas of Governance and Peace; Strengthening the Rule of Law in the Security Forces; Strengthening Justice and Promoting Human Rights; and Land Issues. Additional funds have also been given during the electoral process towards dialogue and women’s participation. A national peacebuilding framework was developed which was incorporated into the second Poverty Reduction Strategy in 2011. A second PBF (9.2M $US) was approved focusing on reintegration of former combatants, returnees and internally displaced persons in three of the country’s provinces.

While a lot of progress has been made over the years, the UN and Burundi agreed in 2013 that additional support would assist in consolidating peace further, particularly in the areas of national dialogue and social cohesion; youth participation; human rights and resolution of land disputes. As a result, PBSO approved a third PBF allocation on 19 February 2014 with an amount of 11.65M $US. This plan, covering 2014-2016 is currently in the process of projectization with a new Joint Steering Committee established to approve projects in line with the Peacebuilding Priority Plan (PPP-III). In addition, a peacebuilding sectoral group will be created with a supporting secretariat located within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This forum will provide an opportunity for Burundi to discuss peacebuilding overall, beyond the PBF, with its internal and external partners.

This is all taking place in a context where the UN in Burundi is undergoing significant change with the political mission (BNUB) closing at the end of December 2014. In preparing for this, the government, UN Country Team (UNCT) and Burundi’s international partners are working together to ensure a smooth transfer of the mission’s current activities as specified in SCR 2137. Within the PPP-III, human rights monitoring and political dialogue currently lie under BNUB’s mandate and will need to be gradually taken over by the UNCT. It is expected that areas related to governance and rule of law will be transferred to UNDP and, thus, UNDP will increase its capacities and programming in these areas. UNDP is also expected to support the implementation of the dialogue and social cohesion elements of the latest priority plan. In addition to the PDA deployment, UNDP is recruiting a Senior Rule of Law Advisor.

On 1 January 2015, an electoral observer mission will be established for one year to follow and report on the various stages of the 2015 electoral process, as well as the overall context under which the elections will take place.  The PDA is expected to support these efforts, in addition to supporting the UN’s engagement and support extended to national stakeholders, including government, opposition, and civil society, in the context of the 2015 election. The PDA will play an important role in linking the electoral mission to the UN Country Team, ensuring the sharing of analysis, consistent messaging, and coordinated engagement with national partners.

DPA and UNDP recognize the importance of continuing BNUB’s crisis prevention and political mediation efforts during the transition period with a view to mitigating potential disputes and further political polarization. A Peace and Development Advisor (PDA) will be able to continue these critical functions following BNUB’s departure in support of consolidating peace further in Burundi. The PDA will work under the direct supervision of the Resident Coordinator (RC) and provide advice and analysis on peacebuilding in Burundi. S/he will work closely with the UNCT as well as with the PBF Secretariat to promote dialogue and social cohesion and support conflict prevention capacities and activities. S/he will also be the focal point with the PBC and PBSO, making sure the potential of the PBC is fully tapped into.

Under the guidance of the UN Resident Coordinator, the PDA will provide strategic advice on peace building issues and substantive leadership for strategic initiatives on conflict prevention. While the Chief Technical Advisor, PACE is the lead expert on electoral matters, the PDA will collaborate closely with the CTA in supporting the elections process ensuring a coordinated engagement with all the national partners and close links and synergies between peace building, conflict prevention and elections.

Deberes y responsabilidades

Summary of key functions:

• Provide strategic and analytical support to the RC/RR on peacebuilding and conflict prevention in his/her relations with high-level government officials, academia, civil society, and with the wider political and civic leadership. Where appropriate, engage with high-level government officials and civil society on behalf of the RC/RR;
• Provide peacebuilding and conflict prevention advice to the RC/RR in her/his interaction with the Chair of the PBC, and serve as Focal Point for PBC activities on the ground;
• Identify areas of programmatic engagement with national stakeholders, and support to RC in the preparation of the UN response to government requests, related to social cohesion, dialogue, democratic reform, conflict prevention, peacebuilding or other relevant field;
• Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with key national stakeholders, regional and international actors and development partners;
• Strengthen capacity of UNCT to undertake context analysis, mainstream conflict sensitivity in regular programming, and implement good quality peacebuilding programs, including through the PBF support.
• Strengthen capacities of the Government Coordination Group on Peace Building as a permanent convening forum to discuss crisis prevention and peace building issues.

Under the direct supervision of the Resident Coordinator and in close collaboration with the country team, the PDA will:

Provide strategic and analytical support on conflict prevention and peacebuilding to the RC/RR 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, including through:

• Providing 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; 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/RR, engage with other national and international institutions and initiatives in order to promote a common approach towards supporting social cohesion, governance, conflict prevention, peacebuilding and other relevant efforts;
• Provide continuous analysis to RC/RR and UNCT on political developments and conflict dynamics, with a view to identifying appropriate ‘entry points’ for conflict prevention and peacebuilding and recommending appropriate strategic responses for the UN system;
• 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.

Provide peacebuilding advice to the RC/RR in her/his interaction with the Chair of the PBC, and serve as Focal Point for PBC activities on the ground:

• Under the guidance of the RC/RR, coordinate the PBC Chair’s visits to Burundi, including the preparation of the program and background material, the meeting plans, management of different appointments;
• Provide regular analysis of political issues and peacebuilding dynamics, identify  peacebuilding risks/issues which could be addressed through the Peacebuilding Commission and advise the RC/RR and the Chair on appropriate ‘entry points’ for the PBC engagement, in conjunction with the strategic responses of the UN system;
• Ensure regular communication with PBSO, in relation to the two tasks mentioned above.

Identify areas of programmatic engagement with national stakeholders, and support to RC/RR 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;

• Lead related peace-promoting 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 in collaboration with UNWomen; undertake/ support confidence-building measures; training and capacity building workshops for national stakeholders at all levels; and other UN inter-agency process, as required;
• In light of BNUB withdrawal, support coordination among UN, national, and other partners on issues relating to political dialogue, including on concrete initiatives such as the possible facilitation of leadership/mediation skills training for political actors, as deemed appropriate;
• 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;
• Provide support to UNDP and other UNCT agencies in designing and implementing programming that responds to context analysis and makes use of entry points peacebuilding and conflict prevention engagement;
• Identify, engage and capacitate civil society actors, especially women’s associations in the peace and development agenda supported by the UN.
• Identify gaps and promote capacity development of local authorities to lead on inclusive and participatory planning processes with the communities to identify and respond to local priorities;
• Identify gaps in linking outputs of dialogues at a local level with policy decisions at a national level (upstream policy making)
• Work closely with the PBF Secretariat to support the implementation of the Peacebuilding Priority Plan, including monitoring of the overall progress, anticipating risks and challenges and providing advice to the RC/RR and the Joint Steering Committee.

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 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.
• Maintain close liaison with relevant donors and other actors supporting peace building efforts;
• Support the RC/RR in mobilizing resources for peace building, inclusive dialogues and conflict prevention initiatives;
• Maintain close contact with the UN electoral observer mission and relevant staff in UN Headquarters including relevant focal points at UNDP, UN/DPA and PBSO.

Strengthen capacity of  UNCT to undertake context 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;
• As required, conduct a conflict mapping and review and analysis of what constitute the root causes with regular updates
• Develop a road map to address root causes of conflict.
• Provide analytical and strategic support to UNCT.

Strengthen capacities of the Government Coordination Group on Peace Building as a permanent convening forum to discuss crisis prevention and peace building issues;

• Engage national and in-country international partners in order to build entry-points and partnerships for conflict prevention and peacebuilding initiatives;
• Provide national counterparts  with comparative experiences and best practices on effective conflict management capacities and help build their understanding in this regard;
• Assist national counterparts in identifying and implementing plans and programmes for building capacities of senior leaders across relevant sectors for constructive dialogue, consensus-building, and effective leadership.
• Organize, facilitate and conduct strategic dialogue activities with national and regional stakeholders;
• Assist relevant stakeholders, as appropriate, to identify risk/opportunities for peace, dialogue, conflict prevention and reconciliation, including the drafting of “issues papers” that could serve as the basis for further dialogue with regard to root causes of the current tensions and strategies for addressing them;
• Consistent with the UNDAF and the PRSP2, provide strategic guidance and technical advice to the implementation of UN Country Team initiatives aimed at building national and local capacities for peacebuilding and conflict resolution;
• As per established UN Frameworks, ensure gender mainstreaming in the above activities and that priority is given to the promotion of the participation of women, youth and traditionally underrepresented groups;
• Support the preparation of a strategic exit strategy for mainstreaming Peace building issues into national sectoral policies and programme as well as UN programming.

The impact of the results is :

• Efforts are directed to address root causes of conflict
• Enhanced capacity for reconciliation, conflict and socio-political analysis;
• Expanded partnership with national counterparts in government, civil society, academia, and think-tanks/ research institutions;
• Relevant international experiences with regard to social cohesion and governance reform adopted and implemented by national stakeholders;
• Strengthened capacities for dialogue, social cohesion, social contract, mediation, reconciliation, confidence building, etc.
• Enhanced strategic capacity of RC/RR and UNCT to contribute effectively to the prevention of conflict and the sustained development and application of national capacities for conflict prevention.

Competencias

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of 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 favoritism.

Functional Competencies:

• Possesses specialist knowledge in the area of conflict prevention, political analysis, social cohesion and dialogue or related areas;
• 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, 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;
• In-depth knowledge of the political situation in Burundi and the Great Lakes Region  ;
• Ability to contribute to strategic planning, and reporting;
• Ability to advise and oversee formulation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of projects and programmes;
• 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.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s Degree) in political science, sociology, international relations, international economics, law, public administration, or other related social sciences.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience in political analysis,diplomacy,conflict prevention, resolution and analysis, mediation, and or strategy development, in a governmental, multilateral or civil society organization;
• Extensive experience in project development, including in the area of peacebuilding;
• A proven advisory and advocacy experience and track record of engagement with senior levels of government, United Nations, and donors;
• Experience working in a UN common system field operation (inclusive of peacekeeping, political mission and UN agencies, funds and programmes) and experience in Burundi would be a major asset;
• Sound knowledge of and extensive experience in Burundi and the Great Lakes Region, including in dialogue and conflict prevention initiatives, is an advantage;
• Experience and specialist knowledge in building national capacities in political dialogue and national reconciliation;
• Experience in the usage of computers is required.

Language:

• Fluent written and spoken English as well as French.

Note:

• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged.