UNDP Jobs - 51075- Project Officer, NPPP III -(Open to Nepalese Natio

Project Officer, NPPP III -(Open to Nepalese Nationals only) - NEX Project

Location :

Field based (one of the project districts), NEPAL

Type of Contract :

Other

Starting Date :

01-Jan-2015

Application Deadline :

20-Nov-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

Other

Duration of Initial Contract :

One year (Subject to satisfactory performance)

Languages Required :

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Up to the end of the project

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

UNDP is a key implementer of peace building initiatives to support Nepal’s peace process and has been providing dedicated assistance to key peace building activities related to constitution building, support to the discharge and rehabilitation of former Maoist army combatants, capacity development to strengthen national and local-level peace building mechanisms, and support to develop collaborative leadership and other peace building capacities.

Nepal is in a prolonged transition phase after a decade long internal conflict claiming around 16,000 lives. The signature of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in Nov 2006 brought a halt to the immediate violence although there are still many issues to be resolved and new threats are emerging as Nepal proceeds in consolidating its peace process. Current challenges relate to meeting people’s aspirations for a greater political voice, broader social and economic inclusion and better access to resources, jobs and services as well as the promulgation of a more inclusive constitution. At the national level, politics is challenged by a very slow process of negotiations around key issues, at the sub-national levels, politics is characterised by low intensity tension and conflict that have the potential of destabilising local governance structures. Rule of law and security also remain important areas for prioritisation.

As part of its mandate to build strategic and catalytic peacebuilding programmes in Nepal, UNDP identified the need to incorporate violence reduction as an important part of peace building initiatives. In this context, in November 2011, Saferworld was commissioned, following a competitive selection process, to conduct an initial assessment of the armed violence situation in Nepal. The assessment started with a desk review of the topic, followed by primary research covering four district clusters, identified as armed violence hotspots by the desk review. While the assessment was ongoing, UNDP established contacts with the relevant Government of Nepal (GoN) Ministries through assigned focal points, with the Ministry of Home Affairs in the lead. This was to ensure GoN involvement at every stage of project development. The third stage of the assessment involved developing Armed Violence Reduction and Strengthening Community Security Programming (AVRSCS)programming options, triangulating the findings of the assessment with the input provided by the GoN during meetings, thereby ensuring that any potential programming on AVR resonates with the expressed needs of the GoN.

The Projectdesigned for Nationally led Implementation wasofficially signed on December 2013 by the Ministry of Home Affairs and UNDP.

Currently, the AVRSCS project is in the process of hiring project officers for its roll out. Directly reporting to the Project Field Coordinator and onwards to the National Project Manager, the incumbents shall be responsible for leading the implementation of the project activities in the project areas. S/he is required

to analyse trends in political, social and economic violence and lead the implementation of the project activities as per the project work plan formulation, provide policy advice services and strategic direction to the overall implementation of the project portfolio.

The main role is to ensure timely implementation and results achievement of the project, including support to continued monitoring and implementation of the project. S/he supports the formulation, management and evaluation of project activities, identifies new strategic programming areas in her/his programme, document priorities and creative responses to emerging challenges and opportunities. S/he provides policy advice services to government and partners and contributes to knowledge building and management.

Duties and Responsibilities

Reporting to the Field Coordinator of the project, and onwards to the Project Manager of the AVRSCS project, the Project Officers will provide analysis and advice on programmatic, administrative issues related to the implementation of the AVRSCS Project in the priority districts and make technical recommendations in writing in addition to advising on implementation of such activities.

Objectives of the assignment

Provide technical support and lead the implementation of project activities in the target districts- Kailali, Kanchanpur, Banke, Bardiya, Bara, Parsa, Dhanusha, Saptari and Morang over the project implementation period;
Under the guidance of Project Senior management, develop appropriate coordination channels with government, civil society and other relevant stakeholders for the implementation of project activities in the area of AVRSCS;
Provide the senior management of the project with updated and high quality analysis on matters relating to AVRSCS.

Key objectives of assignment are:
Under the overall supervision of the Field Coordinator of AVRSCS, the Project Officer will have the following responsibilities:

Government Liaison;
Exploration of synergies and development of partnerships in project districts;
Lead Project implementation as per the project’s quarterly and annual workplan;
Regularly update project Management with high quality of analysis on all matters relating to the armed violence reduction and community security sector;
Support the M& E and Communications function.

Government Liaison

Liaise directly with the relevant Government counterparts for project implementation;
Provide necessary technical input to the project senior management for the smooth implementation of the project activities to accomplish project targets at Kathmandu as well as the field level;
Provide necessary analysis in developing sound working relations with the GoN implementing partners and offer policy and technical support for responsible national institutions.

Exploration of synergies and development of partnerships

Explore synergies with all related programmes, policies and activities currently being implemented or planned by GoN and other development partners in the project districts;
Contribute to the development of a collaborative environment with development partners and implementing organizations, national and international, contributing to the effective implementation of the project.

Regular engagement with relevant organizations (GoN and Non Governmental) to build relations, share information and experiences, explore avenues for collaboration to ensure maximum project impact through participatory and inclusive community security planning and implementation processes.

Convene partners and relevant stakeholders for joint community security agenda setting, planning and implementation processes and documents the discussions and agreement thereof;
Build on the existing work and avoid duplication;
Assess the capacity building needs of the partners and stakeholders and make recommendations to the project senior management for the delivery of those sessions;
High quality research and analysis on international AVRSCS processes compiling relevant lessons for the Nepali context and the development of relevant documents.

Project Implementation

Lead the implementation of the project work plan adopting room for strategic flexibility;
Based on assessed needs, organize and coordinate capacity building workshops, trainings, seminars and meetings for relevant stakeholders as well as target groups;
Offer guidance on the preparation of accurate and reliable financial reports for project implementation activities;
Lead the preparation of quarterly reports to update the Project Senior Management of the progress towards the targets;
Provide needed technical support for staff and consultants working on AVRSCS;
Provide needed support to the project related assessment teams, evaluation teams and auditors;
Provide input to the planning of new activities including the identification of new targets and related initiatives;
Contribute to the preparation of quarterly reports to update the Project Senior Management of the progress towards the targets;
Ensure high quality and timely project delivery;
Regular progress updates to project management;
Status reporting to project senior management at all stages on a monthly basis;
Monitor and report on security/policy environment change on a regular basis, noting any significant changes;
Contribute to the preparation of relevant proposals, project documents and other key materials for resource mobilization;
Track targets against the deadlines and ensure early detection of potential problems in terms of delivery and activities implementation and appraise the Senior Management;
Support to M& E and Knowledge Management;
Liaising with the M&E officer and Communications Officer contribute to the knowledge management activities related to AVRSCS.
Help identify the success stories from the fields to be used for resource mobilization and awareness raising purposes and coordinate with communications and M&E colleagues to raise their profile;
Ensure that the project activities are planned and implemented in a gender sensitive and social inclusive manner and that all the implementing partners are sensitized and trained in gender and social inclusion.

Competencies

Corporate competencies

Demonstrated high moral integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards, sound political judgment as well as diplomacy, impartiality and discretion and proven capacity of initiative, discretion and autonomy.
Promotes the vision, mission and strategy of UNDP.
Displays cultural, gender, religious, race, nationality and age sensitivity.

Functional Competencies

Ability to coordinate with multiple stakeholders on the design, development and implementation of the programs;
A deep understanding of the particular sensitivities of the various stakeholders in the complex area of AVRSCS and community security;
Cultural and political sensitivity and the ability to exercise sound judgement;
Strong analytical and strategic planning skills;
Strong writing skills particularly focused on the ability to produce high quality written documents;
Maintenance of productive working relations with all the relevant partners and UN agencies;
A drive for results and the ability to deliver on time.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Masters Degree in Conflict and Peace Studies,Social Science, peace building, conflict management, security studies, human rights, development studies or related field.

Work Experience:

7 year’s experience of working in the following areas: armed violence reduction, community security, human rights, conflict transformation, and peacebuilding;
Experience in community security sector;
Good understanding of Nepal’s peace process and the political, social and economic aspects of peace building and development efforts in Nepal;
Knowledge and understanding of international AVR practices and frameworks would be an advantage;
Experience in working with UN/UNDP is a strong advantage.

Language requirements:

Proficiency in spoken and written English and Nepali.