UNDP Jobs - 55719- Technical Advisor

Technical Advisor - (Peace & Development)

Location :

Juba, SOUTH SUDAN

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

30-Apr-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-5

Duration of Initial Contract :

One year

Languages Required :

English

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

The South Sudan Development Plan (SSDP) outlines priorities of the Government of the Republic of South Sudan in the interim period from independence to the end of 2016. The overarching objective of the SSDP is to ensure that: "South Sudan is a united and peaceful new nation, building strong foundations for good governance, economic prosperity and enhanced quality of life for all". The SSDP identifies national policy goals and priorities across four priority pillars: (1) Governance; (2) Economic Development; (3) Social and Human Development; and (4) Conflict Prevention and Security.

Peace and Development is part of the Conflict Prevention and Security Pillar and comprises the following institutions: Ministry of Internal Affairs now Ministry of Interior; Ministry of Justice; South Sudan Police Service; South Sudan Prison Service; South Sudan Fire Service; South Human Rights Commission; South Sudan DDR Commission; Law Review Commission; Community Security and Small Arms Control Bureau; Customs; Immigration Directorate, Judiciary., South Sudan peace and Reconciliation Commission and South Sudan Customs Service. The SSDP identifies promoting peace and reconciliation as a top priority and emphasizes the need for a sectoral approach to reform.

UNDP contributes to the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) Outcome 4: “Violence is reduced and community security improved” and aims to support the priorities of the peace and reconciliation institutions namely, the South Sudan Peace & Reconciliation Commission, Bureau for Community Security for Small & Arms Control as well as other partner institutions including the National Platform for Peace & Reconciliation and a diversity of civil society organizations. UNDP’s support, through the Community Security and Arms Control (CSAC) Project will contribute direct technical and policy advisory support at national and state-levels to provide conflict-sensitive service delivery in order to stabilize the local security / peacebuilding environment and institutional support to enhance national capacities for community security, peacebuilding and reconciliation.

The onset of violent conflict in December 2013 emphasized the fragility of political governance, and laid bare ethnic fault lines and the underlying lack of nationally driven social cohesion. The response of the country’s governance structure to political and/or violent crisis through constitutional – and rule of law –means was weak and incoherent resulting in a crisis of political governance. Furthermore, there has been only limited outreach to the local level to strengthen existing capacities for conflict prevention, despite numerous community driven dialogues and local efforts in conflict resolution. As a result, the restorative justice, reconciliation and accountability mechanisms were unable to respond effectively to either localized or national conflicts.

The outbreak of violence in South Sudan 2013, which resulted from disagreements within the ruling SPLM party and spiraled into an armed conflict across ethnic lines, led to a review of the CSAC project and the implementation of a two year Crisis Response Plan, which cuts across most UNDP projects. While the conflict is entrenched in Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile states, an IGAD peace process is on-going, though in a stalled manner. The crisis has led to calls for a comprehensive and credible transitional justice process which is expected to deepen democracy through an integrated constitution making process and the rule of law. In this regard, the Project was reprogrammed to support the development of human and institutional capacities, to respond to a credible accountability mechanisms. Current Project design also includes providing support to the National Platform for Peace and Recompilation (NPPR) and the civil society to participate in promoting peace and reconciliation.

UNDP South Sudan now seeks a a Chief Technical Advisor to provide technical advisory services and programme development support to senior members of the South Sudan Peace and Reconciliation Commission, National Platform for Peace and Reconciliation (NPPR), senior management of UNDP including, the Team Leader of the Democratic Governance and Stabilization Unit, CSAC Project Manager, as well as to other key government, UN and NGO stakeholders.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the of the Democratic Governance and Stabilization Unit Team Leader and guidance of UNDP Country Office, the Chief Technical Advisor will perform the following functions:

Summary of Key Functions:

Enhance policy development and technical advisory support;
Enhance coordination and coherence of peacebuilding and reconciliation strategies, methodologies and actors through the SSPRC;
Strengthen national, state and local peacebuilding and reconciliation capacities and ‘infrastructures for peace’; and
Strengthen institutional capacity of the SSPRC and NPPR.

Enhance Policy Development & Technical Advisory Support:

Provide technical advisory services to the national institutions for peace and reconciliation to take a leadership role in core areas of its mandate;
Undertake and produce regular analysis, policy briefs and knowledge products on key topical issues of strategic value relating to peacebuilding, reconciliation, conflict mitigation, early warning and other areas within the SSRPC/NPPR mandate to enhance policy and programmes;
Provide substantive leadership for strategic initiatives on conflict prevention, including convening high-level forums on behalf of the SSPRC/NPPR;
Support the relevant national institutions and initiatives to develop policies and programmes that promote identity creation and nation building under a peacebuilding framework by facilitating inter-ministerial collaboration, as well as working with civil society organizations, NGOs, UN and other partners; and Identify entry points and develop key programme recommendations for UNDP CSAC and other relevant UN, UNCT and UNDP programmes; and
Participate, advise and contribute to substantive discussions in various UNDP, UN, donor and other inter-agency forums on peace and reconciliation.

Enhance coordination and coherence of peacebuilding and reconciliation strategies, methodologies and actors through the SSPRC and NPPR:

Ensure regular coordination forums are established and active between the SSPRC, NPPR and peace building partners, particularly civil society organizations;
Establish and strengthen the NPPR’s information sharing and knowledge management solutions to minimize duplication and promote collaboration across sectors on strategic and programmatic matters;
Assist the SSPRC, NPPR and other stakeholders to develop and apply minimum standards to ensure all peacebuilding and conflict transformation activities are congruent with higher-level peacebuilding and reconciliation strategies and frameworks;
Facilitate stronger collaboration with other developing agencies and other existing or new peace building and reconciliation efforts of the UN system.

Strengthen national, state and local peacebuilding capacities:

Provide technical support in the design, implementation and expansion of the IGAD-supported Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN);
Provide technical support to the SSPRC, State Peace Commissions/committees, NPPR and local peacebuilding and reconciliation mechanisms to execute their respective mandates;
Provide technical support to articulate roles, responsibilities and areas of collaboration amongst the diverse peacebuilding mechanisms, particularly focusing on the interface between peacebuilding mechanisms at national, state and local levels;
Establish a network of national, state and local mediators and facilitators with key leadership/influential qualities and provide skill-enhancement in relevant technical areas to enhance capacities and utilize them; and
Support the design and implementation of conflict resolution, mediation and other peacebuilding processes;

Strengthen Institutional Capacity of the SSPRC and NPPR:

Support in conducting capacity assessments and capacity building strategies in core areas of the SSPRC and NPPR mandate;
Provide on the job training/coach as and when required on technical and senior administrative matters affecting the programmes and operations;
Support internal planning and review processes including, strategic plans, annual work plans, undertaking lessons learned exercises, among others;
Advise on the development of a sound monitoring and evaluation strategy for both its activities on the ground and internally and ensure findings are integrated into subsequent activities;
Support the development of key communication pieces including, press releases, newsletters, annual reports and key knowledge products.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Good knowledge of UNDP/UN rules, regulations, policies, procedures and practices;
Good understanding of UNDP programming modalities, particularly in crisis and post-conflict settings.

Functional/Technical Competencies:

Substantive and technical expertise in one or more of the following issues:

Conflict analysis/assessment tools;
Developing and delivering experiential conflict resolution/transformation skills-training to different levels of audiences, including training-of-trainers;
Mainstreaming conflict prevention into national development programmes;
Building national capacities to manage/prevent/reduce violent conflict;
Facilitating multi-stakeholder national/local dialogues for conflict management;
Outstanding knowledge of facilitation/training, process and co-ordination skills;
Extensive experience of providing policy advice (including report writing) at international level;
Experience of UN inter-agency policy processes.

Managerial Competencies:

Ability to establish effective working relations in a multicultural team environment;
Excellent team-building, diplomatic, and interpersonal skills. Resourcefulness, initiative and maturity of judgment.

Behavioural Competencies:

Strong communication and advocacy skills;
Ability to work in a complex environment requiring liaison and collaboration with multiple actors;
Ability to demonstrate sensitivity, tact and diplomacy;
Excellent analytical, organizational and negotiation skills, especially resource management systems;
Excellent networking skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Masters’ degree in social sciences with a focus on international relations, political science, development studies or peace and conflict or related fields.

Experience:

Minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible experience in conflict prevention, including relevant field experience, especially in crisis or post-conflict settings, and in conflict sensitive programming. Specific experience in building national capacities for conflict prevention would be an asset;
Extensive field and programming experience;
Specific experience involving the facilitation of multi-stakeholder consensus, preferably in crisis situations;
Specific experience with designing and implementing conflict resolution interventions;
Demonstrable ability to work in a team environment, and to strengthen team cohesion through collective action and individual initiative;
Demonstrable ability to engage with sensitivity, strategic foresight, and political acumen in situations involving multiple - especially political - actors and stakeholders;
Prior experience in the sub-Saharan African region;
Basic computer skills (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint ,etc).

Language Requirements:

Full working knowledge of English, including excellent writing skills, is required.