UNDP Jobs - 37753- Capacity-Building Officer (for Nepalese nationals

Capacity-Building Officer (for Nepalese nationals only)

Location :

Kathmandu, NEPAL

Type of Contract :

Service Contract

Starting Date :

15-Aug-2013

Application Deadline :

16-Jun-13 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

SB-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

One year with possibility of extension

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

UNDP is a key implementer of peacebuilding initiatives to support Nepal’s peace process. Nepal is in a critical transition phase after a decade long internal conflict claiming more than 16,000 lives. Although the signature of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in Nov 2006 brought a halt to the immediate violence there are still many issues to be resolved and new threats are emerging as Nepal proceeds in consolidating its peace process, especially after the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly (CA) on May 27 on the failure of the government to promulgate a new constitution. While at the national level, politics is challenged by stalemate with negotiations around key peace process issues, sub-national level politics manifests increasing tension around identity and ethnicity-based issues inspired by the proposal of federalism.

Given this highly dynamic peace and conflict context UNDP has launched a five year Conflict Prevention Programme (CPP), where one of the programme pillars is Mainstreaming Conflict Sensitivity. This component targets key programmes, projects and processes in the United Nations as well as key government institutions relevant to consolidating peace in Nepal. One of the objectives of this programme is to change the way initiatives are designed and implemented in order to have a more positive impact on Nepal’s overall peace building context. This component is interagency in nature, with the initial involvement of the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office, UNICEF and UNDP.

By June 2012, 384 UN Staff and 81 government officials have been trained in the use and application of the Do No Harm tool. However, as part of conflict sensitivity practice, there needs to be a regular context analysis, apart from the initial exercise, in different projects and their respective areas of intervention in order to continually adapt to a more conflict-sensitive planning and implementation. There is also a higher demand from UNDP and its partner agencies, after its first year of implementation, to expand the scope of training and the number of trained staff in the use of the instrument, as well as from UNDP’s external partners such as the National Administrative Staff College (NASC) and the National Planning Commission (NPC) to initiate Do No Harm trainings in their own institutions.

On the basis of the growing needs of the Conflict Sensitivity mainstreaming process, especially with the initiative expanding to other projects and programmes as well as into other agencies and external partners, more trainers are needed to support the DNH technical team in implementing the regular exercise of conflict analyses and Do No Harm trainings. Therefore, CPP requires the services of a capacity-building officer to implement the aforementioned workshops and trainings to continue capacity building in the pilot projects and to help create capacity in new target projects and programmes, particularly those operating in the field.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of Assignment

To support the development of technical capacity for mainstreaming CS/DNH approach in UNDP and the UN system.
To support the capacity-building of the Government in the application of instruments of conflict sensitivity in project planning and implementation at the national, regional and local levels
The Capacity-Building Officer will be part of the Technical Team for Conflict Sensitivity to ensure that the objectives of the assignment have been fully achieved.

Scope of work: Provide support on establishing institutional technical capacity for mainstreaming conflict-sensitivity:

Develop basic technical capacity on conflict sensitivity in participating agencies through:

Facilitation of context analysis workshops, fact-checking and validation exercises
Facilitation of Do No Harm workshops

Together with the Technical Advisor and Programme Analysts, contribute to the development of training and workshop materials on conflict sensitivity:

Develop Nepal-specific training modules in English and Nepali languages
Conduct periodical review and adjustment of training methodology training modules
Contribute to the knowledge management system by ensuring proper development and delivery of workshop and training documentation

Provide technical accompaniment in conflict sensitivity capacity-building

Provide coaching and mentoring sessions to new pools of trainers from the participating programmes and projects
Ensure quality management by co-facilitating in trainees’ pilot sessions
Assist in preparing training and workshop designs for pilot sessions
Develop capacity of documentation officers to ensure high quality process documentation of the orientation, workshops and training processes
Co-facilitate in other capacity-building initiatives as required by the Technical Team

Monitor the progress of second-generation Do No Harm trainings

Ensure that duplicated workshops meet the recommended standards of design and implementation
Keep track of the number of stakeholders for second-generation capacity-building on Do No Harm
Conduct a survey on further capacity-building needs for the sustainability of conflict sensitivity mainstreaming
Follow-up on the next steps for fulfilling capacity-building demands and needs of participating programmes and projects

Competencies

Functional competencies

Strong analytical and strategic planning skills
Strong interpersonal skills, particularly focused on ability to build and maintain personal and institutional relations
Strong writing skills, particularly focused on the ability to produce high quality written documents
Cultural and political sensitivity and the ability to exercise sound judgment
Creativity and innovation in training methods

Corporate competencies:

Demonstrated high moral integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards, impartiality and discretion and proven capacity of initiative, discretion and autonomy.
Promotes the vision, mission and strategy of UNDP
Displays respect to diversity and cultural, gender, religious, race, nationality and age sensitivity.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Masters’ Degree in political science, social science, behavioural science and other related fields.

Experience:

At least 6 years work experience in development work related to conflict, peacebuilding or transitional issues in Nepal.
At least one year experience directly related to conflict sensitivity and ‘Do No Harm’ approaches.
Preferably completed a Training of Trainers’ (ToT) in the theory and application of the Do No Harm tool
Training and experience in conflict analysis and experience in applying such analysis to local development contexts in Nepal.
Good understanding of Nepal’s peace process, and the political, social and economic aspects of peacebuilding and development efforts in Nepal
Direct experience in training a variety of target groups, from grassroots to civil society audiences. Experience in training UN staff an advantage.
Experience working in the United Nations an advantage

Language Requirements:

Proficiency in spoken and written Nepali and English.
Excellent writing skills in English is an important requirement for this specific job.