Historique

Since many years, Guinea is experiencing a very difficult context characterized by a severe political crisis, an institutional instability and a slow-down of the economic growth, the whole in a context of bad management of public resources. The degradation of the living conditions of the populations and frustrations that followed, led to a social turmoil of an unprecedented scale.

About two years after the army took over the power in December 2008 and owing to the signature of the Ouagadougou Agreements in January 2010, the country witnessed the return to a normal constitutional order with the inception in December 2010 of the first democratically elected since independence. In late 2013, a milestone was achieved in the transition process with holding of legislative elections and inception of new Parliament in January 2014. However, recent advances in the political, social and economic spheres were severely undermined by the negative impact of the Ebola Virus Epidemic (EVE) Outbreak in March 2014.

As such, the UN support to the Government of Guinea has been guided by the need to review and update its current assistance, as documented in the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF 2013-2017), with a view towards two critical objectives: (i) providing a comprehensive and coordinated response to the EVE aligned with the strategic mission of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER); and (ii) addressing the need for an urgent response to social demands in terms of access to basic social services and facilities, and to reliable employment, particularly for the youth.

Facing these multiple challenges while moving the UN reform agenda forward, requires a strengthened coordination capacity under the leadership of the UN Resident Coordinator (RC) in order to harness support from various partners and to give a more coherent and harmonized response integrating various political, development and humanitarian issues.

To this end, the Office of the Resident Coordinator in Guinea decided to endow itself with additional capacities through the recruitment of a high level Adviser in Strategic Planning. This Adviser shall reinforce the support team to the RR/RC which includes, among others, a Senior Economic Adviser, a Peace and Development Adviser, a Communication/ Advocacy Officer as well as national experts proving technical support for coordination of the Joint UN Program for Upper Guinea and the UN Peacebuilding Fund’s architecture in Guinea.

It is also worth noting that the country team is furthermore assisted, at technical level by the Harmonized Group for Programs (GHP) and the Information/ Communication/ Advocacy Group (GIC) as well as by the OMT (Operation Management Team) that provide support to the three UNDAF inter-agency thematic groups for Guinea.

Devoirs et responsabilités

Summary of Key Functions

Under the direct supervision of the RC/DO/UNDP Resident Representative and in collaboration with the UN Country Team, the incumbent main duties and responsibilities are:

Policy formulation and coordination

  • Provide strategic advice to the RC and UNCT and liaise with relevant UN and national partners to ensure a responsible transition from EVE emergency response towards sustainable development interventions;
  • Facilitate set up and oversight of inter-agency coordination structures in line with emerging national priorities as outlined in PRSP and UNDAF;
  • Facilitate a smooth interaction between Ebola related challenges and development challenges addressed by the respective UN agencies..

 Strategic Planning

  • Lead strategic planning process and facilitate needs assessment processes and all other analytical tasks to help determine the strategy and priorities of the Country Team, in accordance with the MDGs global framework, the UNDAF and Major Conferences;
  • Provide strategic guidance e in defining the UN role, its priorities and strategies as well as the functioning of the various coordination mechanisms, including the thematic groups;
  • Provide strategic advices and a technical support to the joint planning;
  • Provide advices and orientations on the update of the cooperation framework (including UNDAF, CPDs and CPAP) on the basis of a sound context analysis of challenges and opportunities, explicitly reflected in the CCA;
  • Ensure synergy of the Country Team on institutional and organizational issues so as to promote a united and coherent position of the UN system in compliance with the organization’s mandate;
  • Contribute to the development of strategic partnerships based on the UN mission and on the needs of the country;
  • Support and promote the Joint Programming, including integration and coordination aspects with specific parts of the UN system as relevant, for example the coordination with OCHA over the envisaged transition/draw down etc…
  • Assist in consolidating the UN assistance experiences in the context of fragile countries and liaise with the planning capacity in the UNOWA office.

 UNDAF implementation in support of national planning process

  • Facilitate the establishment and effective mechanisms for strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation of UNDAF implementation in consultation with UN agencies, Government, Civil Society, bi/ multilateral organizations;
  • Oversee and if necessary review the UNDAF implementation in line with EVE response and emerging development challenges in the country;
  • Provide guidance and substantive support to the UNCT in the identification and development of joint program/ initiatives in line with UNDAF priorities;
  • Facilitate at the request of the UN RC and UNCT, consultations with the Government, donors and organizations of the UN system
  • Support the UNCT in the development of a common work plan ensuring timeliness, coherence and quality of results in furtherance of QCPR 2012’s recommnadations;

 Advocacy, strategic partnership and resource mobilization

  • Support the RC and the UN Country Team in mobilizing resource for joint programing in support of national priorities and aligned with post 2015 agenda;
  • Provide inputs and guidance for the design, establishment and implementation of appropriate inter-agency resource mobilization mechanisms, including multi donor trust funds , for UNDAF implementation;
  • Establish and maintain strategic partnerships with non-traditional donors including the private sector
  • Oversee and provide strategic guidance to the advocacy for joint UN initiatives and UN coordination in close collaboration with inter-agencies thematic groups;
  • Support the RC and UNCT in creating strategic partnerships with bilateral and multilateral donors and position the UN within the larger donor community and aid coordination structures.

 Management of the RC Unit

  • Supervise and provide guidance to the staff members of the Coordination Unit;
  • Coordinate all activities emanating from the RC Unit, set priorities, develop the work plan and ensure follow-up and feed-back;
  • Support the Rc in identifying resources for coordination activities and ensure budgeting, reporting and management of resources;
  • Liaise and coordinate with the Development Operations Coordination Office (DOCO) on headquarters queries and policy advice related to UN reform policy.

Impact of the result

Main results have on impact on the overall success of program, strategic objectives and purpose of the UN System’s support to Guinea as follows:

  • The UNS’ coordination capacities and implementation of operational activities are reinforced;
  • The relevance, coherence and efficiency of the UN action as well as the visibility of its contributions to national policies dialogue and strategies are reinforced ;
  • The strategic partnerships, resources mobilization as well as the impact of programs and projects funded by the UNS are reinforced;
  • The Joint Programming is promoted and reinforced.

Compétences

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:

  • Proven high-level facilitation, training, networking, coordination, team-building, consensus-building and organizational skills;
  • Ability to lead strategic planning and operational knowledge of results-based management, monitoring/evaluation and reporting;
  • 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;
  • Proven ability to incorporate into his/her work relevant international practices;
  • Previous experience in strategic planning and/.or formulation of Common Country Assessment (CCA)/UNDAF and/or transitions plans in fragile state context will be considered a plus;

Management Competencies:

  •  Excellent team-building, diplomatic, and interpersonal skills;
  • Resourcefulness, initiative, and maturity of judgment;
  • Strong communication and advocacy skills;
  • 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.

Behavioral 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.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education:

  • Graduate level university degree or higher, in development economics, political science, statistics, international development and/or management and coordination.

Experience:

  • At least ten years work experience in development and or/ transitional operations;
  • Of which at least four years of experience in the field, ideally in a fragile state/ post conflict setting.

Language Requirements:

  • Excellent knowledge of French (written and spoken); and
  • Good knowledge of English  (written and spoken).