UNDP Jobs - 72653- Social Mobilization cum Gender Equality and Social

Social Mobilization cum Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Specialist

Location :

Kathmandu, NEPAL

Type of Contract :

Service Contract

Starting Date :

01-Aug-2017

Application Deadline :

09-Jun-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

SB-5

Duration of Initial Contract :

Six months.

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

June 2018

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 Local Governance and Community Development Programme (LGCDP)-II implemented by the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development (MoFALD) and supported by a range of development partners, is transitioning into the Sub National Governance Programme in the context of the new federal Constitution. The Constitution has envisioned the three tiers of government system; federal, provincial and local. The rights and responsibilities of the three tiers of governments are prescribed in the Constitution.

With this background, the LGCDP II has been extended for one more year as a transition to sub national governance programme with the objective of supporting institutionalization of sub national governance for smoother and efficient transition management. As part of the Transition to Sub National Governance Programme, the Policy and Programme Support Facility (PPSF), a UN Joint Programme (UNJP), provides technical assistance (TA) for the effective implementation of the larger Programme.

During the period of LGCDP I & II, significant achievements have been made in the areas of social mobilization through empowerment and transformational mobilization of community groups like Ward Citizen Forums (WCFs) and Community Awareness Centres (CACs). Therefore, the LGCDP II – Transition to Sub National Programme has taken GESI and Social Mobilization as a core principle and has planned to translate the best practices and lessons learnt from earlier programmes on GESI and Social Mobilization. Therefore, this programme will continue the earlier community organizations’ architecture for a short period of time so that the elected representative will have leverage of utilizing these former community structures in support of their demand side activities at the local and sub national level.

Under the overall supervision of the National Project Manager (NPM) and Deputy National Project Manager, the Social Mobilization (SM) cum GESI Specialist is responsible for ensuring the overall quality implementation of agreed programme activities under output 3 of the Programme.

Duties and Responsibilities

General:

The Social Mobilization cum GESI Specialist will be supporting the Transition to Sub-National Governance Programme, Programme Coordination Unit (PCU) to achieve the Transition Programme goals, purpose, outcomes and outputs.

The Specialist will work under the daily supervision of the NPM, Deputy NPM including output managers and provide technical assistance and advice as required by the programme in those areas. S/he will be ultimately accountable to the NPD.

The Specialist will work closely with other Outcome Specialists and S/he will be expected to collaborate with all of the PCU’s Technical Specialists.

Specific tasks and responsibilities:

In their capacity as the Social Mobilization cum GESI Specialist, the incumbent is expected to perform the following tasks:

Management:

Participate in all PCU meetings;
Assist in organizing bi-monthly output group meetings;
Identify and report risks and issues to the PCU and support discussion on mitigation actions in the bi-monthly output group meetings;
Support PCU in conducting timely meeting and disseminating minutes and following up on agreed actions;
Follow up on the implementation of Outcome 2 activities in the ASIP in coordination with the PCU;
Provide required technical support and inputs to the Provincial Support Units (PSUs);
Guide and provide technical support of all the SM and GESI expert at the PSUs;
Provide backstopping support and technical guidance to the PCU in relation to outcome 2 of the programme;
Assist PCU in drafting terms of reference for any activities and consultancies related to SM and GESI issues;
Provide input to PCU on SM and GESI issues to any guidelines, manuals or other such documents related to Transition to Sub-National Governance Programme.

Planning, Monitoring and Reporting

Participate in drawing up the Annual Strategic Implementation Plan (ASIP) and the Annual Monitoring & Evaluation Plan (AMEP) in relation to outcome 3 of the programme;
Assist in periodic review of overall Transition to the Sub-National Governance Programme progress social mobilization, and Gender and Social Inclusion;
Assist in drafting regular narrative and annual progress reports in relation to output 3 of the programme;
Carry out periodic monitoring visit to assess the progress and provide feed-back for social mobilization and GESI support under the programme;
Document and share success stories and good practice on a monthly basis and contributing to the monthly Review report of the programme;
Design, implement and monitor the Business Literacy Program under the GESI Sub-component and document the progress and lessons learned;
Monitor the effectiveness of project components and sub components in achieving the gender social inclusion and poverty target;
Work with the M&E unit and with those responsible for each project activity for the means of monitoring gender and social inclusion aspects including the disaggregation and analysis of data by gender, poverty, caste/ethnicity and district and value chain, and documentation of achievements and lessons learned.

In terms of specific technical responsibilities, the Specialist will be expected to:

Provide policy and programmatic advice to MoFALD regarding all issues on SM and GESI;
Take lead to provide technical support and input for the implementation of all SM and GESI activities;
Provide technical inputs for developing guidelines/ manuals, on Social Mobilization and GESI for the sub-national governments, particularly the Rural municipalities and municipalities;
Explore appropriate practical strategies to link the best initiatives of LGCDP-II in relation to SM and GESI with other service providers and involved ministries;
Develop and design appropriate capacity development measures in part of SM and GESI;
Assessing the opportunities, advantages and interest for groups (CACs) to form cooperatives and develop a plan for project assistance to cooperative development;
Review business plans of groups/cooperatives and agribusinesses in the aspect of gender and social inclusion and assure whether social targeting has been met in the plans and provide feedback and suggestions to the management.
Facilitate sensitization of all the project team and stakeholders on concepts and concerns of GESI and poverty;
Facilitate elaboration and documentation of gender strategy for the project including designing gender audits, gender response mechanisms, gender analysis/ mapping/ planning in value chain, and gender profiling;
Facilitate implementation of project gender and social inclusion strategy for each of its components, sub components and activities including mechanisms and benchmarks to ensure that the gender, social inclusion and poverty targets are monitored, reported and met (including mechanisms to allow project management to respond if there are issues in meeting the targets).

Competencies

Promotes sharing of knowledge and experience, and actively works towards continued personal learning and development;
Good practical knowledge of inter-disciplinary development issues;
Ability to go beyond established procedures and models, propose new approaches which expand the range of projects;
Builds strong relationships with all partner, focuses on impact and results and responds positively to critical feedback;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
Proven networking, team building, organizational and communication skills;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.
Should be a team player and can organize team’s work in line with SM and GESI priorities;

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Completion of Master’s degree in Public Administration, Political Science, Rural Development, Gender and Development, Social Science or related field.

Expereince:

7 years of experience in local government and decentralization with hands-on expertise in Social mobilization and GESI;
Significant experience in Social Mobilization and GESI approach is required, including experience in methodology, implementation, assessment, and reporting. Proven predisposition to teamwork is required;
Experience in working at grassroots/community level is an essential requirement of the post;
Familiarity with working with GoN project implementation will be an added advantage;
Good command of spoken and written Nepali and English;
Demonstrated track record of delivering high-quality reports on time;
Experience of working in a national government-managed programme would be an advantage.