UNDP Jobs - 78838- Consultant for Capacity Assessments of Existing Yo

Consultant for Capacity Assessments of Existing Youth Centers

Location :

Monrovia, LIBERIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Jun-2018

Application Deadline :

22-May-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

24 Days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

24 Days

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 Enhancing Youth Participation in the 2017 Legislative and Presidential Elections Project began in May and has to date realized many of its outputs. The project amongst other undertakings seek to advance skills transfer on conflict diffusion and non-violent resolutions strategies through training for youth in specifically communities that are prone to violence and generally in all communities in Liberia. It is structured to dissuade youth from engaging in electoral violence by reducing their vulnerabilities for recruitment and instilling values consistent with national, regional and international norms and standard.
With 65% of the Liberian population between the ages of 18-32 the project, commonly refer to as the Youth and Elections Project, is focus on engaging young people as actors and facilitators of community engagement. Precisely, the project uses youths as the principal actors in diffusing potential conflicts at every level of the Liberian society. The project is engaging youth before, during and after the electoral process, to avert the perception of political exclusion.
Through programming aimed at Education, Engagement and Advocacy, the project is using the UNSC Resolution 1325 which calls for women equal participation, and promotion of gender equality in peace and security decision-making processes at the national, local, regional and international levels and the UNSC Resolution 2250 which demand for meaningful inclusion of young people in every aspect of development. It has two major outcomes:

Increased leadership and participation of young women and men in electoral and post electoral mechanisms and processes for peacebuilding at all levels; and
Increased capacity and skills of young men and women to monitor, prevent and mitigate electoral violence including gender based.

The project is being implemented in all 15 counties and covers a wide range of target groups and beneficiaries, an estimated 50,000 individuals and provides an opportunity for youth led educational activities, engagements and advocacies. Per the project Implementation, output 2, activity 2.2.3 seeks to support the Ministry of Youth and Sports to provide the needed hardware, based on assessments, to existing youth centers in 11 of 15 counties, so as to enable the centers provide government and community liaison services.
The UNDP through its partnership with the Government of Liberia is committed to supporting the Ministry of Youth and Sports to ensure that increased number of youth participate at all levels of the Liberian society. Given the significant relationship developed over the years between the UNDP and the Ministry, the two entities are currently working together through the Youth and Elections Project to not only increase youth participation at all level of society, but also to build the relationships and networks between national, local and community youths as well as with the Ministry.
In consideration of the above, the ongoing UNDP Youth and Elections Project, with funding from the Peace Building Fund (PBF) requires the service of an individual contractor to work with Technical Staff from the Ministry of Youth and Sports, County Youth Coordinators and Local Youth Groups to assess the organizational, institutional and technical capacities and subsequently develop a capacity building plan for the Youth centers established by the MYS in 11 of 15 Counties in the country.

Duties and Responsibilities

Functions / Key Results Expected

Under the overall supervision of the YEP Manager in close consultation with the Director of Youth Department of the MYS, the UNDP seeks to recruit a consultant to assess the organizational, institutional and technical capacities of youth centers in 11 of 15 counties in the country in relation to:
Based on the understanding of the TOR of this assignment, draft the capacity assessment methodology and tools for UNDP/MYS approval prior to the actual assessment;
Conducting a desk review of key documents that established the Youth Centers, including the mandate, mission and strategic plans that necessitated the construction of the Youth Center across the country;
Completing a performance appraisal review and situational analysis of all Youth Centers and determine the relevance and rational of the CYCs and as a result recommend the mandate, mission and focus areas/function of CYCs;
Conduct comprehensive field organizational, institutional and technical capacities assessment of all CYCs and highlight the strengths, weaknesses, limitations and opportunities. Subsequently, based on capacity gap analysis recommend the organization management, institutional and technical capacity building needs;
Summarize the findings CYC by CYC highlighting the capacity gap and capacity building needs of each Center;
Develop an overall capacity building strategic and operational plan for the 11 CYCs and present the outcome to stakeholders for validation and subsequently finalize the findings report and the capacity building strategic and operational 3 years plan for 3 years.

The consultant will work with the technical staff from the Ministry of Youth and Sports, county youth coordinators, local youth groups, youth and elections project staff and other stakeholders in ensuring that the assessments process is carryout smoothly and relevant information are disseminated to stakeholders. The consultant will be tasked with conducting desk review, designing and implementing consultative forums, organizing presentation sessions, developing policies and organizational structures for the youth centers with active involvement of community youth groups, the recently established County Youth Peace Committees (YPCs) and political parties youth.

In delivering the consultancy, the consultant will:

Work in very close partnership with the Ministry of Youth and Sports officials including the Minister, Deputy Ministers and Assistant Ministers and technical staff, UNDP Youth and Elections Project staff;
Work closely with the County Youth Coordinators and other Ministry of Youth and Sports staff based in the county;
Work closely with the leadership and members of the recently established Youth Peace Committees (YPCs);
Work closely with county authorities, CSOs, youth groups and other stakeholders; and
Work closely with the UNDP Liberia Country Office.

Competencies

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

Functional Competencies:

Communication and interpersonal skills required for collaboration with youth administration as well as various stakeholders.
Ability to prioritize work and produce the required outputs in the given timeline.
Ability to advise effectively, mentoring as well as conflict resolution skills.
Strong oral and written communication skills.
Excellent training and presentation skills.
Excellent drafting and analytical skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree or equivalent in Social Sciences, Economics, Development Studies or related field.

Experience:
The consultant is expected to have the following qualifications:

Minimum of 5 years of hands-on experience in youth CSO’s capacity building; development project formulation and management at the national or international level;
Experience in research and policy-level analysis, design, monitoring and evaluation of youth development projects and recommendations for need assessments.;
Demonstrated knowledge and experience in dealing with the tools and systems related to youth empowerment and capacity development;
Demonstrated strong analytical and problem-solving skills required;
Proven ability to work with multiple stakeholders and obtain buy in for project ideas with strong data collection, analysis and presentation skills;
Demonstrated ability to conduct strategic planning exercises and develop implementation plans and formal reports;
Experience in advisory role, especially knowledge of the counties of Liberia and youth activities.
Understanding of political economy, conflict analysis and relevant strategies for implementing crisis sensitive responses to political governance issues;
Demonstrable experience undertaking similar consultancies for international development organizations, preferably UNDP;
Demonstrated ability in the usage of computers and office software packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems and advanced programmes for data analysis, including SPSS.

Language:

Fluent English-Speaker.