Job: Governance Coordination Assistant

Location: Port Victoria, Seychelles
Deadline: Thursday, 12 September 2013 

Description

Background Information UNOPS

In December 2010, the United Nations General Assembly reaffirmed UNOPS mandate 'as a central resource for the United Nations systems in procurement and contracts management as well as in civil works and physical infrastructure development, including the related capacity development activities.' UNOPS mission is to expand the capacity of the UN system and its partners. As an operational arm of the United Nations, UNOPS is currently supporting a range of partners including UN agencies, funds and programmes, international and regional financial institutions, intergovernmental organizations, donor and recipient governments, and non-profit non-governmental organizations in the implementation of more than $1 billion worth of peace building, humanitarian and development projects every year.

With its headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark, a network of five regional offices and a further 20 operations and project centers, UNOPS oversees activities in more than 80 countries and often implements projects in the most challenging environments,while maintaining world class standards of quality, speed and cost effectiveness. By managing around 1000 projects for our partners at any given time, UNOPS makes significant, tangible contributions to results on the ground.

UNOPS employs more than 6000 personnel and on behalf of its partners,creates thousands more work opportunities in local communities.

Background Information - Kenya

The UNOPS Kenya Operational Hub (KEOH) plays a critical role in supporting projects on behalf of partners and creating real results that matter for people in need. KEOH is implementing projects worth more than $30 million in East Africa and is helping partners achieve project goals in project management,procurement, infrastructure, human resource management and advisory services.

Background Information - Job-specific

The IWRM SIDS project falls under the Programme Management Office which has been established at the Kenya Operational Hub (KEOH) to support achievement of project level results that contribute to Programme level success. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has funded a full sized project to support 6 participating Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of which 2 are located in the Atlantic Ocean (Cape Verde and SaoTome & Principe) and 4 are located in the Indian Ocean (Comoros, Maldives,Mauritius and Seychelles). The IWRM AIO SIDS project addresses issues related to the management of water resources, both freshwater and coastal marine areas in an integrated manner.

Recognizing the urgent need for comprehensive Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and improved Water Use Efficiency(WUE), the project seeks to accelerate progress on IWRM and WUE plans and water supply and sanitation development goals for the protection and utilization of ground water and surface water in the participating countries.

It will specifically support the implementation of demonstration activities on IWRM and WUE to address priority issues at the national level with potential for replication across the region and in other SIDS regions.

The overall objective of the IWRM AIO SIDS project is to strengthen the commitment and capacity of the participating countries to implement an integrated approach to the management of fresh water resources, with a long-term goal of enhancement of the capacity of the countries to plan and manage their aquatic resources and ecosystems on a sustainable basis.

The project recognizes the highly integrated and closely interlinked nature of fresh surface- and groundwater resources and coastal areas in small islands and aims to develop a more sector-coordinated management approach, both at the national and the regional level, with a strong emphasis on an expanded role for all stakeholders within a participatory management framework.

The project further recognizes the constraints on the development and implementation of such an integrated and sector-coordinated management approach in the absence of applicable and cost-effective solutions to many of the primary threats and their root causes at the grass-roots level.In this respect, the project aims to develop and secure a more effective landscape for freshwater watershed and coastal management in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean SIDS through a logical framework of components and activities.

To this effect, four project components will focus on:

• On-the-ground demonstration projects targeted at national hotspots where specific threats to national amenities have been identified. Emphasis will be on cross-sectoral management approaches and stakeholder participation and coordination, related capacity building, and the replication and transfer of best lessons and practices from these demonstrations.
• Identification of impact indicators for measuring IWRM efficacy (including indicators of improvements in process, stress reduction, and the overall status of the freshwater and coastal environment), and to support a program of monitoring which can drive policy reforms.
• Overall policy, legislative and institutional needs which will enable AIO SIDS to develop and implement IWRM and WUE plans for the long term achievement of sustainable development goals. High priority will be given to assisting the countries to meet the commitments required in the ratification process for important regional legal agreements such as the Barbados Program of Action(1994) and the Mauritius SIDS Strategy (2005). A specific outcome from the project will be the development of effective IWRM and WUE plans for each country, followed by assistance to identify strategies for implementing these plans.
• Capacity building, learning, knowledge exchange and replication throughknowledge transfer and stakeholder engagement by networking, as a means topromote replication and IWRM roll-out, to maximize the potential for IWRMsustainability, at national, regional, inter-regional and global scales.

The IWRM AIO SIDS Project further emphases the development of long-term, sustainable management and coordination approach for effective management and coordination of the overall regional project and the national demonstrations. Consequently, the project aims to demonstrate the development of an effective regional strategy for IWRM and WUE, in parallel with demonstrating and replicating geographically targeted national solutions to common SIDS issues, through a series of interconnected components that capture best practices and translate these into replicable actions.

Functional Responsibilities

Below are some of the functionalities. The IWRM Governance Coordination Assistant (IWRM GCA), under the guidance of the National IWRM Focal Point, will be responsible for:

• Assist in the development and implementation of targeted strategies for an integrated approach to the management of freshwater resources, its implementation and monitoring;
• Support the management, coordination and facilitation of the regional components of the project at the national level supported by the Regional Project Coordination Unit (PCU) to achieve outputs and outcomes;
• Contribute to effective and efficient stakeholder networking and facilitate communication where necessary;
• Pro-actively encourage and support broad-based awareness of inclusiveness, gender sensitivity, conflict sensitive project management, good governance amongst projects and partners.
• For day to day coordination, the IWRM GCA will be accountable to the National IWRM Focal Point within the relevant focal Ministry and to the Regional Coordinator of the overall project.

The IWRM GCA will be responsible for:

Roles and responsibilities

• The IWRM GCA will be assisting the facilitation and management of national governance activities relevant to the regional components of the project.
• The IWRM GCA will be the secretariat to the National Steering Committee and the assistant to the National IWRM Focal Point.

Related to management, capacity building and mainstreaming

• Assist in the day-to-day coordination of the IWRM related activities in the country;
• Assist in preparing, in consultation with the PCU and National IWRM Focal Point , the work plan, schedule and budget for national governance activities, and to submit the same to the relevant national Ministry, the National Steering committee and the PCU;
• Help to consider and integrate inputs from all government agencies and stakeholders into the annual work plan and consider national priorities, plans and strategies;
• To Assist in the Contribution to the analysis of the existing legal frameworks and policies and barriers to achieving IWRM, which will help identify what IWRM support is further required;
• Facilitating the collection of all required input to develop an IWRM Road Map;
• Foster good governance, communication and information sharing among all stakeholders;
• Assist in the drafting and submit the terms of reference for any governance work to be contracted nationally, support monitoring and assist with the management of all work contracted to national experts, to submit the work produced by national experts to the National Steering Committee and provide input to clarify that it meets the terms of reference for such work;
• To ensure that the governance work contracted out to national experts is coordinated and integrated at a national level so that it contributes effectively to the implementation of the IWRM Project;
• In association with the PCU, contribute to the drafting and submit the terms of reference for governance work to be contracted internationally, support monitoring and assist with the management of all work contracted to international experts, and to submit the work produced by international experts to the National Steering Committee and help certify that it meets the terms of reference for such work;
• To assist the arrangement for the administrative and logistical support required by the National Steering Committee and related committees under the project;
• To support monitoring, management and facilitate the organization (and where relevant implementation) of the national governance activities, including developing replication and sustainability options for the project and subsequent interventions (including securing seed funding to ensure community level initiatives, for example through the GEF Small Grants Program).

Related project monitoring, evaluation, documentation and reporting

• To report regularly to the PCU/Regional coordinator regarding the progress of national governance activities and to assist in accounting for budget expenditures. This will include monthly checkpoint monitoring reporting to determine IWRM governance progress, and maintenance of project information and contacts;
• Facilitate periodical coordination and planning meetings with partner organizations, in consultation with the National Steering Committee and PCU;
• Assist with the provision of technical support to strengthen the monitoring & evaluation systems of partner organizations and local service providers as appropriate;
• Document and disseminate IWRM related experiences, best practices, success stories and lessons learned both within and outside the national context.

Related to coordination, representation and networking

• Assist the Project Focal Point with the coordination with relevant government agencies, private sector, civil society,international donors, INGOs and NGOS and other stakeholders for fruitful harmonization of project activities;
• Maintain close and good relationship with all stakeholders to contribute to achieving the goals of the project;
• Proactively communicate and facilitate the exchange of information, and meetings of the National Steering Committee and other government mechanisms, including international donor organizations and NGOs;
• Assist in the preparation of an annual work plan, annual budget, quarterly and annual progress report for the National Steering Committee and the PCU;
• Assist with the arrangement and facilitation of meetings and workshops, actively participate in review and planning meetings, strategic and project related meetings;
• Provide necessary support to project partners-for effectively delivering project activities;
• In cooperation and close coordination with the Project Manager of the Demonstration project, keep an up to date database of all project data, information and inventory of assets. Appropriate records pertaining to project beneficiaries and shall be properly kept with effort to ensure a gender disaggregated data;
• In close coordination with the Project Manager of the Demonstration project, ensure that the demonstration project lessons learned are communicated widely and integrated at a national level so that it contributes effectively to the overall success of the IWRM project;
• Proactively network and communicate with all project partners and stakeholders, externally with national and/or regional stakeholders through designated channels in order to raise awareness about IWRM in general and project results in particular.

Other specific responsibilities as assigned

• To perform such other duties as may be required by the National Steering Committee, the National IWRM Focal Point consistent with the objectives of the program, including providing assistance with sourcing seed funding to ensure the sustainability of local governance initiatives started under the project;
• Be proactive in bringing innovations and take new initiatives into the project and local institutions and organizations;
• Promote gender disaggregated planning and proactively communicate to consider gender differences in management actions and impacts.
• Perform other related duties as required.

Competencies

• Good understanding of local governance issues including cross-sectoral coordination, participatory planning, transparency and accountability, social inclusion;
• Experience in project planning, monitoring and reporting in the sector of IWRM;
• Good understanding of water and environmental management and governance aspects among the actors;
• Proven ability to work with a wide range of actors including government,local organizations, private sector and other development partners particularly around participatory planning and capacity building;
• Full computer literacy (MS Word, Excel, Power Point), willingness to learn how to maintain and update websites;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, good team-player,result oriented personality, maintaining deadlines;
• Experience with managing conflict situations and demonstrable negotiation skills will be a distinct advantage;
• Understanding of issues related to governance, gender mainstreaming and social inclusion, conflict sensitive program management.

Approximately 10% of the post is expected to be spent on project management, with the remainder of the workload on stakeholder engagement, communications, advocacy and awareness raising.

Education/Experience/Language requirements

• Completion of secondary education is required with relevant experience in governance including stakeholder engagement and communication expertise
• A degree or professional experience in one of the following discipline swill be favorable: business administration, public administration, water resources management, environmental management, economics will be an added advantage.
• Additional training in project management and/or communications is desirable
• At least three years of work experience in managing and coordinating development programs, experience in local governance will be preferred;
• Good documentation and presentation skills, good written and verbal communication skills in the local language and English;

Contract type, level and durationContract type: Individual Contractor Contract level: LICA 3 Contract duration: 1 year (renewable subject to performance and availability of funds) For more details about the ICA contractual modality, please follow this link: http://www.unops.org/ENGLISH/WHOWENEED/CONTRACT-TYPES/Pages/Individual-Contractor-Agreements-ICAs.aspx

Additional Considerations

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time (CET)
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• For staff positions UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns. Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.

More Info and Application