Recrutement de 01 Peace & Development Advisor

Recrutement de 01 Peace & Development Advisor
Niveau d'études: Bac + 5 ou plus
Expérience: 10 ans ou plus
Expire le: 13-11-2023

PNUD
Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
Peace & Development Advisor

Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

Job Identification
14496

Locations
Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

Posting Date
11/02/2023, 01:51 PM

Apply Before
11/13/2023, 05:59 AM

Job Schedule
Full time

Agency
UNDP

Grade
P5

Vacancy Type
Fixed Term

Practice Area
Conflict Prevention, Peacebuilding and Responsive Institutions

Bureau
Regional Bureau for Africa

Contract Duration
1 Year

Education & Work Experience
Master's Degree - 10 year(s) experience

Required Languages
Fluency in written and spoken English and Portuguese is required. Working knowledge of French is required.

Mobility required/no mobility
mobility required




Job Description
BACKGROUND

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.

The joint UNDP-DPPA programme on building national capacities for conflict prevention has made a ground-breaking contribution in bridging the gap between political engagement and development assistance in pursuit of preventing conflict and sustaining peace. In its new phase (2019-2023), the Joint UNDP-DPPA Programme will further strengthen the analytical capacities of national stakeholders and the UN system in support of Member States’ efforts to advance policy and programmatic coherence on conflict prevention and support strategies for sustaining peace.

Peace and Development Specialists (hereafter PDA) work with national stakeholders to build, strengthen, and sustain nationally owned and driven efforts to prevent violent conflict and build just and peaceful societies. The range of countries to which PDAs are deployed varies considerably, with some deployed to countries emerging from conflict, others where violence is escalating, and others to countries where there is no violent conflict but underlying structural causes of conflict are present. PDAs are also deployed in countries where political and developmental challenges exist around transitions, elections and constitutional processes, exclusion and inequality, environment, climate change, and natural resource management.

PDAs are deployed through a partnership between the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under the Joint UNDP-DPPA Programme on Building National Capacities for Conflict Prevention.
PDAs support Resident Coordinators (RC) and UN Country Teams (UNCTs) in their efforts to work with national partners on conflict prevention and sustaining peace. They support early warning and risk management measures and ensure that UN assessments, frameworks (mainly Common Country Analyses and UN Cooperation Frameworks), strategies, and programmes are conflict-sensitive and informed by high-quality analysis. They are located in the Resident Coordinators’ office, with a direct reporting line to the RC and a secondary reporting line to the UNDP Resident Representative and DPPA-DPO regional divisions.
In 2023, PDAs will have been deployed into more than 70 countries through the Joint Programme. While most PDAs are deployed at the country level, there are a number of PDAs who cover multiple countries.

In some contexts, PDAs are part of a small Peace and Development Advisory team composed of a PDA and a substantive national or international officer/analyst.
PDAs also receive additional support from a Joint Programme secretariat based at UN Headquarters in New York, UNDP and DPPA technical advisors/specialists globally, and a cadre of regional programme specialists supporting their regions in Amman, Bangkok, Dakar, Istanbul, Nairobi, and Panama.
Given the broad range of skills and experience required by PDAs, the Joint Programme encourages applications from individuals with a combination of expertise spanning sustainable development, political affairs, peacebuilding, sustaining peace, conflict prevention/resolution, community engagement, justice, reconciliation, dialogue, mediation, and humanitarian-development-peace nexus among other relevant areas. While UN experience is a major asset, it is not a requirement for this position. Moreover, the skills of diplomacy, dialogue and facilitation, analysis, advocacy, networking, capacity development and coordination are critical elements of a PDA’s work.

PDAs at the P5 level will be deployed in a) particularly complex political, conflict, and security settings as determined by the Joint Programme criticality assessment and analysis carried out by DPPA and UNDP b) in contexts of UN mission/mission transition settings or with other political presences, c) when regional/sub-regional functions are required, or d) when engagement with high-level officials is expected.

Guinea-Bissau’s context

Guinea-Bissau has faced recurrent political and institutional instability since the 2014 presidential election. There have been continued disagreements and power struggles between the president and the Prime Minister, which has resulted in the formation of seven governments over a five-year period and a parliamentary impasse. Since then, the country has successfully held legislative elections on 10 March 2019, and presidential elections – two rounds on 24 November and 29 December 2019, within the legally mandated timeframe. Of note, the second-round presidential election results were contested by the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) presidential candidate, and a legal case was filed with the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ). Further to the 10 March legislative elections, a new Parliament was installed in April 2019, where the former ruling party PAIGC is still the largest political group, however, without a governing majority. In the meantime, President Umaro Sissoco Embaló dissolved Guinea-Bissau’s Parliament on 16 May 2022 and established plans to hold legislative elections on December 18th, 2022. He has kept both the prime minister and his deputy in power to help run the government until the institution of a new parliament. However, the Government was unable to organize elections in December and a new date was set for 4 June 2023. The Parliament had been riddled with inter-party disputes over the formation of its Executive Bureau and other parliamentary bodies.

Further to the 1 February 2022 foiled coup attempt, there have been reports of increased violations of human rights. At the request of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and President, ECOWAS has deployed about 600 troops to support stabilization efforts in the country with little national consensus backing this decision. Of note, ECOWAS has been leading mediation efforts in the country to address the cyclical political and institutional crises facing the country. It deployed a peacekeeping mission to the country, known as ECOMIB, in 2012 with a mandate to protect the state institutions and organs during the transition process. In 2016, ECOWAS brokered a Roadmap followed by the Conakry Agreement, which is the guiding framework for the political process in Guinea-Bissau. The ECOMIB mandate ended on 31 March 2020.

Concerns over the nomination of the new National Electoral Commission (CNE) persist. All political parties previously represented in Parliament have expressed their readiness to engage in dialogue, which is an opportunity for increased good offices by UNOWAS to facilitate such a dialogue to enable agreement on the key “time-bound” issues. Additionally, following the departure of the former CNE President, who was appointed as the President of the Supreme Court of Justice - reportedly with the support of President Embaló - a replacement with a judicial background needs to be nominated by the Supreme Court and approved by Parliament, with a two-thirds vote in favor. Other CNE Commissioners (Secretary-General and two Commissioners) will also need to be nominated by the Supreme Court and approved by Parliament.

Meanwhile, the constitutional review process, requested by ECOWAS in its communique of 22 April 2020, continues to be mired with ambiguities, with no clear indication if the draft text prepared by Parliament will be put forward for a debate at the next parliamentary plenary session in May 2022. On the one hand, President Embaló had established a presidential technical commission that undertook a review of the constitution and prepared a draft constitutional text leaning towards more presidential powers. On the other hand, the draft text from the constitutional review process led by Parliament aims to clear ambiguities in the roles and responsibilities among the Executive (President and Prime Minister), which has been one of the core reasons for political crises in the past, Legislative and Judicial bodies. Calls for the streamlining of the two processes have yet to yield results; however, all political parties in Parliament, including the President’s party MADEM-G15, unanimously agree that the review of the Constitution falls under the prerogative of Parliament.

Overall, the Conflict Analysis document, prepared by UNIOGBIS and validated by the Government in 2020, identified several conflict drivers, including:

Conflicting interpretations of the Constitution and other legal frameworks have given rise to recurrent political crises that often paralyze State institutions. This includes conflicting interpretations of legislation related to the division of power and responsibilities within the Executive Branch (President and Prime Minister), which exacerbate political tensions; and continuing power struggle in Parliament, amidst shifting parliamentary alliances and majorities, impacting progress in the reform agenda and the Government’s programme;
Impunity and unaddressed violations of human rights, as well as continued divisiveness and political polarization stemming from past, unsettled grievances;
Weak economic and governance systems affect the State’s capacity to deliver basic services and goods to the population, payment of salaries and pensions to civil servants, or support capital investment;
Entangled political-military relationship of the State and in national politics, in addition to a stalled Security Sector Reform (coupled with reduced budget allocations to the defense and security forces, which leads to the deterioration of their living conditions;
Continued expansion of drug trafficking and organized crime, coupled with a weak judicial system, will have a negative impact on the country’s political stability, given the involvement of senior state officials (political and military), and continued socio-economic challenges, amid a situation of high urban youth unemployment, exacerbated by the effects of COVID-19 and the triple impact of the Ukraine crisis on food, energy, and finance.
The above-stated takes place in a transition context for the United Nations in Guinea-Bissau. Following 20 years of UN mission presence in the country, and in keeping with the mandate of the Security Council that was adopted under resolution 2512 of 28 February 2020, the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) closed on 31 December 2020. Before its closure, UNIOGBIS, in collaboration with UNDP, supported the Government in implementing urgent reforms, including the constitutional review, the electoral law and political parties’ law, as stipulated by the Conakry Agreement and the ECOWAS roadmap. In this connection, following the closure of UNIOGBIS, UNOWAS, the United Nations Country Team in Bissau, and other partners, have assumed the main peacebuilding priorities. In accordance with an agreed Transition Plan, all transition milestones have been concluded, including the finalization and signing, in August 2021, of the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (2022-2026). Moreover, in response to the needs of the country, the SG Executive Committee held a meeting on January 2020 and decided that a Peace and Development Advisor (PDA) should be deployed to support the Resident Coordinator and the UNCT on the political analysis and reporting. Additionally, the RC will work closely with UNOWAS SRSG in support of his good offices’ efforts, including by providing reporting on political and security developments and progress made towards the full implementation of the reform agenda envisioned in the Conakry Agreement while safeguarding the political stability and security gains achieved by UNIOGBIS. The PDA will support the RC in such reporting for the SRSG UNOWAS good offices.

Guinea-Bissau is one of the PBF Priority Countries, both in its funding window (PBF) and its political advocacy platform, the Peacebuilding Commission Configuration for Guinea-Bissau (PBC). Continued focus on peace and development will be important to ensure that the country overcomes the prevailing challenges and evolves into a stable and cohesive nation-state.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITES

There are three broad functions of the position:

Undertake conflict analysis and provide strategic advice to the Resident Coordinator and the UNCT in their engagement with high-level government officials, academia, civil society, including youth and women’s networks, HQ, and other relevant stakeholders. Submit the analysis and reporting to the RC, UNDP RR, and DPPA Western Africa Division. The PDA works closely with the UNDP Governance Unit.
Identify opportunities to build national capacities for conflict prevention, including areas of strategic, programmatic, and policy engagement with national stakeholders, and support the RC and the UNCT action in areas of conflict prevention, peacebuilding, human rights, humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus, Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS) among others.
Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with key national stakeholders, regional and international actors, and development partners on issues related to Sustaining Peace and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Key duties and accountabilities include:

Undertake conflict analysis and provide strategic advice to the Resident Coordinator and the UNCT in their engagement with high-level government officials, academia, civil society, including youth and women’s networks, HQ, and other relevant stakeholders. Submit the analysis and reporting to the RC, UNDP RR, and DPPA Western Africa Division. The PDA works closely with the UNDP Governance Unit:

Provide political and conflict analysis and reporting to the RC, UNDP RR, DPPA-DPO Western Africa Regional Division and UNOWAS, as well as to the wider UNCT on political developments and conflict dynamics, to identify appropriate entry points for conflict prevention. This includes recommending appropriate strategic responses for the UN system, ensuring gendered dimensions of conflict are captured in both analytical efforts and reflected in UNCT programming initiatives, and providing policy analysis to feed into UNOWAS briefs supporting the engagements and good offices by the SRSG;
Strengthen and support the capacity of the UNCT, including through training, to undertake conflict, context, and political economy analysis, ensuring that gendered and human rights dimensions are reflected in both analysis and programming; and inform early warning and response mechanisms;
Provide updates to the UN Headquarters (and regional level as relevant) in line with the Joint Programmes reporting guidelines with advice on political and socio-economic developments and conflict dynamics;
Support the regular update of the Common Country Assessment (CCA), which informs the design and implementation of the UN Cooperation Framework, including leading the conflict analysis part of the CCA;
Provide substantive leadership for strategic initiatives on conflict prevention, including convening on behalf of the RC dialogue processes; assisting United Nations Country Team led conflict resolution activities in conflict-affected communities; building skills for dialogue, negotiation and mediation for leadership at the national level, especially political party leadership, including youth and women leadership within party structures, and for the relevant branches of government, parliament and justice sectors as deemed necessary; establishing and extending the capacities of networks of mediators and facilitators at the national and local levels; fostering and nurturing confidence-building measures. Also helping build similar skills for dialogue, negotiation and mediation for leadership at the national level for civil society networks, especially women, youth, human rights and faith-based groups. Striving towards building close relationships among the private sector, national authorities, and civil society to help synthesize efforts by key stakeholders towards sustainable development, political stability, peace, and security;
Regularly brief the UNCT on political developments and provide strategic advice on integrated approaches across the UNCT in the context of SDG 16 – Peace Justice and Strong Institutions.
Participate on behalf of the RC in relevant national fora and represent the UN system where necessary, including through engagement with high-level government officials;
Facilitate the linking of political economy considerations, conflict, and political analysis and strategies as well as risk-informed approaches to the UN’s programmatic and policy engagement at the country-level; and
Engage with academia and think tanks in research and analyses on peace and conflict-related themes, including areas such as climate-related security risk.
Identify opportunities to build national capacities for conflict prevention including areas of strategic, programmatic, and policy engagement with national stakeholders, and support the RC and the UNCT action in areas of conflict prevention, peacebuilding, human rights, humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus, Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS) among others:

Identify opportunities to build national capacities for conflict prevention including areas of strategic, programmatic, and policy engagement with national stakeholders, and support the RC and the UNCT action in areas of conflict prevention, peacebuilding, human rights, humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus, Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) and Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS) among others;
Provide strategic and technical advice and support the design and initiation of peace-promoting initiatives or engagements in areas such as conflict prevention and sustaining peace; infrastructures for peace; dialogue processes; confidence-building measures, electoral violence prevention; social cohesion; reconciliation; countering violent extremism; and stabilization;
Provide guidance and political support to the UN’s peacebuilding efforts in the Highlands region, including exploring prospects for expanded police and rule of law components in programming;
Liaise with DPPA Western Africa Division and UNOWAS in supporting the implementation of the reform agenda envisioned in the Conakry Agreement;
Support the design and facilitation of national multi-stakeholder processes, building national and local capacity for negotiation, mediation, and dialogue, and strengthening networks of mediators and facilitators (including female mediators) at national and local levels;
Identify opportunities and options for UN preventive diplomacy engagement as required.
Support connecting local and national level conflict prevention and peacebuilding efforts, as well as regional and/or cross-border initiatives as appropriate;
Identify and engage civil society actors in the peace and development agenda supported by the UN and work with other UN entities, including OHCHR and UN Women, to protect human rights and expand civic space;
Support the UNCT in their efforts on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) and gendered dimensions of peacebuilding and SCR 1325 (and related resolutions) as well as Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) and SCR 2250;
Support the design and implementation of strategies for identifying entry points for mainstreaming of conflict prevention and conflict sensitivity in the work of the UNCT (including within the CCA, Cooperation Framework, Country Programme Documents, etc.; and, where relevant, support UN’s resource mobilization efforts for conflict prevention;
Provide strategic guidance and quality assurance to the design and implementation of programmes funded by the UN Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), where applicable, and engage closely with PBF governance mechanisms; as well as with DPPA regional divisions and UNDP Country Offices and HQ on the implementation; and
In contexts of a UN Mission transition, work closely with relevant stakeholders to ensure that the activities of the UNCT incorporate a conflict prevention dimension to sustain the peacebuilding gains achieved during the mission’s presence.
Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with key national stakeholders, regional and international actors, and development partners on issues related to Sustaining Peace and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development:

Establish and maintain networks and strategic partnerships for sustaining peace-related strategies and initiatives and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and national SDG plans;
Liaise closely with national, regional, and local stakeholders, including civil society, academia, think tanks, women’s and youth networks, and key international actors (including International Financial Institutions and regional organizations) to identify entry points, foster dialogue, and strengthen strategic alliances and partnerships on conflict prevention, trust- and confidence-building, and reconciliation initiatives;
Maintain close liaison with relevant development partners, the diplomatic corps, regional organizations, and other actors supporting the UN’s conflict prevention and peacebuilding efforts;
Maintain close contact with relevant staff in UN Headquarters, as well as at the regional level, including relevant focal points at UNDP, DPPA-DPO, DCO, and work closely with the regional programme specialists based in the region;
Promote strong partnerships with relevant government and civil society actors in relation to the Women, Peace, and Security agenda;
Maintain close contact with Special Envoys, Special Representatives of the Secretary-General, political missions, and offices where relevant;
Liaise with the DPPA-Peacebuilding Support Office together with the respective DPPA-DPO regional division in countries where PBF activities are being developed and/or implemented; and
Contribute to the results-based management efforts of the Joint UNDP-DPPA Programme, including by setting up mechanisms to assess and measure the impact of peace and development initiatives and providing the Joint Programme secretariat with inputs on progress at the country level.

Other Responsibilities:

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.
Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities:

Supervise the Peace and Development Officer/Analyst/Specialist (for countries where such positions are established)

COMPETENCIES

Core Competencies:

Achieve Results: LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact
Think Innovatively: LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems
Learn Continuously: LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences
Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands
Act with Determination: LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results
Engage and Partner: LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration
Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of a diverse workforce and champion inclusivity

Cross-Functional & Technical Competencies:

Business Direction and Strategy: Strategic Thinking

Ability to develop effective strategies and prioritized plans in line with UNDP’s objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, potential risks and opportunities, linking the vision to reality on the ground, and creating tangible solutions.’
Ability to leverage learning from a variety of sources to anticipate and respond to future trends; to demonstrate foresight in order to model what future developments and possible ways forward look like for UNDP.
Business Management: Partnership Management

Ability to build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts, and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies.
Business Management: Communication

Ability to communicate in a clear, concise, and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience.
Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media, and other appropriate channels
Agenda 2030 - People: Gender

Women, Peace, and Security
Agenda 2030 - Peace: Conflict Prevention, Peacebuilding and Responsive Institutions

Community engagement for prevention, response, and social cohesion
Conflict Analysis and conflict sensitivity
Early Warning

QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

Master’s Degree in Conflict Resolution, Peace Studies, Political Science, Sociology, Human Rights, International Relations, Economics, Law, Public Administration, or other related Social Sciences is required.

Experience, Knowledge, and Skills:

Minimum 10 years of experience in conflict analysis, strategy development, risk-informed/conflict-sensitive development, and/or conflict prevention & sustaining peace in a governmental, multilateral, or civil society organization is required.
Proven policy, advisory, and advocacy experience and track record of engagement with senior officials, such as the United Nations, government, and external partners is desirable.
Experience in programming and project management, such as programme design and results monitoring, in areas related to conflict prevention, peacebuilding, and/or development is desirable.
Experience working within a UN Agency/Fund/Programme or Department and/or field experience would be a major asset.
Experience in national and community-level conflict prevention and peacebuilding initiatives and programming; with experience in gender dimensions of peacebuilding being an asset.
Excellent knowledge of and extensive work experience in the Sub-Saharan Africa subregion or in a similar context, preferably in conflict, post-conflict and transition settings, being an asset.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in written and spoken English and Portuguese is required.
Working knowledge of French is required.

Other:

Qualified female candidates are especially encouraged to apply.
The inclusion of candidates in the PDA roster occurs following a competitive roster recruitment process and the endorsement by the UNDP Compliance Review Body (CRB). Additionally, candidates competing in an external PDA recruitment process and getting recommended and approved by the CRB will be included in the roster at their respective levels.


Please note that continuance of appointment beyond the initial 12 months is contingent upon the successful completion of a probationary period.

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