Project Officer

The ultimate result of service for the individual contractor is the successful implementation of the JOSP Maareynta project by strengthening coordination among UN agencies, government entities, and partners, enhancing policy development, and improving land governance and climate resilience. The contractor contributes to capacity building, strategic planning, and community-based conflict resolution while ensuring effective water governance and settlement planning.

nairobi

6 months

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-Habitat, is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all. UN-HABITAT helps the urban poor by transforming cities into safer, healthier, greener places with better opportunities where everyone can live with dignity. It works with organizations at every level, including all spheres of government, civil society and the private sector to help build, manage, plan and finance sustainable urban development. Nearly 4 million people, which is a substantial part of the Somali population live in protracted internal displacement. Another one million Somalis are in displacement in neighboring countries, bringing the total displaced population to approximately 20% of the current estimated population of Somalia. Most IDPs live in unplanned and informal settlements in urban areas. For example, Mogadishu is home to nearly 800,000 IDPs, which is over one fourth of the overall internally displaced population in Somalia. About 55% of the IDPs are concentrated in two of Mogadishu’s peripheral districts. Overall, this constitutes one of the highest IDP concentrations across the African continent. Protracted internal displacement is therefore an inherently urban phenomenon in Somalia and must be addressed against a backdrop of increasing urbanisation and growing rural-urban migration trends, with one of the highest urban growth rates in the world. UN-Habitat has joined a consortium of humanitarian and development partners to support the Jowhar Offstream Storage Programme (JOSP) a flagship programme of the Government of Somalia that seeks to rehabilitate a large irrigation schemewith the view to reducing flood risk and mitigating drought for 1.65 millionen people living along the Shebelle River inb Hirshabelle and South West State. It is a mutli-donor, multi-year, interministerial initiative under the joint leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation and Ministry of Energy and Water Ressources in collaboration with the National Center for Rural Development and Durable Solutions and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. The Programme prioritizes vulnerable communities affected by forced displacement and climate shocks aiming to provide equitable access to resources and resilient livelihoods and strengthening institutional capacities for effective natural resource management. This includes inclusive land governance and integrated settlement planning under the so-called JOSP worksdtrem on Durable Solutions, land tenure and social inclusion. More specifically, UN-Habitat partners with FAO (lead), IOM, UNIDO and UNEP under the JOSP Maareynta Isbeddelka Cimilada (JOSP Governance for Adaptation to Climate Change) Project financially supported by the multi-partners Somalia Joint Fund. The overall objective of Maareynta is to improve the governance of JOSP to enhance efficient outcome-oriented water policy and services; furthermore, enhanced capacity of public and private partners to deliverer agro-value chain development services; also, strengthened community resilience and governance; in particular effective land governance, and reinforced environmental governance and peacebuilding. UN-Habita’s technical support for the project is grouped around the following output areas: Improved infrastructure for land administration, strategic planning frameworks for strategic urban planning and settlement planning established, capital investment projects for settlement upgrading initiated and community-based conflict resolution platform operational. Synergy affects are being expected from ongoing related projects in Jowhar such as Doowladkab (Local Governance and Decentralized Service Delivery Programme) and EU Adkaysi Project with the latter one boosting resilience of displacement affected communities and adaptation to climate change. This position is located within the Regional Office for Africa under the Somalia Country Programme. The Project Officer (Individual Contractor) will be under the overall coordination of the Senior Human Settlements Officer/Head of Country Office and the direct supervision of the Head of Programmes. He/she will work closely with the other project managers. Responsibilities: Within delegated authority, the Project Officer (Individual Contractor) will be responsible for the following duties: • Develops, implements and evaluates assigned programmes/projects, etc.; monitors and analyzes programme/project development and implementation; reviews relevant documents and reports; identifies problems and issues to be addressed and initiates corrective actions; liaises with relevant parties; ensures follow-up actions. • Performs consulting assignments, in collaboration with the client, by planning facilitating workshops, through other interactive sessions and assisting in developing the action plan the client will use to manage the change. • Establish and execute close collaboration and coordination with JOSP implementing partner agencies and relevant government entities; hereby focus upon fully operationalizing the Maareynta project coordination structure • Provide substantial input in Technical Working Group sessions related to Durable Solutions and implementing partner meetings • Researches, analyzes and presents information gathered from diverse sources. • Coordinates policy development, including the review and analysis of issues and trends, preparation of evaluations or other research activities and studies, • Generates survey initiatives; designs data collection tools; reviews, analyzes and interprets responses, identify problems/issues and prepares conclusions. • Organizes and prepares written outputs, e.g. draft background papers, analysis, sections of reports and studies, inputs to publications, etc. • Provides substantive backstopping to consultative and other meetings, conferences, etc., to include proposing agenda topics, identifying participants, preparation of documents and presentations, etc. • Initiates and coordinates outreach activities; conducts training workshops, seminars, etc.; makes presentations on assigned topics/activities. • Leads and/or participates in large, complex field missions, including provision of guidance to external consultants, government officials and other parties and drafting mission summaries, etc. • Coordinates activities related to budget funding (programme/project preparation and submissions, progress reports, financial statements, etc.) and prepares related documents/reports (pledging, work programme, programme budget, etc.).

Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in architecture, civil engineering, urban and regional planning, economics or physical sciences relevant to development and management of human settlements or a related field is required. A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. A minimum of five years of progressively responsible experience in human settlements, project or programme management or related field is required. Working experience in urban planning and design, urban management and participatory planning processes and /or local governance matters is required Experience with durable solutions and/or urban resilience is desirable. • Proven experience in human settlements development fields, projects/programme design and implementation with the UN or other international agencies is desirable.

For the position advertised, fluency in oral and written English is required.

Not available.

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.