Coordination and Inclusion Officer

Update

At the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs is the imperative to ensure no one is left and that all play their part in advancing sustainable development. In 2019, the UN Secretary-General launched the UN Disability Inclusion Strategy (UNDIS) to strengthen the system-wide inclusion of persons with disabilities. The UNDIS plays a crucial role in supporting Member States to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, its central promise to leave no one behind, and implement the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The United Nations is driving disability inclusion through a Strategic Global Partnership to include persons with disability in the workforce. The Partnership's mission is to create a Public-Private Collaboration to train, hire, and advance persons with disabilities in the workforce across 131 countries where the UN has operations. The goals of the Partnership will be achieved by leveraging the capacity and infrastructure of the UN and creating supportive networks and platforms to generate systemic change both within the UN and more broadly with private and public sector partners. The Business Operations Strategy a common framework that brings together all UN agencies to collaborate across operations will enable and facilitate the scaling and impact of this Partnership.
Key Objectives
1) The United Nations Country Team in South Africa, under the leadership of the Resident Coordinator, has been selected to participate in this initiative. Within this context, this UNV assignment will further strengthen the coordination efforts of the Resident Coordinator’s Office in developing, implementing and providing coordination support in the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework.
2) The appointed UNV will work with other staff members within the RCO under the operational guidance of the Head of the Resident Coordinator’s Office and overall leadership of the Resident Coordinator to deliver on the UN Country Team’s efforts to leave no one behind and include all in development interventions.
3) Create a collaborative partnership to advance the imperative to leave no one behind in development interventions and to include persons with disabilities in the workforce within the UN in South Africa and broadly to realise their rights in line with the goals in the 2030 Agenda and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 131 countries where the UN has operations.
4) Leverage the UN’s operations, institutional frameworks, infrastructure, and network to include persons with disabilities in the workforce and programming in South Africa.

The Disability Inclusion Officer will work within the RCO team and perform the following tasks within the delegated authority and under the supervision of the Resident Coordinator or her designated mandated representative(s);

• Support RCO in convening and coordinating meetings, as delegated;
• Support coordination of various UN entities and national stakeholders to ensure they meaningfully participate in the project;
• Work with Results Groups to support the mainstreaming of UN inclusive and leave no one behind programming principles into the Joint Work Plans;
• Liaise with and support organizations of persons with disabilities in planning and achieving their advocacy targets in accordance with the Cooperation Framework and the National Development Plan (NDP);
• Coordinate and support assessment of the inclusivity of the UN ICT, HR recruitment processes and physical accessibility of the UN house;
• Facilitate capacity building of the UN staff on disability mainstreaming and targeting persons with disability in programming;
• Facilitate awareness and training on how persons with disabilities could access ICT, procurement, employment opportunities within the UN system;
• Ensure that the South Africa Global Partnership for persons with disabilities project plan is developed and routinely updated as required;
• Support course correction and project improvement based on identified needs;
• Support quality assurance of all performance and programme information received from UN agencies.
• Support preparation of project quarterly reports outlining status of implementation of activities and monthly progress reports to UNCT;
• Work with UN Communications Group to develop relevant and informative communications products;
• Support secretariat functions of the RCO as delegated.

Results/expected outputs:
• As an active RCO team member, efficient, timely, responsive, client-friendly and high-quality support rendered to RCO South Africa and its beneficiaries in the accomplishment of her/his functions, including:
o Programme Planning and Performance Reporting
o Partnership Building
o Policy Analysis
o Coordination
• A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for peace and development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in, and capacities developed.