Project Officer

Update

Within the framework of the UNODC Strategy for Eastern Africa (2024-2030) and its respective mandates, UNODC, through its Regional Office for Eastern Africa (ROEA) and in close coordination with its headquarters, aims, among others, to promote and support effective responses by Member States in Eastern Africa to transnational organized crime, terrorism, illicit trafficking and illicit drug trafficking at the legal, technical and policy level. UNODC does so primarily through its regional programme on Transnational Organized Crime, Terrorism Prevention, and Illicit Trafficking (TOC/CT Programme).

Within the framework of the TOC/CT Programme, UNODC ROEA is implementing the Better Migration Management (BMM) programme, Phase IV, funded by Germany and the European Union and jointly implemented by UNODC, CIVIPOL, GIZ, and IOM. Now in its third phase to continue until 2025, the programme aims to enable national authorities and institutions to facilitate safe, orderly, and regular migration and to effectively address and reduce trafficking in human beings and the smuggling of migrants within and from the Horn of Africa region using a human rights-based approach. BMM focuses on three components: migration governance, strengthening effective institutions to address trafficking and smuggling, and protection of vulnerable migrants.

Programme activities include providing technical assistance, capacity building and operational guidance to law enforcement authorities, anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling units. In particular, the Programme supports Member States’ efforts to adopt, review, and enhance anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling legislation, as well as strengthening the institutional capacity of law enforcement to implement the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (UNTOC) and its supplementary Protocols. Furthermore, the Programme provides specialized capacity-building to criminal justice and law enforcement practitioners to prevent, suppress, and investigate serious and organized crime. Lastly, it focuses on increasing the organizational, operational, and technical capacity of law enforcement, especially anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling units, in enforcing laws, strategies, and policies through operational support, provision of equipment, training, and technical assistance. The current phase of the Programme commenced in March 2026 and will conclude in September 2028.

The fourth phase of the Programme encompasses regional and bilateral training activities. During this phase of the BMM Programme, UNODC plans to further support legislative amendments, develop frameworks for witness protection, and promote regional cooperation. Additionally, the focus extends to improving the quality of investigations and prosecutions through specialized training, inter-agency collaboration, and the establishment of specialized units. The Volunteer will support the coordination and implementation of the Programme.

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of the Head of Transnational Organized Crime, Illicit Trafficking and Terrorism Programmes, ROEA – UNODC, the UNV will:

•Contribute to the project coordination, implementation, monitoring and reporting, including ensuring timely implementation of activities with regular monitoring and reporting, and chairing meetings.
•Lead planning, preparation, organization and successful implementation of programme activities, including by liaising counterparts, experts, coordinating with field-staff, proposing intervention topics, identifying beneficiaries, and providing substantive inputs and contributions during training workshops.
•Liaise with and maintain contact with donors, project partners, and beneficiaries to ensure the timely delivery and provision of technical assistance.
•Support implementation of cross-programmatic activities addressing links between organized crime and terrorism, contribute to the TOC/CT programme-wide synergic action though ongoing coordination with programme managers, field- and headquarters-based staff.
•Coordinate and provide substantive inputs to the drafting of project monitoring and evaluation materials, implementation reports, activity evaluation reports, and impact assessment documents;
•Provide substantive inputs to written outputs and working documents, presentations and other substantive materials;
•Coordinate research, design of data collection tools, analysis and presentations of information, and prepare conclusions, for project outputs and programmatic development;
•Provide substantive inputs for the drafting of research materials on relevant transnational organized crime areas, and regional threat and trends assessments.
•Participate in fact-finding and other field missions within assigned area of responsibility;

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities:

•Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);
•Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
•Provide annual and end of assignment self-reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities.
•Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.;
•Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers;
•Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.