Legal Officer in Timor Leste

TLSR000048--Legal Officer

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is the UN organization that promotes volunteerism to support peace and development worldwide. Volunteerism can transform the pace and nature of development and it benefits both society at large and the individual volunteer. UNV contributes to peace and development by advocating for volunteerism globally, encouraging partners to integrate volunteerism into development programming, and mobilizing volunteers.In most cultures volunteerism is deeply embedded in long- established, ancient traditions of sharing and support within the communities. In this context, UN Volunteers take part in various forms of volunteerism and play a role in development and peace together with co-workers, host agencies and local communities.In all assignments, UN Volunteers promote volunteerism through their action and conduct. Engaging in volunteer activity can effectively and positively enrich their understanding of local and social realities, as well as create a bridge between themselves and the people in their host community. This will make the time they spend as UN Volunteers even more rewarding and productive.

General Information

Country of Assignment Timor Leste

United Nations Development Programme

Host Institute

Volunteer Category International Specialist Short Term Number of Volunteer 1

Duration 6 months

Expected Starting Date Immediate

Duty Station Dili [TLS]

Assignment Place Family Duty Station

15 Feb 2018 Page 1 of 9 Assignment Place Remark Living Conditions

Living Conditions:

Timor Leste is half of a tropical island on the Australian continental shelf characterized by a rugged mountain chain running east-west that divides the country into a generally warmer north coast and a milder south coast. The capital city, Dili, is located in the north.

average temperature of 30°C. There are two distinct seasons: the north-east monsoon

season, which runs from November to March, constitutes the rainy season throughout

the country. The south- east monsoon season, which runs from March to October,

constitutes the dry season with some rain on the southern coast but otherwise dry and windy conditions in the rest of the country. The climate inland with its high mountains can be very cold with an annual average temperature of 15°C.

Health: At the moment, Stamford clinic serves as a recommended medical facility for

UN staff. It has two approved UN physicians that can perform primary healthcare and

simpler treatments, or recommend medical evacuation to Singapore. There is a

national hospital with some international staff and a limited number of other private clinics in Dili. For more complex medical treatment and assessment, it is necessary to evacuate to neighboring countries such as Darwin or Singapore.

Diet, Food and Water: Most staple foods can be found in the markets such as rice,

meat, vegetables, cooking oil, salt and sugar. There are many local markets around Dili as well as four supermarkets that are stocked with imported goods, mainly from

Australia, Indonesia, Singapore and China. Dili has a large number of restaurants,

cafes and bars. There is a variety of food ranging from Western to Southeast Asian

fare. You can also find several local warungs with less expensive meals. The price

range for a meal can range from $3 to $20+.

Telecommunications: At the moment, there are three telecommunication providers in

country, Timor Telecom and Telcomcel and Telemor. While Timor Telecom has been

long present, Telcomcel and Telemor were newly launched in Timor-Leste, and started

operating in February 2013. The SIM cards cost $2-3 and pre-paid/pulsa cards range

from $1 to $50. Further, depending on UN Agency, you may receive a PIN code to

15 Feb 2018 Page 2 of 9 make international phone calls that will be charged to your VLA. Hotels: The UNV Field unit in Dili will help arrange your initial accommodation in a

hotel, at your expense. Most of the hotels in Dili are aimed at internationals and offer a

good level of comfort with air-conditioned rooms and en-suite bathrooms. You can

expect to pay from $30 to $50 per night.

Permanent Accommodation: Expect that your accommodation will range from the

very basic to adequate, although many private houses in Dili have been renovated to a

reasonable or even considered ‘luxurious’ level of comfort. The rate of reconstruction

and renovation in the districts has been much slower than in Dili. Accommodation is far

more likely to be of a very basic level.

Assignment Details

Assignment Title Legal Officer

Organizational Context & Project Description

A UN Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) was deployed to Timor-Leste in October

2012, and based on this assessment the Focal Point for Electoral Assistance in the

UN, the Under Secretary General for Political Affairs approved the provision of

electoral assistance to Timor-Leste. In December 2014 the Minister for State

Administration sent another letter of request to the United Nations to support the

Technical Secretariat of Electoral Administration (STAE) through Suco (village)

elections municipal elections, and Presidential and Parliamentary elections between

2016-2018.

The specific areas of support where assistance was requested were: organizing the

elections; legal assistance and delivering training sessions. The Department of Political

Affairs Electoral Assistance Division conducted an updated Desk Review of the above

mentioned NAM, and the Under Secretary General for Political Affairs once again

approved the provision of electoral assistance of electoral assistance to Timor-Leste

from 2015-2018.

The UNDP project entitled Leveraging Electoral Assistance for Regionalized Nation-

Building (LEARN), funded by the Government of Japan and Korea, builds on the

achievements of previous UNDP electoral assistance projects and aims to provide

15 Feb 2018 Page 3 of 9 technical assistance to Timorese Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs) throughout the entire electoral cycle, with a strong focus on civic and voter education, taking into

account support already provided to Suco (village) elections in 2016, Presidential and

Parliamentary elections in 2017 and other electoral processes including possible

municipal elections in 2018.

LEARN project is aligned with a Key Result Area of UNDP Strategic Plan:

Parliaments, constitution making bodies and electoral institutions enabled to perform

core functions for improved accountability, participation and representation, including

for peaceful transitions Electoral Systems and Processes.

LEARN Project Outputs:

Output 1: Enhanced civic knowledge, awareness, and engagement of citizens in local

and national democratic processes Output 2: Increased political participation of women

and youth at the local and national level Output 3: Enhanced institutional capacity of

EMBs to manage and implement national and local elections through an electoral cycle

approach Output 4: Increased sustainability of voter registration and electoral results

management systems

Sustainable 16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Development Goals

UNV Focus Area Securing access to basic social services

Task description

Under the direct supervision of Chief Technical Adviser the UN Volunteer will

undertake the following tasks:

· Provide necessary legal advise to the electoral management body of Timor-Leste o

n electoral processes

· Assist in the preparation of proposals for legislation, and regulation affecting Elec

tion Management Body.

· Support the Election Management Body in the analysis of legislative proposals

and/ or respective electoral regulation

15 Feb 2018 Page 4 of 9 · Advise Election Management Body during its work meetings for the purpose of discussing and approving legislative proposals

· Carry out comparative studies of national and foreign electoral legislation and

provide advise to Election Management Body for including the best practices

· Provide advice and information on any legal matter that may be committed in t

he framework of the activities carried out by the Election Management Body

· Provide support in developing the skills of national counterpart in understandin

g the electoral legal framework of Timor-Leste

· Support Election Management Bodies in preparing meeting minutes, contracts,

agreements, memorandum of understandingsand other technical documentation req

uested.

· Provide support to Election Management Body in the dissemination of electoral

laws.

· Perform additional tasks as assigned by the Chief Technical Adviser.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to:- Strengthen their knowledge and

understanding of the concept of volunteerismby reading relevant UNV and external

publications and take active part in UNVactivities (for instance in events that mark

International Volunteer Day)- Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local

forms ofvolunteerism in the host country- Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary

action that they areundertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities-

Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for

UNVpublications/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, orencourage relevant local individuals and organizations

to use the UNV OnlineVolunteering service whenever technically possible.

Results/Expected Outputs

The development of capacity through coaching, mentoring and formal on-the-job

training, when working with national staff or governmental counterparts, including

15 Feb 2018 Page 5 of 9 Implementing Partners (IPs);

Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated

and documented in all activities throughout the assignment

A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for development during

the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities

participated in and capacities developed

• The development of capacity through coaching, mentoring and formal on-the-job

training, when working with (including supervising) national staff or (non-)

governmental counter-parts, including Implementing Partners (IPs); • Age, Gender and

Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated and documented in all

activities throughout the assignment • A final statement of achievements towards

volunteerism for peace and development dur-ing the assignment, such as reporting on

the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed

Qualifications/Requirements

Required Degree Level Master degree or equivalent

Education - Additional Comments

University degree (Masters or equivalent) in international law and other specialised

related area

Required experience 36 months

Experience Remark

relevante or similar experience as per description of task (TOR)

Language Skills

English (Mandatory) , Level - Working Knowledge

AND - Portuguese (Mandatory) , Level - Fluent

And One of these - Tetum (Optional) , Level - Working Knowledge

Area of Expertise

Election management Mandatory

15 Feb 2018 Page 6 of 9 Other rule of law or governance related experience Mandatory Election support activities Mandatory

Area of Expertise Requirement

Expertise in the area of election management body and law and regulation. details see

task description.

Need Driving Licence No

Conditions of Service and other information

Condition of Service Click here to view Conditions of Service

Conditions of Service:

The contract lasts for the period indicated above with possibility of extensions subject to

availability of funding, operational necessity and satisfactory performance. However, there

is no expectation of renewal of the assignment.

UN Volunteer receives a Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA) which is composed of the

Monthly Living Allowance (MLA) and a Family Allowance (FA) for those with dependents

(maximum three).

The Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA) is paid at the end of each month to cover housing,

utilities, transportation, communications and other basic needs. The VLA can be

computed by applying the Post-Adjustment Multiplier (PAM) to the VLA base rate of US$

1,602. The VLA base rate is a global rate across the world, while the PAM is duty

station/country-specific and fluctuates on a monthly basis according to the cost of living.

This method ensures that international UN Volunteers have comparable purchasing power

at all duty stations irrespective of varying costs of living. The PAM is established by the

International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) and is published at the beginning of every

15 Feb 2018 Page 7 of 9month on the ICSC website http://icsc.un.org.

For example, kindly enter the link Calculator

In non-family duty stations that belong to hardship categories D or E, as classified by the

ICSC, international UN Volunteers receive a Well-Being Differential (WBD) on a monthly

basis.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are provided a settling-in-grant (SIG) at the start of the

assignment (if the volunteer did not reside in the duty station for at least 6 months prior to

taking up the assignment) and in the event of a permanent reassignment to another duty

station.

UNV provides life, health, permanent disability insurances as well as assignment travel,

annual leave, full integration in the UN security framework (including residential security

reimbursements).

UN Volunteers are paid Daily Subsistence Allowance at the UN rate for official travels,

flight ticket for the final repatriation travel (if applicable).

UNV will provide, together with the offer of assignment, a copy of the Conditions of

Service, including Code of conduct, to the successful candidate.

15 Feb 2018 Page 8 of 9 Application Code TLSR000048-2485

Application procedure

* Not yet registered in the UNV Talent Pool?

Please first register your profile at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/signup. Important: After

creating your account, complete all sections of your profile and submit it. Then go to ‘My

Page’ at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/mypage and click on the ‘Special Calls’

hyperlink. Lastly, select the special call to which you would like to apply.

* Already registered in the UNV Talent Pool?

Please first update your profile at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/profile. Then go to ‘My

Page’ at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/mypage and click on the ‘Special Calls’ hyperlink

to select the special call to which you would like to apply.

Application deadline: 22 February 2018

Disclaimer

United Nations Volunteers is an equal opportunity programme which welcomes

applications from qualified professionals. We are committed to achieving diversity in terms

of gender, nationality and culture.

15 Feb 2018 Page 9 of 9