Regional Forced Displacement Skills and Employability Specialist P4

Large mixed migration movements continue to top the global political agenda, as reflected in the 2016 UN New York Declaration, and remain at the forefront of concerns, discussions and collaboration across the multilateral system and beyond. These movements create considerable challenges for countries of first asylum, transit and destination, as well as countries of origin, including through impact on socio-economic environments, such as labour markets of host countries, particularly where these may have already been under pressure and there is high unemployment. The majority of refugee populations are hosted by low- and middle-income countries. As displacement has become increasingly protracted, responses are becoming more focused on durable solutions to support more dignified, inclusive and comprehensive programmes for refugees and the communities that host them to facilitate self-reliance and empowerment and strengthen social cohesion. It is paralleled by regional and country-level efforts in several areas, including in the Middle East and North Africa region and in the Horn of Africa. 
In this context, the Government of the Netherlands has launched a new partnership initiative – the PROSPECTS Partnership Programme (hereafter referred to as the “programme”) – built on the combined strengths, experience and values of specific development and humanitarian organizations to develop a new paradigm in responding to forced displacement crises. The partners include: the Government of the Netherlands, the International Finance Corporation, the ILO, the UNHCR, UNICEF and the World Bank. The programme aims to help transform the way governments and other stakeholders, including the private sector, respond to forced displacement crises and in particular: (1) to enhance the enabling environment for the socio-economic inclusion of forcibly displaced persons (to mitigate their plight during years of exile and to best prepare them for their return); (2) to enhance access to education and child protection for vulnerable children on the move; and (3) to strengthen the resilience of host communities through inclusive socio-economic development that also benefits forcibly displaced persons. 
The programme will be grounded on results-based and country-led approaches (“bottom up”) in two identified regions: MENA, including Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon, and the Horn of Africa, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Sudan. It aims to accelerate efforts to find sustainable solutions for countries confronted with large influxes of refugees. It will also aim to develop and implement evidence-based solutions, tailored to each context – as well as to test, and learn from, innovative operational solutions, including improving the availability, collection and use of data and evidence.  

The overall ILO’s vision within the programme is to strengthen decent work in countries impacted by forced displacement to mitigate stress factors at all levels and support inclusive socio-economic enablers for access to labour markets and empowerment of host communities and of forcibly displaced populations.
The ILO will bring to the programme significant expertise and experience in supporting enabling environments to underpin inclusive socio-economic growth and decent work, strengthen labour markets and promote access to improved working conditions and fundamental rights at work, including through the involvement of its tripartite national constituents The ILO will stimulate labour market demand and immediate job creation through employment-intensive investment, local economic and business development and promotion of specific value chains and market systems. 
The ILO will provide targeted support to labour market institutions, services and compliance and monitoring mechanisms that facilitate the integration of refugees into the labour market. It will also bring expertise on technical and vocational education and training and on the recognition of prior learning for certifying the skills of refugees to better ensure access to the labour market, and methods for assessing labour market demand to provide the right skills to refugees needed by employers.
The Regional Forced Displacement Skills and Employability Specialist will provide technical support in the areas of skills development, employability and employment services in the five African countries included in the programme: Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda. 

The incumbent will report directly to the Deputy Regional Director of the ILO Regional Office for Africa (ROAF) in Abidjan for operational and administrative issues and will be under the overall guidance of the Global Programme Manager in Geneva for all relevant outputs and overall implementation. S/he will coordinate closely with the Skills and Employability Specialists in the Decent Work Teams for North Africa (ILO Cairo) and for Eastern and Southern Africa (ILO Pretoria) and will receive technical guidance and advice from the Skills and Employability Branch and the CEPOL Branch of the EMPLOYMENT Department at the ILO headquarters in Geneva. The incumbent will work closely with other specialists supporting the programme as relevant.

Support the implementation of programme components relating to skills, employability and employment services in the five African countries of the programme in close coordination with the Chief Technical Advisors (CTAs) leading country-level implementation, and ensure high quality delivery, knowledge sharing and complementarity of project components between countries. This involves field missions, progress review meetings to assess accomplishments and challenges, and reviewing/defining ways forward.
2.    Analyse skills development systems and employment services in all partnership countries and ensure that programme interventions strengthen systems development in terms of relevance, quality, efficiency and inclusiveness.
3.    Analyse trends and developments in the programme countries, including contemporary issues such as technological change, climate change and trade, which have a direct bearing on skills development policies and programmes and on the linkages between skills development, employment promotion, private sector development and trade. Ensure where possible that skills development is integrated in employment assessments and policy strategies, labour market information systems, local economic and development initiatives, industry sector development strategies, youth employment promotion and labour migration policies. 
4.    Establish and maintain close working relations with Partnership agencies and key stakeholders of the programme at global, regional and country level, ensuring that approaches are complementary, synergies are sought and opportunities for joint delivery are leveraged. 
5.    Respond to requests for technical assistance, policy advice and capacity-building in the area of skills, employability and employment services by programme teams, ILO constituents and other key stakeholders in the context of the programme, and establish and maintain close working relations at the technical level with other projects, donors and stakeholders’ programmes and organizations operating in the same space.
6.    Provide advice on various systems of training delivery, including apprenticeship systems, qualifications development, teacher training and working conditions, skills recognition systems, lifelong learning and training quality assurance, most relevant in the context of forced displacement. Depending on the country context, this will involve building systems to sustain cooperation between public and private training systems, industrial sectors and other important stakeholders in order to link training provision to the needs of employers.
7.    Provide advice on employment services, career guidance and counselling policies and systems, through curriculum-based, centre-based, web-based or individual delivery models, and the effective provision of public and private employment services.
8.    Mainstream a focus on gender equality, youth, diversity and social inclusion in all skills development and employability programmes and policies.
9.    Support CTAs and the Global Programme Manager in the preparation of progress reports as required by the donor, ensuring provision of comprehensive and detailed information, extracting lessons-learned and swift implementation of mitigation measures.
10.    Ensure proactive and efficient workflows with programme teams and other technical backstopping specialists including reviewing terms of reference, reports, training material, guides and minutes.
11.    Ensure, in collaboration with the Communications Officer in headquarters and programme countries, efficient and effective communication of the programme context and challenges and of the results achieved by the Partnership.
12.    Perform other duties as may be assigned

Advanced university degree in vocational education and training, human resources development, labour economics, or other social sciences complemented with demonstrated expertise in the relevant technical field.

• Eight years of applied experience at national level or five at the international level in human resources development, vocational education and training and skills development.
• Experience in the design and implementation of development cooperation projects in skills development and employability.
• Experience in contexts of fragility, and relevant work in the Middle East and North and Eastern African countries would be an advantage.
• Previous work experience in the area of employment services would be an advantage.

Excellent knowledge and command of English. Good working knowledge of an additional official would be an advantage.

Proven analytical capacity.
•    Ability in dealing with the development and implementation of labour market surveys, labour market analysis and economic analysis.
•    Ability for planning and establishing priorities, coordinating and monitoring the work of others, and delegating responsibility where appropriate. 
•    Knowledge of project planning, management and financial procedures with different donors.
•    Positive attitude and openness to accept different viewpoints and guidance from higher levels.
•    Resourcefulness, initiative and maturity of judgment.
•    Ability to handle effectively multiple tasks without compromising quality, team spirit and positive working relationships.
•    Proven ability to mainstream gender equality concerns in employment-related policies and programmes, as well as cultural, religious, ethnic and age sensitivity and adaptability.
•    Proven ability in setting up institutions at local, regional and national level. 
•    Excellent computer/information application skills, including word processing, data analysis and spreadsheets using common versions of software.
•    Ability to work in a multicultural environment and to demonstrate gender-sensitive and non-discriminatory behaviour and attitudes.
•    Strong results orientation.
•    Effective problem-solver.
•    Demonstrated capacity-building and facilitation skills. 
•    Flexible and responsive with a client-oriented approach.