Border Management Specialist

Contract

This is a UNV National Specialist contract. This kind of contract is known as National UN Volunteer. It is normally only for nationals. More about UNV National Specialist contracts.

This United Nations Volunteers (UNV) assignment is part of UNODC Border Management programme. The United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) provides technical assistance related to organized crime, combating terrorism, corruption, and drugs to requesting Member States. This assistance also supports States to strengthen criminal justice and health systems and to ratify and successfully implement international conventions and protocols, in compliance with the rule of law and human rights.

The UNODC Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific’s (ROSEAP) Regional Programme outlines the proposed scope and focus of UNODC's work in the region for the years to come. It provides a framework for delivering a coherent programme of work to: (i) give clear focus to supporting Member States and regional partners in achieving priority crime and drug outcomes; and (ii) increase the responsiveness, efficiency, and effectiveness of UNODC's support to the region.

The Regional Programme focuses primarily on crime and drug challenges that are best addressed through coordinated cross-border and intra-regional cooperation. There are five sub programmes under the Regional Programme: • Transnational Organized Crime; • Anti-Corruption; • Terrorism Prevention; • Criminal justice systems; and • Drugs and Health, and Alternative Development.

Under the overall supervision of the UNODC Regional Coordinators (Border Management Programme) and the UNODC Regional Coordinator (Mekong MOU), and the direct supervision and the substantive guidance of the National Programme Officer (Border Management), the Specialist will be responsible for providing a range of substantive and administrative services to UNODC border management projects, as well as initiatives to strengthen border security and relationship with communities at borders. The incumbent will fulfil the functions of Border Management Specialist for UNODC activities in Lao PDR. The incumbent will provide substantive and administrative services to the Mekong MOU Secretariat managed by the UNODC for its annual meetings and workshop in Lao PDR. The incumbent will also receive and act on requests for assistance from other UNODC initiatives having activities in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

The Border Management Specialist is expected to undertake the following activities, in coordination with relevant stakeholders at the national and regional levels:

• Programme Management; • Partnerships and Donor Engagement: • Coordination and Communication; • Advisory services and knowledge-building; • Provide administrative and operational support • Other Related Functions.

1. Programme Management: a. Conduct regular missions to Border Liaison Offices to monitor the units and to supervise the delivery of training; b. Support with the management of UNODC assets and resources, in close consultation with Programme Coordinators, Regional Programme Officer and National Programme Officer, and in line with UN rules, regulations, and procedures; c. Prepare and update workplans and ensure that implementation is consistent with the provisions of programme documents; d. Support with effective planning, implementation and monitoring of agreed annual workplans, logical frameworks, and financial and budgetary documents. These encompass various subjects, such as UNODC's Border Liaison Office network, community policing, gender considerations in law enforcement, backing for UNODC's training academies strategy, and any related matters. e. Support with the financial and administrative management of activities entrusted to him/her; f. Design and formulate programme extensions and supplementary activities in the thematic areas assigned, thus translating UNODC’s priorities into local interventions; g. Coordinate implementation of activities with external executing agencies; h. Introduce and monitor performance indicators, success criteria, milestones, and cost recovery; i. Support in conducting a continuous financial and substantive monitoring of the programme’s activities, identify operational and financial problems, and develop solutions; and j. Prepare, consolidate, review, and ensure the quality of different reports, in close consultation with regional Programme Coordinators, Regional Programme Officer and National Programme Officers.
2. Partnerships and Donor Engagement: a. Together with the Programme Coordinators, the Regional Programme Officer and the National Programme Officer, participate in the overall effort to build and sustain external strategic partnerships aiming at advancing UNODC mandates and mobilizing resources for the border management programme, including: i. Support in the identification of opportunities for partnering with donors; ii. Building and maintaining partnerships and coalitions with donors and partners; and iii. Provide inputs to project proposals and outreach/publicity material geared towards partners and donors.
3. Coordination and Communication: a. Support in the coordination and liaison with UNODC staff, government officials, foreign law enforcement personnel, national non-governmental actors, and members of the business community to facilitate implementation and create opportunities for collaboration; b. Ensure regular communication with counterparts in charge of programme’s implementation, as well as with relevant provincial authorities; c. Maintain a network of focal points and other contacts in local law enforcement agencies to ensure smooth implementation of the programme and effective lines of communication between these agencies and UNODC; d. Ensure communication and coordination with other international partners providing technical support in areas relevant to the programme; e. Participate in and support the work of relevant coordination mechanisms under the One UN Plan to ensure UNODC quality input to the work of the One UN.
4. Advisory Services and Knowledge-building: a. Provide advisory services and facilitate knowledge-building and management focusing on achievement of results b. Identify sources of information related to policy issues and synthesize best practices related to the programme’s goals; c. Analyse information to generate strategic intelligence products; d. Support the development of policies and institutions that will address challenges related to the national context, in collaboration with the Government and other strategic partners; e. Support in the identification of knowledge gaps within government agencies and collaborate with the Programme Coordinators and National Programme Officer to bridge those gaps and/or deliver advanced training; f. Contribute to knowledge networks and communities of practice; and g. Organize training for the operations/projects staff on programme issues.

5. Provide Administrative and Operational support, focusing on the achievement of the following results: a. Support in the organization of international, regional and national conferences, meetings, training and workshops held within the Asia Pacific region and travel to the events' location if needed. b. Ensure compliance with the donor's regulations when collecting participant information during project activities. c. Support in the preparation of travel plans, organize travel dates and provide logistical information for participants to UNODC events, and for UNODC staff as required. d. Complete administrative workflows in relation to the handover of equipment to Member States’ institutions and liaise with the UNODC personnel in Lao PDR and at ROSEAP in charge of asset management.

6. Assist on the procurement for associated projects: a. Plan and organize the procurement of goods and services required for the assigned projects, ensure compliance with, and verify, regulations and procedures to be applied when procuring goods or services. Conduct low-value procurement (up to US$ 10,000) and initiate procurement processes for all types of goods and services required under the assigned projects. b. Collect and compare offers from vendors and liaise with the UNODC Procurement Team in Bangkok and relevant personnel at UNDP Country Offices to ensure abidance with relevant UN rules and regulations. Liaise with bidders and vendors, and follow up with suppliers and expediters to ensure timely delivery; Contribute to developing and maintaining a filing system for projects including hard copy files and managing online records on cloud services (i.e., Sharepoint).

7. Perform any other work-duties as required.

• Professionalism: Good knowledge and understanding of theories, concepts and approaches relevant to border management at the ASEAN and national levels, especially the ASEAN Border Management Cooperation Roadmap as well as the development of the BLO network in Thailand. Good knowledge of the mandates, priorities, and operational modalities of UNODC’s border management efforts. Good analytical and problem-solving skills, including ability to identify and contribute to the solution of problems/issues; sound judgment and political sensitivity. • Communication: Effective communication (spoken, written and presentational) skills. Ability to prepare, consolidate inputs and finalize programmatic reports, project documents and other relevant material. • Planning, organizing, and managing performance: Ability to plan own work, manage conflicting priorities and to use time efficiently. Ability to organize and implement activities and outputs. Ability to maintain focus and pay attention to necessary detail. • Accountability • Adaptability and flexibility • Creativity • Judgement and decision-making • Self-management

the field of criminal justice, rule of law or governance, preferably with a focus on border management or closely related issues are required; • Proven experience of conducting capacity needs assessments and designing capacity-building programmes is required; • Work experience in the planning, organization and delivery of technical assistance activities is required; • Experience in advising and collaborating with national and provincial government institutions is required; • Familiarity with the modalities of international cooperation for development is desirable.

Vientiane is the capital of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), situated along the Mekong River immediately north of the border with Thailand. A landlocked country, Lao PDR (also referred to as Laos) shares borders with Cambodia, China, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam. It is the smallest country in the Greater Mekong Subregion by population and is considered a least-developed country by the United Nations Development Programme. However, the country has recorded a period of rapid economic growth in recent years and is set to graduate to lower-middle income status in the coming years should it continue to maintain development. Vientiane is the country’s largest city, and many modern professional services, banks, and retail stores are available, alongside more traditional dry and wet markets. It is connected to many destinations in Lao PDR by national route 13, as well as to international destinations by Wattay International Airport, the recently opened Lao-China Railway, and the first Lao-Thai friendship bridge.

The country is divided into 17 provinces, stretching from the mountainous region in the country’s north to the southern lowlands bordering Cambodia, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Lao is the country’s official language, however Chinese, English, and French may also be spoken in various communities.