Community Engagement and Early Warning Officer

Volunteering Crisis & Emergency Response

Overview

Coordinate and support community engagement and early warning initiatives.

You have:

• Proven experience of at least three years in community engagement, peacebuilding, conflict prevention, social cohesion, or related engagement of communities.
• Experience building and maintaining robust relationships with women and youth groups, community-based organizations, local peace structures, or civil society actors.
• Demonstrated experience in coordination, information management, and/or data collection and analysis at the community or local level.
• Experience in supporting programme design and implementation in a collaborative manner with semi-formal community-led groups.
• Knowledge of conflict prevention approaches and familiarity with government or institutional structures related to peacebuilding, conflict management, or early warning systems is an asset.
• Excellent cultural and social sensitivity with an affinity for finding and facilitating discussions to find connections and common ground between people of various backgrounds.
• Self-motivated and able to work with minimal supervision, manage multiple tasks, and meet tight deadlines in a dynamic environment.

Contract

This is a UNV contract. More about UNV contracts.

Iraq has experienced decades of conflict, insecurity and political instability, resulting in deep grievances, weak social cohesion and tensions between communities and institutions. Many returnees still lack equal access to basic services such as social welfare, education, water, sanitation and healthcare, while facing social exclusion. Climate-related disasters and resource disputes have further contributed to conflicts over housing, land and livelihoods, threatening long-term peace, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected areas. To address these challenges, UNDP Iraq’s Social Cohesion Pillar supports community-based peacebuilding and conflict prevention initiatives that strengthen trust, inclusion and resilience through local peace infrastructures. UNDP has established and supported local peace structures, including Local Peace Committees (LPCs), women and youth peace groups, and PVE committees. These groups promote dialogue, resolve community-level disputes, support reintegration and advance social cohesion, inclusion and climate-sensitive conflict prevention. To support this work, UNDP is establishing the position of Community Engagement and Early Warning Officer. The Officer will coordinate women and youth groups, support community engagement, collect and disseminate early warning data, and serve as a link between community-based peace structures. The Officer will report to the Social Cohesion Pillar supervisor and collaborate with community groups, LPCs, CSOs and government counterparts on youth and women engagement, early warning and conflict prevention and response actions. Key interlocutors include: • Women Peace Groups (11 groups) and Youth Peace Groups (11 groups) in Anbar, Diyala, Salahaddin, Ninewa and Kirkuk, ensuring women’s and youth participation in peacebuilding and conflict prevention. The Officer will act as focal point and support their sustainability and inclusion. • Local Peace Committees (26 LPCs) in Anbar, Ninewa, Salahaddin and Kirkuk, chaired by Mayors and comprising tribal, religious and local representatives, leading reconciliation and mediation efforts. The Officer will support data collection and information-sharing. • EWERS focal points, including CSOs and government actors, to strengthen community-based early warning systems, track trends, produce analysis and enhance preventative responses. Further information on UNDP’s approach to conflict prevention and peacebuilding and our work in Iraq can be found at: • UNDP Crisis Offer • Embedding Peace: Key considerations for strengthening an infrastructure for building and sustaining positive peace (i4p) • Issue Brief: Infrastructure for Peace • Infrastructures for Peace: Approaches and Lessons Learned • Strengthening social cohesion: Conceptual framing and programming implications • Beyond vulnerability: A guidance notes on youth, climate, peace and security • Youth, Peace and Security: Fostering Youth-Inclusive Political Processes • Women, Peace and Security in action • UNDP Iraq • Conflict Sensitivity Enabling Social Cohesion • A Path Forward: Sustaining Momentum for Equality and Peace

The UN Volunteer Community Engagement and Early Warning Officer will carry out the following key responsibilities:

1) Assessment and Planning: • Identify gaps and needs related to women and youth engagement in peacebuilding, and support the development of supports to enhance women and youth led impact. • Design and engage in community-based, gender responsive and conflict sensitive assessments to identify community-based risks and factors that may contribute to conflict and/or support peace building, focusing on women and youth. • Help develop/strengthen community-based EWER systems and define indicators for classification and prioritization of risks; establish information flow, coordination mechanism(s), etc. • Help create annual work plan documents relating to community engagement, coordinating groups of women & youth, early warning activities within UNDP's Social Cohesion Pillar. • Support the integration of community engagement, early warning, and conflict prevention considerations into the broader social cohesion, reintegration, and climate programs.

2) Programme Implementation: • Work with Women and Youth groups, Local Peace Committees, PVE Committees and other Community-Based Structures supported by UNDP to enhance their work. • Support Capacity-Building for Women, Youth and Community Actors on Approaches to Early Warning, Conflict Prevention, Dialogue and Community Engagement. • Work closely with UNDP to support communication and information sharing among community actors to build upon participation, inclusion and local ownership. • Provide assistance with the collection of Early Warning Data at the community level in a timely manner, as well as provide assurance that data is collected ethically and accurately through collaboration with local partners. • Assist with Organizing Community Dialogue Meetings/Workshops related to Peacebuilding, Conflict Prevention, Social Cohesion, Climate-Sensitive Risks.

3) Data collection, management, monitoring and Reporting: • Support coordinate social cohesion M&E efforts with the Monitoring & Evaluation Team for tracking engagement with communities and interventions associated with EWERS and youth and women groups. • Help develop data collection tools (i.e., community reporting templates, early warning indicators, etc.) and assist in the data collection and analysis of the early warning data collected from various community sources and EWER systems. • Support the organization, compilation, and analysis of early warnings gathered from a variety of community-based EWER systems and/or programs. • Support the field-based monitoring of activities and the preparation of field monitoring reports. • Support the preparation of prompt and results-driven progress reports, trend analysis reports, briefing papers and communications documents for all parties. • Support the maintenance of project records and documentation including summaries, databases and provide Arabic-English reporting support when requested by the team. • Develop success stories of UNDP’s community impact, including supporting story development and publication.

4) Coordination and Collaboration: • Maintains robust relationships with women and youth groups, including supporting their sustainability and impact beyond UNDP funding. • Assist in engagement, outreach and trust building with non-majority communities, ensuring UNDP work remains cognisant of all religious, ethnic, tribal, linguistic and other group considerations. • Organise field missions for team members and donors, including ensuring all stakeholders are fully briefed and providing interpretation support when required. • Engage in networking and alliance building with civil society to support partnership building and knowledge sharing. • Ensures women, youth and non-majority community engagement in UNDP events, missions and projects by making connections across various project teams and community actors.

• Accountability • Adaptability and flexibility • Creativity • Judgement and decision-making • Planning and organising • Professionalism • Self-management

• Proven experience of at least three years in community engagement, peacebuilding, conflict prevention, social cohesion, or related engagement of communities. • Experience building and maintaining robust relationships with women and youth groups, community-based organizations, local peace structures, or civil society actors. • Demonstrated experience in coordination, information management, and/or data collection and analysis at the community or local level. • Experience in supporting programme design and implementation in a collaborative manner with semi-formal community-led groups. • Knowledge of conflict prevention approaches and familiarity with government or institutional structures related to peacebuilding, conflict management, or early warning systems is an asset. • Excellent cultural and social sensitivity with an affinity for finding and facilitating discussions to find connections and common ground between people of various backgrounds. • Self-motivated and able to work with minimal supervision, manage multiple tasks, and meet tight deadlines in a dynamic environment.

As this is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging his/her own housing and other living essentials. National UN Volunteers receive a volunteer living allowance to sustain a basic, adequate, and safe lifestyle. This allowance varies from one location to another depending on local living costs, but all national UN Volunteers in the same location receive the same allowance. Below is a summary of the Conditions of Service. Allowances: The purpose of allowances for national UN Volunteers is to enable the national UN Volunteers to sustain a modest and secure standard of living at the duty station. The allowances are in no way to be understood as compensation, reward, or salary in exchange for the volunteer work. The purpose of this allowance is to cover the basic living costs of the national UN Volunteer, and Her/his family when applicable. The allowance is to ensure that the volunteer can sustain a basic, adequate, and safe lifestyle. • Monthly Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA) at the amount of USD 1,724.16. • Entry lump sum( one time): USD 400 • Exit allowance (paid on successful completion of the assignment): USD 1,724.16. for 12 months • Annual and learning leaves • Medical and life Insurance Free access to different learning platforms. For more information on UN Volunteer benefits, entitlements and support, please visit: https://www.unv.org/volunteer-your-country-conditions-service

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Potential interview questions

Added 3 months ago - Updated 3 months ago - Source: unv.org