Human Security Portfolio Analyst

Volunteering Crisis & Emergency Response

Overview

Coordinate inter-portfolio initiatives to strengthen human security efforts.

You have:

• Demonstrated interest and/or experience in development programme and project management.
• Demonstrated interest and/or experience in innovative approaches to development and, in particular, systems thinking and systems transformation.
• Demonstrated interest and/or experience in humanitarian, peace and development nexus.
• Demonstrated interest and/or experience in human security approaches.
• Skills in knowledge management (producing and disseminating knowledge products).
• Skills in partnership development and management.

Contract

This is a UNV International Youth contract. This kind of contract is known as International UN Volunteer. It is normally internationally recruited only. More about UNV International Youth contracts.

In the past decade, Venezuela has been facing a complex and interconnected political, social and economic crisis that has resulted in a reduction of its GDP by 75%, the migration of an estimated 8 million Venezuelans abroad, and where an estimated 7.5 million Venezuelans still face humanitarian needs, as well as an entrenched political crisis as shown in the events that ensued the latest presidential elections held in 2024.

To better address the complexity and magnitude of this crisis, UNDP is adopting innovative approaches that focus on systems transformation through its recently revamped portfolio-based approach. Portfolios are a methodology that seeks to develop, test, learn and scale (where appropriate) a suite of interventions that are complementary and can shift complex systems by focusing on multiple intervention points at a given time. In this way, the portfolio is a platform for strategic learning and action: to understand the dynamics that occupy the problem space, and over time more accurately understand the aligned interventions.

UNDP is currently implementing in Venezuela three interconnected portfolios on community resilience, reinforcing trust and promoting gender equality.

The portfolio on community resilience is implemented jointly with FAO and UNHCR aims at addressing the increased vulnerabilities and risks of returnees and the population that receives them, focusing on social protection and self-protection, the development of productive capacities, the strengthening of the social fabric and the mitigation of risks associated with human mobility as key elements to achieve this. Switzerland, through SDC, is currently considering supporting this portfolio.

The Gender portfolio, implemented with UN Women, seeks to:  drive transformative actions to accelerate the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls; transform the institutional framework and achieve an inclusive governance model; and, consolidate an egalitarian and fairer society, free of violence and harmful social norms with solid institutions that guarantee the conditions for the empowerment of women and girls. 

The portfolio on Trust, in collaboration with the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs of the UN Secretariat, aims to promote initiatives and inclusive dialogues that help bridge different narratives among national actors, thereby strengthening the social fabric and fostering social cohesion while creating the enabling conditions for an inclusive and sustainable recovery in the country. Switzerland, through the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, is currently supporting this initiative.

The three portfolios are interconnected, both operationally, by adopting similar techniques linked to portfolio implementation and targeting the same geographical areas, among others, and conceptually since they are mutually reinforcing and contribute to an overarching objective, which is to foster human security in Venezuela through a triple humanitarian-development-peace approach.

To further foster this interconnection among portfolios, the UNDP Venezuela Country Office is already conducting a series of initiatives such as inter-portfolio field missions and workshops and fostering joint assessments and interventions.

Under the direct supervision of the Deputy Resident Representative, the UN Youth Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

• Inter-portfolio coordination: Provide direct support (both technically and operationally) to the implementation of activities that foster the interconnectedness of the three human security portfolios, such as:
  a) supporting the organization of peer learning sessions, joint workshops, and field missions;
  b) designing joint assessments and activities; coordinating knowledge capture across workstreams; synthesizing learnings and insights from implementation and develop knowledge products for dissemination

• Portfolio approach implementation: Together with the strategic innovation associate and in close collaboration with the Strategic Innovation Unit of UNDP in Istanbul, support the development and implementation of the portfolio approach in the three portfolios by coordinating with the different specific portfolio teams and ensuring pace and learning activities and supporting capability building for portfolio management targeting UNDP teams, partners and other stakeholders

• Human security and HDP nexus mainstreaming: Provide support to strengthen the integration of the human security and the HDP nexus approaches in the three portfolios and in UNDP programming in general; design and deploy capacity development activities in these areas.

• Partnerships: Participate in interagency discussions and programmatic efforts, especially within the framework of the Nexus Interagency Advisory Group, the Interagency Programme Group and the Humanitarian Coordination Team; monitor and identify resource mobilization and partnership opportunities in areas covered by the human security portfolios; support in the organization of activities that foster partnerships (organization of development partner meetings) and lead to resource mobilization (prepare technical proposals for donors and submissions for call for proposals).

​​- ​Adaptability and Flexibility ​​- ​Client Orientation ​​- Commitment and Motivation ​​- Communication ​- ​Creativity ​- ​Ethics and Values ​​- ​Integrity ​​- ​Knowledge Sharing ​​- ​Planning and Organizing ​​- Professionalism ​​- Respect for Diversity ​​- Working in Teams

Demonstrated interest and/or experience (ideally one year) in: - Development programme and project management. - Innovative approaches to development and, in particular, systems thinking and systems transformation. - Humanitarian, peace and development nexus. - Human security approaches

Skills in:
- Knowledge management (producing and disseminating knowledge products).
- Partnership development and management

The volunteer will be based in the city of Caracas, which is Venezuela's largest urban agglomeration (the population of Caracas is approximately 6 million people) and the country's main centre of industry, commerce, education, and culture. The city is the seat of the national government and of most of Venezuela's commercial and industrial enterprises. Spanish is the most widely spoken language, although English is also common. Caracas has many options for renting apartments. It is advisable to rent a place close to the office, within walking distance. The area where the UNDP office is located has different options of supermarkets, shopping malls, plazas and medical centres that provide health care to the inhabitants of the capital. Public transportation (metro, buses) is not recommended due to its state of deterioration and insecurity, it is better to resort to private cab services, which provide safe transportation and preferably, which is known by other colleagues in the host agency. Services (water, electricity) tend to suffer certain interruptions in ranges of hours for some areas of the city. Internet and other services fail continuously. Banking services are limited and insufficient in the context of very high inflation. Only very small amounts of cash in local currency can be withdrawn from ATMs or banks, which are insignificant for their use. The use of debit cards, credit cards in dollars, as well as various digital payment systems in dollars are legal and commonly used. International staff live in hotels and rented accommodations, prices are high and are currently converted to U.S. dollars.

Venezuela is a beautiful country with very friendly people who are always willing to help and show solidarity. Serving as a volunteer in Venezuela, offers a very enriching experience, but also requires a mature level of cultural awareness, as well as more stamina and commitment than in other places to make life comfortable and affordable. Flexibility and the ability and willingness to live and work in harsh and potentially dangerous conditions, involving physical hardship and little comfort, are therefore essential.

Conditions of Service

The Conditions of Service outline the policies and rules governing UN Volunteer assignments. These, along with other resources, are available on the Unified Volunteer Platform (UVP) at https://app.unv.org/explore. You can also access the entitlement calculator here: https://app.unv.org/calculator.

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Potential interview questions

Added 7 months ago - Updated 7 months ago - Source: unv.org