Individual Contract - Knowledge Management Specialist

Contract

This is a National Consultant contract. More about National Consultant contracts.

Background

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN's global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. UNDP works in about 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. To respond these complex development issues, and better focus its resources and expertise to deliver on the 2030 Agenda, UNDP has identified a set of approaches that we call our Signature Solutions which are aligned to UNDP’s Strategic Plan. These are:

• Keeping people out of POVERTY
• GOVERNANCE for peaceful, just, and inclusive societies
• Crisis prevention and increased RESILIENCE
• ENVIRONMENT: nature-based solutions for development
• Clean, affordable ENERGY
• Women's empowerment and GENDER equality

Job Purpose:

Strengthen national coordination capacities for emergency response and recovery with a robust Knowledge Management System for the National Emergency Coordination and Operations Centre, including support to expanding the national capacity for Covid-19 testing and increased border surveillance at higher risk cross-border points of entry, transport corridors and Kampala City. This will include generating and documenting knowledge to inform policy and practice; supporting capacity building through training and guidance in Sectors and Local Governments; and facilitating strategic communication and engagement of stakeholders within government, CSOs, private sector, academia, development partners, cultural institutions, and faith-based organizations.

Summary of Role:

The Knowledge Management Specialist will provide effective professional technical and practical information and knowledge management services to support the NECOC within the Office of the Prime Minister of Uganda. He/she will also be responsible for the timely implementation of research activities and coordination of all research events of the project towards timely curation and dissemination of all project research and communication material to stakeholders. This position reports to PS OPM through the OPM lead on the project to strengthen Uganda’s response to COVID-19 within NECOC. In liaison with the NECOC Resilience Specialists and Communications Specialist, the

Knowledge Management Specialist will coordinate with the UNDP CO Focal Point on COVID-19 Response and the Resilience Programme Lead.

Context of the Role:

Uganda is currently hit by multiple natural hazards that have occurred concurrently. Before the outbreak of COVID-19, Uganda had been confronting impacts of climate change, food insecurity and strained service delivery in the refugee hosting districts. These have been worsened as a result of the shift in focus to COVID-19 Response.

Uganda, like many other East African country is, currently, also hit by weather related risks such as floods and landslides due to the current intensive and prolonged rainfall in the region. This heavy rainfall is causing a rise of water levels which in turn is highly contributing to floods in many parts of the country. The floods in several parts of the country is affecting livelihoods, displacing people from their homes, affecting built environment, and impairing physical access as roads and bridges are also being affected. The national and regional forecast show that the East African region and Uganda will continue to receive rains. As a result, casualties and other impacts of the disasters are expected to go high. On the other hand, the second round of locust invasion in Uganda occurred, as hopper bands and an increasing number of new swarms formed in parts of East Africa region and spread to Uganda. This influx is now threatening Uganda’s food production. The fight against the locust infestation is somehow hampered by the occurrence of COVID 19 which diverted attention of actors. Karamoja, the already chronic food insecure sub region of Uganda is under attack from locusts. This is feared to worsen the food insecurity situation in this sub region. In addition, border communities are at high risk of exposure to COVID-19 due to their default position as transport hubs for inter-and intra-regional cargo.

This has necessitated increased surveillance and support to these border communities for timely identification and response to public health and other emergencies where need be. Therefore, in the wake of this multi-hazard induced disasters affecting the Uganda, it is imperative to enhance its response, management and resilience capability towards socio-economic stability. This requires concerted efforts of multiple actors including government and non-government actors. With support from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the National Emergency Coordination and Operations Centre (NECOC) was set up in 2014. The NECOC is within the Department for Disaster Preparedness and Management in the Office of the Prime Minister, established in October 2014. The goal was to establish institutions and mechanisms that will reduce the vulnerability of people, livestock, plants and wildlife to disasters in Uganda. NECOC has over time provided support for response and building resilience to various emergencies in Uganda spanning from floods, landslides, pastoral conflict and health disasters such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. In the latter case, Uganda has instituted a national taskforce to manage response and coordination to COVID-19. The taskforce is managed by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) and is comprised of public and private sector stakeholders with expertise as needed. The taskforce is mandated to oversee relief and logistics coordination, multi-agency collaboration, citizen engagement and sensitization as well as fundraising CSOs are involved in this process at the national level, as well as the subnational levels. The current post would support the strengthening of the Office of Prime Minister for enhanced coordination of responses to disasters across sectors, ministries, departments, agencies and local governments. Specifically, the position is to strengthen national coordination capacities for emergency response and recovery with a robust Knowledge Management System for the National Emergency Coordination and Operations Centre.

Duties and Responsibilities

As a member of a think-tank established to strengthen in-house capacity within OPM, comprising of a small high-level multidisciplinary core-team:

• Develop and implement the Knowledge Management Strategy of the NECOC based COVID-19 Response project for Uganda
• Working closely with project teams, lead the collection of information and documentation of project bulletins, success stories, technical briefs and project documents.
• In collaboration with the project teams, coordinate the preparation of presentations, activity summaries, appropriate reports.
• Ensure that all the project final documents are of high quality and adhere to established Style and Citation Standards/Guidelines.
• Support the Communications Specialist with media engagement– through formal and informal contacts, by identifying potential stories, arranging interviews, and encouraging the participation of media in Project activities.

• Support advocacy initiatives, proactive partner engagement and timely knowledge generation for dissemination.

• Assist in production, editing and dissemination of information, education and communication materials (e.g. brochures, fact sheets, newsletters and documentaries.)

• Cultivate and maintain effective working relationships with government, donors, civil society organizations and other relevant partners through timely information sharing.
• Development and maintain a database of key local and international contacts, distribution lists for various reports, bulletins, and other documentation.
• Work in liaison with Communications Teams to generate timely information in versatile formats tailored for various audiences

• Ensure accurate, systematic and adequate data storage to inform various analyses

• Undertake regular engagement with project team to assess their knowledge management needs and ensure timely update to Programme Management for appropriate action

• Conduct continuous quality improvement to evaluate information adequacy and quality as well as staff and partner needs
• Maintain regular contact with grantees, partners and district level stakeholders to ensure that key information and documents are regularly shared, and that information is proactively collected.
• Document best practices by consulting appropriate websites, and list serves, and ensure that these are shared with technical and program staff.
• In collaboration with the research team, coordinate regular meetings to allow for information sharing amongst project staff and ensure adequate storage of all material shared per UNDP information management protocols.
• Provide orientation to all incoming staff on project knowledge resources
• Work closely with the UNDP ICT Team for data visualization and other digital communications necessary
• Support writing of policy briefs in collaboration with research teams and other project experts
• Ensure timely submission of knowledge products for publication on various communication platforms of project partners.

Competencies

In this section list all core competencies as well as the most relevant technical/functional competencies the role will require along with the appropriate level. A Detailed list of competencies can be accessed through the following link: https://intranet.undp.org/unit/ohr/competency-framework/SitePages/Home.aspx

• Innovation - Ability to make new and useful ideas work;
• Leadership - Ability to persuade others to follow;
• People Management -Ability to improve performance and satisfaction;
• Communication - Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transform;
• Delivery - Ability to get things done while exercising good judgement.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master's degree in communication, development studies, public relations or equivalent qualifications;

At least 6 years working experience, with demonstrated working exposure to project management and reporting.

Experience:

• Minimum of six years of progressively responsible experience in humanitarian and development coordination or a related field;
• Demonstrated competencies in documentation and publication (including web-based documentation) in program implementation;
• Proven ability to effectively manage relationships with researchers, government officials, NGOs, community groups and other partners;
• Knowledge of computer systems and applications, especially those related to interactive digital media and cloud storage
• Document Management system qualification will be an added advantage;
• Strong interpersonal skills; the ability to communicate clearly and effectively at all levels, considering cultural and language difficulties;
• Familiarity with the nexus function of communication and information management;
• Ability to synthesize research data and utilize innovative tools to disseminate knowledge;
• Experience working within the UN system, preferably with UNDP;
• Experience in advisory role with government particularly on disaster risk management and resilience planning has an added value
• Experience of African Context and particularly Ugandan government setting is desirable;
• Previous experience in producing analytical reports, policy briefs and best practices to inform policy, planning, budgeting and stakeholder engagement on COVID-19 and other disasters;
• Working experience in post-disaster recovery and resilience building;
• Proven experience working with inter-agency sectors in humanitarian and development programmes;
• Ability to develop appropriate training programmes and training materials to strengthen local capacities for emergency preparedness and response.

Language requirement:

Proficiency in English. Working knowledge of other UN language desirable .

Deliverables:

Detailed deliverables are in the TORs attached under procurement notices.

Submission of Application:

The candidate is required to submit an electronic application directly uploaded on the UNDP jobs website with all the requirements as listed here below. Annexes and further information may be downloaded on http://procurement-notices.undp.org no.77524.

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document to this website - http://jobs.undp.org no.98445.

• Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP (Annex II);
• Personal CV, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references.

Technical proposal:

• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment;
• A methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment;
• Financial proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided (Annex II);
• Annexes 1 and II - may be downloaded from the UNDP Procurement Notices Website -http://procurement-notices.undp.org/. For further clarifications, please contact; [email protected]; [email protected].

Incomplete proposals may not be considered. The shortlisted candidates may be contacted, and the successful candidate will be notified.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.