Information Management Expert (Archives and Records Management)

Result of Service A fully operational archive system for the Abidjan Convention that is consistent with UN rules and regulations.

Work Location Home Based

Expected duration 3 Months

Duties and Responsibilities The United Nations Environment Programme is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment.

The Abidjan Convention, established in 1981, covers the Atlantic marine area from Mauritania to South Africa with a coastline of just over 14,000 km. The Abidjan Convention and its associated protocols provide legal framework for protection, conservation, and development of marine environment in the Abidjan Convention area for the benefit and well-being of its people. In line with article 16 of the Convention, United Nations Environment Programme provides the administrative and diplomatic role of coordination through its secretariat based in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. In view of that, the Abidjan Convention serves 21 coastal countries in the Convention area, 19 being signatory states. In line with Article 22 of the convention , signatory states are obliged to report on the measures taken to support implementation of the convention and its protocols. The reporting process began at the 10th conference of parties, when Contracting Parties requested the secretariat to establish a Science and Technology Committee to provide scientific and technical assistance and to set up a reporting mechanism (Decision CP.10/16) . Accordingly, the secretariat developed a standard national reporting template to allow easy sharing of information on issues related to the implementation of the Convention and its Protocols. In the subsequent conference (COP11), the template was approved and in its Decision CP.11/13, Parties decided to establish a web portal to facilitate submission of national reports. Yet, information on the Abidjan Convention and its protocols, documents of the COP, approaches used, or results achieved remain fragmented. As such, documents on the operations of the Convention have not been shared systematically. To date, the Abidjan Convention has not established an archive system, causing several issues in terms of information management and efficiency. The 2018 audit report on Abidjan Convention Secretariat indicated that the Convention’s records had not been maintained systematically in line with United Nations rules and regulations on record-keeping and archive management (ST/SGB/2007/5) . Additionally, the report shows that its information was not easily accessible, and the risk of losing vital records was very high. Therefore, the audit recommended that the Secretariat should develop an appropriate record management system to manage and safeguard its records, and implement Decision CP.11/13 on the creation of an online reporting system for the Convention and its protocols.

In this regard, the convention established a content inventory and initiated the development of a documents classification system in 2019. With the support of the USAID, developed and started the implementation of a new classification system based on the Records Common to All United Nations Offices (RCUN) standards.

The Convention needs now to scale up this initiative towards the creation of a document archiving system. An archiving system will enable smooth running of the Secretariat through: proper preservation of Abidjan Convention assets (COP documents, agreements, national reports, programme or project documents, administrative files e.t.c); easy tracking/monitoring of past and present information; increased efficiency in accessing records by both internal and external users; timely response to inquiries by governments, experts or public; interoperability of digital sources; and reduced the risk of losing important information. The creation of the archiving system will necessarily involve the deployment and integration of the classification system within the Secretariat team. To achieve this, the Convention requires a document management software that enables classification and archiving functionalities.

OpenKM is a management solution that allows organizations to control the production, storage, management and distribution of electronic documents, resulting in greater efficiency and the ability to reuse information. OpenKM integrates all the essential features of document management, collaboration and advanced search into an easy-to-use and fun solution. The software also includes administration tools to define the roles of different users, access control, user quota, and the security level of documents. OpenKM provides a default workflow engine which is flexible and adaptable to the organization’s needs. The workflow engine includes a reporting feature that enables automatic generation of specified information periodically, facilitating the work of the internal audits. Most importantly, OpenKM is a sustainable and cost-efficient data management system, suitable for long-term preservation of records, and facilitate compliance with internationally agreed standards, i.e ISO 9001 Standard for a quality management system and ISO 16175-2 Standard on guidelines and functional requirements for digital records management systems.

The consultant will work under the direct supervision and the overall guidance of the Coordinator of the Abidjan Convention and the Head of the Ecosystems Integration Branch.

To implement the recommendations of the audit report of 2018, the Abidjan Convention Secretariat with the support of UNEP is currently pursuing the support of a consultant to develop a compliant archive system – consistent with the United Nations rules and regulation. The specific objectives of the consultancy services are to:

• Undertake an assessment on relevant information on Abidjan Convention Secretariate and create a classification and document index for the implementation of a data archiving system.
• Provide technical guidance to Abidjan Secretariat for the procurement of OpenKM Software.
• Develop a template proposal to facilitate national reporting.
• Prepare standard operation procedures, a user’s guide, and train Abidjan Convention staff on digital data preservation and management.
• Accompany the Convention’s staff to ensure proper integration of the archiving system

Responsibilities 1. In consultation with the Coordinator of the Abidjan Convention and relevant staff, conduct a desk review on all available data to identify valuable data for preservation and archiving.

2. Review the existing national reporting template and develop a template proposal to facilitate implementation of the convention and its protocols as well as the COP decisions . 3. After the review, develop a data inventory for the selected records and ensure that the file formats and metadata are recorded appropriately.

4. Based on the data inventory develop a document classification system, ensuring secure handling of confidential information in accordance with the Secretary-General’s bulletin ST/SGB/2007/6 on information sensitivity, classification and handling.

5. Propose proper storage facilities and equipment for archiving hard copies.

6. Provide technical advice during the procurement of OpenKM software.

7. Install the software, design a reporting portal for the Convention and Its protocols and upload information accordingly.

8. Test the new data management system.

9. Prepare a comprehensive document outlining technical and financial requirements to establish the Abidjan Convention reporting archiving system.

10. Build the capacity of the Abidjan convention Secretariat on the new data management system: prepare standard operation procedures and a user’s guide for reference purposes; provide a training/workshop for the staff on implementation and use of document management system.

11. Prepare a final report with lessons learned and recommendations for enhancing the Abidjan Convention archive system.

Qualifications/special skills Academic Qualifications: Advanced university degree in information technology, computer science or related field is required. Experience: A minimum of 5 years professional experience in record/information management and digital archive in an international organization or national institution is required. Language: English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the post, fluency in oral and written English and French is required. Knowledge of any other UN language an asset.

No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.