Livelihood and Inclusion Sector Coordination Specialist

Contract

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

The current crisis unfolding in Ukraine is exacerbating existing humanitarian and development needs and creating new needs both inside and outside the country. Around 6.7 mln are projected to be internally displaced persons (IDPs) within Ukraine, along with a major flow of refugees and migrants towards neighboring countries. Following the start of military operations and the escalation of the conflict, over 1.8 mln people had fled Ukraine to Poland, Moldova, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and other. Since the outset of the influx to Moldova (over 120,000), the Government and UNHCR have established an inter-agency (IA) mechanism to coordinate the humanitarian response. It now encompasses coordination within and across all sectors in Moldova and has drawn on UN agencies’ comparative expertise. UNDP leads the work on Livelihood and resilience sector coordination. The Moldova Chapter of the Regional Refugee and Response Plan (RRP) addresses the challenges through both humanitarian (refugee) and development (resilience) perspectives, within the context of 6 sector responses. The 3RP Moldova Chapter highlights the increasing need for and importance of the resilience response, reflected both in terms of type of support required as well as the resilience budget partners appealed for.

UNDP and UNHCR have agreed on a Partnership on Forced Displacement outlining the core coordination responsibilities in response to displacement crisis, with UNDP having an agreed lead coordination role on resilience. UNDP focusses on strengthening resilience related support across all sectors. This includes, amongst others, a stronger focus on support to strengthening of capacities of both national and local partners (municipalities in particular). UNDP resilience approach is instrumental in articulating and bridging humanitarian and sustainable development priorities in supporting refugees, host communities and local and national institutions. Resilience helps to incorporate the 2030 Agenda’s core principles (e.g. Leaving No One Behind) and to identify strategic collective outcomes to foster cross-sectoral and longer term-resilience-building perspectives in crisis response. UNDP response has consistently stood out for its strong national ownership and leadership, with partners playing a support role to the Government within the “national refugee framework” including access to national systems such as health, education, employment and social services.

Given the increased need to support Moldova CO on refugee response, align its human mobility agenda to new realities, as well as guide strategic directions for future engagement, UNDP the Livelihoods and Inclusion Sector Coordinator based in Moldova, to support the CO team in UNDP’s positioning within the framework of the RRP implementation, and the linkages with UNDP Moldova programmatic response to the impact of the refugee crisis.

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

SECTOR COORDINATION • Coordinate the Livelihoods and Inclusion Sector activities and deliverables, with national coverage, and with focus on livelihoods support to both refugee and host communities and socio-economic inclusion of refugees. • Represent UNDP and the Livelihoods and Inclusion Sector in other Working Groups in the Refugee Coordination Forum (RCF) Moldova and at the Regional Level if requested. • Represent the Livelihoods and Inclusion Sector in the regular RCF Sector Leads meetings. • Coordinate regular reporting of the results of the Livelihoods and Inclusion Sector capturing what is being done, where, when, donors, partners, and upcoming pipeline project activities. • Ensure and promote conflict sensitivity in the Livelihoods and Inclusion Sector activities and among partners. • Support the UNDP Senior Management to identify issues of concern and bring to the attention of the government.

IMPACT MONITORING • Ensure follow up with members of the Livelihoods and Inclusion Sector for them to provide regular input into Activity Info, the RRRP Moldova impact monitoring system. • Ensure coordination of UNDP’s reporting under Activity Info in collaboration with UNDP Cluster Leads/ project managers. • Ensure implementation and monitoring of the inter-cluster work plan activities agreed by the members of the Livelihoods and Inclusion Sector. • Support the development of UNDP’s impact reporting for UNDP based on data collected.

DEVELOPMENT OF KNOWLEDGE AND COMMUNICATIONS PRODUCTS • Identify needs, gaps and develop strategy and work plan for the Livelihoods and Inclusion Sector. • Further develop the Livelihoods and Inclusion Sector strategy, tools, checklists and documents agreed by the members in the collective work plan, including, but not limited to, key messages on inclusion and livelihoods; compendium of good practices on inclusion and livelihoods in refugee situations; lessons learned from refugee response in Moldova on livelihoods and inclusion; gender-responsive livelihoods and inclusion checklist (in collaboration with the Gender Task Force). • Develop communications products for the Livelihoods and Inclusion Sector highlighting members’ activities and impact on this topic, including the bi-weekly thematic issue briefs, presentations, etc. and ensure dissemination to UNHCR, the Livelihoods and Inclusion Sector, and UNDP. • Liaise with UNDP communications specialist to draw human interest stories to be featured in collective products of the Livelihoods and Inclusion Sector. • Lead planning process for the Livelihoods and Inclusion Sector during 2022/2023.

PARTNERSHIP AND RESOURCE MOBILIZATION • Support to the development and implementation of partnerships and resources mobilization strategies for UNDP in response to the Crisis and across the HDP nexus at both country office and regional level. • Analysis and research of information on donors, preparation of substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for cost-sharing. • Consolidation resource mobilisation initiatives, and exploring possibilities to mobilise core resources, thematic trust fund resources, UN administered funding resources, as well as other funding possibilities with potential donors (bi-lateral and multilateral, IFIs, private sector).

• Professionalism • Integrity • Teamwork and respect for diversity • Commitment to continuous learning • Planning and organizing • Communication • Flexibility • Genuine commitment towards the principles of voluntary engagement

development work; • At least 3 years of experience with policy development and/or project implementation of livelihoods, private sector and/or enterprise-oriented initiatives in humanitarian and/or development setting or a related field; • At least 2 years of work experience with an UN agency • Experience in humanitarian response and recovery operations (complex emergencies and/or natural disasters) is considered a strong asset • Solid understanding of migration and forced displacement dynamics and developmental approaches is essential, preferably with country and/or regional experience in Europe and Central Asia. • Knowledge of the UN system, humanitarian and development work, and multi-stakeholder approaches. • Experience in UNDP’s programme and policy approaches on human mobility and/or related fields. • Experience in government-led / inter-agency frameworks. • Programmatic/policy experience in complex settings, innovation and problem-solving skills. • Strong advocacy and networking skills. • Experience in training/capacity building and support to colleagues in new thematic areas is an asset. • Fluency in Romanian or in Moldavian is required

Geography and Climate: The Republic of Moldova lies in the central part of Europe in the north-eastern Balkans, with a population of about 2.6 million, being one of the poorest countries on the continent. The capital of Moldova is Chisinau. On the North, East and South Moldova is surrounded by Ukraine, and on the West it is separated from Romania by the Prut River. As a small country, most destinations within the Republic of Moldova can be reached in a day drive.

The climate of the Republic of Moldova is moderately continental. It is characterized by a lengthy frost-free period, short mild winters, lengthy hot summers, modest precipitation, and long dry periods in the south. At the landscape level, the territory of the country is situated within three natural zones – forest, forest-steppe and steppe. The largest forest tracts represented by the forest reservations Codrii Moldovei and Plaiul Fagului are located in the center of the country. Culture: The culture of the Republic of Moldova represents a large gamut of cultural activities: literature, theatre, music, fine arts, architecture, cinematography, broadcasting and television, photographic art, design, circus, folk art, archives and libraries, books editing, scientific research, cultural tourism and so on. Religion: The primary religion is Christianity, over 90 percent of the population nominally being Eastern Orthodox. Adherents of other faiths include Roman Catholic, Protestantism/Neo-Protestantism, Judaism, Islamism, Hinduism etc.

Administrative-territorial organization: the Republic of Moldova is divided into 32 districts, 5 municipalities, 2 regions with special status (Autonomous Territorial Unit Gagauzia, Territorial administrative units from the left part of Nistru river, generically known as Transnistria region). Transnistria region is a part of the Republic of Moldova, but it is not controlled by the constitutional government. Public transportation: In addition to the private taxi services, the state runs a reliable and cost-effective public transport system. Safety and security: The crime rate is low, but there have been cases of theft. Walking alone during daylight hours is permitted, but you may want to be more careful at night. As Moldova is neighboring Ukraine, a country at war with the Russian Federation, there are regional security risks. It is therefore important to remain updated on the conflict situation. Thus, security advice is sent systematically by UNDSS.

UN Volunteer entitlements and allowances: The purpose of the allowances and entitlements paid to UN Volunteers is to enable UN Volunteers to sustain a secure standard of living at the duty stations in line with United Nations standards without incurring personal costs. The allowances are in no way to be understood as compensation, reward, or salary in exchange for the UN Volunteer’s service. Contingent on specific eligibility criteria, location of the volunteer assignment and contractual type and category, the payment of allowances will begin from the date of Commencement of Service For more information on entitlements please read the Condition of Service (https://explore.unv.org/cos) and use the entitlement calculator (https://app.unv.org/calculator) for the most up to date information