Partnerships Coordinator

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.

Since 2008, UNCDF has been supporting digital finance with significant success, with digital finance currently the largest part of its inclusive finance portfolio. This includes digital innovations linked to off-grid energy, agriculture, employment, health and transport. UNCDF is also host to the Secretariat of the Better than Cash Alliance, a partnership of governments, companies, and international organi-zations that accelerates the transition from cash to digital payments in order to reduce poverty and drive inclusive growth.

With many professionals with strong digital finance experience across the globe and with several hundreds of projects on digital finance on-going, UNCDF is one of the leading development agencies in digital finance with a mission and expertise to reach low-income customers in some of the world’s most difficult markets.

Based on this experience UNCDF started in 2017 to expand the scope of its programmatic agenda to go beyond digital finance using its newly launched strategy “Leaving no one behind in the digital era”. Through this strategy it intends to move its focus from digital finance (DF) to digital economies which constitutes a logical integration of UNCDF experience in financial inclusion and digital, de-veloped over many years. The legacy of UNCDF intervention programmes was built through a range of country/regional programmes and global thematic initiatives, which has established a very strong reputation for UNCDF vis-à-vis donors and peers.

UNCDF is also developing a robust climate disaster risk financing and insurance portfolio with initial programming in the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) with a planned phased expansion to other regions based on proper scoping and identification of opportunities.

The UNV Partnerships specialist will support the regional Pacific Insurance and Climate Adaptation Programme (PICAP) as well as the global UNCDF wide Climate Disaster Risk financing and Insurance (CDRFI) Programming initiatives in all aspects relating to expansion to Asia, Africa and the Caribbean countries- Least Developed Countries and developing countries with specific focus on inclusion of women and other disadvantaged groups and developing country and region specific partnerships with donors, private and public sector, distribution channels and other stakeholders, all contributing to growing the climate disaster risk financing and insurance and contributing to targets under SDG 17 and 5.

The specialist will be responsible for supporting all activities contributing to outputs and outcomes under climate disaster risk financing and insurance progammes to be developed as well as the ongoing Pacific Insurance and Climate Adaptation Programme. This will include relevant research, developing policy briefs, concept notes, funding proposals for resource mobilization, networking with relevant global entities in this domain to build partnerships for developing the UNCDF portfolio. The role also involves working closely with UNCDF partners, from the government, such as the central bank and ministeries, the private sector, including but not limited to commercial banks, mobile network operators, fintechs, insurance companies, remittance service providers etc, as well as development partners, such as other UN Agencies, donor organizations and NGOs.

Under the supervision of the UNCDF´s Lead Specialist (Insurance and Climate Adaptation) and Programme Manager, PICAP, the UN Volunteer will be the key person to structure the UNCDF engagement in the Pacific region and beyond and will undertake the following tasks:

A) Contribute to the development and implementation of a global inclusive climate disaster risk financing hub that supports UNCDF programmes in regions, countries. • Scope for resource mobilization opportunities by exploring regional and global funds and as-sist the UNCDF team in developing and submitting proposals

• Conduct research on climate disaster risks, particularly affecting LDCs, developing countries, small island developing states, land locked developing states and preparing evidence based concept papers covering economic impacts, present coping mechanisms, status of financial services market especially insurance, vulnerable groups and segments, development partners active in the disaster risk financing domain etc.

• Support the implementation of UNCDF’s programme activities across all the workstream ac-tivites according to annual work plan, quality assurance and ensuring achievement of outputs, as they releate to the CDRFI portfolio .

• Undertake studies to analyze barriers to financial and digital inclusion, more particlarly as it relates to inclusive insurance, CDRFI and prepare summary briefings

B) Build and maintain strategic partnerships: • Capitalize on business opportunities and support in resource mobilization for the CDRFI portfolio in countries and regions.

• Facilitate meetings of regional and country technical specialists and other colleagues by lias-ing with partners in organizing meetings;

• Support timely reporting from partners that have received support as may be required;

• Represent UNCDF in all relevant workshops, conferences and other events where UNCDF is invited; and be part of any regional or global working group or committee as nominated by the supervisor

C) Assist in knowledge development tools: • Develop outreach materials/products/tools for donor engagement

• Preparation of policy briefs, concept notes, fundraising documents, blogs development, dis-cussion papers and presentations, and assist in development of knowledge products in areas including but not limited to CDRFI, participate in proposals/strategies development review and submissions

• Support in programme secondary research in areas relating to inclusive insurance, potential partnerships, climate disaster risk financing and insurance (CDRFI) including parametric in-surance, and its applicability in the specific country/regional context Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to:

• Supervise and manage a team of Volunteers/Interns, who may be onboarded depending on project requirements. • Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading rel-evant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day); • Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country; • Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including partic-ipation in ongoing reflection activities; • Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publica-tions/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.; • Assist remotely with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers

• Integrity and professionalism: demonstrated expertise in area of specialty and ability to apply good judgment; high degree of autonomy, personal initiative and ability to take ownership; will-ingness to accept wide responsibilities and ability to work independently under established pro-cedures in a politically sensitive environment, while exercising discretion, impartiality and neu-trality; ability to manage information objectively, accurately and confidentially; responsive and client-oriented. • Accountability: mature and responsible; ability to operate in compliance with organizational rules and regulations. • Commitment to continuous learning: initiative and willingness to learn new skills and stay abreast of new developments in area of expertise; ability to adapt to changes in work environ-ment. • Planning and organizing: effective organizational and problem-solving skills and ability to man-age a large volume of work in an efficient and timely manner; ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate and monitor (own) work; ability to work under pressure, with conflicting dead-lines, and to handle multiple concurrent projects/activities. • Teamwork and respect for diversity: ability to operate effectively across organizational bounda-ries; ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and harmonious working relations in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity and gender; • Communication: proven interpersonal skills; good spoken and written communication skills, in-cluding ability to prepare clear and concise reports; ability to conduct presentations, articulate op-tions and positions concisely; ability to make and defend recommendations; ability to communi-cate and empathize with staff (including national staff), military personnel, volunteers, counter-parts and local interlocutors coming from very diverse backgrounds; ability to maintain compo-sure and remain helpful towards the staff, but objective, without showing personal interest; ca-pacity to transfer information and knowledge to a wide range of different target groups; • Flexibility, adaptability, and ability and willingness to operate independently in austere, remote and potentially hazardous environments for protracted periods, involving physical hardship and little comfort, and including possible extensive travel within the area of operations; willingness to transfer to other duty stations within area of operations as may be necessary; • Genuine commitment towards the principles of voluntary engagement, which includes solidarity, compassion, reciprocity and self-reliance; and commitment towards the UN core values.

access to finance, financial inclusion related projects, other development projects, mass market customer services like banking and insurance, digital ecosystem

Fiji is a democratic republic. There are three levels of government in Fiji: national, provincial, and local. Fiji has a total land area of 18,272 square kilometres, with 332 islands (of which only a third are inhabited). The country has an exclusive economic zone covering 1.3 million square kilometres in the Pacific Ocean. Mountains and tropical forests cover the islands. Most of the population lives in towns and cities, with more than half living along the coasts. It has a pleasant climate with maximum temperatures rarely exceeding 26-31 degrees Celsius (78-87 degrees Fahrenheit). Fiji stays lush and green during the rainy season in December, with intermittent downpours. Since English is the official language of Fiji, almost everyone speaks it. The Fijian language, however, is preserved and widely spoken in a number of dialects.