Programme Officer

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.

UNCDF is bringing its expertise in promoting green and climate resilient local communities and economies and youth access to finance, including through digital, in support of job creation, under the “Jobs, Skills and Finance (JSF) for Women and Youth in The Gambia” Programme. This programme contributed to stabilizing the economic, social and security situation of the country during the democratic transition by facilitating social inclusion and employment of the youth and women, with a specific emphasis on promoting gender equality and addressing climate change. Launched in 2018, the JSF Programme is funded by the European Union (EU) and is implemented by UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) in partnership with the International Trade Centre (ITC) under the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs of The Gambia. JSF was designed to address persistent challenges in The Gambia such as lack of job opportunities for youth and women, low levels of financial inclusion, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. To overcome these challenges, the JSF Programme focuses on fostering inclusive and sustainable growth as well as creating employment for youth and women by establishing a local ecosystem where youth, women, local governments and SMEs are supported to access the resources they need to grow. It does so by working on three distinct, but interlinked, result areas: • Creating sustainable and equal employment opportunities for youth and women; • Improving Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), skills development and apprenticeship opportunities, and making them more accessible to youth and women; • Improving the regulatory framework of the financial sector. The JSF programme is delivered essentially through two UNCDF mechanisms/approaches: the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL), and Youth Start (YS).

For this position, the Programme Officer will be under the daily supervision of the Country and Programme Manager, with the general supervision of the Global Climate Facility Manager. As part of the Project Team, working closely with the Country and Programme Manager, the Programme Officer will contribute to the effective delivery of the Programme’s activities, covering all the expected results.

In carrying out his/her work, the Programme Officer will work closely with national counterparts, the donor(s) and the other implementing partners to ensure the good delivery of the action, the reporting, and the monitoring and evaluation.

Under the daily supervision of the Country and Programme Manager, with the general supervision of the Global Climate Facility Manager and in close collaboration with the national counterparts, the Programme Officer will contribute to the daily implementation of the project, including overall gender-sensitive planning, oversight and monitoring of project implementation and substantive and financial reporting. The Programme Officer will provide technical, policy, and programming implementation support for the effective deployment of the JSF programme, and is also expected to contribute actively to partnership buildings efforts and outreach activities on an ongoing basis.

Programme management (50%) • Assist the Country and Programme Manager to provide effective programme and project design, supervision, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, reporting, in close collaboration with Country and Programme Manager and other JSF Team members ; • Contribute to project management daily activities (ex. writing terms of reference, memoranda of understanding, letter of agreement, recruitment and management of consultants), including organization of field missions; • Assist the Programme Manager in strengthening the quality of monitoring and evaluation systems of program developments and implementation (including preparation and monitoring of the annual work plan, participation in field missions, filing the logical framework, contribution to the preparation of annual reports), identify problems and issues to be addressed and propose corrective actions, and identify and track follow-up actions; • Contribute to the organization of events, meetings, conferences, etc., including proposing agenda topics, identifying participants, preparation of documents and presentations, etc.

Partnership/Network Building, Outreach and Resource Mobilization (20%) • Support the Country and Programme Manager, the JSF team in the Gambia and UNCDF LoCAL Global management team on the development of resource mobilization strategies, in cooperation with United Nations agencies and implementing partners in targeted countries; • Support partnership building efforts for effective positioning in the UN System and with development partners networks; • Liaise with relevant parties and maintain close working relationship with key stakeholders at various levels by building linkages and networks; • Support the identification of opportunities for collaboration with key actors and support the development of partnerships. • Support the process of preparation, design, submission and approval of programme/project concepts and full-fledged proposals for financing

Operational support (20%) • Contribute to operations activities, including finance, planning, human resources, procurement, transport, IT, security, administration and ensure they follow UNCDF’s rules, regulations, policies and procedures; • Support the strengthening of the quality of operational services and activities delivered by the JSF programme and support implementation of budget, financial, procurement, and project personnel, in close with relevant Management Support Unit and regional colleagues.

Knowledge management and communication (10%) • Support capacity building activities including identifying, analyzing, documenting, harmonizing and disseminating both national and local issues as well as conditions and best practices and lessons learned among partners. Capacity building activities will include coordinating meetings, workshops and seminars with project management teams, government, partners and other stakeholders; • Prepare various written outputs and knowledge products, e.g. draft background papers, analyses, sections of reports and studies, inputs to publications, etc.; • Contribute to the implementation of the Communication and Visibility Plan of the Programme, in collaboration with the Facility, partners and technical consultants

Results/expected outputs:

The incumbent will work on the overall Programme results, but with a specific focus on the two key results directly implemented by UNCDF*: • Output 1.1 “Improved capacity of The Gambian government and local authorities for managing the job-creating, green economy, climate resilient and gender-sensitive investment programmes according to LoCAL approach” • Output2.1. Draft Regulatory framework on the financial sector prepared and submitted to the CBG and the Government * Output1.2. “TVET, Skills development and apprenticeship opportunities in line with MSME’s needs are improved and accessible to the youth and women” is implemented by ITC.

As an active UNCDF team member, efficient, timely, responsive, client-friendly and high-quality support rendered to UNCDF and its beneficiaries in the accomplishment of her/his functions, including by pursuing the following key results of the Project and related activity results: o JSF/LoCAL in the Gambia is effectively, efficiently and transparently implemented in line with UNCDF project management regulations; o Government partners at national and subnational levels and communities benefit from quality and timely provision of technical assistance and capacity building support; o JSF/LoCAL in the Gambia is effectively and efficiently monitored, assessed and reported on; o JSF/LoCAL experience in the Gambia is well documented, best practices identified and lessons learned and disseminated through various communication channels; o JSF/LoCAL in the Gambia is strengthened as a result of in-country technical and financial partnerships.

• Professionalism: Deep knowledge and understanding of key concepts related to climate change and environment sustainability; • Innovation and commitment to continuous learning: Builds confidence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation; Takes on new approaches and fosters innovative thinking; Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities and resolve problems; Excellent analytical skills; • Client-orientation: Strong client orientation, recognizing the importance of providing appropriate, user-friendly and affordable services; Proactively identifies, develops and discusses solutions for internal and external clients, and communicates with management to develop new projects or services; Comfortable advocating and advancing an agenda, including with high level counterparts and other stakeholders; • Integrity: Conducts fair and transparent decision making; Demonstrate the values and ethical standards of the UN and UNCDF in daily activities and behaviours while acting without consideration of personal gains; resist undue political pressure in decision-making; stand by decisions that are in the organization’s interest even if they are unpopular; take prompt action in cases of unprofessional or unethical behaviour; does not abuse power or authority; • Teamwork and respect for diversity: Experience being part of teams, working with other stakeholders to achieve common goals; Experience managing consultants, including recruiting, hiring and managing and evaluating international and national expertise; Proven cross-cultural communication, able to function effectively in an international, multicultural environment; Builds and promotes teams and partnerships; Displays cultural and gender sensitivity and adaptability; Treats all persons fairly without favouritism; • Planning and organizing: Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure; Effective organizational and problem-solving skills and ability to manage 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 deadlines, and to handle multiple concurrent projects/activities; • Communication: Creates and promotes open communication; Approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude and responds positively to feedback; proven interpersonal skills; Excellent spoken and written communication skills, including ability to prepare clear and concise reports; ability to conduct presentations, articulate options and positions concisely; ability to make and defend recommendations; Capacity to transfer information and knowledge to a wide range of different target groups; • Genuine commitment towards the principles of voluntary engagement: which includes solidarity, compassion, reciprocity and self-reliance; and commitment towards UNCDF’s mission and vision, as well as to the UN Core Values.

progressively responsible positions in implementing, managing and monitoring development projects, preferably in the environmental and climate change areas, is required. • Proven/demonstrable networking capabilities and ability to associate him/herself with a range of actors (inter alia central and local governments; policy makers; development partners and donors, local communities, women and youth groups) with a view to building relations and facilitating links is highly desirable • Work experience with local governments, local stakeholders, local communities, and with addressing gender equality as project objective and/or cross-cutting issue in developing countries is desired; • Knowledge of current developments in local economic development for the most vulnerable (women and youth) is desired; • Strong awareness of key and emerging issues related to climate change/adaptation is highly desirable; • Experience with a UN organization/agency is desirable; • Experience with ATLAS and UNDP Procurement Processes is desired, but not a requirement.

The Gambia, officially the Republic of the Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland Africa and is surrounded by Senegal, except for its western coast on the Atlantic Ocean. It has an area of 10,689 square kilometers with a population of 1,857,181 as of the April 2013 census. Banjul is the Gambian capital and the country's largest metropolitan area. The largest cities are Serekunda and Brikama. The Gambia's economy is dominated by farming, fishing, and especially, tourism. In 2015, 48.6% of the population lived in poverty. In rural areas, poverty was even more widespread, at almost 70%. Adama Barrow became the Gambia's third president in January 2017, after defeating Jammeh in the December 2016 elections. The Gambia has a tropical climate. A hot and rainy season normally lasts from June until November, but from then until May, cooler temperatures predominate, with less precipitation.

This post requires regular travels to in-country.