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.

The Local Climate Adaptive Living (LoCAL) facility of the UNCDF was designed and launched in 2011 with the aim of promoting climate change-resilient communities and local economies by establishing a standard and internationally recognized country-based mechanism to channel climate finance to local government authorities (LGAs) in LDCs and to increase local resilience, thereby contributing to the achievement of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly the specific goals of poverty eradication (SDG1) and climate action (SDG13). LoCAL increases awareness and capacities to respond to climate change at the local level, integrates climate change adaptation into local governments' planning and budgeting systems, in a participatory and gender-sensitive manner, and increases the amount of finance available to local governments for climate change adaptation.

LoCAL focuses on the delivery of four outputs that will directly contribute to increasing local governments’ access to climate finance and building resilience to climate change:

• Output 1 – Awareness and capacities to respond to climate change adaptation at the local level are increased; • Output 2 – CCA is mainstreamed into government’s planning and budgeting systems and investments are implemented in line with the PBCRG mechanism; • Output 3 – The PBCRG system is effectively and sustainably established in participating countries and leads to an increased amount of CCA finance available to local government and local economy; • Output 4 – The role of local authorities and of the PBCRGS in addressing climate change are increasingly recognized at international level, through outreach, learning and quality assurance.

LoCAL combines performance-based climate resilience grants (PBCRGs) with technical and capacity-building support. PBCRGs ensure programming and verification of climate change expenditures at the local level and offer strong incentives for general performance improvements targeting areas of importance for enhanced resilience. The PBCRG can be seen as an earmarked cross-sectoral grant with conditions attached to the use of its funding for climate change adaptation beyond business as usual. Combined with regular grant allocations, PBCRGs enable 100 per cent of the investments in climate-sensitive sectors to become climate resilient over time.

The PBCRGs consist of a financial top-up to cover the additional costs of making investments climate resilient and/or of additional investments for climate change adaptation. These grants complement regular allocations made by the central level to local governments through the respective intergovernmental fiscal transfer system. They include a set of minimum conditions, performance measures and a menu of eligible investments.

The Programme operates in three distinct phases:  Phase I: Piloting, consists of an initial scoping analysis, followed by testing in two to four local governments.  Phase II: Consolidating, takes place in 5–10 local governments in a country. It involves collecting lessons and demonstrating the mechanism’s effectiveness at a larger scale.  Phase III: Scaling-up, is full national roll-out of LoCAL based on the results of the previous phases and lessons learned. LoCAL is gradually extended to all local governments, with domestic or international climate finance, and becomes the national system for channeling adaptation finance to the local level.

As part of the LoCAL Team, working under the direct supervision of the Global Manager, Global Climate Facility Manager based in Kampala, the Programme Officer will contribute to the effective delivery of the Programme’s activities, covering all the expected results. The Programme Officer will be part of the network of 30+ LoCAL country programmes and benefit from the links with this network. In carrying out his/her work, the Programme Officer will work closely with national and subnational governments and partners to ensure the good delivery of the action, the reporting, and the monitoring and evaluation.

Under the supervision of the Global Climate Facility Manager, the Programme Officer will:

• Provide support for the development and effective implementation of LoCAL in target countries in close collaboration with the Programme Specialist, UNCDF national teams and the LoCAL Facility (global team); • Contribute to the provision of technical assistance for LoCAL in target countries (e.g. writing terms of reference, letters of agreement, memorandum of understanding, official letters, support recruitment and management of consultants, etc); • Contribute to quality monitoring, evaluation and reporting (e.g. preparation and monitoring of the annual work plans, organization and participation in field missions, contribution to the preparation of the quarterly and annual reports); • Contribute to the organization of events, meetings, conferences, etc., including proposing agenda topics, identifying participants, preparation of documents and presentations, etc. • Collect intelligence on technical and financial partners, identify opportunities for collaboration with key stakeholders and support the development of partnerships for LoCAL in assigned countries. • Support the process of preparation, design, submission and approval of programme/project concepts and full-fledged proposals for financing; • 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 • Contribute to the knowledge and communication efforts of LoCAL based on lessons learned and results achieved from target countries (e.g. collecting stories from the field, photos/videos, webpage, as appropriate); • Perform any other duties as it may be required.

Results/expected outputs:

• As an active UNCDF/LoCAL 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: • LoCAL in assigned countries is effectively, efficiently and transparently implemented in line with UNCDF project management regulations; • Government partners at national and subnational levels and communities benefit from quality and timely provision of technical assistance and capacity building support; • LoCAL in assigned countries is effectively and efficiently monitored, assessed and reported on; • LoCAL experience in assigned countries is well documented, best practices identified and lessons learned and disseminated through various communication channels; • LoCAL in assigned countries is strengthened as a result of in-country technical and financial partnerships. • Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated and documented in all activities throughout the assignment; • A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for peace and development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed.

• Professionalism: Deep knowledge and understanding of key concepts related to climate change and environment sustainability; Understanding of key concepts related to local government finance including decentralization and local economic development; Experience in policy, regulatory and technical advice and project management related to the fields of climate change and environment sustainability in relation to development; Relevant technical experience with policy and regulatory bodies and central and local governments; Work experience in developing countries; Experience with addressing gender equality as project objective and/or cross-cutting issue. • 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; • 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 and monitoring development projects in the climate change and/or decentralization areas, is required;

Knowledge of local public financial management and governance, including decentralization processes and instruments (e.g. performance-based grants, intergovernmental fiscal transfer systems, etc);

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 stakeholders, in particular local governments and local communities, and in addressing gender equality as project objective and/or cross-cutting issue in developing countries 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 UNCDF/UNDP policies, rules and procedures is desired, but not a requirement.

Kampala is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Rubaga Division. Kampala's metropolitan area consists of the city proper and the neighboring Wakiso District, Mukono District, Mpigi District, Buikwe District and Luweero District. It has a rapidly growing population that is estimated at 6,709,900 people in 2019 by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics in an area of 8,451.9 km2 (3,263.3 square miles).