Resilience Programme Coordinator- Individual Contractor, Home-based, WCARO Dakar Senegal

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, a childhood

Background

The Sahel is a vast region with enormous potential for young people and future generations. However, children, particularly girls and adolescents, miss out on opportunities because of the impact of climate change, conflicts, COVID-19 and other vulnerabilities.

For decades, people in the Sahel have been affected by protracted, multi-dimensional crises, including armed conflicts and climate-related disasters exacerbated by poor governance and rapid population growth. The region is heating 1.5 times faster than the global average. If this trend continues, temperatures may rise by 3 – 5C in the Sahel by 2050. The direct and indirect effects of climate change - from severe droughts to floods, from food insecurity and malnutrition to epidemics and other climate-related shocks and stresses - severely impact the lives and livelihoods of the most disadvantaged families, communities and fuel tensions and conflicts.

The last decade has seen a sharp increase in conflicts, insecurity, and violence in the region - particularly in the Central Sahel and Lake Chad Basin - causing thousands of deaths and forcing millions of people to flee their homes. From 2015 to 2020, the number of violent attacks increased eight-fold in the Central Sahel and tripled in the Lake Chad basin. Armed conflict has led to an increase in grave violations against children, including recruitment and use, killing and maiming, rape and other sexual violence, and abduction. Armed attacks on communities, schools, health centres and homes have made daily life a nightmare for the majority. Due to their increased vulnerability to gender-based violence (GBV), child marriage, sexual exploitation and other forms of abuse; girls, adolescents and young women are particularly exposed and vulnerable.

The compounded effects of these various crises have weakened families and communities’ coping mechanisms, further increasing their vulnerabilities to shocks and stresses. They have a devastating impact on the most disadvantaged people, families and communities, particularly children and adolescent girls who bear the brunt of crises.

Over the last year, the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered unprecedented health, humanitarian, socioeconomic and human rights crisis, affecting millions of people globally and exacerbating vulnerabilities of those affected by crises. Approximately 150 million additional children are living in multidimensional poverty – without adequate access to essential services – due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the analysis jointly carried out by Save the Children and UNICEF.

This quadruple crisis −conflicts and protection, health, socio-economic, and climate change− is disproportionately affecting children and adolescents. Millions miss out on basic health services, nutrition, education, protection and water, hygiene and sanitation and other social basic services. The future of an entire generation of children is now at risk.

In the highly disaster and conflict prone context of the Sahel, making communities resilient to withstand shocks and stresses is critical to reach and maintain socio-economic development, preserve their integrity and protect children. To invest in risk-informed and conflict-sensitive programmes is a prerequisite for countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the targets of the African Union Agenda 2063. Related approaches have been identified and informed by a broad conceptual framework for resilience, which includes the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Sustainable Development Goals, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the Paris agreement, and UNICEF’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025; as well as by a regional operational framework, including the UN Integrated Strategy for the Sahel (UNISS) and the UN Support Plan for the Sahel, the Global Alliance for Resilience (AGIR), the enhanced partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP).

Objectives

The main objective of the consultancy consists in achieving the targeted results of the “Building resilience in the Sahel” programme through the management (planning, implementation and monitoring and reporting), coordination (regional and country level) and the provision of strategic support.

By the time the incumbent will start her or his assignment, the programme will have entered its fourth and last implementation phase. The specific objectives of this final implementation period (May 2022 to December 2023) will be much focused on completing modeling of new approaches and validating hypotheses for integrated packages of resilience building interventions, and integrated and participatory community engagement approaches. Ensuring a robust monitoring and evaluation system and qualitative operational research on resilience will be a crucial to the success of this phase.

How can you make a difference?

Scope of work

The incumbent will coordinate with UNICEF Country Offices and partners, as well as with UNICEF’s Regional Office for West and Central Africa (and potentially other regional bodies) and assure coherent regional advocacy and communication related to the programme.

The incumbent will support the regional office in resource mobilization, knowledge sharing and capacity building, on resilience and any related subject, within and across the countries/regions.

Main roles of Programme Coordinator:

1. Monitor and report the achievement of the programme results according to the submitted plans, budget allocations and time frames as outlined in the programme logframe.
2. Be responsible for effective management of the programme team and resources, ensuring smooth running of the programme, promoting teamwork and an environment that is conducive to delivering effective results as well as sharing of good practices and lessons learned.
3. Oversee and coordinate M&E, proposal writing (if required) and Reporting and coordinate with the core team of the programme at WCARO and beneficiary countries.
4. Coordinate support from the UNICEF’s Regional Office to the concerned UNICEF Country Offices and work closely with partners, including BMZ to ensure timely and quality programme deliverables.
5. Contributes to effective communication and visibility of results.
6. Coordinate the programme evaluation (in close collaboration with the WCARO Evaluation Unit) and monitoring activities of the programme; and supervise partially the M&E specialist (currently based in Mauritania, with a portion of his time dedicated to regional roles).

Other duties:

The incumbent will support the regional office in resource mobilization, knowledge sharing and capacity building, on resilience and any related subject, within and across the countries/regions. She/He will contribute to the preparation of supporting documentation for technical, high-level meeting, webinars, workshops.

The work plan

A monthly schedule with highlights of key deliverables is included below. This is not an exhaustive list of expected deliverables, a workplan will be developed with the incumbent’s supervisor and will lay out all details of the week.

Due date

Key deliverables (non-exhaustive)

July 2022 (20%)

• 2-3 Coordination mechanisms held
• 2 emerging or promising practices documented
• Budget plans in place in each office
• Progress recorded in regional research being used to inform programming
• 2-3 Development evaluation products published

October 2022 (20%)

• 1 Donor report submitted
• 2-3 Coordination mechanisms held
• Progress recorded in regional research being used to inform programming
• 2-3 Development evaluation products published

January 2023 (20%)

• 2-3 Coordination mechanisms held
• 1-2 quality visibility products published
• 2 emerging or promising practices documented
• Progress recorded in regional research being used to inform programming
• 2-3 Development evaluation products published

April 2023 (40%)

• 2 Donor reports submitted
• 2 emerging or promising practices documented
• 1 Endline survey launched
• 2-3 Development evaluation products published 2-3 Coordination mechanisms held
• Full implementation of planned budgets for 12-month period (May 2022 till April 2023)
• At least 6 WCARO-led studies concluded and used to inform programming in 2023

***The position will be home-based with at least one travel to each country concerned by the programme (Mali, Mauritania, Niger) and the Regional Office (Senegal) and possible travel to any other country (if required).***

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have:

• Master’s degree in political science, social work, social sciences, education, law, international relations, management or any related field. First University degree plus two additional years of relevant work experiences could be considered in lieu of Master’s degree.
• 8 years of professional work experience in project management – delivering on results, monitoring, reporting.
• Excellent coordination skills
• Proven experience in effectively managing grants.
• Ability to analyze, synthesize information and communicate outcomes clearly to different stakeholders.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, ability to work independently and in a team, high-level report-writing skills.
• Good understanding of the issues and complexities of the Sahel crisis and impact on children.
• Capacity to manage various tasks simultaneously in planning, implementing, and monitoring a complex project over an extended period.
• Experience coordinating with other organizations in the collation of information, analysis and development of recommendations.
• Knowledge of the institutions of the UN system. Knowledge of KFW project management is a plus.
• Ability to work in an international or multicultural environment.
• Fluency (oral and written) in English and French is essential.

For every Child, you demonstrate:

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA).

Core competencies required for this consultancy are:

• • Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
  • Works Collaboratively with others (1)
  • Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
  • Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
  • Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
  • Drive to achieve impactful results (1)

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.