ПРООН шукає Community Engagement Specialist (non-key expert)

Background

The European Investment Bank, in cooperation with the Government of Ukraine, has provided, through the Ukraine Early Recovery Programme (UERP) multi-sector framework loan, a financing capacity of EUR 200 million for the rehabilitation of critical infrastructure in five eastern Ukraine regions: Donetsk (government controlled), Luhansk (government controlled), Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, whose social services and infrastructure are under heavy pressure from the massive influx of internally displaced people and from other disruptions caused by the conflict. The ultimate goal of the Programme is to ensure decent living conditions for displaced people and host communities in these areas.The final beneficiaries (FBs) of the EIB UERP framework loan are central, regional and municipal administrations and publicly owned enterprises (with the exclusion of private beneficiaries such as private-owned utilities services operating in the affected areas). Due to the complexity of planning and implementation, EIB requested technical assistance provision from UNDP to facilitate the implementation of the Programme. A Cooperation Agreement between EIB/MRD and UNDP was signed on 16 December 2016. Under this TA cooperation agreement, UNDP is helping EIB/MRD monitor recovery projects (further referred to as sub-projects), selected for financing under UERP, at different stages of their project cycle. UNDP is also responsible for developing regional and local level governance capacities in projects design and management (in particular, in project design, procurement, contracting, social mitigation, good governance). The Technical Assistance Project (TA Project) is carried out through a Technical Coordination Unit in Kramatorsk and four decentralized UNDP Technical Assistance Units in Luhansk, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. The project will also potentially focus on other oblasts that are hosting significant influxes of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to help addressing the increased pressure on social infrastructure and sheltering. The overall objective of this assignment is to ensure the proper implementation of Social Management Plan and Stakeholder Engagement Plan for the UERP framework loan provided by the EIB. It is anticipated that the expert will contribute to expanding the EIB Early Recovery Project’s contribution to strengthening of social cohesion and inclusion in Ukraine’s conflict-affected areas, and ensure community participation, transparency and accountability of the program implementation by means of building stakeholder engagement and communication models, developing capacity of final beneficiaries, the civil society, the authorities and other key stakeholders to work together on social recovery projects; and mitigating any adverse social impacts and risks related to the implementation of early recovery projects. Specific objectives of this assignment are to:

• Ensure compliance with EIB social standards by integrating social management and community engagement procedures and practices into the implementation of the UERP;
• Foster community engagement and accountability through communication and participatory monitoring of the UERP sub-project implementation;
• Build local capacity for participatory planning, implementation and monitoring of recovery projects and to address other development issues facing local communities and, in particular, the vulnerable groups.

In this regard, UNDP Ukraine invites applications from highly qualified and experienced Ukrainian professionals for the post of the Community engagement specialist (non-key expert) to support implementation of the EIB Technical Assistance Project (TA).

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Project Manager (EIB-Technical Assistance project) /Team Leader of the EIB-TA Project), the Community engagement specialist (non-key expert) will be responsible for providing technical support on community engagement program. Specifically, s/he under the guidance from Stakeholders engagement specialist (key expert) will perform the following tasks aimed at implementation of the Social Management Plan (SMP) and relevant pieces of Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) for the Ukraine Early Recovery (ERP) Programme:

• Carry out social/environmental screening of subprojects and activities, and help to prepare subproject or activity specific Social/Environmental Management Plans;
• Design and deliver capacity building inputs for ensuring the implementation of community engagement within the entire UERP based on the work and experience done in the pilot phase by International Renaissance Foundation;
• Deliver training seminars in each of the target regions to community-based stakeholders, including NGOs;
• Along with Stakeholders engagement specialist design training modules to cover illustratively the following thematic areas: 1) understanding and implementing the SMP and SEP; and Introduction to EIB Social Standards; 2) Strategic Planning and Results-based Project Management; Risk Analysis and Conflict Sensitivity Assessment; and Conflict Management; 3) Effective Communication; Grievance Redress Mechanism; and Accountability Instruments; and 4) Participation and Community Development tools; Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation; and TPM. The list of topics would be further refined while UERP implementation in cooperation with the MRD and other implementation partners, and adjusted to meet the identified capacity-building needs of participating communities and CSOs;
• Organize experience sharing events semi-annually for relevant communities;
• Organize annual experience-sharing, networking and learning conference to bring together the sub-project UERP implementers and relevant communities to present selected projects and share learning;
• Uphold establishment of informal collaborative entities, provisionally called “Sub-project Implementing Council” within each of the sub-project communities;
• Partner up with local NGOs that are involved in implementation of the sub-projects for the operation of the “Councils”;
• Support the local communities and CSOs in organizing stakeholder consultations and, based on their information needs, developing and implementing communication plans;
• Produce and present the local implementers’ annual reports and the public presentation of the final report on community engagement within the UERP;
• Prepare quarterly reports to the EIB and MRD duly reflecting results, lessons and recommendations from the component implementation;
• Scale up and strengthen the Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM), based on the Law of Ukraine “On Citizens’ Appeals” and the EIB Standard 10;
• Organize independent (third-party) evaluation at the regional and national level, and for local clusters of major sub-projects;
• Support a monitoring working group, aiming at organizing regular (quarterly) monitoring visits to cover selected sub-projects. Participants of the monitoring group to include representatives of the project team, and the community-based stakeholders;
• Produce report in a manner understood by non-technical people for effective dissemination purpose;
• Issue recommendations on areas of concern, or areas for improvement in current and future sub-projects;
• Participate in relevant working group meetings and share information with local partners;
• Synthesis of lessons learned and best practices in community engagement practices;
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Project Manager (EIB-TA project)/Team Leader and/or UNDP management.

MEASURABLE OUTPUTS OF THE WORK ASSIGNMENT:

• Full and appropriate implementation of the Social Management Plan (SMP) and Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) for the Ukraine Early Recovery (ERP) Programme by ensuring local community engagement to fulfil UNDP/EIB/GOU Social/Environment Safeguards Policies and Procedures and UNDP Standard Operating Procedures;
• Full and appropriate implementation of the TA Project deliverables, including capacity building in various stages of a project cycle by various focus groups, and efficient use of Project funds;
• Reporting, quality monitoring and closure activities completed.

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR EVALUATION OF RESULTS:

• Annual work plan for the TA is fully and timely implemented;
• UNDP TA Project operational requirements are carried out in strict accordance with UNDP rules and procedures.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies

• Leadership;
• People Management;
• Delivery;
• Communication;
• Innovation;
• Demonstrating/safeguarding ethics and integrity;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional Competencies

• Conflict Management;
• Result orientation;
• Teamwork;
• Self–management and emotional intelligence;
• Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing: Generates new ideas and approaches, researches best practices and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things; Documents and analyses innovative strategies and new approaches;
• Promoting Accountability and Results-Based Management;
• Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise, Fundamental knowledge of processes, methods and procedures;
• Client Orientation: Researches potential solutions to internal and external client needs and reports back in a timely, succinct and appropriate fashion; Organizes and prioritizes work schedule to meet client needs and deadlines.

OTHER:

• Demonstrated understanding and capacity to mediate human relations in participatory decision-making settings;
• High sense of responsibility to ensure that operational objectives, policies and requirements are met;
• Good facilitation skills;
• Strong organizational and time management skills;
• Familiarity with UN/UNDP financial and procurement management procedures and experience with ATLAS would be an asset;
• Excellent usage of computers and office software packages.

Required Skills and Experience

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in International Development, Public Administration, Social Sciences, Project Management, or another related field;
• A minimum of 3 years of relevant experience working with municipal and social infrastructure projects, community development, project/programme management, experience of working with IFIs funding projects would be an asset;
• Experience in capacity building and training in the areas of planning, preparation and implementation of infrastructure projects would be an asset;
• Experience with participatory decision-making, facilitation of consultations and engagement with various stakeholders and participatory needs assessment, substantial experience in monitoring and evaluation of Projects involving various infrastructure sectors are advantage;
• Familiarity with Social Standards of International Financial Institutions Experience with EIB environmental and social standards would be an advantage;
• Fluency in English, Ukrainian and Russian is required.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTION:

If you wish to apply for this or other positions, please visit UNDP website, section jobs and apply only.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS 31 December 2018.