EARLY RECOVERY ADVISOR

 

Location : Sana'a, YEMEN

Application Deadline : 31-Jan-12

Type of Contract : FTA International

Post Level : P-5

Languages Required : English  

Duration of Initial Contract : One year - Management Project Funded (MPF)

 

Background

 

In Yemen, there are many grievances among the population and specific regional groups that have grown out of the country’s political history and continue to destabilize the country, resulting in periodic conflict and massive internal displacement. The most notable are the ‘Houthi’ rebellion in the North (Sa’ada) and the secessionist “Al-Hirak” Movement in the South. 

In addition, in the wake of mass protests in the Middle East, popular demonstrations started in Yemen in January 2011 resulting in open calls for the resignation of the Yemeni President and for a more responsive and legitimate government. The current situation in the country can be best described as a prolonged confrontation between the ruling party and the opposition with no functioning form of national dialogue; ineffective and delegitimized structures of central and local government; permanent mass protests in the streets with continuous security incidents; continued division and frictions between different parts of the security forces; lack of Government control over large areas of the country and corresponding lack of access for development and humanitarian actors; a deteriorating economic and fiscal situation, further aggravating the weak service delivery capacity of the state; possible further deterioration of the security situation; presence of more than 400,000 IDPs; and possible rise of the terrorist threat.

 

UNDP Yemen’s response is characterised by strengthening on-going activities in support of reconciliation and early recovery, initiating sustained dialogue supporting overall stability to mitigate a further deterioration in the country as well as laying the foundation for accelerated reform when politically feasible.

 

As the current situation unfolds, a rapid assessment of early recovery type opportunities in areas mostly affected by the current events should be carried out in view of launching possible new early recovery-type activities. Early recovery schemes and tools will be applied extensively and pro-actively, to provide assistance to areas that would otherwise fall outside the traditional boundaries of early recovery operations.

 

UNDP will also continue implementation of the early recovery project in Hadramawt and launch and start the implementation of early recovery project for Sa’daa, with an expectation for similar programming in the south.

 

Early recovery is a multidimensional process guided by development principles that begins in the humanitarian setting, and seeks to build on humanitarian programmes and catalyse sustainable development opportunities. It aims to generate and/or reinforce nationally owned processes for post-crisis recovery that are resilient and sustainable. Early recovery strengthens human security and aims to begin addressing the underlying causes of the crisis.

Early recovery and humanitarian efforts occur in parallel and use the same mechanisms, but their objectives and expertise are different.  Early recovery efforts have three lines of action:

 

• Augment and build on emergency assistance;

• Promote spontaneous recovery initiatives by affected communities;

• Establish the foundations of longer-term recovery.

 

The Coordination of Early Recovery:

 

Under the auspices of the Early Recovery Cluster which corresponds to an Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Country Team that includes International Non-Governmental Organizations(INGOs), it was decided to establish clusters to facilitate early recovery management.

 

UNDP supports a coordinated strategic framework for early recovery.  This is intended to ensure that there are effective operational programmes which stimulate and support early recovery; that these programmes address all possibilities for early recovery; and that they are supported by the government and the international community.

 

In Country, early recovery includes:

 

• Needs addressed by other clusters/sectors (Camp Coordination & Camp Management, Education, Family Shelter and Non-food items, Food Security, Health & Nutrition, Mine Action, Multi-sector, Protection/ Human rights/Rule of Law, and Water & Sanitation);

• Gaps not covered by the above clusters, such as livelihoods, land and property, infrastructure, governance, and other socioeconomic dimensions;

• Cross-cutting issues such as gender equality, HIV/AIDS, and environment.

 

The Early Recovery Cluster (ER) led by the UNDP Country Office (CO) has been set up to respond to early recovery needs not covered by other clusters.

An Early Recovery Network with focal points in each of the humanitarian coordinating clusters has been established.  Maintenance of such a network is intended to ensure that early recovery approaches are incorporated and implemented in humanitarian programmes wherever and whenever feasible.  It may be complemented by ad hoc working groups where necessary, in keeping with the standard approach of the Resident Coordination/ Humanitarian Coordination(RC/HC) System.

 

 

Duties and Responsibilities

 

UNDP will add an early recovery capacity to the Country Office and the RC/HC office. The Early Recovery Adviser is intended to reinforce UNDP and the UN System’s and wider support to the humanitarian response as well as its operational support for early recovery activities. Such a capacity will also increase the attention paid by all stakeholders to issues of early recovery, as well as to enhance overall coordination and coherence in this field.  In this respect, UNDP views the humanitarian cluster structure as a natural extension of RC/HC coordination mechanisms. Mechanisms such as existing UN country thematic working groups, as well as others, can and should be put to the service of early recovery when appropriate.

 

Underpinning this coordination and facilitation role will be a particular focus on analysis. This implies that existing needs assessments should pay due attention not only to beneficiary needs but also to existing capacities and opportunities for early recovery.  The Early Recovery Adviser will support the expanded humanitarian country team undertaking this triangulation of needs, capacities and opportunities in order to identify and develop early recovery activities.

 

The ER Adviser reports directly to the Deputy Country Director (DCD) working closely with the early recovery cluster coordinator, early recovery field adviser and to other relevant staff and will be responsible for supporting the work of all UN agencies, international and national NGOs and the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement in the area of early recovery. In particular, the Early Recovery Adviser will:

 

Support the UNDP DCD with re-adapting the ER Programme to the new context in Yemen:

 

• Advise the DCD on ER positioning in Yemen, namely the government, donors and CAP;

• Raise funds for UNDP ER activities across the country;

• Consolidate the UNDP CO ER Programme;

• Ensure coherence, link-up and complementarity of the CO ER Programme with other relevant CO Programmes, namely Social Cohesion and Governance;

• Work in close relation and Advise the ER Field Adviser on ER related matters.

 

Support the HC/RC to ensure that early recovery coordination is done in the best interests of affected and vulnerable populations, by ensuring that the multidimensional early recovery process is needs-based and conducted in an effective and principled manner, focusing on the achievement of the following results:

 

• Assist the HC/RC and specifically UNDP Resident Representative(RR) and DCD in the lead role of coordinating the inter-agency early recovery network;

• Assist the HC/RC on ER policy issues;

• Assist the HC/RC with advocating for ER issues with the government and donor community;

• Interact with the national coordination institutions;

• Interact with the global Cluster Working Group on Early Recovery (CWGER) on behalf of the RC.

 

Facilitates inter-agency coordination and mainstreaming of Early Recovery at national and local levels, focusing on the achievement of the following results:

 

• Facilitate the establishment of mechanisms to ensure consensus on the recovery process and the transparent use of resources, through appropriate consultative processes involving the participation of all stakeholders;

• Coordinate with the other clusters especially regarding the early recovery activities being undertaken by them;

• Ensure that ER is actively engaged and integrated in other humanitarian cluster, particularly the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster. Attend Clusters meetings and the ICCM on behalf of UNDP and the ER Cluster;

• Ensure that ER actors are aware of relevant policy guidelines and technical standards provided by the CWGER and that their responses are consistent with these;

• Support the integration of early recovery into existing inter-cluster / inter-agency coordination meetings in Capital and provide the necessary secretariat support; ensure that coordination mechanisms are managed efficiently;

• Promote national and local ownership of programmes through increased consultation and participation of key national, regional and local stakeholders to ensure that ER activity in the districts is complementary to common and nationally owned reconstruction strategies;

• Support the inclusion of counterparts and using local resource persons on specific recovery issues where possible.

Facilitate ER planning and implementation at national and local levels, focusing on the achievement of the following results:

• Ensure that regional disparities, inter-sectoral linkages, and cross-cutting issues [Gender, HIV/AIDS, Human Rights, Environment] are taken into account in the activities for early recovery;

• Take into account how best to support the local and national efforts for early recovery;

• Support the development and/or application of policies guiding the recovery process;

• Take the lead on developing strategic planning and programmatic support to national systems in developing capacities for ER, particularly in the priority areas/sectors identified through inter-agency needs assessments;

• Support the mainstreaming of crisis preparedness and risk management activities, educational and awareness-building tasks, and assessments into the recovery work of all clusters;

• Work closely with national counterparts, the World Bank, donors and other stakeholders to ensure that the ongoing ER activities tie in with common recovery strategies and with the CPD, CPAP and the UNDAF;

• Advocate for an early deployment of development actors to reinforce humanitarian assistance and preventive measures as well as facilitate a smoother transition from relief to development in Country;

• Support the development of local-level early recovery plans that conform with the country early recovery strategy;

• Adoption and integration of data and information standards in ER, including the promotion of and support to the adoption of a common framework for early recovery assessment processes to enable consistent data collection and processing as well as improve overall coordination;

• Commitment to the collection of age and sex disaggregated data/information where appropriate;

• Conduct field monitoring missions in the south and the north, when security permits.

 

M&E and reporting:

 

• Support the establishment of monitoring mechanisms and report progress of early recovery activities in a timely, transparent and consolidated manner; identifying gaps and proposing alternatives.

 

 

Competencies

 

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;

• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of the UN;

• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;

• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

 

Functional (UN) Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning

• Promotes knowledge management among UN and non-UN partners;

• In-depth practical knowledge of inter-disciplinary programmatic issues regarding the transition from relief to recovery;

• Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills;

• Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside of the UN.

 

Coordination Effectiveness:

• Ability to lead the design and implementation of UN joint programme activities, strengthening of strategic partnerships for Early Recovery;

• Ability to build and sustain effective partnerships with UN Agencies and main constituents, advocate effectively, communicate sensitively across different constituencies.

 

Management and Leadership:

• Focuses on impact and result for the client;

• Leads teams effectively and shows conflict resolution skills;

• Establishes priorities for self and other members of the team; schedules activities to ensure optimum use of time and resources;

• In providing advice to the RC, has the capacity to gather comprehensive information on complex problems or situations; evaluates information accurately and identifies key issues required to resolve problems;

• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;

• Demonstrates excellent oral and written communication skills;

• Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors;

• Manages conflict and stress, remaining composed and working as a mediator in crisis or antagonistic situations;

• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;

• Responds positively to critical feedback and differing points of view;

• Solicits feedback from staff about the impact of his/her own behaviour.

 

Development and Operational Effectiveness:

• Ability to lead strategic planning, change processes, management and reporting;

• Ability to lead formulation, oversight of implementation, monitoring and evaluation of strategic plans/frameworks.

 

 

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

 

• Advanced university degree in political science, sociology, law, international relations, public administration, or other relevant field; or the equivalent combination of education and the extensive relevant professional experience in a related area.

 

Experience:

• At least 10 years of progressively responsible professional experience in humanitarian affairs and/or development, including at least 5 years of experience at the international level;

• Part of that experience must be in the field involved with high-level interactions and inter-agency coordination in post-conflict and/or post-natural disaster settings;

• Extensive professional experience in the Middle East would be a strong asset.

 

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English;

• Knowledge in Arabic language is an asset.

 

 

 

Application Process

 

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