ORGANIZATIONAL LOCATION:
UN-HABITAT - Office of the Executive Director
DUTY STATION: Nairobi
FUNCTIONAL TITLE: Senior Coordination Officer (Resource Mobilisation)
LEVEL: P-5
DURATION: One year with possible extension
CLOSING DATE: 17 May 2011
BACKGROUND Sustainable urban development is the theme of UN-HABITAT’s Medium Term Strategic and Institutional Plan (MTSIP) and henceforth remains a key priority in Agency’s normative and operational work. In this context, sustainable urban development is an overall framework within which UN-HABITAT is addressing more specific priorities.
Through the MTSIP 2008-13, UN-HABITAT aims to contribute in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), more specifically in halving, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation (Target 7.C) and in achieving a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers, by 2020 (Target 7.D).
Within the framework of the Medium Term Strategic Institutional Plan (MTSIP) 2008 – 2013, the Executive Director has identified three programmatic areas to prioritize UN-HABITAT’s work, namely urban planning (partially under Focus Areas 2 and 4), urban institutions and governance (partially under Focus Areas 1, 2 and 3), urban mobility and energy (Focus Area 4) and urban economy and finance (partially under Focus Areas 1, 4, and 5).
The identification of priority areas comes in a time when Member States and governing bodies have made a continuing and urgent call for more prioritization of the agency’s work. Clear evidence of this were the discussions at the last Joint Annual Consultations in October 2010, where donors recommended for UN-HABITAT to further sharpen the programme’s focus and work towards more strategic prioritization of activities, including - if need be - dropping activities and allocating resources according to the prioritization.
Furthermore, the last MTSIP Peer Review Report included a recommendation for UN-HABITAT to define clearly and transparently what UN-HABITAT’s policy and programme priorities are for the short- and long-term, stating that although the MTSIP has helped to establish a clearer vision and a number of thematic priorities based on UN-Habitat Agenda, there is no evidence that major activities have been dropped and resources redirected.
The proposed strategic and programmatic priorities reflect UN-HABITAT’s mandate – as well as significant global trends – and are also fully aligned with both with the Work Programme and Budget for 2012 – 2013 and the MTSIP Results Framework. While a new organizational structure is conceived for UN-HABITAT, the strategic prioritization of programmatic areas will continue to follow the framework provided in MTSIP 2008 – 13.
Strengthening UN-HABITAT’s capacity to deliver in key components of its agenda will enable it to support more effectively member states and local authorities in achieving sustainable urban development.
In this context and in order to transfer the new vision to action, an inter-divisional programme entitled ‘Support to MTSIP in achieving priorities of sustainable urban development’ has been developed. The overall objective of the programme is to increase UN-HABITAT’s capacity to support effectively Member States in achieving sustainable urbanization. The focus of the programme will be on the strengthening of UN-HABITAT’ substantive work in the four priority areas announced by the Executive Director, such as:
1.Urban Planning,
2.Urban Mobility and Energy 3.Urban Governance and Legislation, and 4.Urban Economy and Finance.
The programme is expected to achieve: •Improved policies, legislation and strategies to support inclusive urban planning, management and governance (SP 1, EA a) •Strengthened institutions promote sustainable urbanization (SP 1, EA b) •Cities implement inclusive urban planning, management and governance (SP 1, EA c) •Improved awareness among Governments, and Habitat Agenda partners of the contribution of urban economic development and finance to poverty reduction and sustainable human settlements development (SP 2, EA d) •Improved sustainable urbanization policies from local to regional levels (SP 3, EA a) •Improved urban planning, management and governance at the national and local levels (SP 3, EA b) •Increase in activities in municipal finance and affordable housing finance (SP 4, EA d)
While the Programme proposes to continue increasing the capacities of Member States to address the challenges of sustainable urban development in the specific areas of strategic planning and urban mobility, urban legislation and municipal finance, the principle components of the implementation strategy are the following; •Strengthening synergies and integration of normative and operational components (Enhanced Operational and Normative Framework); •Improving knowledge management, cross-project learning and best practice transfer to influence policy development and normative production; and •Ensuring inter-divisional collaboration in programme planning and implementation.
In a broader context, the Medium-term Strategic and Institutional Plan (MTSIP) for UN-HABITAT includes also a Resource Mobilisation Strategy. The over-arching goal of the Strategy is to broaden the donor base and to establish more predictable multi-year funding. A Resource Mobilisation Unit (RMU) has been established for this purpose.
Donor coordination and resource mobilization are activities requiring a continuing engagement and good quality information and communication to maintain donor relations and raise funds over time and in a durable manner. Regarding the core donors (Governments) this entails consolidating and deepening engagement in view of securing non-earmarked funding through appropriate actions. Broadening the donor base and reaching out to non-conventional donors including the private sector, foundations, endowments, etc. remains also an important element of the overall donor coordination and resource mobilisation strategy of UN-HABITAT.
RESPONSIBILITIES
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-HABITAT, is the United Nations agency for human settlements. It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all. Under the direct supervision of the Programme Manager, Office of the Executive Director, the incumbent's duties will be to: •Enhance donor coordination and stewardship within the organisation by overseeing the development of mechanisms for strategic coordination of with the conventional and non-conventional donor partners of UN-HABITAT. •Monitor, track resource allocation, as well as manage and coordinate donor reports related to long-term framework agreements associated to the core resources of the organizations in general as well as preparation of timely reports to donors supporting the programme ‘Support to MTSIP in achieving priorities of sustainable urban development’ in particular. •Develop strategy and implementation plan for broadening donor base of the organization, and actively seek opportunities for generating additional resources for the programme described above •Analyse and identify global, regional and donor partners and specific resource mobilization strategies, especially with a view of increasing resources for the four priority areas as detailed above. •Prepare donor consultations and dialogues to enhance donor coherence, overview and coordination. •Outlining the main elements of an organizational resource mobilization guidelines, including definition/identification of: the main resource mobilization challenges facing the organization; the position of the organization in the development and humanitarian field; donors groupings and specific donors within the groupings that the organization should target; action plan with timelines and quick-wins; organizational structure and financial/human resources required to implement the Resource Mobilisation Strategy. •Ensure close inter-divisional coordination on the reporting of Programme activities through regular consultations with the substantive/technical units in charge of the programme implementation, including Regional Offices; •Strengthen partnership and coordination with partners and stakeholders within the context of the Programme implementation; •Based on the agency's existing databases and knowledge of donors, oversee the creation and ensure the maintenance of a knowledge base to support future resource mobilization efforts. •Outlining the main systems, activities and tools that need to be put in place or developed to support resource mobilization efforts. •Perform any other task that may be required within the outlined duties and responsibilities.
COMPETENCIES Professionalism: •Demonstrated extensive donor experience. •Skills in results-orientated programme development and implementation. •Demonstrated professional experience working with donor countries and developing countries. •Strong analytical and development financing skills. •Proven administration and management capabilities.
Planning and Organizing: •Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies and organizational goals. •Identifies priority activities and assignments. •Ability to plan, budget, coordinate and manage complex projects. •Allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work . •Ability to work to tight deadlines and handle multiple concurrent projects/cases. •Creating and nurturing partnership with developmental partners (governments and others). •Demonstrated competence in planning and organising events and meetings with stakeholders.
Communication: •Strong analytical, writing skills. •Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team. •Ability to defend, explain with tact and diplomacy difficult positions addressing key policy issues.
Client Orientation: •Demonstrated experience in dealing strategically with governmental or non-governmental institutions at national, regional and local levels as well as with other bilateral and multi-lateral organisations.
Leadership: •Ability to set priorities and produce timely, quality outputs within a complex reform process; •Proven track record of excellence in management and ability to delegate appropriate responsibility, accountability and decision making authority; •Proven record of building and managing teams and creating an enabling work environment, including the ability to effectively lead, supervise, mentor, develop and evaluate staff.
QUALIFICATIONS Education:
Master’s degree in economics and business science or related administrative area. Post graduate specialization studies in advanced economics, international economics and trade, International Economic organizations, Public Sector Economics and Economic Policy Analysis will be an advantage.
Work Experience: •A minimum of ten years of progressively responsible experience in sustainable development, five years should be field experience in developing countries, preferably in the area of diplomatic negotiations and strategic policy setting. •Experience in government development policies, priorities, financial cooperation policies and mechanisms. •Practical experience in evaluating, managing, implementing and financing of priority development projects and programmes from different social-economic sectors. •Experience in diplomacy and engagement with governments of developing countries. •Experience in negotiation and managing agreements in the development and financial cooperation areas. •Experience in partnerships with main multilateral donors in the financing of priority projects in developing countries. •Experience in promoting partnerships with the private sector. •Experience in organizing and promoting collaborative partnerships between multi-stakeholder institutions and establishing working frameworks. •Experience in development, financial and economic analysis will be valued. •Outstanding experience in engaging with a range of local, national and international partners. •Experience in administration and management of an organization. •Experience in managing research and information gathering unit to achieve the mandate of an organization.
Languages:
English and French are the working languages of the UN Secretariat, for this post, fluency (both oral and written) in English and Spanish is required. Good oral and written communication skills. Knowledge of another UN language will be an asset.
Remuneration:
See UN website http://www.un.org/Depts/OHRM/salaries_allowances/index.html
Applications should include: •Cover memo (maximum 1 page) •Summary Personal History Profile (PHP)
All applications should be submitted to:
Ms. Helen Odera UN-HABITAT P.O. Box 30030, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya Email: helen.odera@unhabitat.org Deadline for applications: 17 May 2011
UN-HABITAT does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process. If you have any questions concerning persons or companies claiming to be recruiting on behalf of these offices and requesting the payment of a fee, please contact: recruitment@unon.org
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