Senior Development Adviser

Duties and Qualifications

Senior Development Adviser

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

UNHCR’s mandated responsibility for finding solutions to refugee situations has long required stronger cooperation with development partners and the inclusion of persons of concern within development planning and programming instruments, including national development programmes. Due to a variety of factors, the proportion of refugees and internally displaced persons in protracted displacement situations remains high.

Moreover, the diminishing number of forcibly displaced people who have access to so-called durable solutions constitutes a worrying trend that has persisted in recent years. The increasing scale of irregular migration, large scale refugee movements, internal displacement and the costs of responding to humanitarian situations have placed forced displacement high on the global agenda. Given the complexity and protractedness of many of today¿s forced displacement situations, often occurring in fragile contexts, awareness is growing that the humanitarian model of care and maintenance is unsustainable in the longer term and that forced displacement requires a development response to complement humanitarian assistance, address poverty and other development challenges in a sustainable and inclusive manner. The SDGs provide a yardstick for inclusive development based on the principles of Leaving No One Behind and Reaching the Furthest Behind First. It is also acknowledged that extreme poverty and human suffering associated with refugees and other forcibly displaced people need to be systematically taken into account when addressing development challenges and development prospects of host communities, countries, and regions.

The Global Compact for Refugees frames this new approach towards a more predictable and equitable responsibility-sharing, recognizing that more sustainable approaches to refugee situations cannot be achieved without the systematic engagement of a broader set of stakeholders, including development partners.

Among the most significant humanitarian-development cooperation partnerships strengthened in recent years has been between the World Bank and UNHCR around forced displacement. In the eighteenth replenishment (2017-2020) of the World Bank¿s International Development Association (IDA), which provides financing for low-income countries, an amount of US$ 2 billion was included for those states receiving large numbers of refugees (Sub-Window for Refugees and Host-Communities). This dedicated financing instrument for low-income refugee hosting countries has been maintained and expanded to US$ 2.2 billion under the 19th IDA replenishment (2020-2023). The IDA allocations to refugee-hosting countries under the Sub-Window for Refugees (IDA18) and Window for Host Communities and Refugees (IDA19) are complemented by the operationalization of a Global Concessional Financing Facility (GCFF) for Middle-Income Countries (MICs) affected by large numbers of refugees. In addition, UNHCR has enhanced cooperation with the private sector wing of the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and other development actors. In line with this approach UNHCR, continues to increase is strategic engagement with other Multilateral Development Banks and Bilateral Development Actors.

Duties

For positions in Country Operations only:

• Advise operations on practical research and analysis to interpret long-term political, economic and social trends that will enhance opportunities for protection, solutions, resilience and inclusion for populations of concern to UNHCR.

• Provide advice to operations in planning for resilience and inclusion within a vision of longer-term protection and solution outcomes for people of concern taking into account host communities and leveraging development partner and government technical and financial resources.

• Support the development of comprehensive multi-year protection and solutions plans/strategies (incl. Multi-Year Multi-Partner Strategies).

• Facilitate the inclusion of populations of concern into national and local development planning and programming instruments, working closely with UNHCR and development partner technical leads.

• Lead the operation in identifying and capitalizing on development opportunities, including through Government pledges and or pledges made by bilateral/multiteral or UN development and/or peacebuilding partners.

• Provide leadership and guidance for relationship building with development co-operation agencies and peace and state-building agendas through the different stages of policy and programme identification, preparation, implementation and review.

• Lead in the development of partnerships and networks with development cooperation actors to influence the policy dialogue with governments on institutional arrangements related to sectors, locations and programme content of consequence to UNHCR and persons of concern. This would, in particular, focus on supporting the coordination of the in-country relationship with the World Bank and other multilateral development banks, especially where there is potential for specific funding directed towards UNHCR¿s persons of concern (e.g. WB IDA sub-window for refugees and host communities or the WB Global Concessional Financing Facility).

• Cooperate with development partners to assist them in incorporating the concerns of refugees, returnees and others of concern to UNHCR into the design and implementation arrangements of projects and interventions in a manner that impacts positively on protection circumstances.

• Identify, commission and/or contribute to studies and analytical activities that build the conceptual framework and evidence base for comprehensive, development-oriented responses, including preparedness work, to forced displacement.

• Ensure that development actors are provided relevant data to inform their planning, programming and advocacy around resilience for and inclusion of UNHCR persons of concern.

• Engage with governments, development partners (both multilateral and bilateral), and with the private sector and civil society (as appropriate) to identify opportunities for UNHCR to contribute to the design and implementation of monitoring systems to track progress towards agreed outcomes.

• Facilitate coordination and collaboration and the sharing of knowledge and experience between UNHCR and development actors and across UNHCR operations globally by documenting and disseminating good practices and active participation in the Division of Resilience and Solutions¿, Development Partnerships Community of Practice.

• Facilitate training activities aimed at the capacity building of UNHCR and partner agency staff to achieve greater coordination, effectiveness and synergies between humanitarian and development interventions.

Minimum Qualifications

Education & Professional Work Experience

Years of Experience / Degree Level

For P5 – 12 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 11 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 10 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education

Development Economics; Development Studies; Socio-economic Development;

International Relations; Political Science, Law or other relevant field.

(Field(s) of Education marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Relevant Job Experience

Essential

At least six (6) years of direct working experience with a multilateral, bilateral or UN development actor implementing development programmes, of which at least two (2) years in field operations, preferably with knowledge of, or experience in, local or area based economic development, direct engagement in a technical sector such as education, WASH, social protection, health, energy. Experience in primary data collection, quantitative research methods and results-based management.

Practical experience working with and an understanding of the different aspects of economic growth, governance, fragility and conflict. Expertise related to the governance of specific multilateral development banks or bilateral development actors most relevant to the AoR.

Language Requirements

For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.