Prospects Partnership facilitator, IICA2

UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR)

INTERNAL/EXTERNAL VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

Vacancy Notice No. IRQ/BGD/UNOPS/2020/001

Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply

Title of Post: Prospects Partnership facilitator

Category/grade: International Individual Contractor, IICA2/P3

Post Number: Not Applicable.

Type of contract: UNOPs

Location: Baghdad, Iraq

Date of Issue: 05 January 2021

Effective date of assignment: 1 May 2021

Closing Date: 26 January 2021

ORGANIZATIONAL SETTING, WORK RELATIONSHIPS and OPERATIONAL CONTEXT: (include details here on the “ideal” candidate – both in terms of soft skills, as well as technical/functional skills etc). **

Between 2014-17, the Global Coalition fought a war against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)/Daesh, which at its height of control, occupied half the territory of Iraq. Six million Iraqis were suddenly internally displaced while the government and international partners responded to one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises. Many displaced Iraqis also sought refuge outside the country. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of Syrians fled the war across the border to Iraq.

Even before large-scale military operations in Iraq ended in November 2017, the improved security and service environment allowed many Iraqis to return to their areas of origin. Currently, however, more than 1.3 million Iraqis remain internally displaced, while the more than 250.000 Syrian refugees also largely remain in Iraq. The majority of IDPs (more than 70%) reside outside of camps, mostly within the Kurdistan Region and Ninewa governorate, while the majority of IDPs come from Ninewa. This has significant impact on their host communities, who require support to provide services, infrastructure and absorb the displaced population.

A favorable environment should be created to enable durable solutions across affected populations. Gauging IDPs’ options and intentions related to resolving their displacement is difficult to do with any accuracy, but reasons for continued displacement invariably include destroyed, occupied or disputed housing, absence of livelihoods and services, social cohesion (community tensions and fears of population change), security (blocked return or perceived insecurity), and factors related to mental health. Particularly for many of the remaining 1.3 million IDPs, their situation is often complex and requires a personalized approach. The majority of remaining IDPs may in fact not return to their area of origin. Durable solutions are critical to ensure stability for IDPs, their communities and Iraq as a whole.

As stated above, the forced displacement crisis has increased in scale and complexity in recent years. The impact of forced displacement is substantial, both among those in displacement and host communities. Action is urgently needed to mitigate their plight. There is currently a window of opportunity for improving the management of the forced displacement crises and ensuring durable solutions for all.

The incumbent will undertake the following responsibilities under the direct supervision of the Prospects focal point of the Government of the Netherlands and the UN Iraq Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator, while being in close coordination with the five Prospects partners (UNHCR, UNICEF, ILO, WB and IFC).

In response to the above-mentioned context of displacement and with the financial support and under the coordination of the Government of the Netherlands (GoN), five international organizations – the World Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), and International Labour Organizations (ILO) – have developed a joint development-based approach for forcibly displaced persons and host communities (“Partnership for Prospects”).

Prospects focuses on three broad areas that are critical for displaced people to overcome their specific vulnerabilities and (vulnerable) host communities to pursue their own development agenda in a transformed environment: (1) employment and social protection, (2) education and learning, and (3) protection and legal status.

Prospects also focuses on a fourth area which is (4) the new ways of working which outlines a framework to promote more effective and efficient programming, strategic learning, and support to policy development and implementation, to transform the way partners and other stakeholders respond to forced displacement in Iraq.

The innovative and transformative Partnership aims to join the partners’ efforts to develop a new paradigm in responding to forced displacement crises through the involvement of development actors. It encourages the participating institutions to create and test innovative approaches to forced displacement leveraging their respective comparative advantages. Synergies are expected to strengthen strategic coordination, to ensure coherence in identifying priority activities and to seek opportunities for complementarity across individual programs.

With support from the UN’s Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator (RC/HC), the Partners in Iraq jointly developed a Country Vision Note and Multiannual Country Programme 2020-2023 (MACP) in 2019 and 2020 respectively. The MACP for Iraq includes the Partner’s joint M&E framework, advocacy strategy and multi-annual programming. The GoN wishes to further strengthen synergies between the partners in Iraq through the support of a Partnership Facilitator. Her/his key role will be to support the Partners’ implementation of the MACP in Iraq, focusing particularly on strengthened synergies between partners in order to contribute to durable solutions for displaced people in Iraq. This requires facilitating both joint administrative tasks and coordinating strategic, content-driven processes between the Partners.

The position of the Partnership Facilitator is financed by the GoN through one of the Prospects partners, namely UNHCR. Hence, the contract will be with UNHCR, as representative of the five partners. The individual contractor will, however, be placed in the office of the RC/HC, for two main reasons: to allow for a certain amount of objectivity towards each of the five partners and in order for the individual contractor to be closely aligned with broader coordination processes in Iraq, including the Cooperation Framework. She/He will work closely together with the Durable Solutions Advisor.

Functional Statement: *(to be taken from the job description)**

Purpose and Scope of Assignment

The individual contractor is hired to serve the five partners in improving their synergy and collaboration and to support them in implementing the MACP. Hence, the facilitator will coordinate closely with the five Prospects partners and will have to proactively gather their input and bring them together for strategic alignment in both technical and coordination meetings.

The facilitator reports directly to the UN RC/HC and the GoN. The facilitator will work in close coordination with the five partners and also regularly report to all five partners jointly. In case of disagreement among the partners (and RC/HC), GoN will support the facilitator in taking an objective stance and facilitating good collaboration among the partners. If the individual contractor has any questions or concerns about her/his role, the GoN is the first point of contact. Contractual issues will be discussed in close collaboration with UNHCR as contracting agency.

Liaison and representation:

· Liaise with involved stakeholders, including the GoN and the RC/HC office, and ensure a transparent communication channel among Prospects partners;

· Support GoN and the Partners in their joint dialogue with governmental counterparts on the Prospects partnership level, including the facilitation of the Prospects Advisory Forum with the GoI;

· Support GoN and the Partners in joint communication to the RCO, to remove obstacles (for example access issues) which prevent an efficient implementation of Prospects programming;

· Promote Prospects in a range of fora (including, for example, Durable Solutions Task Force – DSTF, Humanitarian Country Team – HCT, UN Country Team – UNCT, Return Working Group – RWG, etc.) to bridge the gap between humanitarian and developmental assistance and promote strategic alignment and joint programming for durable solutions;

· In respect to the above, attend relevant platforms such as the Durable Solution Technical Working Group (DSTWG) and the PMT on regular basis, UNCT and HCT when relevant to the partnership to ensure Prospects coherence, convergence of objectives and synergies with UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), COVID-19 Socio-Economic and Recovery Framework (SERP) and DS framework;

· Support and liaise with Prospects partners in strengthening visibility and awareness of the partnership’s objectives among different target groups to successfully implement the Prospects’ communication strategy;

· Identify opportunities and promote collaboration between Prospects partners and other stakeholders to leverage on Prospects comparative advantage.

Collaboration

· Function as the Prospects focal point for interaction with the GoN and the RCO;

· Review and update the existing governance structure, as developed in January 2020, in collaboration with the Partners, UN RC/HC and GoN;

· Facilitate dialogue between the partners: convene technical and coordination meetings, propose agenda, identify priorities, write minutes and (remind Partners to) timely follow up on agreed action points;

· Organize thematic discussion with all Partners on issues of key relevance (for example, current issues related to camp closures);

· Support partners in identifying key opportunities for (joint) advocacy towards a range of stakeholders, as per the advocacy priorities laid out in the joint advocacy strategy;

· Plan, undertake, guide and follow up on stakeholder consultations;

Programme implementation and monitoring

· Follow the program implementation, informing GoN on any concerns;

· Support Partners in meeting the deadlines for submission of progress reports and monitoring requirements;

· Facilitate joint monitoring missions to areas of intervention as required;

· Assure quality of Partners’ joint document submissions to GoN, ensuring Partners’ inputs are consolidated and aligned;

· Proactively bring together the Partners to develop new (joint) program proposals.

Research, learning, assessment, publications **

· Stay up to date on relevant research and assessment publications related to Prospects interventions in Iraq. Support the partners in coherence and integration of these findings in the Prospects’ learning sessions and technical meetings;

· Work with the communication focal points of the Partners to ensure coordination on Prospects visibility, further developing the joint communication strategy;

· Support the Partners in learning from and with each other, organizing thematic sessions on topics related to the three pillars (employment, education, protection);

· Support dissemination of Prospects’ findings, best practices, recommendations and lessons learned through GoN and Partners’ channels.

· Organize annual lessons learned workshops (hosted by the NL Embassy in Baghdad) that will convene all Partners to come together and jointly assess progress and analyze key findings/data emerging from program implementation. Evidence generated at country level will be shared with the global coordination teams at headquarters, in order to influence policy and planning processes.

Other

· Carry out other relevant tasks that may arise during the contract period.

Essential Minimum Qualifications and Experience:

• For P3/NOC – 6 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 5 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 4 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree.

• Excellent oral and written English skills.

• Ability to work efficiently and effectively with programme members in various locations and from multiple organisations, including remotely writing and revising proposal documents

Desirable Qualifications & Competencies:

• Post-graduate qualification in relevant field (social science, social policy, business administration, economics, development studies, project management, etc.)

• 5 years of progressive experience in designing and managing complex multi-stakeholder multi-year programs. Advantage if this included in displacement settings and involved joint programming;

• Experience in and strong ability to coordinate UN agencies and interact at the professional level with donor representatives and other (government) stakeholders.

• Current knowledge and understanding of the latest development and evidence on learning/education, skills, employability, employment creation and private sector development in the context of forced displacement;

• Knowledge and experience in monitoring, learning and evaluation;

• Experience working in the Middle East/Iraq;

• Experience working in fragile/conflict settings.

Required Competencies:

Managerial Competencies

• Strategic and analytical thinking

• Stakeholder Management

Cross-Functional Competencies

• Judgement and Decision Making

• Strategic and analytical thinking