BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The UN Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), created in 2005, is the United Nations’ financial instrument of first resort to sustain peace in countries or situations at risk or affected by violent conflict. In line with the Sustaining Peace resolutions (2016), the Fund supports activities aimed at preventing the outbreak, escalation, continuation and recurrence of conflict, addressing root causes, assisting parties to conflict to end hostilities, ensuring national reconciliation and moving towards recovery, reconstruction and development. The PBF is managed by the UN Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO), with the Multi Partner Trust Fund Office (MPTF-O) as its Administrative Agent, in charge of disbursing the funds at PBSO request.
Long-standing conflicts between cattle herders and farmers in the border lying areas of Falaba in northern Sierra Leone and Faranah in central Guinea (Haute Guinée) are intensifying with climate change, as water shortages undermine the viability of both herder and crop farmer livelihoods. With increasing numbers of cattle herders migrating from Guinea into Sierra Leone in recent years, the conflict, if left unaddressed, could further escalate and destabilize both regions.
As such, the project is expected to (i) strengthen the efficiency and accountability of institutions and mechanisms as well as cross-border relations that promote peaceful coexistence between cattle herders and crop farmers from border-lying communities in Falaba district and Faranah prefecture; (ii) strengthen social cohesion, trust and economic collaboration in the same communities through climate-smart livelihoods and herder and farmer cooperation; and (iii) improve cross border management capacities between Sierra Leone and Guinea through collecting and using data to develop evidence-based policies that mitigate conflicts among and between communities in the border area.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)
1. Programme Coordination
- Coordinate and chair the project’s technical committee meetings
- Coordinate all aspects of project implementation, with a view to ensuring that activities support each other, and maintain a clear peacebuilding focus.
- Ensure adequate communication and where relevant joint implementation, between participating agencies to ensure coherence and synergies between outputs, with a view towards reaching the results and the overall outcome.
- The Project Coordinator will be in-charge of planning and leading joint missions for members of the Technical Committee, in the lead up to the midterm and annual progress reporting.
- Support the identification, development and management of potential partnerships to collaborative working leading to improved food assistance and peace building.
- Work in close coordination with the partners to ensure an integrated and timely approach to programme implementation, ensuring that any challenges faced are flagged and addressed.
2. Programme Implementation
- Ensure timely implementation of the WFP and IOM United Nations Peace Building Fund (UNPBF) project in Sierra Leone and Guinea.
- Ensure the timely procurement and distribution of tools and agricultural inputs to project beneficiaries in line with the seasonal calendar.
- Provide oversight to capacity development trainings implemented to ensure quality.
3. Monitoring and Reporting
- Lead on drafting of progress reports, supported by the M&E Officer and focal points of the implementing agencies who are responsible for ensuring good quality of data shared with the M&E Officer.
- Develop and coordinate data gathering and monitoring systems ensuring that rigorous quality standards are maintained.
- Actively be visiting activities on both sides of the border with a view to ensuring that project components are well-coordinated, so that direct and indirect beneficiaries benefit from a variety of project elements.
- Reports to the project’s Steering Committee.
- Closely monitor overall project expenditure to ensure that it is aligned with the approved project budget.
- Ensure all partners develop visibility materials, including case studies, to showcase the impact of the project to UN-PBF and the public.
STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS
Education: Advanced University degree in Project Management, International Affairs, Economics, Development Studies, Agriculture, Social Sciences or other field relevant to international development assistance, or First University Degree with additional years of relevant work experience and/or training/courses.
Experience: At least 5 years’ experience in project management and coordination
Languages: Fluency (level C) in English and French
4Ps CORE ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES
Purpose
- Understand and communicate the Objectives:
- Be a force for positive change: Flexibly adapts individual contributions to accommodate changes in direction from supervisors and internal/external changes (such as evolving needs of beneficiaries, new requirements of partners).
- Make the mission inspiring to our team: Recognizes and shares with team members the ways in which individual contributions relate to the project.
People
- Look for ways to strengthen people's skills: Assesses own strengths and weaknesses to increase self-awareness, and includes these in conversations on own developmental needs.
- Create an inclusive culture: Participates in open dialogue, and values the diverse opinion of others, regardless of background, culture, experience, or country assignment.
- Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Proactively seeks feedback and coaching to build confidence, and develop and improve individual skills.
- Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Participates in accomplishing team activities and goals in the face of challenging circumstances.
Performance
- Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Shows willingness to explore and experiment with new ideas and approaches in own work.
- Focus on getting results: Consistently delivers results within individual scope of work on time, on budget and without errors.
- Make commitments and make good on commitments: Commits to upholding individual accountabilities and responsibilities in the face of ever-changing country or functional priorities.
- Be Decisive: Makes rational decisions about individual activities when faced with uncertain circumstances, including in times of ambiguity regarding information or manager direction.
Partnership
- Connect and share across the agencies: Seeks to understand and adapt to internal or cross-unit teams’ priorities and preferred working styles.
- Build strong external partnerships: Demonstrates ability to understand and appropriately respond to and/or escalate needs of external partners.
- Be politically agile & adaptable: Portrays an informed and professional demeanor toward internal and external partners and stakeholders.
- Be clear about the value of each agency an what they brings to partnerships: Provides operational support on analyses and assessments that quantifies and demonstrates impact of the project.