Cameroon is a lower-middle-income country with a population of 26 million (World Population Review, 2019). Located along the Atlantic Ocean, it shares its borders with Chad, the Central African Republic (CAR), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Nigeria. Two of its border regions with Nigeria – the North West (NW) and the South West (SW) - are Anglophone, while the rest of the country is Francophone.
Cameroon has enjoyed decades of stability in a fragile region. Today it is battling Boko Haram in the North, dealing with an influx of refugees from the CAR in the East—and, most devastatingly, faced with the Anglophone crisis in the West. English speakers, who make up about a fifth of Cameroon’s population, have complained for years about discrimination in education, law and economic opportunities held by the Francophone majority (AFP, 2019). The socio-political crisis began in October 2016 in the Anglophone NW and SW regions. First lawyers went on strike against the erosion of the English-style common-law system. Teachers then joined the protests, pointing out, among other things, the designation of French-only speakers in classrooms (The Economist, 2019).
The social unrest mutated into armed conflict at the end of 2017. In the last two years, the crisis has forcibly displaced a large part of the population either internally or to Nigeria. Numerous cases of human rights abuses including sexual violence and discrimination against women have been widely reported. Seven non-state armed groups (NSAGs) are currently in positions of strength in most rural areas. The security forces reacted, and since mid-2018 have inflicted casualties on the separatists. However, they have not regained full control over rural areas nor prevented repeated separatist attacks in major towns of the NW and SW (International Crisis Group, 2019).
As a result of the crisis, several public services have been severely damaged - if not completely destroyed - depriving thousands of people the right to access basic social services, including health, education and other basic administrative services necessary for their well-being. Inadequate public services and lack of economic opportunities, as well as the shutdown of many
schools, have made youth from the two affected regions subject to recruitment into NSAGs.
The Prime Minister launched the Presidential Plan for Reconstruction and Development (PPRD) in 2020, as a component of the National Development Plan (NDP) that was articulated to reduce the effects of the crisis on populations of the North-West and South-West regions. At the request of the Government of Cameroon, the PPRD will address the immediate needs of the affected populations of the NW and SW regions.
The goal of the PPRD is to:
In order to address the needs of people in NW/SW in an integrated and coordinated way, the
PPRD’s priority interventions ensure that sectoral and sub-sectoral needs are considered in relation
to each other.
UNDP was designed as the Government of Cameroon's strategic partner for the implementation of the PPRD. UNDP will focus on the first leg of the programme related to recovery interventions. Reconstruction and Development will be undertaken in a subsequent phase. The recovery, reconstruction and development activities are guided by national policy frameworks and priorities set out in the NDP to ensure coherence and consistency of policy across the Cameroonian territory.
UNDP has an extensive experience of supporting recovery in various crisis contexts in the world and also recognizes that its interpretation of the concept has been different in different contexts. For UNDP, recovery aims to establish sustainable economic growth and human development while addressing the factors that could lead to a recurrence of conflict. Recovery is not about restoring pre-conflict economic or institutional arrangements. It is about transformation.
Recovery is important is to reverse some of the effects of the conflict, to generate incomes and to improve social services for the long-suffering populations. In the short to medium term some hardship can be alleviated by aid, but ultimately local actors must generate their own resources to meet the bulk of their population’s needs. This requires economic recovery and growth.
UNDP Recovery Programme in the Northwest and Southwest will prioritize human, social and local economic aspects of recovery (2 to 3 years). Reconstruction and Development will be undertaken in subsequent phases (within a 10-year time frame). UNDP is already engaged in recovery in the Far North, and through the small grant mechanisms in the Northwest and Southwest.
UNDP Recovery Programme is based on a set of principles of engagement and will be implemented according to its mandate, rules, and regulations and based on impartiality. In addition, UNDP will follow several Principles of Engagement, namely:
In promoting Recovery in the Northwest and Southwest, UNDP will work closely with and support the capacity reinforcement of civil society organisations with which UNDP has a long-standing partnership since the beginning of its Early Recovery activities in 2016, and faith-based organisations. UNDP will contribute to boost the local economy through the selection of local contractors. UNDP will also partner with UN Agencies.
The conflict in the Northwest and Southwest has caused large-scale damage, spurred a humanitarian crisis and exacerbated existing social tensions. The populations urgently need to receive humanitarian assistance and to recover from both the conflict and neglect. The needs and vulnerabilities of the affected populations must be addressed beyond immediate humanitarian action through time-critical actions that can alleviate the crisis and mitigate its impact, helping people to get back on their feet through recovery assistance and reducing the dependency on humanitarian aid. UNDP Recovery Programme’s proposed inception phase will cover three programmatic outputs:
1. Strengthen social cohesion
UNDP focus will be placed on distributing standard packages of materials and tools to the populations to enable them to repair or rebuild their homes; capacity building workshops; establishment of internal mediators and peace networks; and psychosocial support.
2. Rehabilitate social services
UNDP will work with local organisations and local contractors and focus on mobilising materials and equipment for community-based social services such as primary health care or education.
3. Strengthen local economy
UNDP will focus on providing technical and managerial support; farming equipment; markets repairs; income-generating activities; vocational training; micro-grants as start-up capital for beneficiaries’ joint-ventures.
Under the guidance and direct supervision of UNDP Resident Representative in Cameroon, the Peacebuilding and Recovery Advisor acts as a senior advisor on all aspects of peacebuilding and recovery in NWSW regions.
The Peacebuilding and Recovery Advisor develops the strategies and approaches allowing for the implementation of UNDP crisis programmatic interventions in Cameroon and works in close collaboration with Government officials, other UN Agencies, INGOs, UNDP HQ, technical advisors and experts, multilateral and bilateral donors, recovery influencers and civil society to strategically position UNDP in UN peacebuilding and recovery approaches, and to implement UNDP’s Recovery program.
Summary of Key Functions:
Impact of Results:
Corporate Competencies:
Functional Competencies:
Knowledge Management and Learning
Development and Operational Effectiveness
Management and Leadership
Summary of Critical Competencies for Immediate Response Situations:
Possess a comprehensive set of competencies enabling immediately
taking on the challenging strategic advisory role – strategic, integrity,
results orientation, teamwork, good inter-personal skills, well developed
communication skills, sound judgment, analytical skills, flexibility,
proactive engagement, innovation, risk management, gender and
culturally sensitive, ability to work under pressure and demonstrates
high tolerance for change, complexity and unpredictability.
Education:
Master’s Degree or equivalent in international development, Business
Administration, Public Administration, Economics, Political Sciences,
At least 10 years field experience, a significant part of which would be
from countries in crisis.
Extensive experience at the national or international level in providing
management advisory services, hands-on experience in negotiations,
recovery, conflict prevention/peace building strategies, and establishing
inter-relationships among international organizations and national
governments.
Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages,
experience in handling of web-based management systems (Atlas).
Knowledge and experience of humanitarian coordination and response
mechanisms and humanitarian development peace nexus.
Knowledge and understanding of crisis prevention, preparedness,
response and recovery; resilience; stabilisation; transition; etc.);
international crisis response architecture (including humanitarian
system; peacekeeping operations; special political missions; etc.);
gender equality in the context of programming in humanitarian and early
recovery settings) and relevant policy and tools
Experience with recovery, conflict prevention, peace building, durable
solutions for communities affected by displacement, reintegration and
conflict sensitive development.
Contract Duration: 364 days
This vacancy is archived.