Back Rule of Law and Security Program Specialist

The UNDP Haiti Country Programme 2017-2021 focuses on three mutually reinforcing areas of cooperation: democratic governance and the rule of law; poverty reduction; and resilience. This programme is in line with the national priorities as set out in the 2012-2030 Haiti Strategic Development Plan, the 2018-2021 United Nations Development Assistance Framework and the UNDP Strategic Plan. It aims to support the Government of Haiti in its long-term approach to sustainable development, emphasizing the need for rapid progress towards the achievement of national goals for Goal 16, so as to build on progress towards the achievement of other sustainable development goals. In recent years, steps have been taken to strengthen the rule of law in Haiti. Despite these efforts, judicial institutions continue to be weak and lack independence. Their capacity needs to be strengthened, especially with regard to supporting planning and budgeting processes. The Haitian National Police, although having made significant progress, particularly with the adoption of a new strategic plan, still needs support to ensure its professionalization and this in order to secure all Haitians in compliance with standards and human rights standards. For its part, Haitian civil society, despite being very dynamic and committed, continues to lack coordinated structure and has difficulty responding to the problem of community violence, particularly against women. UNDP has been a main actor in support to the rule of law sector over the past 15 years. In close coordination with BINUH (Bureau Intégré des Nations Unies en Haiti), UNDP providestechnical and financial assistance to Haiti on justice, police and prison related activities and leads the Rule of Law working group for technical and financial partners as well as the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) Outcome on Governance and Rule of Law. Since 2016, UNDP has implemented a Programme to strengthen the Rule of Law in Haiti with the participation of MINUSTAH/MINUJUSTH/BINUH, UNICEF and UN Women. The Programme was designed to bring coherence to UN assistance and to pool efforts and resourcesin the rule of law area and aims to support the development of institutions that are more accountable and responsive to the needs of all Haitians. This includes, on the one hand, an independent justice system and a more professional police, and on the other hand, an increasingly resilient Haitian civil society through inclusive, transparent and respectful human rights institutions. With the current context of a shift in the configuration of the UN presence in Haiti with the end of MINUJUSTH’s mandate and the start of the new political mission (BINUH), UNDP will be strengthening its role in the Rule of Law sector, implying addressing new challenges, deepening partnerships and mobilizing financial resources.

In view of the above and in order to reinforce UNDP’s strong partnership with the Government of Haiti in advancing the rule of law, security, human rights (ROLSHR), the UNDP country office in Haiti is looking for a Rule of Law and Security Programme Specialist. The Programme Specialist is a highly qualified professional with specialized technical expertise, excellent analytical and management skills in the Rule of Law, Security and Human Rights domain. S/he will provide strategic engagement, programme development and implementation as well as technical guidance on ROLSHR issues especially community security and access to justice. The applicant will have experience in working on ROLSHR issues within the context of stabilization as well as a global understanding of UNDP rule of law programming in development settings.

Under the authority of the Deputy Resident Representative and through the direct supervision of the Head of the Governance and Rule of Law Unit, the successful applicant will assume the following responsibilities:

Programme management and programmatic quality insurance:

• Lead the Rule of Law team in strategic engagement and programme development, planning, and implementation to ensure a Rule of Law programme portfolio, in line with UNDP Haiti’s Country Programme Document and responsive to changes in the country context;
• Ensure the overall management of the Rule of Law programme portfolio including financial, administrative and human resources aspects;
• Taking into good practices and lessons learnt, identify key policy/programmatic gaps and entry points/opportunities for consideration by UNDP;
• Initiate, conceptualize and formulate position papers, programmatic proposals and concepts for internal and external discussions within UNDP and with partners and other stakeholders, oversee overall workplans and budgets for all activities in the programme portfolio and the continuous monitoring of workplans;
• Ensure programme implementation in line with UNDP policies and procedures, including financial accountability, quality assurance, internal reporting and reporting to donors;
• Ensure timely and adequate reporting against plans, including timely and articulate progress reports;
• Ensure regular monitoring and evaluation, including but not limited to regular field visits, preparation of and participation in Project Board and/or Steering Committee meetings;
• Ensure coherence and identify stronger synergies and joint programming and implementation modalities across CO projects (e.g. poverty reduction, resilience and broader governance issues);
• Contribute to a culture of knowledge sharing and learning by actively sharing experiences and information with all UNDP projects in the country;
• Ensure the integration of cross-cutting issues, such as gender, youth, peace building, and human rights, and link to global policy discourses on rule of law including in relation to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, sustaining peace and on the humanitarian-development nexus.

Partnership, resource mobilization:

• Ensure strong partnership and collaboration with UN agencies, funds and programmes, including BINUH and other financial and technical partners involved in the Rule of Law sector;
• Provide strong leadership and an overall strategic vision with a view to building national capacities, strengthening Rule of Law to support the overarching peace-building objective of the UN, in close coordination with BINUH;
• Ensure sufficient resource mobilization for the programme portfolio in close consultation with Senior Management and is co-responsible for reaching the annual resource mobilization targets;
• Liaise regularly and forges close linkages with other UN agencies, funds and programmes as well as other international and national stakeholders concerned with or providing assistance on Rule of Law issues in Haiti;
• Identify opportunities for collaboration within the UN system as well as with relevant multilateral and bilateral organization within the area of work;
• Ensure high-quality and timely reporting to donors and other partners involved in the programme;
• Contribute to the harnessing of effective partnerships and competitive selection of partners for implementation of UNDP projects.

Advocacy, representation and communication:

• Promote UNDP’s mandate and corporate policy and provides high-level policy advice to government and other partners;
• Advocate for UNDP Rule of Law work and represents, where appropriate, UNDP Haiti with national authorities, the Mission and the UNCT, the donor community, and international financial institutions;
• Promote Rule of Law results, ensuring appropriate levels of communication, visibility and public awareness on results and ongoing activities;
• Represent UNDP in coordination bodies of relevant thematic areas and working groups such as the financial and technical partners’ group on Rule of Law and the relevant UNDAF outcome group, as designated by the Head of Unit;
• Provide policy advice to UNDP Senior Management in Haiti, government counterparts, donors and other partners on issues related to Rule of Law; 
• Connect to knowledge networks within UNDP, including peers in Crisis Bureau and Regional Hubs;
• Represent UNDP, as requested by the Resident Representative, the Deputy Resident Representative and the Head of Unit.

CORE

Innovation: Level 5: Creates new and relevant ideas and leads others to implement them

Leadership: Level 5: Plans and acts transparently, actively works to remove barriers

People Management: Level 5: Models high professional standards and motivates excellence in others

Communication: Level 5: Gains trust of peers, partners, clients by presenting complex concepts in practical terms to others

Delivery: Level 5: Critically assesses value and relevance of existing policy / practice and contributes to enhanced delivery of products, services, and innovative solutions

TECHNICAL

Rule of Law, Justice and Security: Level 5: Originate: Catalyzes new ideas, methods, and applications to pave a path for innovation and continuous improvement in professional area of expertise

UN System Coordination: Level 5: Originate: Catalyzes new ideas, methods, and applications to pave a path for innovation and continuous improvement in professional area of expertise

Project and Programme Management: Level 5:Originate: Catalyzes new ideas, methods, and applications to pave a path for innovation and continuous improvement in professional area of expertise

Partnerships: Level 6: Integrate & Empower: Leads integral work of teams utilizing expertise, vision, problem-solving capability, and collaborative energy in professional area of expertise

Knowledge Management: Level 5: Originate: Catalyzes new ideas, methods, and applications to pave a path for innovation and continuous improvement in professional area of expertise

Resource Mobilization: Level 5: Originate: Catalyzes new ideas, methods, and applications to pave a path for innovation and continuous improvement in professional area of expertise

Coordination: Level 5: Originate: Catalyzes new ideas, methods, and applications to pave a path for innovation and continuous improvement in professional area of expertise

Trends and emerging areas analytics: Level 5: Originate: Catalyzes new ideas, methods, and applications to pave a path for innovation and continuous improvement in professional area of expertise

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) preferably in law, political science, international studies, development studies or a related field.

Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years of professional international work experience in multilateral or non-governmental with increasing level of responsibility;
• Experience working in developing country settings is required and experience in crisis/politically complex contexts is an asset;
• Proven experience of at least 5 years in developing Rule of Law strategies and supervising development programmes aimed at developing national capacities for Rule of Law, Justice and Security;
• Proven experience in programme management (including finance, administration, reporting and human resources);
• Proven relevant experiences with UNDP in programme management and technical advisory functions;
• Proven experience in networking and partnership skill (ability to mobilize support from a wide range of partners – donors, public, private, academic, civil society, business community leaders) ;
• Proven successful experiences on resource mobilization;
• Solid knowledge of gender-based and human rights-based approaches to programming;

Language Requirements:

• Written and spoken fluency in French is mandatory.
• Written and spoken fluency in English is a strong asset.
• Knowledge of additional UN languages is desirable but not required.

Important information for US Permanent Residents ('Green Card' holders)

Under US immigration law, acceptance of a staff position with UNDP, an international organization, may have significant implications for US Permanent Residents. UNDP advises applicants for all professional level posts that they must relinquish their US Permanent Resident status and accept a G-4 visa, or have submitted a valid application for US citizenship prior to commencement of employment. 

UNDP is not in a position to provide advice or assistance on applying for US citizenship and therefore applicants are advised to seek the advice of competent immigration lawyers regarding any applications.

Applicant information about UNDP rosters

Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Workforce diversity

UNDP is committed to achieving diversity within its workforce, and encourages all qualified applicants, irrespective of gender, nationality, disabilities, sexual orientation, culture, religious and ethnic backgrounds to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Scam warning

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.

Contract Duration: 1 Year with possibility for extension