Senior National Coordinator (Community Engagement)

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

June 28, 2021July 13, 2021Port MoresbyPapua New Guinea

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UNDP works in nearly 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. We help countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build resilience in order to sustain development results.

Job Description

Papua New Guinea – home to 50% of the population of the Pacific region – faces a variety of challenges with humanitarian consequences as a result of regular natural disasters (earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, frost, drought, tsunamis), conflicts, civil strife and governance issues. The hazard profile of Papua New Guinea comprises frequent localized disasters affecting specific communities and regions although there have also been less frequent large-scale disasters such as the 2015/16 El Niño-induced drought and frost and the 2018 Highlands Earthquake. National and sub- national capacities for and investment in disaster risk management remain weak. There is broad variation in national, provincial and local capacities to plan for and effectively respond to humanitarian emergencies. The need to strengthen co-ordination and communication between national and provincial institutions responsible for humanitarian planning, preparedness, response and recovery, remains a priority.

Following the departure of UN OCHA from Papua New Guinea in June 2015, UNDP assumed the role of humanitarian response coordination in addition to its overall responsibility to conduct operational activities for disaster mitigation, prevention and preparedness. This humanitarian response coordination role includes contingency planning, managing information sharing and coordination of international humanitarian partners’ interventions. It is the focal point for emergencies within the UN System and provides secretariat support to the UN Resident Coordinator, UN Country Team, Disaster Management Team, Inter-Cluster Coordination Group and, as appropriate, the National Disaster Centre.

In this context, the Humanitarian Advisory Team Project is recruiting a Senior National Coordinator to assist in coordinating a scoping mission on response-wide Communication, Community Engagement and Accountability to address capacities, capabilities, opportunities and gaps. It has been widely agreed that effective Communication, Community Engagement and Accountability (CCEA) are essential for making progress toward greater participation and accountability towards affected populations in humanitarian response.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of Humanitarian Coordination Specialist, and drawing from primary and secondary sources, the consultant is expected to:

1. Provide an overview of the PNG communication culture, language, local power dynamics, and opportunities and barriers to two-way communication.

2. Scope the following:

Current national and international humanitarian coordination structure and how CCEA is being addressed within that context.
Degree of community participation and engagement in needs assessments and decisionmaking on priorities being addressed.
Information, news sources, and communication channels preferred by different communities, including gaps in information.
Common messaging (opportunities and gaps).
Feedback and common feedback mechanisms.
Complaint response mechanisms.
Safeguarding and PSEA.
Community perception surveys, independent or other,
Rumour management and tracking.

3. Look beyond humanitarian coordination to identify and briefly articulate:

Approaches led by government and other actors in development and humanitarian programming, as well as innovative community led approaches to CCEA and local civil society.
Through key informant interviews, entry points for sustainable and community appropriate systems for communication and community engagement.

4. Identify agencies on the ground with CCEA expertise and any potential support available in the region

5. Highlight snapshots of CCEA good practice.

6. Identify technical areas that requires strengthening for collective approaches to CCEA.

7. Recommend concrete areas for strengthening CCEA across the spectrum of emergency

management to ensure synergies across all pillars.

8. Facilitation of the Working Group on CCE/AAP

9. Prioritisation, Design and Delivery of the Workshops.

10. Identification of training needs and contextualisation of training materials.

11. Delivery of training.

12. Design and delivery of learning review.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards.
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP.
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
Treats all people fairly without favouritism.
As strong understanding of political sensitivities and ability to work positively with all partners in a politically dynamic environment.

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning

Demonstrated capacity in knowledge sharing and knowledge management and ability to promote a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example.
Ability to advocate for climate change adaptation issues.
Ability to comprehend in-depth practical knowledge of interdisciplinary development issues.
Ability to conduct research and analysis and strong synthesis skills.
Development and Operational Effectiveness.
Ability to assist lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting.
Ability to support development of innovative approaches to program design, implementation, monitoring evaluation of development programmes and projects.
Ability to use resources in a cost-effective manner.
Ability to work with minimal supervision Development and Operational Effectiveness.
Ability to assist lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting.
Ability to support development of innovative approaches to program design, implementation, monitoring evaluation of development programmes and projects.
Ability to use resources in a cost-effective manner.
Ability to work with minimal supervision

Management and Leadership

Ability to build strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to critical feedback; consensus-oriented.
Encourages risk-taking in the pursuit of creativity and innovation.
Assist lead teams effectively and shows conflict resolution skills.
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.
Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills.
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.
Proactive and can discuss openly with all senior and technical government staff.
Demonstrates results-orientation and efficiency in a multi-tasking environment.
Demonstrates capacity to perform effectively under pressure and hardship conditions.
Highly developed interpersonal, negotiation and teamwork skills, networking aptitude, ability to work in multi-cultural environment

Required Skills and Experience

Minimun Academic Education

Master's degree in political science, social science, international studies or a related field is required with at least 2 years of work experience or a Bachelor degree in combination with 4 years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Minimum years of relevant Work experience

At least 2 years (or 4 years with a bachelor degree), of work experience in the humanitarian or development action inside Papua New Guinea with significant experience working on AAP/CCE in or outside country. Experience in facilitating participatory approaches would be highly desirable.

Required skills and other competencies

Sound understanding of disaster risk management and humanitarian coordination issues in PNG. Basic knowledge of the international, regional and national Disaster Risk Management and Humanitarian Programme Cycle discourse is an asset.
Experience in building professional networks and partnerships with national and international partners involved in DRM and emergency management.
Experience in working in a multicultural team environment with sensitivity to local cultures and traditions.
Strong organizational skills, including ability to plan, monitor, coordinate and liaise with other project staff, external partners and stakeholders, respond to requests and deliver in a timely manner.
Strong interpersonal and communication skills.

Required Language(s)

Fluency in spoken English. Demonstrated advanced writing and editing skills in English. Knowledge of Pidgin would be an asset.

Disclaimer

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