Job Identification : 13375

Locations : Sana’a, Yemen

Posting Date : 08/31/2023, 06:31 PM

Apply Before : 09/17/2023, 03:59 AM

Job Schedule : Full time

Agency : UNDP

Grade : NPSA-8

Vacancy Type : National Personnel Service Agreement

Practice Area : Effectiveness

Bureau : Regional Bureau for Arab States

Contract Duration : 1 Year

Education & Work Experience : Master’s Degree

Other Criteria : A first-level university degree Bachelor’s degree or equivalent) with additional 2 years of experience will also be considered qualified

Required Languages : Fluency in English and Arabic, both written and oral

Vacancy Timeline

2 Weeks

Job Description

Background

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are core principles at UNDP: we value diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate, we foster inclusion as a way of ensuring all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, and we ensure equity and fairness in all our actions. Taking a ‘leave no one behind’ approach to our diversity efforts means increasing representation of underserved populations. People who identify as belonging to marginalized or excluded populations are strongly encouraged to apply. Learn more about working at UNDP including our values and inspiring stories.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Violent conflict since 2015 has crippled Yemen’s economy and created an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Over 24 million people (or 83 percent of the total estimated population) are food insecure, including a staggering 16.2 million people in IPC Phase 3+ requiring emergency assistance. Food insecurity in Yemen is driven by constrained food production, supply and distribution and households’ diminishing purchasing power. An estimated 4.3 million people have fled their homes since the start of the conflict, and 3.3 million remain internally displaced. Hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition are among the most pressing and overwhelming challenges Yemen now faces, at a scale that is not being fully met by national authorities and the international development and humanitarian communities. Low food access has resulted from a combination a high household dependence on food imports, high food prices and significantly reduced household income. It is estimated that Yemen imported 8 percent less wheat per month between January and May 2020 than during the same period in 2019 due to limited funds, which is an insufficient imported amount of wheat to meet the 2020 consumption requirement. The COVID-19 pandemic is poised to have a devastating effect on an already devastated economy and impoverished population. The pandemic is negatively affecting the Yemeni economy through the domestic restrictions on economic activity and, most significantly, through its impact on global markets, particularly through the plummeting oil prices and the weakening of the Yemeni Rial (YR).

In response to the protracted conflict and crisis, a partnership has been established between UNDP and the World Bank to implement different projects including Emergency Social Protection Enhancement and COVID-19 Response (ESPECRP), the Yemen Food Security Response and Resilience Project (FSRRP) and the Sustainable Fishery Development in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (SFISH). This partnership aims to serve as a scalable platform that offers a combination of complementary short and medium-term instruments to build the resilience of Yemeni households to cope up with the different crises in Yemen including the conflict, the food security and COVID-19. The partnership further aims to provide short-term income for vulnerable people and provide community people with access to social services mainly water, roads, sanitation and agricultural lands. The projects aim to support women with nutrition-sensitive cash assistance and awareness. Additional deliverables include supporting Micro-finance Institutions (MFIs) and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSMEs) to sustain their operations and continue providing services to revive local economy and contribute to food security. In addition, the project aims to support the sustainability of national institutions as key service delivery providers during and post the crisis. The partnership between UNDP and the World Bank constitutes an important example of operationalizing the new directions of the World Bank and UNDP in fragile and conflict affected contexts, including through the use of the World Bank resources and alternative implementation modalities, and through promotion of greater coherence with humanitarian and peace mediation initiatives.

UNDP Yemen seeks to recruit a national Social and Environment Safeguard Officer to support in implementing, monitoring and assuring compliance of the Responsible Parties (RPs) to the World Bank (WB) environmental and social standards and UNDP’s Social and Environmental Standards (www.undp.org/ses). This includes provisions related to environmental, social safeguard standards and community health, safety and working conditions, including the need to respect and promote workers rights and that project workers have safe and healthy working conditions to prevent accidents, injuries, and disease.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the guidance of the Team Leader Economic Resilience and Recovery Unit, the Project Manager, and direct supervision of the International Safeguard Specialist, the National SES Officer will support in management and ensuring that the UNDP’s corporate Social and Environmental Standards (SESs) (www.undp.org/ses) are applied to the Food Security Resilience Response Project (FSRRP), the Emergency Social Projection Enhancement and COVID-19 Response Project (ESPECRP), the Sustainable Fishery Development in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (SFISH) project and the other partnership projects between UNDP and the World Bank. The SES Officer will ensure the application of SES to consider the potential environmental and social opportunities that these projects may generate and ensure that adverse social and environmental risks and impacts are avoided, minimized, mitigated and managed. In the context of the FSRRP, the ESPECRP and the SFISH, he/she will also ensure consistency with the World Bank’s environmental and social safeguards (ESSs) and the projects’ Social and Environmental Frameworks. The main duties of the Officer are: Technical:

•  Contribute to strengthening FSRRP’ SES measures according to UNDP’ SESs, WB’ ESSs and legal standards and foster a culture of attention to environment, social, health and safety risks during planning and implementation of the project’s activities and interventions.
•  Contribute to reviewing of existing policies and measures and update according to international standards to ensure application of advanced safeguard policies, frameworks, guidelines and toolkits.
•  Monitor and instruct on various SES topics and implement the activities as agreed in the environmental and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP) and environmental and social Framework (ESF) and other safeguard instruments of the Projects.
•  Contribute to developing and conducting the SES risk assessment and enforce preventative measures.
•  Review the contractual clauses, Environment and Social Management Plan (ESMP) and Environmental and Social Action Plan reports of Responsible Parties (RPs), in order to ensure compliance with the Project Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) and UNDP’ SES.
•  Conduct regular field visits to assess subproject sites, meet with the local beneficiaries to make sure that no adverse environmental or social impacts are occurring or anticipated; and to identify potential areas of contractors’ non-compliance with the environmental and social safeguards policies of the FSRRP, ESPECRP and SFISH projects at sub-project level and suggest required mitigation measures.
•  Liaise and collaborate with other safeguard officers and specialists that work in different projects under Economic Development and Resilience Unit.
•  Monitor UNDP SESs and WB ESSs (Environmental and Social standards) compliance during work on progress, construction and operational phases to follow up and monitor the status of implementing Environment and Social Management Framework ESMF/ESMP/ESAP, prepare regular monitoring reports based on ESMF monitoring templates, monitor RPs database for all subprojects which details the project title, contract number, location, start of civil works contract, dates for each field visit, etc. and ensure that actions in the plans are fully respected.
•  Ensure RPs compliance with the requirements of public consultation, disclosure, and Grievance Redress Mechanisms including the establishment of toll free call centers for the Grievance Response Mechanism (GRM), formation and functioning of appropriate review bodies (national and subnational level) for review of the complaints from the call centers; and initiate appropriate response to the relevant complaints, monitor the effectiveness of GRM for each sub-project and propose any improvement needed in order to resolve and handle complaints at site.
•  Coordinate with relevant RPs on sharing information as warranted by the ESMF and work closely with other safeguards focal points/ officers including social and environmental, and Occupational of Health and Safety OHS Specialists.
•  Keep the Project Management informed on progress as well as on emerging challenges and lessons learned on regular basis.
•  Contribute to development of ESSs and SES training plans/materials and execution of the training programs to enhance the capacities of the RPs.
•  Develop database and update record on non-compliance to SES requirements and investigate cases to determine causes and handle compensation claims.
•  Contribute to preparation of reports on SES issues occurrences and provide statistical information to the FSRRP Project management team.
•  Contribute in the investigation of fatality cases and high impact injuries to ensure all due obligations are taken, compliance measures are respected, and deceased parties are fully aware of their rights and compensation and settlements are concluded rightfully and legitimately without any harm. As well as in drafting the report on the closure of the cases.
•  Provide liaison support with relevant partners and stakeholders to promote information sharing and coordination.
•  Perform any other relevant duties as assigned by the supervisor.

Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment

•  Support the development of gender responsive monitoring framework that include measurable gender indicators that assess the gender transformational impact and not only level of participation
•  Ensure collection and reporting of data is disaggregated by sex, age, disabilities, status and other intersectionality.
•  Ensure gender is integrated in all different evaluations/studies/reviews/assessments/audits design and methodology including mainstreaming gender in the TORs, tools, selection of consultants and reporting.
•  Support the Gender officer/Focal Point to conduct periodic gender review, prepare gender fact sheets, and report gender related lessons learned and recommendations.
•  Support the institutional and technical capacity of the project team and stakeholders on gender responsive monitoring and evaluation;
•  Enhance accountability towards affected population and ensure the establishment of Beneficiary Feedback System with special considerations (SOP, channels, etc) to allegations on sexual harassments, exploitation and Abuse.

The incumbent of the position should avoid any kind of discriminatory behavior including gender discrimination and ensure that

•  Human rights and gender equality is prioritized as an ethical principle within all actions;
•  Activities are designed and implemented in accordance with “Social and Environmental Standards of UNDP”
•  Any kind of diversities based on ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, disability, religion, class, gender is respected within all implementations including data production;
•  Differentiated needs of women and men are considered;
•  Inclusive approach is reflected within all actions and implementations, in that sense an enabling and accessible setup in various senses such as disability gender language barrier is created;
•  Necessary arrangements to provide gender parity within all committees, meetings, trainings etc. introduced.

Institutional Arrangement

•  The person will report direct to: International Safeguard Specialist

Competencies

Core Competencies

Achieve Results:

LEVEL 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline

Think Innovatively:

LEVEL 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements

Learn Continuously:

LEVEL 1: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback

Adapt with Agility:

LEVEL 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible

Act with Determination:

LEVEL 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident

Engage and Partner:

LEVEL 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships

Enable Diversity and Inclusion:

LEVEL 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination

Functional & Technical Competencies:

Thematic Area

Name

Definition

Social and Environmental Safeguards

Knowledge of social and environmental risk identification, assessment and management and ability to apply practical solutions

Choose an item

Occupational Health and Safety

Knowledge of occupational health and safety risks and management measures

Level 1: Apply & Adapt: Contributes skills and knowledge with demonstrated ability to advance innovation and continuous improvement, in professional area of expertise

Social inclusion and inequalities

Knowledge of nature and trends of multidimensional inequalities and disparities, issues of social exclusion (including issues of disabilities, gender and ageing) and ability to identify potential risks and practical social inclusion measures

Level 1: Apply & Adapt: Contributes skills and knowledge with demonstrated ability to advance innovation and continuous improvement, in professional area of expertise

Communication

Knowledge of environmental and social risks and ability to communicate the importance of safeguard measures

Level 1: Apply & Adapt: Contributes skills and knowledge with demonstrated ability to advance innovation and continuous improvement, in professional area of expertise

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

•  Advanced University Degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in environmental management, engineering and social sciences, or another relevant field.
•  A first-level university degree Bachelor’s degree or equivalent) with additional 2 years of experience will also be considered qualified.

Experience:

•  Relevant work experience (with master’s degree): Experience in environmental management, engineering and social sciences, or other relevant field programmes/projects in the field of development, crisis prevention and recovery, and/or humanitarian settings is desirable.
•  Minimum 2 years (with a Bachelor’ Degree) of relevant work experience in environmental management, engineering, and social sciences, or other relevant field programmes/projects in the field of development, crisis prevention and recovery, and/or humanitarian settings is required.

Required skills, knowledge and competencies:

•  Field experience in the field of environmental and social safeguard planning and implementation for community-based initiatives and projects is desirable.
•  Experience and knowledge of climate change, disaster risk reduction, and environmental changes is desirable.
•  Has experience in climate adaptation, integrated water resource management, and natural resources management,
•  Excellent knowledge of safeguard legislations and procedures is desirable.
•  Excellent knowledge of potentially hazardous materials or practices
•  Familiarity with conducting data analysis and reporting statistics
•  Proficient in MS Office
•  Working knowledge of safeguard management information system
•  Outstanding organizational skills
•  Critical thinking and problem-solving skills
•  Team player
•  Good time-management skills
•  Great interpersonal and communication skills
•  Relevant experience working with a UN agency or other humanitarian agency is desirable.
•  Experience in the area of emergency preparedness, crisis/emergency relief management, humanitarian/development environment, and early recovery field coordination is desirable.

Desired additional skills and competencies

•  Practical experience in environmental and social safeguards and risk management procedures and guidelines.
•  Demonstrates knowledge and experience in water, climate, land, and natural resources management.
•  Demonstrated experience with monitoring and evaluation.
•  Demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments.
•  Demonstrates comprehensive understanding and knowledge of the current guidelines and project management tools and utilizes these regularly in work assignments.
•  Demonstrates knowledge and experience in environment sciences, natural resources, DRR, and climate changes
•  Knowledge of UN system programming is desirable.
•  Excellent knowledge of safeguard legislations and procedures
•  Knowledge of UNDP programme management procedures and policies, including experience with Atlas/Quantum (Resource Management System) is an asset.
•  Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment and respects diversity.
•  Works collaboratively with colleagues and shares knowledge to achieve organizational objectives.

Required Language: Fluency in English and Arabic, both written and oral

Disclaimer

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.

Non-discrimination

UNDP has a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation and misconduct, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

UNDP is an equal opportunity and inclusive employer that does not discriminate based on race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.

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