The Position:

The Programme Specialist for Degree of Urbanisation (DEGURBA) Programme is located in the Population and Development Branch, Programme Division, reporting to the Programme Specialist, Megatrends. He/She will collaborate closely with the UNFPA GIS Team and Census Team. The incumbent’s primary responsibilities within the Population and Development Branch will be to provide technical support on the implementation of the DEGURBA programme, carry out capacity development activities in 12 pilot countries and develop programme-related technical materials.

The incumbent will support the key areas of UNFPA’s mandate by developing countries’ capacity of using population data to define urbanisation degree – a new global standardized definition, and disaggregating UNFPA key indicators (especially SDG 3 and 5 indicators) based on the standardized definition. This will support the implementation of better policies and programmes that address inequalities and serve those left behind. The Specialist will work in an integrated, coordinated, and systems strengthening fashion, which is fundamental for the overall strategy and working ethos of the Programme Division and UNFPA.

How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.

UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

Background

Countries have used different criteria to define urban areas and cities which has made it difficult to compare urban performance – both within the same country and across countries. With the adoption of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in 2015 and the New Urban Agenda (NUA) in 2016 – both of which seek to track performance at the city level, there was an urgent need to work more actively towards harmonization of how cities, urban and rural areas are defined.

To work towards this, UN-Habitat, the European Commission, FAO, OECD, the World Bank and partners developed a global standardized definition of the ‘Degree of Urbanisation’ (DEGURBA). This global definition was endorsed by the 51st session of the United Nations Statistical Commission. Starting this year, UN-Habitat, UNFPA and UNICEF, are partnering to implement a 3-year Multi-Partner Programme “Application of the DEGURBA approach to generate comparable urban data in the programme selected countries”. This programme will support countries to apply the global standardized definition of the ‘Degree of urbanisation’ and disaggregate SDG indicators by urban degree such as cities, towns, suburbs and rural areas.

Results of this collaboration will identify geographic inequalities and locate the vulnerable groups related to unmet need for family planning, maternal mortality, and harmful rights practices in urban settings. It will facilitate global monitoring of urban dimensions of SDGs and the New Urban Agenda through disaggregating broader SDG indicators.

Job Purpose

The Programme Specialist for DEGURBA Programme provides geospatial and statistical technical support to fulfill UNFPA’s commitment to support implementation of the degree of urbanisation in the 12 selected countries on (1) generating the degree of urbanisation and, (2) disaggregating key SDG indicators (especially SDG 3 and 5 indicators) by degree of urbanisation, using geospatial and statistical analysis.

Main responsibilities of the Programme Specialist include: providing technical guidance on the new definition of degree of urbanisation, developing capacity development training materials, carrying out in-country workshops and providing follow-up technical support to 12 pilot countries, developing programme-related documents/reports, and ensuring the smoothing running of the programme. The technical specialist will support the programme manager on government and stakeholder engagement, communication with pilot countries on country programme implementation, coordination with programme partners and donors on potential synergies of programme activities and opportunities with focus to UNFPA’s mandates.

The incumbent will also work with the Programme Specialist, Megatrends on producing the up-to-date analytical guidance and tools and related materials. S/He will support provision of technical and operational guidance to pilot countries to ensure an integrated and coordinated manner for the successful implementation of the programme. In all activities s/he fosters collaboration within the Programme Division, Regional and Country Offices, ensuring the timeliness, adequacy, relevance and quality of substantive outputs.

Main Task & responsibilities:

• Support the identification and coordination with the 12 pilot countries to implement degree of urbanisation (DEGURBA) approach and achieve the expected results;
• Track the day-to-day activities of the DEGURBA pilot country projects, including timely communication with pilot countries and reporting of the project activities;
• Support target countries to identify and validate data needed for implementing DEGURBA, including census and geospatial boundary data;
• Design and implement capacity building activities including hosting regions webinars and organizing capacity development in-country workshops for the 12 pilot countries, in coordination with the national statistical offices, stakeholders and programme partners;
• Develop relevant workshop training materials, background notes, communication materials, workshop reports, or other relevant programme information;
• Provide in-country training and the follow-up remote technical support to the pilot countries to generate degree of urbanisation data using geospatial analysis, and disaggregate core SDG 3 & 5 indicators by degree of urbanisation;
• Work with the programme team on the development of programme related guidance or analytical tools;
• Support countries to generate analytical results, national reports and related materials for communication and dissemination;
• Synthesize good practices and lessons learnt of DEGURBA initiative and share with the participating countries and other external partners;
• Support the programme lead on collaborative activities between key project implementation partners, government counterparts, donors and other national and international partners with an active stake in urbanisation issues.

Qualifications and Experience:

Education:

An Advanced Degree (e.g. Master’s Degree) in geospatial sciences, statistics, demography, urban studies, social sciences, information sciences or related fields. PhD desirable.

Knowledge and Experience:

Five years of relevant progressively responsible professional experience in the area of population and urban development, preferably with previous experience with/exposure to the UN System;

Demonstrated technical expertise in research and geospatial and statistical data and analysis;

Demonstrated experience in development of technical training materials or guidance;

Experience in working with government ministries and departments on capacity development, with deliverables across various countries and regions;

Experience in analysis of degree of urbanization is an advantage;

In addition to census, complementary expertise in related areas of population and development research, including areas of UNFPA mandate, is desirable;

Ability to work under pressure, prioritize and plan, coordinate own work plan, use time efficiently and apply common sense in the context of the terms of competition;

Ability to observe deadlines and achieve set goals;

Strong presentation, communication, and writing skills in English required; Working knowledge of another official UN language, particularly French, is highly desirable.

Languages:

For the post advertised, fluency in oral and written English is required.