JOB DETAILS:

United Nations Development Programme Peace & Development Specialist Mauritania UNDP Jobs 2024

United Nations Development Programme looking for “Peace & Development Specialist”. Applicants with an Advanced degree may apply on or before 17-Jul-24.

The United Nations Development Programme has published a job vacancy announcement on 10/07/2024 for qualified applicants to fill in the vacant post of Peace & Development Specialist to be based in Nouakchott , Mauritania. For more jobs, please visit https://unjoblink.org

Company Name: United Nations Development Programme

Job Title: Peace & Development Specialist

Duty Station: Nouakchott , Mauritania

Country: Mauritania

Application Deadline: 17-Jul-24

Responsibilities:

• PDAs are deployed through a partnership between the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under the Joint UNDP-DPPA Programme on Building National Capacities for Conflict Prevention.
• PDAs support Resident Coordinators (RC) and UN Country Teams (UNCTs) in their efforts to work with national partners on conflict prevention and sustaining peace. They support early warning and risk management measures and ensure that UN assessments, frameworks (mainly UN Cooperation Frameworks), strategies, and programmes are conflict-sensitive and informed by high-quality analysis. They are in the Resident Coordinators’ office, with a direct reporting line to the RC and a secondary reporting line to the UNDP Resident Representative and DPPA-DPO regional divisions.

In 2024, PDAs will have been deployed into more than 70 countries through the Joint Programme. While most PDAs are deployed at the country level, there are several PDAs who cover multiple countries.

• In some contexts, PDAs are part of a small Peace and Development Advisory team composed of a PDA and a substantive national or international officer/analyst.
• PDAs also receive additional support from a Joint Programme secretariat based at UN Headquarters in New York, from UNDP and DPPA technical advisors/specialists globally, and from a cadre of regional programme specialists supporting their regions from Amman, Nairobi, Bangkok, Dakar, Istanbul, and Panama.

Given the broad range of skills and experience required by PDAs, the Joint Programme encourages applications from individuals with a combination of expertise spanning sustainable development, political affairs, peacebuilding, sustaining peace, conflict prevention/resolution, community engagement, justice, reconciliation, dialogue, mediation, and humanitarian-development-peace nexus among other relevant areas. While UN experience is a major asset, it is not a requirement for this position. Moreover, the skills of diplomacy, dialogue and facilitation, analysis, advocacy, networking, capacity development and coordination are critical elements of a PDA’s work.

Mauritania’s context

The presidential elections held on 22 June 2019 represented a turning point for Mauritania, as it was the first time an elected president peacefully handed over power in a country that has experienced multiple coups d’état. Since then, the government has demonstrated its resolve to open the democratic space, including by easing the legal framework governing civil society and engaging more constructively with opposition parties. Following a request by the Government for assistance, the UN deployed an electoral needs assessment mission (NAM) in December 2022 which recommended focusing on limited and targeted assistance for the 2023 elections, with stronger engagement, including an electoral project and basket fund, for the 2024 elections. Legislative, regional, and municipal elections took place on 13 and 27 May 2023, and their results were considered credible and accepted by the majority of the Mauritanian community. 176 deputies, 13 regional councils and 238 municipal councils were elected in a process marked by a high participation rate, with 71.5% in the first round and 64.5% in the second. The ruling Insaf party emerged victorious, obtaining 107 seats out of 176 (60%). Around ten parties loyal to the President obtained 42 seats, or 23%, thus bringing to around 85% the proportion of seats won by the President’s coalition. In terms of female representation, 41 women were elected to the Parliament or 23.29%; 89 women in regional councils or 32.74%; 1433 women in municipal councils or 34.58%; and only 2 women as mayors or 0.84%. Presidential elections are planned for 29 June 2024, with a second round on 13 July, if needed. Opposition President candidates have claimed that the government is controlling the process and that the conditions for credible and transparent elections have not been met, and there are concerns over increased tensions and shrinking democratic space. While the run-up and elections themselves are expected to be calm, there are heightened tensions across the country, and there are likely to be protests and sporadic violence following the elections, as was the case in 2019 and 2023.

Stability in Mauritania is challenged by its geographic position and social fabric. Located at the crossroads of the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa, Mauritania’s national identity is complex. The issue of social cohesion is particularly important as the consequences of ethnic tensions in the 1990s are still felt today (an issue called “Passif humanitaire”). The country is characterized by deep-seated socio-political cleavages among Mauritanians of Arab descent, those of sub-Saharan ancestry, and former slaves. Many within the latter two groups feel marginalized, and some of them do not have citizenship. While several political dialogues have taken place over the last decade, these fora have been limited and have failed to stimulate effective participation of young people and women. The absence of inclusive dialogue frameworks, bringing together all actors, including women, youth, vulnerable groups, and the diaspora, to discuss important national issues, is challenging efforts to consolidate the democratic gains made to date. A planned inclusive national dialogue, scheduled to take place in May 2022, was postponed indefinitely, given the lack of consensus in the political class.

On the security level, the country is stable compared to its neighbors, as it has not had a terrorist incident between 2011-2023. However, in March 2023, 4 Salafists escaped prison and caused the death of 4 security guards before being neutralized by authorities. The situation in Mali has deteriorated and the risk of spillover into Mauritania has increased, with several incursions of the FAMa and their partners from the REK (former Wagner PMC) reported in 2024, though authorities on both sides have been active with the aim of de-escalation. The conflict in Mali has also led to a large increase in the number of refugees and Mauritanian returnees which put pressure on limited resources particularly water in border areas and create tensions with host communities.

Climate change, poor governance, high inflation, deteriorating economic conditions, gender-based violence, youth unemployment, inequalities, and the flow of refugees are all factors that can lead to conflicts. The country hosts some 200,000,000 refugees including asylum seekers and Mauritanian returnees. The refugees are from Mali. Half of them live in M’bera camp near the border, which has reached capacity and the other half outside the camp, The recent spike in violence in central Mali and the increasing targeted violence against Fulani communities has increased the number of refugees in Mauritania. In recent years, various UN agencies reported some indicative cases of children associated with, or targets of, recruitment by Malian terrorists and armed groups among the refugees in the camp.

The political participation of women has remained an issue. On 26 April 2021, Mauritania adopted its National Action Plan (NAP) 2020-2024 for the implementation of the UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security. The NAP reinforces existing national gender policies and addresses issues of inequalities, discrimination, and exclusion against women in conflict and post-conflict periods. However, Mauritania is yet to develop a roadmap and implementation strategy, and the process has stalled. Despite measures in favour of the participation of women in political decision-making bodies, in particular, the law on quotas in legislative and municipal elections, as well as the participation of women in various movements, the gender agenda in Mauritania has not fully advanced. The February 2023 CEDAW report highlights many concerns, including women’s political participation, equality at work, and violence against women and girls.

The country remains a low human development country (HDI 2023/4, UNDP), with one of the highest maternal mortality rates in North Africa, a global acute malnutrition rate of over 15% and/or a severe acute malnutrition rate of 2.0% at the emergency threshold. It is estimated that some 20% of its population require humanitarian assistance. Furthermore, because of recent economic reforms, the war in Ukraine and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a rise in inflation, affecting the price of major goods on the market.

Since 2018, Mauritania has been eligible for funds from the Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), which has invested 29.2 million USD in 15 national and cross-border projects. In 2024, a portfolio evaluation is being undertaken to document impact and lessons learned to quickly start the re-eligibility process (including the update of the conflict analysis, peacebuilding mapping and prioritization) for a potential new cycle of PBF support for Mauritania 2025-2030.

The United Nations in Mauritania is deploying an international Peace and development Advisor to support in addressing the emerging development and humanitarian issues underlying the potential for crisis in the country, as well as to consolidate peace.

There are three broad functions of the position:

1. Undertake conflict analysis including a focus on the prevention agenda and provide strategic advice to the Resident Coordinator in his/her engagement with high-level national authorities including from relevant ministries and the national assembly, development partners, academia, civil society, including youth and women’s networks, UN Country Teams, HQ, UNOWAS, and other relevant stakeholders. Submit the analysis and reporting to the RC, UNDP RR and DPPA.

2. Identify opportunities to build national capacities for conflict prevention, including areas of strategic, programmatic, and policy engagement with national stakeholders, and support the RC and the UNCT action in areas of conflict prevention, peacebuilding, human rights, humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus, Women, Peace and Security (WPS), Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS), and Climate, Peace and Security, among others.

3. Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with key national stakeholders, regional and international actors, and development partners on issues related to Sustaining Peace and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

PDAs have a primary reporting line to the Resident Coordinator and secondary reporting lines to the DPPA-DPO regional division and the UNDP Resident Representative. Under their guidance and agreed workplan, and in close collaboration with the country team, the PDA will:

Undertake conflict analysis including a focus on the prevention agenda and provide strategic advice to the Resident Coordinator in his/her engagement with high-level national authorities including from relevant ministries and the national assembly, development partners, academia, civil society, including youth and women’s networks, UN Country Teams, HQ, UNOWAS, and other relevant stakeholders. Submit the analysis and reporting to the RC, UNDP RR and DPPA.

• Provide risk-informed analysis to the RC, the broader UNCT (and, in some contexts, the Humanitarian Country Team), and the UN Headquarters (and regional level as relevant) on political and socio-economic developments and conflict dynamics. This would also require identifying appropriate entry points for conflict prevention and sustaining peace and proposing concrete, actionable, and timely recommendations for consideration by the UN leadership.
• Strengthen and support the capacity of the UNCT, including through training, to undertake conflict, context and political economy analysis, ensuring that gendered and human rights dimensions are reflected in both analysis and programming; and inform early warning and response mechanisms.
• Supervise and support the national PDA and provide guidance, in drafting reports and briefs as well as following up on the recommendations of the climate, peace, and security study.
• Provide updates to UN Headquarters (and at the regional level as relevant) in line with the Joint Programme’s reporting guidelines with advice on political and socio-economic developments and conflict dynamics.
• Support the regular update of the Common Country Assessment (CCA), which informs the design and implementation of the UN Cooperation Framework, including leading the conflict analysis part of the CCA;
• Participate on behalf of the RC in relevant national fora and represent the UN system where necessary, including engagement with high-level government officials.
• Facilitate the linking of political economy considerations, conflict and political analysis and strategies as well as risk-informed approaches to the UN’s programmatic and policy engagement at the country-level; and
• Regularly brief the UNCT on political developments and provide strategic advice on integrated approaches across the UNCT in the context of SDG 16 – Peace Justice and Strong Institutions.
• Engage with academia and think tanks in research and analyses on peace and conflict-related themes, including areas such as climate-related security risk.

Identify opportunities to build national capacities for conflict prevention, including areas of strategic, programmatic, and policy engagement with national stakeholders, and support the RC and the UNCT action in areas of conflict prevention, peacebuilding, human rights, humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus, Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS) among others.

• Provide strategic and technical advice, and support the design and initiation of peace-promoting initiatives or engagements in areas such as conflict prevention and sustaining peace; infrastructures for peace; dialogue processes including to address hate speech; confidence-building measures, electoral violence prevention; social cohesion; social inclusion and reconciliation; countering violent extremism; and stabilization;
• Support the design and facilitation of national multi-stakeholder processes, building national and local capacity for negotiation, mediation and dialogue; and strengthening networks of mediators and facilitators (including female mediators) at national and local levels;
• Identify opportunities and options for UN preventive diplomacy engagement as required;
• Facilitate and support the connection of local and national level conflict prevention and peacebuilding efforts, as well as regional and/or cross-border initiatives as appropriate;
• Undertake necessary activities to build/strengthen/apply/sustain national capacities/ institutions/ processes to prevent crisis and mainstream conflict prevention interventions throughout the work of UN agencies at country level; and
• Identify and engage civil society actors in the peace and development agenda supported by the UN, including through the establishment of a network of CSOs, and work with other UN entities, including OHCHR and UN Women, to protect human rights and expand civic space;
• Advise and support the UNCT in their efforts on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and gendered dimensions of peacebuilding and SCR 1325 (and related resolutions) as well as Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) and SCR 2250;
• Contribute to the design and implementation of strategies for identifying entry points for mainstreaming of conflict prevention and conflict sensitivity in the work of the UNCT (including within the CCA, Cooperation Framework, Country Programme Documents (CPD), etc.); and where relevant, support UN’s resource mobilization efforts for conflict prevention;
• Advise and support the RC and the UNCT in the implementation of the UN Integrated Strategy for the Sahel in Mauritania and in cross-border areas in cooperation with relevant regional entities;
• Provide strategic guidance and quality assurance to the design and implementation of programmes funded by the UN Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), where applicable, and engage closely with PBF governance mechanisms; as well as with DPPA regional divisions and UNDP Country Offices and HQ on the implementation.

• Establish and maintain networks and strategic partnerships for sustaining peace-related strategies and initiatives and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and national SDG plans;
• Liaise closely with national, regional, and local stakeholders, including civil society, academia, think tanks, women’s and youth networks and key international actors (including International Financial Institutions and regional organizations) to identify entry points, foster dialogue and strengthen strategic alliances and partnerships on conflict prevention, trust- and confidence-building, and reconciliation initiatives;
• Maintain close liaison with relevant development partners, the diplomatic corps, regional organizations and other actors supporting the UN’s conflict prevention and peacebuilding efforts;
• Maintain close contact with relevant staff in UN Headquarters as well at the regional level, including relevant focal points at UNDP, DPPA-DPO, DCO and work closely with the regional programme specialists based in the region;
• Maintain close contact with Special Envoys, Special Representatives of the Secretary-General, political missions and offices where relevant;
• Liaise with the DPPA-Peacebuilding Support Office together with the respective DPPA-DPO regional division in countries where PBF activities are being developed and/or implemented; and
• Contribute to the results-based management efforts of the Joint UNDP-DPPA Programme, including through setting up mechanisms to assess and measure the impact of peace and development initiatives and providing the Joint Programme secretariat with inputs on progress at the country level.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: supervise the Peace and Development Officer/Analyst/Specialist (for countries where such positions are established)

Achieve Results-LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact

Think Innovatively-LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems

Learn Continuously-LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences

Adapt with Agility-LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands

Act with Determination-LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results

Engage and Partner-LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration

Enable Diversity and Inclusion-LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity

People Management

UNDP People Management Competencies can be found on the dedicated site.

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies

Business Direction and Strategy-Strategic Thinking:  Ability to develop effective strategies and prioritized plans in line with UN’s objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, potential risks and opportunities, linking the vision to reality on the ground, and creating tangible solutions. Ability to leverage learning from a variety of sources to anticipate and respond to future trends; to demonstrate foresight in order to model what future developments and possible ways forward look like for the UN.
Business Management-Partnership Management:  Ability to build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts, and others in line with UN strategy and policies
Business Management-Communication:  Ability to communicate in a clear, concise, and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience. Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media, and other appropriate channels.
Agenda 2030: People-Gender:  Women, Peace, and Security
Agenda 2030: Peace-Conflict Prevention, Peacebuilding and Responsive:  Conflict Analysis and conflict sensitivity
Agenda 2030: Peace-Conflict Prevention, Peacebuilding and Responsive:  Peacebuilding and Reconciliation
Agenda 2030: Peace-Conflict Prevention, Peacebuilding and Responsive:  Dialogue, Mediation and Reconciliation