The United Nations has been supporting the efforts of Malawian electoral stakeholders in strengthening the transparency, inclusiveness and credibility of their electoral processes since the country adopted a multi-party system in 1993. UN electoral support, in close partnership with national stakeholders and international partners, has included support to the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) in developing its institutional and operational capacity, assisting civil society organizations (CSOs), providing support to electoral reform initiatives, promoting women and youth’s participation, and the mitigation of election related tensions and violence.

In response to a formal request from the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) for continuing assistance, a Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) was deployed to Malawi in September 2021. The assessment and recommendations of the NAM were endorsed by the UN Focal Point for Electoral Assistance, who approved a new electoral assistance Project for Malawi from September 2022 to December 2025, to ensure support until after the elections.

The Malawi Electoral Support Project (MESP) was set up to target three priority areas, including

• Priority Area 1 – Capacity: Strengthened capacity and preparedness of MEC, CMD and the MPS to effectively manage activities regarding the electoral processes in a credible manner through capacity-building and technical assistance.
• Priority Area 2 – Inclusion: Improved participation and representation of women, youth, the elderly, PWDs and albinos through activities intended to foster participation and ownership of the electoral processes.
• Priority Area 3 – Peace: Reduced tensions and disputes regarding the electoral process  through the establishment or strengthening and of existing mechanisms contributing to conflict prevention and mitigation.

As part of MESP implementations, in November 2023, UNDP MESP, issued grants to six Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the UN Women to promote the participation of women, youths, people with disabilities and the general public in the 2025 General Election through civic education and increased engagement in electoral processes. The objectives of these Grants are to build the agency of all Malawians to participate as voters while simultaneously addressing the structural and legal barriers impeding their participation in the entire electoral system. UNWOMEN, in particular, focuses on enhancing the participation of women in civic education and increasing engagement of women in 2025 General Elections as candidates.

In addition, the MESP also engaged the Centre for Multi Party Democracy (CMD) who facilitates interparty dialogue and directly engages the political parties to advance the agenda of women and youth participation in politics, including championing women and youth engagement in the political party structures and decision-making mechanism.

The Civic, Voter Education & Inclusion Coordinator prime responsibility includes assisting the MESP funded Grant recipients (GR) (6 CSOs, CMD, UNWOMEN) to: (i) coordinate its Civic and Voter Education and other inclusion activities with MEC. (ii) coordination, supervise the implementation of activities, development of synergies amongst the Grant recipients and overall UNDP governance programming. (iii) contribute to reporting and monitoring of the overall project by ensuring that Grant recipient’s activity progress and results are integrated.

a. Coordinate the implementation and reporting of the Civic and Voter Education activities between MEC and MESP-funded Grant Recipients (GR) (UNWOMEN, 6 CSOs, CMD):

• Map out strategies on how the GR could foster better cooperation, complementarity and synergy with MEC, other broader Civil Society Organizations, the media, local authorities to promote civic and voter education and ensure it is reflected in MESP implementation;
• Coordinate the development, review and rollout of common messaging to be reflected in public outreach/civic voter education materials, trainings, activities for deployment by MESP GR;
• Support the monitoring and progress tracking of the CVE activities of MESP GR and other stakeholders, compile civic education reports and advise MESP accordingly;
• Evaluate regularly the operational, logistic and security situation and advice on any identified risks that may affect the implementation of rollout of civic and voter education and public outreach activities;
• Monitor the level of participation/engagement of women, PLWD, persons with albinism, and marginalized groups in CVE activities and provide advice to MESP GR on appropriate corrective measures where required;
• Proactively keep all channels of communication and maintain close working relationships with MEC on implementation of electoral activities in the areas of public information, outreach and media relations, civic and voter education as required, ensure learnings, corrective actions are applied to MESP;
• Lead the development of specific provisions for monitoring and evaluation of effectiveness of the CVE activities rolled out by MESP funded stakeholders, in coordination with the MESP M&E Officer and the broader UNDP M&E Unit.

b. Strengthen the coordination, supervise the implementation of activities, development of synergies amongst MESP Grant recipients and overall UNDP governance programming.

• Continuously assess the capacities of MESP funded Grants recipients, responsible parties and make recommendations of training needs including rolling out of appropriate trainings where required;
• Ensure effective coordination amongst MESP GR by convening regular planning and review meetings, overseeing implementation of their activities, reviewing their workplans, timelines and developing synergies;
• Working closely with Governance Portfolio Manager, ensure effective coordination of MESP GR activities with other ongoing and planned interventions under the governance portfolio (digital, conflict prevention & peacebuilding, security sector, access to justice support etc).

c. Ensure Effective Reporting and Monitoring 

• Coordinate the submission of operational and financial reports of MESP GR to ensure activity progress and results are reflected in all project reporting, including reporting to Project Technical and Steering Committee meetings;
• Contribute to the development of a comprehensive, strategic communications and visibility plan by ensuring that GR activities funded by MESP are reflected;
• Identify, assess project risks proactively and contribute to the updating of risk logs and developing effective mitigation strategies to address potential issues;
• Lead the preparation, review, and submission of comprehensive and accurate operational and financial reports of GR, ensuring adherence to reporting deadlines and standards;
• Implement a robust and dynamic monitoring framework to track GR results and activities against established objectives, timelines, and performance indicators.

d. Lead knowledge and capacity building, knowledge sharing, and advocacy. 

• Identify capacity building needs and opportunities. Ensure appropriate training and other relevant capacity building activities are organized and implemented in a consultative manner, involving technical experts and stakeholders that may include the government, private sector, NGOs, donors, and/or academia;
• Lead workshops with senior level officials and stakeholders;
• Proactively identify and pursue opportunities for the documentation and communication of best practices, programme results, and lessons learned under area of responsibility;
• Actively participate in and make substantive contributions to external networks and communities of practice to promote advocacy for UNDP’s work and opportunities for collaboration in addressing development trends;
• Support establishment of knowledge platforms and innovative mechanisms for capturing and disseminating knowledge from the project; and ensure development of knowledge resources and products to share with project partners and to support UNDP’s engagement in this area.

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

The Civic, Voter Education & Inclusion Coordinator will lead the implementation, coordination, development of synergies, reporting and monitoring of activities of the MESP funded Grant recipients to ensure the achievement of specified outputs and results. This includes supporting the 6 CSOs, CMD, UNWOMEN to actively promote the participation of the general public, with a focus on youth and women, in the 2025 General Election through civic education and increased engagement in electoral processes and enhancing conflict mitigation mechanisms. The incumbent will work under the direct supervision and guidance of the CTA (P5) and is expected to work closely with the MESP Team.

• 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

Business Direction & Strategy: System Thinking

• Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system

Business Direction & Strategy: Effective Decision Making

• Ability to take decisions in a timely and efficient manner in line with one’s authority area of expertise and resources

Business Management: Results-based Management

• Ability to manage programmes and projects with a focus at improved performance and demonstrable results

Business Management: Monitoring

• Ability to provide managers and key stakeholders with regular feedback on the consistency or discrepancy between planned and actual activities and programme performance and results

Partnership Management: Relationship management

• Ability to engage with a wide range of public and private partners, build, sustain and/or strengthen working relations, trust and mutual understanding

2030 Agenda: Peace

• Governance: Electoral Cycle Support

Governance: Inclusion and Participation