Mission and objectives

Established in 1951, The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is a dynamic and growing inter-governmental organization, with 166 member states, and committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits all. IOM works to ensure the orderly and humane management of migration, to promote international cooperation on migration issues, to assist in the search for practical solutions to migration problems and to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants in need including refugees and internally displaced people. IOM in The Gambia has had small operational presence in the country since 2001 when The Gambia became a member state to IOM. From 2001 to July 2017, the IOM Country Office only had between 1 – 3 staff, primarily tasked to implement Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) projects to return and reintegrate relatively small numbers of Gambian migrants from European countries. However, with the change in government in January 2017, emerging from Yahya Jammeh’s 22 years of dictatorial regime to “The New Gambia,” led by the coalition government of President Adama Barrow, the country is seeing an influx of donor interest and funding to support its peaceful, consolidated transition to democracy and development. IOM in The Gambia is also accordingly expanding its operation with a new project, “EUTF-IOM Joint Initiative on Migrant Protection and Reintegration: The Gambia,” funded by the European Union’s Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF) and signed in June 2017 to be implemented over a 3-year period. The expectations are high among the public for the Government to succeed in dealing with the challenge of irregular migration, marked by mass out-migration of youth over the recent past.

Context

With the support and engagement of various donors, IOM The Gambia is implementing community stabilization and peacebuilding initiatives in aiming at supporting authorities to build resilient communities. The main objectives of the projects are to reinforce community stability by improving community-based planning, access to basic social services and infrastructures, to support community resilience and contribute to social cohesion through the promotion of peace as well as strengthening of conflict prevention and management mechanisms in The Gambia. This assignment will entail mission travels to project sites within The Gambia.

Task Description

1. Provide technical inputs, information and guidance to support the strategic planning and implementation of community stabilization/peacebuilding activities in close collaboration with field staff, technical experts, government representatives at national and local levels, donors, targeted communities, and other relevant stakeholders in The Gambia. 2. Supervise staff associated with project implementation and ensure close collaboration and coordination with other IOM teams and units, as needed. 3. Assist in monitoring and evaluating programme implementation and results. 4. Work closely with field staff to coordinate and monitor the work of implementing partners and compile lessons learned that feed into the revision of strategies and action plans of community stabilization activities. 5. Contribute to the reporting of activities, including for donor reports, as required as well as ensure project documents are recorded. 6. Facilitate high quality knowledge management and ensure the establishment of a functioning filing system pertaining to all project outputs and activities, records of interactions with partners, security and other events, participation lists, etc. 7. Facilitate visibility and communication on relevant projects to donors and partners, as well as use social media in line with IOM’s communication guidelines. 8. Facilitate and encourage the integration of cross-cutting issues such as conflict sensitivity, human rights due diligence, gender, age and other diversity factors in projects and other initiatives. 9. Undertake travel duties as required to provide technical guidance and support. 10. Contribute to resource mobilization efforts, researching and documenting potential new project opportunities and contributing to the preparation of project proposals in close coordination with the Chief of Mission. Under the direct supervision of the Chief of Mission (COM), the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: Develop project proposals to support community resilience and contribute to social cohesion through the promotion of peace as well as strengthening of conflict prevention and management mechanisms in The Gambia Conduct monitoring and evaluating programme implementation and results. Draft donor reports in coordination with the programme support unit for submission to external parties including donors

Competencies and values

Accountability ☒ Adaptability and Flexibility ☒ Building Trust ☐ Working in Teams ☒ Creativity ☒ Empowering Others ☒ Ethics and Values ☒ Integrity ☒ Judgement and Decision-making ☒ Knowledge Sharing ☒ Leadership ☒ Planning and Organizing ☒ Professionalism ☒ Respect for Diversity

Living conditions and remarks

The Gambia is situated at the tip of the West African coast and has a total surface area of approximately 10,360 square kilometres. Apart from the 48 km stretch of the Atlantic Ocean, The Gambia is landlocked by Senegal. Its land area is divided by the River Gambia, which originates from the Guinean highlands and travels 322 km into The Gambia. The climate consists of a tropical hot rainy season from June to September and a cooler dry season from October to May. The Gambia has a total population of about 2 million. English is the official language. Mandinka and Wolof are the main local languages most widely used in the country. The Gambia is relatively peaceful, and the people are warm and friendly The Gambia is in the GMT hour time zone.]

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements