Urgent Recruitment at UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) – Civil & Vital Statistics Coordinator

Job ID: 36920

Practice Area - Job Family: Democratic Governance

Vacancy End Date: (Midnight New York, USA) 01/06/2021

Duty Station: Freetown, Sierra Leone

Education & Work Experience: I-Master's Level Degree - 5 year(s) experience

Languages: English

Grade: SB4

Vacancy Type: Service Contract (SC)

Posting Type: External

Bureau: Africa

Contract Duration: Nine (9) months

OPENED TO SIERRA LEONEAN CANDIDATES ONLY

Background

Job Purpose and Background: The Government of Sierra Leone through the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) has made progress with establishing systems, processes, and legal environment for the development of a Civil Register and Identity Management system. A costed strategic plan (2019-2024) has been developed and is currently been implemented with support from UN, EU and other development partners. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development established a specific target within the Sustainable Development Goals Target 16.9: “legal identity for all, including birth registration, by 2030.”

In order to achieve this goal, various UN agencies and departments active in the civil registration, vital statistics and identity management arena were brought together under the mandate from the UN Deputy-Secretary-General to form the United Nations Legal Identity Agenda Task Force, with the aim to support Member States to develop a holistic, comprehensive and interoperable civil registration, vital statistics and identity management system, from birth-to-death. As one of 9 pilot countries for the UN Legal Identity Agenda (UNLIA) programme, Sierra Leone got assessed in 2019; the assessment report commended the country for having developed a legal framework and growing partnerships in developing a civil register system. Challenges faced with the full implementation of the integrated civil register include the still fragmented roles of constituent institutions mandated to perform functions related to registering and managing vital events in Sierra Leone. Other challenges relate to the lack of interoperability between various components of the system; the need for harmonization of legal, policy, procedural, and operational standards; lack of digitalization; limited capacity building and investments; inadequate provision of supplies and limited public awareness.

In view of the above, the UN in Sierra Leone (UNDP, UNICEF, IOM) accessed seed funds from the UNLIA programme to support the Government of Sierra Leone to further strengthen the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) development through better coordination of partners and interventions for a synchronised approach that will yield impact of development interventions. It is in this regard that a technical support staff is being recruited to be embedded in NCRA to run an effective Secretariat and enable a consistent coordination and information sharing approach of all CRVS development interventions to all partners and vice-versa. The short-term UNDP-funded staff person will help to establish procedures while also transferring skills to a permanent NCRA staff for long-term sustainability of the Secretariat function.

Duties and Responsibilities

Functions:

• Under the overall supervision of the Head of the Inclusive Democratic Governance Cluster at UNDP Sierra Leone, and in coordination with project staff, the Coordinator will perform the following functions:

Summary of Key Functions:

• Coordination of CRVS interventions and partners
• Knowledge Product Development and Communication
• Guidance to NCRA to establish secretarial procedures, functions, and knowledge transfer

1.

Coordination of CRVS interventions & Partners

• Ensure overall coordination and harmonization of interventions with other Development Partners Interventions and the implementation of the joint project.
• Ensure regular and effective communication among the development partners, government institutions involved in CRVS and keep them abreast of implementation status at all times.
• With the support of key staff of NCRA, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of internal Affairs, ensure CRVS Steering Committee meetings are systemically held and decisions are followed up.
• Ensure communication of Steering Committee meeting decisions to all partners in good time.
• Effective communication and coordination of various CRVS task force activities while ensuring communication between and among entities on the Task force, NCRA, CSOs and partners.
• Ensure collaboration between technical level coordination mechanisms, NCRA, and strategic level mechanisms while facilitating flow of information among same.

2. Knowledge Product Development and Communication

• Systematically document and disseminate to stakeholders and wider CRVS community decisions/communications from Steering Committee, milestones of interventions and knowledge generated through the UNLIA Joint project implementation process, in particular the experience and good practices.
• In consultation and collaboration with the Joint Project Implementation Team share good practices and project lessons learned regularly.
• Maintain close working relationship with the stakeholders and partners and provide them with inputs on a regular basis.
• Share with partners and in particular CSOs and related MDAs any new knowledge products, information relevant to regularly.
• Any other related duties as may be required.

3. Support to establish secretarial procedures, functions, and knowledge transfer

• Establish procedures for coordination and maintenance of a Secretariat and ensure that is integrated into NCRA structure and system.
• Establish and operationalise tools for effective coordination, tracking of milestones activities, Steering Committee decisions and communication to partners.

• Support capacity strengthening of NCRA staff through coaching, mentoring, formal and on-the-job training

Competencies

Competencies:

1. Core Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN values and ethical standards
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism

2. Functional Competencies

• Excellent writing and communication skills (verbal and written), including the ability to conduct presentations by clearly formulating positions on issues, articulating options concisely conveying maximum necessary information, making and defending recommendations and ability to convey difficult issues and positions to senior officials.
• Proven ability to establish priorities and to plan, organize, coordinate and monitor work plans and provide advice and guidance to others.
• Excellent inter-personal skills; ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with people in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity.
• Effective negotiating skills and ability to work with others to reach mutually benefitting and lasting understandings.
• Capacity building skills.
• Ability to work under pressure and to remain calm.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Masters or equivalent) in political science, development studies, human rights, international relations, or in any other related field of study.

Experience:

• At least 5 to 7 years’ work experience in a similar coordination of multiple partners and experience in setting up a secretariat;
• Working knowledge of CRVS development in Sierra Leone
• Experience and expertise in developing and maintaining good relationships with government partners, donors or corporations;
• Demonstrate experience in complex inter agency coordination and joint programming including working with field teams;
• Experience in coordinating with international organizations, Government, donors, and civil society; establish good working relations with relevant institutional and organizational partners;
• Strong analytical, conceptual thinking, communication, facilitation and interpersonal skills;
• Experience developing knowledge products for a variety of audiences;
• Prior experience within the United Nations is desirable but not a requirement.

Disclaimer

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply care when submitting personal information on the web.

FEMALE CANDIDATES ARE ENCOURAGED TO APPLY. THIS POSITION IS STRICLY FOR SIERRA LEONE NATIONALS AND ONLY APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED ONLINE WILL BE CONSIDERED

How to Apply

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