Community Mobilization Оfficer NPSA-9, National Position, duty station Poltava/Sumy

Background
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) works in about 170 countries and territories, helping to eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities and exclusion, and build resilience so countries can sustain progress. As the UN’s development agency, UNDP plays a critical role in helping countries achieve Sustainable Development Goals.

In Ukraine, UNDP operates along five programmatic areas of support: government capacities for crisis response and management; sustaining the provision of public services; emergency works facilitating return and reconstruction; incomes, livelihoods and private sector response; and civil society and maintenance of the social fabric. 

The war in Ukraine has already resulted in significant loss of life, unprecedented displacement, internally and towards neighbouring countries, and devastating destruction of infrastructure. Eighteen years of socio-economic achievements in Ukraine are at risk. UNDP’s core engagement is to preserve development gains as fully as possible and to return Ukraine to pathways to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as quickly as possible.

UNDP launched its Resilience Building and Recovery (RBR) framework for Ukraine on April 11th, 2022, to immediately respond to the development and humanitarian challenges. The overall objective is to preserve development gains in Ukraine as fully as possible, mitigating risks of descent into a governance and service delivery crisis, embedding activities for recovery from the onset of the humanitarian effort, and facilitating a swift return to development pathways and processes for national attainment of the SDGs.

The UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme (UN RPP) is an integral part of UNDP’s offer via the RBR framework. The UN RPP has addressed priority needs in eastern Ukraine arising since the outbreak of the armed conflict in the spring of 2014. The programme supports the economic recovery of war-torn communities, further accelerating the decentralization and healthcare reforms in these regions, and strengthen community security and social cohesion in target communities. Although the UN RPP was initially designed to respond to and mitigate the causes and effects of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, after the large-scale Russian invasion began on 24 February 2022, the Programme expanded its activities to the most war-affected oblasts of Ukraine, located primarily in east and south of Ukraine.

The UN RPP is being implemented via an area-based approach, whereby the synergies to be extracted from a multi-sectoral approach have maximum impact on the lives of individuals at the community level.

The Programme’s interventions are grouped under the following key Programme components, which reflect women’s and men’s priority needs in the region:
 Component 1: Economic Recovery and Restoration of Critical Infrastructure
 Component 2: Local Governance and Decentralization Reform
 Component 3: Community Security and Social Cohesion.

UNDP in Ukraine is recognizing the need to adopt a whole-of-community approach in charting the path towards (early) recovery, placing communities in the lead of the recovery planning processes, and ensuring that local capacities are in place for crisis response and recovery, including platforms for dialogue and joint planning of activities supporting the inclusion of particularly vulnerable groups in the life of the hromada.

In line with this identified priority, UNDP Ukraine invites applications from highly qualified and experienced Ukrainian professionals for the post of Community Mobilization Officer to ensure the project activities in relations to community mobilizations are regularly implemented, monitored, and reported.
The incumbent will accelerate gender equality and women’s empowerment with all implementations and promote UNDP’s mandate as a gender-responsive organization with zero tolerance to any kind of discriminatory and abusive behavior, including sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse.

Duties and Responsibilities
I. Providing support to the implementation of the programme activities: 

• Collect and analyse information to map numbers, locations and other data of security and justice institutions within target region;
• Lead needs assessments in target areas to inform program development and implementation utilizing tools developed by Community Security and Social Cohesion Specialist and other rule of law and community security staff within the RPP;
• Identify communities with particular needs and vulnerabilities where Project activities should be prioritized in keeping with the programme implementation strategy;
• Provide technical advice to local communities to assess and prioritize key threats to community security and help them develop plans to respond at local level for enhancing security and access to justice;
• Mobilize local communities, police, public prosecutors’ offices, and local government to implement community security coordination mechanisms;
• Prepare the work plan for all community mobilization activities. The content of community mobilization activities will include but are not limited to the following: 
• Local problem analysis; 
• Assessment of vulnerabilities, capabilities, and available resources; 
• Preparation of community profiles; 
• Support and capacity building of community security working groups (cswg);
• Assisting communities in preparation of prioritized community security action plans (csap) and implementing them through project-based activities; 
• Supporting target communities in monitoring and evaluation of activities implemented;
• Provide support for the strengthening of community-based organizations and associations to undertake their own development initiatives with special emphasis on empowerment of vulnerable men and women (including IDPs, youth at risk, elderly people, people with disabilities and others); 
• Ensure coordination with local partners to facilitate the implementation of community projects through the Small Grants Facility managed by Small Grants Officer and assist him/her in monitoring how funds are used, and results are achieved;
• Together with the Community Mobilization Specialist, lead in the capacity building activities, including trainings for community organizations, leaders, or focal points; 
• Ensure that capacity development activities will target all stakeholders through on-the-job training, awareness-raising activities, knowledge and information sharing, and formal capacity development activities, particularly in community mobilization;
• Develop training designs and modules, work plan and organize training programs in relation to the program implementation; 
• Prepare regular progress reports, and other reports as required;
• Promote the Project by providing substantive input for stories, articles, and other PR activities;
• Assist with donor visits, provide services of donor guide during donor visits and events;
• Perform other duties as required.

II. Building partnerships with Project stakeholders and partners:

• Liaise with local authorities, civil society organizations, security services providers, and local business partners to ensure programme related activities are implemented in coherent and coordinated manner; 
• Ensure expanding partnerships and cooperation between communities and the local municipalities for the implementation of local community projects and to ensure local needs, priorities and initiatives are integrated into the planning of the local authorities, police, public prosecutors, courts, and security services;
• Ensure close coordination with the activities of other UN agencies, with special focus on those by UN Women, UNFPA and UNICEF.  

III. Provide support to the Project management and implementation:

• Lead the quarterly community programme review;
• Provide inputs and maintain a systematic database to store and information on community needs, capabilities, and resources available;
• Provide inputs into regular programme reports to the donor;
• Collect and maintain information for hromada profiles – safety, security, and environment risks (i.e., information regarding key personnel, locations of key institutions, SWOT analysis etc.);
• Contribute to external communication by drafting input for press releases and information notes, producing news write ups, maintaining thematic blogging and social media accounts, etc.; 
• Ensure supervisors are aware of changes to community security and access to justice issues on the ground;
• Perform other duties as necessary.

Measurable outputs of the work assignment:

• Monthly/quarterly/annual/ad hoc reports, risks assessments are prepared and updated; 
• Programme activities implemented in keeping with personal work plan;
• Community workshops, focus group discussions, meetings and other community mobilization activities organized and supported;
• All programme activities implemented in keeping with project Communications Strategy and using the community mobilization for empowerment methodology and participatory tools; 
• All assignments performed in a quality and timely manner.

Under the direct supervision of Community Mobilization Specialist, overall supervision of the Project Coordinator, Community Security and Social Cohesion, and the strategic guidance of the Community Security and Social Cohesion Specialist, the Community Mobilization Officer will support the scale up and implementation of community engagement and empowerment initiatives. She/he will be responsible for implementation of project activities to strengthen community security and social cohesion by overall mobilization of the communities. 

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies 

Business Management – Communication – Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels

Business Management – Project Management – Ability to plan, organize, and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals 

Business direction and 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 – Partnerships 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 UNDP strategy and policies 

Business Development – Knowledge Facilitation – Ability to animate individuals and communities of contributors to participate and share, particularly externally

Business Direction and 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

Gender – Gender issues and analysis - Knowledge of gender issues and the ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations, including analysis of projects from a gender perspective

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Social Sciences, Public Administration, Law, International Relations, Political Science or other relevant areas is required; or 
• Relevant Bachelor’s degree in combination with additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the Master’s degree.

Experience:

• Minimum 2 years (with Master’s degree) or 4 years (with Bachelor’s degree) of relevant experience at the national or international level in community development and civic engagement, dialogue and/or mediation, human rights/access to justice/community security, or related area.

Skills:

• Minimum 2 years (with Master’s degree) or 4 years (with Bachelor’s degree) of relevant experience at the national or international level in community development and civic engagement, dialogue and/or mediation, human rights/access to justice/community security, or related area.
• Familiarity with the rights-based approach to development.
• Previous relevant experience with a multilateral or international technical assistance or development organizations would be an asset.
• Demonstrable knowledge of local community development principles, trends, and policies in Ukraine would be a strong asset. 
• Experience in delivering capacity development, advisory and advocacy services to civil society in the area of civic engagement, social inclusion, and protection of vulnerable groups would be a strong asset.

Languages:

Fluency in Ukrainian and English is required

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS 16 November, 2023.

If you wish to apply for this or other positions, please visit UNDP in Ukraine website, section Jobs and apply:

https://estm.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1/requisitions/job/13856

UNDP will use a transparent and competitive screening process, though will only contact those applicants in whom there is further interest. Applications may only be submitted for specific vacancy.

Qualified women are strongly encouraged to apply.