Portfolio Manager & Chief Technical Advisor (CTA) – Inclusive Politics 55 views0 applications

Job Purpose and Organizational Context

Political developments in Somalia have been difficult and demanding process, driven by political elites consisting of individuals working with the support of the international community. Most of the citizenry have hitherto been largely excluded from political processes and decision making. Most of young people, who make up nearly 70% of the population have little or no understanding of government functioning. Fortunately, this has started changing with the tremendous increase of young MP’s that were elected to the 10th federal parliament. With the remarkable progress made during the 9th Parliament, the Somali Government is very keen to deepen democracy and ensure political inclusiveness. Promoting inclusive politics is critical as it will contribute decisively to peace-building, state-building and sustainable development in Somalia. Somalia’s commitment to this is best illustrated by the endorsement of the National Development Plan (NDP) with Government leading the participation in the London Conference and offering continuous support to programmes and projects.

The NDP of Somalia is the first that was developed in 30 years and is considered a major milestone since its endorsement by the new federal government. The NDP prioritizes peace-building, state-building and a Somali-driven development agenda as central to achieve long-lasting political stability and democracy. Directly relevant to inclusive politics, the first NDP policy priority is to “make significant strides towards a society with an open and inclusive political system, including one person – one vote elections in 2020”. The strengthening of democratic governance and a sustainable political settlement will provide the foundation and the tools for the development plans and strategies set out in the NDP.

UN integrated teams have developed various programmes supporting the transition to inclusive democracy in Somalia. These programmes have, notably since September 2012, been redefined to focus their contribution on inclusive politics in Somalia and have already delivered significant results. This is also true of the UNDP which continues through its various programmes to contribute both directly and indirectly towards the delivery and promotion of inclusive politics in the Federal Republic of Somalia. The primary focus is on building an inclusive political system that is met by responsive institutions providing an environment in which social cohesion can flourish and, in turn, influence democratic institutions.

The UN integrated programmatic approach addresses issues of political inclusion from several different yet complimentary angles. The foundations for inclusive politics are already embedded in the Somali Provisional Constitution, and this will be further strengthened in the review that is currently underway by means of a consultative, participatory and inclusive process which is supported under UNDP constitutional review programme. The constitution promotes a ‘social contract’ that includes the various mechanisms that allow for the peaceful coexistence of various groups. It does this by establishing federalism, power-sharing mechanisms, and local governance. There is also a guarantee of equal access to power and peaceful and respectful political debate. In short, the Somali State, and its powers, will be the product of the agreement between its citizens. The participation of the Somali people is primarily expressed through the electoral framework and system, as also supported by in the run-up to the first direct, universal and multi-party elections since 1969, foreseen for 2020/1. By the same token, the Constitution will set the parameters for the architecture of power- and resources sharing. National law-making and operationalizing of the constitution requires a strong and fairly-elected Parliament, both National Federal Parliament and in all State Assemblies. UNDP’s parliamentary support programme not only addresses the technical capacities of these Parliaments but also their capacities to effectively represent the Somali people, to engage and communicate with all constituents, interest groups and the non-governmental sector in pursuit of reconciliation, peace and stability for the country. UNDP’s programmes also directly support the process of federalization and decentralization that will, over time, calibrate the national equilibrium between the federal, state and local Governments. Considering Somalia’s fragmented nature and fragile foundations, issues of political and civil reconciliation will determine for a large part the success in its quest for political inclusion.

The Portfolio Manager, Inclusive Politics Portfolio & Chief Technical Advisor (CTA) under the direct supervision of Deputy Resident Representative (Programme) will be responsible for the effective delivery of the Inclusive Politics Portfolio. Currently, Inclusive Politics Portfolio has five projects namely 1) Joint Programme Constitution Review Support Project (CRSP) 2) Joint Programme Parliamentary Support Project (PSP) 3) Joint Programme for Support to Universal Suffrage Elections in the Federal Republic of Somalia (Elections) 4. Joint Programme Reconciliation and Federalism Support (REFS) and 5. Joint Programme Women’s Political Participation (WPP). S/he will function as CTA for two projects CRSP and PSP and will provide oversight and coordination support to the other three projects of the portfolio including 1) Elections 2) REFS and 3. WPP. S/he will support to Federal Government of Somalia and Federal Member States in Conceptualize, plan, design and oversee implementation of Inclusive Politics Portfolio and capacity development initiatives in line with the political road map and reform agenda of the Federal Government of Somalia, Provide strategic policy and technical advice to the counterpart government institutions with UN agencies, donor community and national institutions.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Deputy Resident Representative (Programme), the Portfolio Manager of Inclusive Politics Portfolio & Chief Technical Advisor (CTA) for CRSP and PSP is responsible to undertake the following functions:

Summary of Key functions

1. Provide overall management and oversight and Coordination of the Inclusive Politics Portfolio;
2. Effectively coordinate with donors and development partners working in the area of inclusive politics and Promote networking and knowledge sharing within UNDP, in particular and with UN System, in general;
3. Provide directly and coordinate substantive technical advice on core functions of Parliament – law making, oversight and representation – and on institutional capacity development to the Somalia National Federal Parliament, Somaliland and Puntland Parliaments as well as newly formed assemblies to build capacities of MPs, Committees and Secretariat staff;
4. In very close coordination with UNSOM and the broader UN Integrated Constitutional Support Team, provide substantial technical support to the Somali Federal Parliament – in particular the Oversight Committee and the Review and Implementation Commission as well as the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs – in support of Parliament’s constitutional review and implementation activities, in particular, committee review and public outreach and dialogue;

1. Oversight and Coordination of the Inclusive Politics Portfolio

• The Portfolio Manager has overall portfolio management responsibility supported on daily basis by the Operations Specialist of the portfolio and CTAs & Project Managers of the projects.
• Oversee the effective administrative and technical management of the Portfolio, in particular, technical management of the Project team for results;
• Provide advice to the Inclusive Politics Pillar Working Group (PWG1) under SDRF mechanism good practice;
• Oversee the development and implementation of the Portfolio Annual Work Plans and Budgets;
• Supervise the Inclusive Project team leads, and oversee drafting of periodic reports on the progress of the portfolio to UNDP, the Project Board and Donors, including by ensuring top quality analysis and substantive inputs to project documents, reports, concept notes and other strategic documents;
• Supervise plan and coordinate relevant meetings of the Project Boards and other relevant coordination processes, including by producing relevant reporting;
• Oversee the mobilization of additional resources from development partners;
• Perform other relevant duties as required by the UNDP Resident Representative, Deputy Resident Representative (Programme). Ensure in all circumstances that the portfolio upholds the values of the UN System, the country’s interests and partners implicated in the process.

2. Effectively coordinate with donors and development partners working in the area of inclusive politics and Promote networking and knowledge sharing within UNDP, in particular and with UN System, in general:

• Advise UNDP on preparation of high-level consultation meetings with donors, government departments/ministries to furthering the reform agenda envisaged under Somali Compact;
• Prepare UNDP position papers and UNDP resource mobilization strategy in order to start discussion with relevant stakeholders;
• Regularly interact with development partners and INGOs/NGOs working in the field of public sector and civil service reform and institutional capacity development and advise the UNDP accordingly.
• Ensure that inclusive politics support and capacity development initiatives of UNDP and that of other development agencies are complementary in nature and there is no duplicity and overlapping of efforts resulting in wastage of scarce resources;
• Under the direct supervision of DRR (P) identify strategic entry points to improve UNDP interface and linkages with other development partners and counterpart government institutions to help further the inclusive politics agendas.

3. Direct technical advice and coordination of support for parliamentary development:

will provide strategic technical leadership to the Project Team and direct technical advice, in order to progress parliamentary development across the Federal, Somaliland and Puntland Parliaments; newly formed assemblies including:

• Support implementation of all aspects of the Parliaments’ Strategic Plans;
• Collaboratively develop and implement a capacity development strategy for the MPs and staff of the Parliaments that responds to the Somali socio-cultural and institutional context;
• Provide directly and/or coordinate substantive technical advice in support of institutional capacity development to the parliaments and assemblies;
• Provide strategic and technical advise in for three core functions of Parliaments in Somalia – law making, oversight and representation;
• Exert substantive oversight of Project technical advisers and consultants in a manner that ensures achievement of the Project’s advisory and capacity development goals and priorities;
• Facilitate policy dialogue on parliamentary issues with the Parliaments, Federal Government, civil society, media and donors;
• Provide policy advice to the Speakers of the Parliaments, UNDP and UNSOM in the areas of substantive activity that are being addressed by the Project.

4. Support to Constitutional Review:

The CTA will work closely with UNSOM and the broader UN ICST on supporting the constitution review process and provide strategic technical leadership to the Project Team in close collaboration with the Constitutional Technical Specialist in order to support Parliament’s engagement with the constitutional implementation and review process, including:

• Ensure the provision of direct technical advice to the Speaker, MoCA, Committee members and MPs to support the review and implementation of constitution by the NFP;
• Build the capacity of the NFP MPs and staff to engage on constitutional issues, including identifying specialized technical expertise to support the constitutional process and working closely with the Max Planck Institute;
• Support capacity development of the MoCA, the Oversight Committee and Implementation and Review Commission, in collaboration with other relevant UN and UNDP Projects;
• Support the constitutional outreach and dialogue processes;
• Provide advice to UNSOM and UNDP on all relevant constitutional issues related to the Parliament and its constitutional activities;
• Engage in regular meetings and other information sharing with the UN Integrated Constitutional Support Team, to ensure coordinate whole-of-government support to the constitutional process;

In close coordination with UNSOM, liaise and foster strategic cooperation with other partners across government and donors to reinforce the dialogue between stakeholders of the process.

Education:

Master’s degree in Political Science, International Relations, Social Sciences, Management, Administration, Law or related fields.

Experience:

At least ten years of professional and responsible experience in parliamentary development, constitutional review and/or governance/institutional development are required, with experience in conflict or post-conflict settings an advantage;  Strong experience supporting inclusive and consultative public consultation processes;  Applicant must be able to demonstrate strong silks and substantive experience in consensus-building, ethnic conflict management, inter-governmental relations, fiscal federalism and transition management of regional autonomy. Work experience in conflict or post-conflict settings is an advantage.  Strong experience supporting inclusive and consultative public consultation processes;  High level representational and advisory experience, ideally in a cross-cultural setting;  Experience working with the UN an asset;  Relevant experience in Africa an advantage;  Previously experience as CTA in the framework multi donor programmes.  Demonstrated experience in managing project and team of experts.

Language Requirements: Proficiency in English (mandatory). Working knowledge of other UN language desirable