Date of last update: 03/10/2021 2021-10-03
UNDP is the UN Development Programme and works in some 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. UNDP helps countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build resilience in order to sustain development results. UNDP supports the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as they help shape global sustainable development for the next 10 years.
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Background
Peace and Development Advisors (hereafter PDAs) work with national stakeholders to build, strengthen, and sustain nationally owned and driven efforts to prevent violent conflict and build just and peaceful societies. The range of countries to which PDAs are deployed vary considerably, with some deployed to countries emerging from conflict, others where violence is escalating, and others to countries where there is no violent conflict but underlying structural causes of conflict are present. PDAs are also deployed in countries where political and developmental challenges exist around issues related to elections and constitutional processes, exclusion and inequality, environment, climate change and natural resource management.
PDAs are deployed through a partnership between the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), under the Joint UNDP-DPPA Programme on Building National Capacities for Conflict Prevention. PDAs support Resident Coordinators (RC) and UN Country Teams (UNCTs) in their efforts to work with national partners on conflict prevention and sustaining peace. They support early warning and risk management measures, and ensure that UN assessments, frameworks (mainly UN Cooperation Frameworks), strategies and programmes are conflict-sensitive and informed by high quality analysis. They are located in the Resident Coordinators' office, with a direct reporting line to the RC, and a secondary reporting line to the UNDP Resident Representative and DPPA-DPO regional divisions.
In 2021, PDAs will have been deployed to more than 50 countries through the Joint Programme. While most PDAs are deployed at country-level, there are a number of PDAs who cover multiple countries. In some contexts, PDAs are part of a small Peace and Development Advisory team composed of a PDA and a substantive national or international officer/analyst. PDAs also receive additional support from a Joint Programme Secretariat based at UN Headquarters in New York, from UNDP and DPPA technical advisors/specialists globally, and from a cadre of regional programme specialists supporting their regions from Amman, Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Dakar, Istanbul and Panama.
PDAs at the P5 level will be deployed in: a) particularly complex political, conflict and security settings as determined by the Joint Programme criticality assessment and analysis carried out by DPPA and UNDP b) in contexts of UN mission/mission transition settings or with other political presences, c) when regional/sub-regional functions are required, or d) when engagement with high-level officials is expected.
Given the broad range of skills and experience required by PDAs, the Joint Programme encourages applications from individuals with a combination of expertise spanning sustainable development, political affairs, peacebuilding, sustaining peace, conflict prevention/resolution, community engagement, justice, reconciliation, dialogue, mediation, and humanitarian-development-peace nexus among other relevant areas. While UN experience is a major asset, it is not a requirement for this position. Moreover, the skills of diplomacy, dialogue and facilitation, analysis, advocacy, networking, capacity development and coordination are critical elements of a PDA's work.
Although in the last years the Government has carried out efforts to lower the homicide rate, Honduras still has one of the highest rates of crime and violence in the world (estimated homicide rate of 37.57/100,000 in 2020). Honduras is a major transit point for the transshipment of drugs. Many crimes are related to organized crime/drug trafficking networks and gang activities, all of which have a strong negative impact on the country's political and economic life.
In 2016, as a result of massive protests against corruption, the Organization of American States established a Special Support Mission against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH). The latter promoted substantive legislative reforms against corruption and aimed to help in the investigation of important corruption cases. However, in January 2020, the Government decided not to renew MACCIH's mandate. Nonetheless, the anti-corruption agenda remains relevant and new opportunities have opened for the work of the UN and international cooperation.
Many Hondurans have left their country, escaping from violence as well as in search of better social and economic opportunities and family reintegration. Most Hondurans have emigrated or sought asylum in the United States, Mexico or in other countries of the Americas. Changes in migration policies in receiving and transit countries may lead to large-scale deportation of Hondurans back to the country. Honduras is highly dependent on remittances (18 per cent of GDP in 2016). The flow of remittances could be impacted by deportations, including of those at risk of losing Temporary Protection Status (approximately 58,000).
The political landscape is still influenced by the 2009 coup d'etat. The 2017 presidential election was contested by the opposition, and was followed by large protests and post-electoral violence which lasted several weeks. In the context of the post-electoral crisis, the UN facilitated a political dialogue which promoted electoral reforms, among other issues. The dialogue lasted through most of 2018 and its recommendations were submitted to the National Congress, which took them into account in a series of electoral reforms adopted later.
Since March 2020, Honduras as the rest of the world has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic which has exacerbated the problems described above. In addition, the country was battered by two tropical storms, Eta and Iota, in late 2020. Despite these challenges, the UN system in Honduras has been able to respond and adapt to this new environment. The UNCT has a new Cooperation Framework for Sustainable Development, a new National Reconstruction Plan and a Humanitarian Needs Assessment. Since 2020, Honduras is eligible to receive Peacebuilding Funds and the UNCT has a PBF portfolio of projects of US$7million, which are implemented by eight UN agencies.
General elections will take place in November 2021 and the UN is a major provider of technical assistance to all the electoral institutions and a leading voice for the holding of peaceful and fair elections. The winner of that election will inherit a country with a series of crisis affecting health services, education, climate change and security, just to mention a few.
Given this backdrop, the PDA for Honduras should have experience in supporting mediation processes, and coordinating with the Government, political parties, electoral management bodies, and civil society, and other stakeholders on ways to mitigate political and social tensions going forward.
Duties and Responsibilities
There are three broad functions of the position:
PDAs have a primary reporting line to the Resident Coordinator, and secondary reporting lines to the DPPA-DPO regional division and the UNDP Resident Representative. Under their guidance and agreed workplan, and in close collaboration with the Country Team, the PDA will:
1. Undertake conflict analysis and provide strategic advice to the Resident Coordinator in his/her engagement with high-level government officials, academia, civil society including youth and women's networks, UN Country Teams, HQ, and other relevant stakeholders. Submit the analysis and reporting to the RC, UNDP RR and DPPA.
2. Identify opportunities to build national capacities for conflict prevention including areas of strategic, programmatic and policy engagement with national stakeholders, and support RC and UNCT action in areas of conflict prevention, peacebuilding, human rights, humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus, Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) among others
3. Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with key national stakeholders, regional and international actors and development partners on issues related to Sustaining Peace and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Competencies
Core
Innovation
Ability to make new and useful ideas work
Level 6: Exercises stakeholder-centered design approaches for office / programme / division
Leadership
Ability to persuade others to follow
Level 6: Ensures teams are resourced for success and empowered to deliver
People Management
Ability to improve performance and satisfaction
Level 5: Models high professional standards and motivates excellence in others
Communication
Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transform
Level 6: Creates confidence among stakeholders by delivering authoritative positions, compelling analysis, and contextual acumen
Delivery
Ability to get things done while exercising good judgement
Level 6: Accepts accountability for the outcomes of programme delivery and facilitates improvement and innovation in the delivery of products and services
Technical/Functional
Social Cohesion
Knowledge of methods and experience of supporting communities to achieve greater inclusiveness, more civic participation and creating opportunities for upward mobility
Level 6: Integrate & Empower: Leads integral work of teams utilizing expertise, vision, problem-solving capability, and collaborative energy in professional area of expertise
Peacebuilding and Reconciliation
Ability to support peace processes to facilitate recovery and development
Level 6: Integrate & Empower: Leads integral work of teams utilizing expertise, vision, problem-solving capability, and collaborative energy in professional area of expertise
Conflict-Sensitive Programming
Ability to use methods and tools to monitor conflict triggers and determine impact of various dynamics in conflict-prone situations
Level 6: Integrate & Empower: Leads integral work of teams utilizing expertise, vision, problem-solving capability, and collaborative energy in professional area of expertise
Conflict and Political Economy Analysis
Knowledge of the interaction of political, social and economic processes in a society; including distribution of power and wealth between groups and individuals, and the processes that create, sustain and transform these relationships over time, and how these dynamics both affect, and are affected by the UN's work.
Level 6: Integrate & Empower: Leads integral work of teams utilizing expertise, vision, problem-solving capability, and collaborative energy in professional area of expertise
Knowledge Management
Ability to efficiently handle and share information and knowledge
Level 5: Originate: Catalyzes new ideas, methods, and applications to pave a path for innovation and continuous improvement in professional area of expertise
Relationship Management
Ability to engage with other parties and forge productive working relationships
Level 6: Integrate & Empower: Leads integral work of teams utilizing expertise, vision, problem-solving capability, and collaborative energy in professional area of expertise
Gender
Knowledge of gender issues and the ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations, including analysis of projects from a gender perspective
Level 5: Originate: Catalyzes new ideas, methods, and applications to pave a path for innovation and continuous improvement in professional area of expertise
Resource Mobilization
Ability to identify and organize programmes and projects to implement solutions and generate resources
Level 5: Originate: Catalyzes new ideas, methods, and applications to pave a path for innovation and continuous improvement in professional area of expertise
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
Experience:
Language Requirements:
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Type of contract: Staff (Permanent and Fixed Term)
Macro-area: Latin America and the Caribbean
Level of experience: Senior Professional, more than 5 years
Area of work Definition: Social Development and Social Protection
Type of organisation: Multilateral Organisations