The Provisional Constitution of the Federal Republic of Somalia, adopted in 2012, provides for the conduct of a constitutional referendum and elections. One of the mandates of the United Nations Assistance Mission to Somalia (UNSOM) which was established in 2013 is the provision of policy advice to the Federal Government of Somalia on the constitutional review process and subsequent referendum and preparations for elections. The United Nations has set up an Integrated Electoral Support Group comprising UNSOM and UNDP to provide electoral assistance in line with recommendations of a UN Needs Assessment Mission. This assistance is provided in a phased manner and the initial phase of support will focus on three priorities: the establishment and capacity development of the National Independent Electoral Commission (NIEC); the development of the legal framework on elections; and the promotion of increased understanding of electoral processes and the legal framework. The bill establishing the NIEC was passed by the Federal Parliament in February this year and the process to select the NIEC commissioners has commenced. The UN Integrated Electoral Support Group led by the Chief Electoral Adviser will work closely with the NIEC, the Ministry of Interior and Federal Affairs, Federal Parliament and other stakeholders to provide the necessary technical assistance for the elections and the referendum.
Under the direct supervision of the Deputy Chief Electoral Adviser, the Civic and Voter Education Specialist will assist the NIEC to plan, develop and implement effective voter and civic education strategies and campaigns. These efforts will inform the general public about the importance of broader civic participation, as well as information campaigns to inform the electorate about specific voting procedures. Targeted information strategies will be developed for women. Capacity developing initiatives will be developed and implemented to assist NIEC staff to be familiarized with the essentials of conceptualizing and delivering civic and voter education campaigns. The Civic and Voter Education Specialist will need to cooperate closely with the External Relations Adviser, the Public Outreach Adviser, the Training and Capacity Development Specialist and the Gender and Elections Specialist.Description of Responsibilities : Summary of Key Functions:
- Support the NIEC to identify priority objectives in developing its civic and voter education strategies and campaigns, underscoring the importance of broader democratic participation, inclusivity in the democratic process, as well as key election-specific information and messages;
- Support the NIEC and relevant stakeholders to plan civic and voter education activites through both mass media and local initiative;
- Support the NIEC to identify key performance indicators capable of demonstrating achievements in assisting the NIEC to successfully implement a goal-oriented civic and voter education strategy;
- Consult with NIEC to assess needs of staff and to organize opportunities for training and education as appropriate.
Support the NIEC to identify priority objectives in developing its civic and voter education strategies and campaigns, underscoring the importance of broader democratic participation, inclusivity in the democratic process, as well as key election-specific information and messages:
- Provide advice and support the NIEC to formulate an official civic and voter education strategic plan as a means to implement identified objectives and to effectively communicate key messages to the electorate at-large;
- Support the NIEC to develop targeted civic and voter education strategies to communicate civic and voter education messages to women, as well as to marginalized groups that may have special information needs;
- Provide advice and support to the NIEC to establish and manage a voter education department.
Support the NIEC and relevant stakeholders to plan civic and voter education activites through both mass media and local initiatives:
- Support the NIEC to implement civic and voter education activities; advise and assist as necessary;
- Support the NIEC to develop a strategy to maximize cooperation (including through training efforts) with CSOs in the delivery of civic and voter education campaigns;
- Provide advice and support to develop civic and voter education materials that meet the information needs of different target groups;
- Support the development of a budget for civic and voter education activities.
Support the NIEC to identify key performance indicators capable of demonstrating achievements in assisting the NIEC to successfully implement a goal-oriented civic and voter education strategy:
- Support the NIEC to produce regular evaluative reports, drawing on agreed indicators, narrative and analysis, to adapt strategy and implementation as and when necessary;
- Produce detailed protocols regarding advice provided to NIEC;
- Support the NIEC to develop monitoring and evaluation tools and to hold lessons-learning exercises to regularly review its civic and voter education activities and strategies.
Consult with NIEC, to assess needs of staff and to organize opportunities for training and education as appropriate:
- Contribute to project reporting and progress updates, and document capacity building support;
- Act as a mentor to the NIEC’s voter education officials to provide on the job training to effect a transfer of knowledge and skills;
- Organize and conduct training on voter education as required.
Impact of Results:
- The key results are expected to have an impact on the electoral process in Somalia as well as the UNDP support toward that purpose. In particular, the results have an impact on the delivery of:
- NIEC capacity to plan, develop and implement effective civic and voter education, including both civic and voter education campaigns;
- Informing the general public about the importance of broader democratic civic participation, as well as information campaigns to inform the electorate about specific voting procedures;
- Targeted information strategies that will be developed for women, as well as other sectors of society with special information needs;
- Civic and voter education strategies that will involve both mass media as well as local initiatives;
- Activities that will facilitate inclusive participation in the election process, underscoring the importance of electoral governance to the democratic process at all key stages. Competencies : Functional Competencies:
Building Partnerships:
- Effectively networks with partners seizing opportunities to build alliances;
- Identifies needs and interventions for capacity building of counterparts, clients and potential partners;
- Leadership qualities, including the ability to motivate others, involve all members of a team, inspire a sense of ownership and responsibility among staff, and elicit consistently high-quality output;
- Displays initiative, sets challenging outputs for him/herself and willingly accepts new work assignments.
Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing:
- Makes the case for innovative ideas documenting successes and building them into the design of new approaches;
- Develops and/or participates in the development of mechanisms, including identifying new approaches to promote individual and organizational learning and knowledge sharing using formal and informal methodologies.
Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise:
- Understands advanced aspects of primary area of specialization as well as the fundamental concepts of related disciplines (financial resources and human resources management, contract, asset and procurement, information and communication technology, general administration);
- Continues to seek new and improved methods and systems for accomplishing the work of the unit;
- Keeps abreast of new developments in area of professional discipline and job knowledge and seeks to develop him/herself professionally;
- Demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments;
- Demonstrates comprehensive understanding and knowledge of the current guidelines and tools and utilizes these regularly in work assignments;
- Time management and organizational skills, with the ability to undertake multiple tasks;
- Demonstrated ability to produce comprehensive reports and project analysis as relevant.
Promoting Organizational Change and Development:
- Performs appropriate work analysis and assists in redesign to establish clear standards for implementation;
- Ability to meet challenges constructively and creatively;
- Ability to quickly adapt to change, and to remain calm under pressure;
Design And Implementation of Management Systems:
- Carries out research into existing systems to identify best practice and make recommendations to management on applicability to UNDP;
- Identifies and recommends remedial measures to address problems in systems design or implementation.
Client Orientation:
- Anticipates client needs;
- Works towards creating an enabling environment for a smooth relationship between the clients and service provider;
- Demonstrates understanding of client’s perspective.
Promoting Accountability and Results-Based Management:
- Provides inputs to the development of organizational standards for accountability and results-based management.
Core Competencies:
- Building support and political acumen;
- Diplomatic skills, cultural and political sensitivity;
- Building staff competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation;
- Building and promoting effective teams;
- Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication;
- Creating an emotionally intelligent organization;
- Leveraging conflict in the interests of UNDP & setting standards;
- Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning;
- Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member;
- Fair and transparent decision making; calculated risk-taking. Qualifications : Education:
- Master’s Degree in International Affairs, Public Policy, Public or Business Administration, Communications, Political Science, Journalism/Media Studies, Social Studies, International Development, Conflict Resolution or related field.
Experience:
- Minimum 7 years of experience in designing and implementing civic and voter education campaigns, including in the electoral context;
- Knowledge of media, social media and CSO sectors;
- Demonstrated experience in developing a broad range of civic and voter education materials;
- Experience building staff capacity;
- Experience delivering electoral assistance in a post-conflict country, and an understanding of such a context for civic and voter education campaigns;
- Advanced skills in the usage of computer software packages and web based management systems.
Language:
- Fluency in written and spoken English.
HOW TO APPLY:
Interested and qualified candidates should submit their application by visiting: http://jobs.undp.org/
