Assistant Project Officer

Details

Mission and objectives

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the lead agency on international development of the United Nations. UNDP works in 170 countries and territories to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality. We help countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities, and to build resilience to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Our work is concentrated in three focus areas; sustainable development, democratic governance and peace building, and climate and disaster resilience.
UNDP’s mandate is to end poverty, build democratic governance, rule of law, and inclusive institutions. We advocate for change, and connect countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life.

Context

Project Title: Support to strengthen capacities for promoting efficiency in the implementation of the Accra Initiative (AI) in West Africa and the Sahel. The security situation in the Sahel continues to deteriorate leading to a high civilian casualty rate, death, displacement and a burgeoning humanitarian crises. The 2023 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) indicates that the Sahel region is now the epicenter of global terrorism, constituting nearly half (43%) of the global death toll from terror related attacks. Under the Accra Initiative arrangement, each state is working to secure the limits of their jurisdictions from terror attacks and insulate their territories from insurgencies and other threats to state and human insecurity. However, the implementation of the AI privileges an intelligence-led arrangement with limited information regarding its structure, decision-making processes, inter-agency collaborative arrangements and the pathways for wider civilian and community involvement in its operations. The fluid security vulnerabilities require the states south of Mali, including the AI countries, are supported to respond robustly to further unforeseen challenges. In this vein, this project through research, dialogue, and capacity building seeks to support the efficient implementation of the AI in the seven (7) signatory states of Ghana, Benin, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger with Nigeria, the observer state. The project will conduct one research, develop training packages, organize one multi-national policy dialogue and two capacity building interventions. In total, the project will engage 85 personnel from both state and non-state actors who will receive new skills and knowledge and build community resilience to reduce threats to peace and security.
This project is in partnership with Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Centre (KAIPTC) with funding from the Government of Japan. The Centre produces research knowledge products including published works and accredited graduate programmes and many of the researchers provide technical expert contributions to the works of multilateral agencies such the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN). Other end-users of the Centre’s knowledge products include governments and international governmental and non-governmental organisations. Its operational relationships with strategic stakeholders such as the UNDP and Japan, has been consistent since 2008, informing the design and implementation of a number of regional peace and security projects and published research outputs. The collaboration of KAIPTC, UNDP and Japan, has led already to 16 Japanese resource persons including two military officers, two UN Volunteers and a range of senior officials at the UN and also from the International Development Cooperation Office at the Office of the Japanese Prime Minister, travelling to Accra (and lately, Cotonou, Benin), to support delivery of activities of the past projects.
The project focuses on violent extremism, radicalization, terrorism and small arms and light weapons control targeting member states of the Accra Initiative (AI) – namely, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
This United Nations Volunteers (UNV) assignment unfolds within the framework of the above-mentioned project and the UNDP Japan partnership, therefore specific criteria apply; candidates must be Japanese Citizens.

Task description

Under the joint supervision of the project manager at KAIPTC and the UNDP Peace and Governance Analyst, with overall guidance from the head of cluster of Governance and Inclusive Growth at UNDP, the Volunteer will perform the following duties:
a. Prepare and publish, at least, one policy brief on a topic relevant to the project theme and with assistance from the project management team at the KAIPTC;
b. Support archiving of project documentation;
c. Assist in preparation of project activities including conferences, capacity development training courses and the processes for designing such courses; research activities;
d. Support the administrative and communication activities of the project in all the participating member states; and
e. Participate in activities relating to the broader research and dialogue agenda of the Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research that hosts the above-mentioned project.
– Support to analyze relevant information, technology information, data and/or statistics for technical and professional inputs in governance and peace research and various documents;
-contribute to the development of strategic documents, annual work plans, project proposals, as well as other documents as needed;
– Provide support on regional research projects, as well as in the drafting and contributing to concept notes, activity reports, and other materials;
– Provide support in the promotion of various programs and projects related to the advocacy for the effective implementation of SDG 16;
– Monitor and track activity implementation and provide bi-monthly reports
2. Support communication of project outcomes and lessons learnt:
-contribute to monitoring and evaluation processes, by collecting, analyzing and reporting data and results;
-propose and assist with development of information and publicity materials to raise public awareness and dissemination of project results, in close coordination with the relevant peace and governance Groups in UNDP Regional Hubs and Headquarters.
3. Support to facilitate knowledge building and sharing related to the peace and governance:
-support and participate in the organisation of workshops, seminars and trainings;
-Assist to identify and formulate lessons learnt and recommendations to be integrated into broader UNDP Ghana Country Office and UNDP Regional Bureau of Africa knowledge management efforts; contribute to knowledge networks and communities of practice