Capacity Building Associate

The Local Government Initiative on Climate Change (LOGIC) is a joint project of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), supported by the Embassy of Sweden and SIDA. LOGIC will promote local action on climate change adaptation at scale. Bangladesh is ranked 5th among the 10 countries of the world most affected by climate change and disasters. It is experiencing change in weather patterns and in the occurrence of extreme events like cyclones and floods and rising of sea levels. These events exacerbate poverty and vulnerability of people on a regular basis The Government of Bangladesh recognises the severity of climate change and is working to mainstream related concerns into the national development policy, planning and financing. However, in the absence of a specific climate change policy, this sector is served by a number of sectoral policies which also shape the expenditure pattern in the national budget. While the local government institutions (LGIs) are mandated to implement many actions related to climate effects, these actions do not figure in the local plans as climate proofing initiatives.  Moreover, the local planning process does not adequately engage communities and vulnerable people to reflect their needs and demands. The LOGIC project will enhance the capacity of local government institutions, vulnerable communities, and civil society organisations for effective and inclusive local-level planning and financing of climate change adaptation solutions in selected climate-vulnerable areas. LOGIC will establish two financing mechanisms at the Union level: a Performance-Based Climate Grant and a Community Resilience Fund.

By achieving its objectives and results, the project will contribute to the reduction of poverty and vulnerability in Bangladesh. Specifically, the intervention aims to achieve the following objectives: 

• To strengthen the capacity of local governments, households, and other local stakeholders, to develop local plans that integrate climate change adaptation measures and disaster risk management.
• To establish a financing mechanism to fund local governments and communities for implementing climate change adaptation measures.
• To produce information and evidence to feed further improvements in policies and practices for UPs and national systems in relation to climate change adaptation.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Capacity Building Associate will work under the supervision of the Project Coordinator. S/he will also closely work with UNDP-UNCDF programme clusters, local government, communities, non-government and civil society organizations. S/he would be responsible but not limited for the following key functions:

Support with the overall operational management and delivery of the work plan for successful implementation:

• Identify capacity gaps of key stakeholders, including local government institutions, households, communities, youth agents, CSOs, and other local stakeholders, and implement measures to mitigate and reduce them.
• Support management in identifying new projects, areas of intervention, and innovative approaches while flagging potential overlaps, duplications, gaps, and risks, proposing solutions as necessary.
• Clarify and define criteria for project staff and district facilitators to guide their work with communities, including dialogues, grants, and training.
• Supervise the implementation of capacity-building activities and ensure adherence to the agreed-upon guidelines for identifying beneficiaries and implementing procedures.
• Regularly submit progress reports, consolidating feedback and findings/recommendations from implementing partners.

Support with logistical functions:

• Support relevant programmatic and technical missions, including facilitating training needs assessments.
• Assist in coordinating logistical arrangements for training sessions, capacity-building workshops, and community engagement events.
• Ensure proper logistical support for any field visits, training activities, or capacity development interventions.

Support with administrative functions and knowledge sharing. 

• Develop appropriate best practices, training approaches, and materials to enhance the capacity of communities, local government institutions, CSOs, and other stakeholders on inclusive and accountable climate change planning, budgeting, and implementation.
• Assist in the development of capacity development training modules, guidelines, and tools to enhance stakeholder capacities.
• Contribute to the development of knowledge products that capture lessons learned, best practices, and recommendations.
• Identify and support advocacy initiatives related to climate change awareness and local development planning.
• Identify and support advocacy initiatives.
• Perform other administrative tasks as required by the LOGIC management team.

Support in building partnerships. 

• Ensure regular communication and coordination with partners, project counterparts, stakeholders, and beneficiaries; and develop and maintain effective mechanisms for integrating and responding to their feedback and insight.
• Support creation of high quality information and visibility of the project activities among the stakeholders; and ensure careful selection of communication tools and tailoring the messages to take into account the overall socio-political and development context in the country

Support Financial Functions related to the project. 

• Supporting the development of financial management frameworks for capacity-building activities and training programs.
• The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Institutional Arrangement

• The Capacity Building Associate will work under the supervision of the Project Coordinator. S/he will also closely work with UNDP-UNCDF programme clusters, local government, communities, and non-government and civil society organizations.

Required Skills and Experience

Min. Academic Education:

• Secondary education is required. OR
• University Degree in Economics, Humanities, Environmental and Social Sciences, Climate and Development Public Administration, or equivalent field will be given due consideration, but it is not a requirement.
• Min. years of relevant Work experience   
• Minimum 6 years (with secondary education) or 3 years (with bachelor’s degree) of relevant experience in capacity building and/ or social mobilization is required.

Required skills

• At least 3 years of experience working at the local level directly with the most vulnerable people on capacity building, grassroots advocacy, and social mobilization is required.
• Practical experience in climate change/disaster risk management/reduction or associated fields is required.
• Demonstrated ability to work with a multi-disciplinary team is required.
• Experience in the usage of computers and relevant office software packages, including (MS Word, Power point, Excel) is required.

Desired additional skills

• Proven experience and in-depth knowledge of climate change issues, adaptation, and vulnerability affecting rural Bangladesh.
• Experience in project planning and budgeting procedures.
• Proven experience in training & facilitation of programmes.
• Experience and in-depth knowledge of the rural local government system in Bangladesh.
• Experience in building partnerships with Divisional, District & Upazila-level officials and project staff.
• Experience in supporting the implementation of new systems, and positively influence staff behavioural/attitudinal change.

Source: https://estm.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1/job/22820