Organization Mission

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is a middle-income country in Southeast Europe, navigating complex socio-economic and political challenges. While the country has made significant progress since the 1990s, it continues to face high unemployment, limited industrial diversification, and regional disparities. Governance is decentralized, which complicates policy implementation and economic reforms.

The economy relies on sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism, but low competitiveness and a large informal economy hinder growth. BiH also faces environmental challenges, including climate change impacts like floods and droughts, which threaten livelihoods and economic stability. Although committed to international climate goals, the country requires enhanced capacity and financing to meet these targets.

Social inequalities persist, with marginalized groups, women, and youth disproportionately affected by unemployment and limited opportunities. The outmigration of skilled workers further exacerbates development challenges.

UNDP in BiH addresses these issues through programs promoting inclusive economic growth, green energy, climate resilience, and social inclusion.

UNDP BiH plays a key role in supporting the country’s sustainable development by addressing complex socio-economic and environmental challenges. Operating within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UNDP collaborates with national and sub-national governments, civil society, private sector, and international partners to drive transformative change. Its programs focus on fostering inclusive economic growth, strengthening governance systems, enhancing social inclusion, and promoting environmental sustainability and climate resilience. UNDP BiH emphasizes innovative and evidence-based approaches, including digital transformation and green economy initiatives, to address structural inequalities and foster resilience in communities. By aligning with national development priorities and leveraging its global expertise, UNDP works to empower institutions, enhance community capacities, and create opportunities that contribute to a prosperous, inclusive, and sustainable future for all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Context

The incumbent will support the roll-out and implementation of the final phase of the Municipal Environmental Governance Project (MEG), financed by the governments of Switzerland, Sweden and the Czech Republic and implemented by UNDP. The Project overall goal is to contribute to the democratization of local governance in Bosnia and Herzegovina and more equitable, effective, and efficient public services for the citizens, particularly water supply and wastewater management services. Good local governance policy dialogue and policy changes, together with regulatory improvements in the area of water supply and wastewater management services, will provide for more effective, fair and sustainable delivery of essential local services.

The Project is implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Ministry of Justice of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), Ministry of Administration and Local Self-Government of Republika Srpska (RS), Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of Republika Srpska, Associations of Municipalities and Cities and Associations and networks of professionals in the water sector.

Moreover, the incumbent will support UNDP Bosnia and Herzegovina in advancing inclusive and sustainable development aligned with the country’s SDGs pathways. S/he will contribute to the design, implementation, and monitoring of programs aimed at fostering effective, accountable and inclusive institutions and more resilient, just, and cohesive society. In particular, the incumbent will work closely with the UNDP Good Governance Programme and Project staff, to help strengthen partnerships, promote innovative solutions, and enhance institutional capacities for sustainable development. The role also involves conducting research, preparing programmatic materials, and supporting advocacy and resource mobilization efforts to address development challenges, reduce inequalities, and promote resilience in the face of climate change.

Key Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of Good Governance Sector Leader, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:
• Provide technical support to the MEG Project in advancing performance-based local governance and service delivery in approximately 25 local governments across the country by applying the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) as a tool to assist governments in using quality management to improve their performance.
• Support the Project in providing technical assistance to the entity-level Civil Service Agencies that act as CAF Resource Centres to ensure that they are equipped with knowledge and capacities to support local governments in applying CAF in the future.
• Contribute to the development of methodologies and approaches for implementation of activities that cut across the Good Governance Sector, including mainstreaming of best practices in SDG localization, service delivery and performance-based management, also focusing on gender equality and the principle of Leave No One Behind (LNOB).
• Support the Sector and MEG Project in identifying and documenting best practices in the area of good governance and SDG localization to promote their mainstreaming and replication in the local context.
• Support policy research and analysis in the good governance domain and support re-search and knowledge development, with a focus on innovative governance and ser-vice delivery solutions and approaches that foster sustainable development, accelerating the implementation of relevant SDG targets.

Required Skills and Experience

• Demonstrated interest and/or experience in good governance and/or sustainable de-velopment
• Previous experience as a volunteer and/or experience of another culture, (i.e. studies, volunteer work, internship) would be highly regarded

Core Competencies

☒ Accountability
☒ Adaptability and Flexibility
☒ Client Orientation
☒ Commitment and Motivation
☒ Commitment to Continuous Learning
☒ Communication
☒ Creativity
☒ Ethics and Values
☒ Integrity
☒ Knowledge Sharing
☒ Professionalism
☒ Respect for Diversity
☒ Self-Management
☒ Technological Awareness
☒ Working in Teams

Living Conditions

The UN designated state of alert for Bosnia and Herzegovina is Security Level 1 which is minimal and lowest security level in the Security Level System for the entire country, including the capital of Sarajevo. The situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is generally quiet; all international agencies consider threats to their staff to be low at this time. However, BiH has the same problems as much of Europe, from pickpockets to traffic accidents, so please make sure you exercise appropriate personal security awareness and common sense. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country with the largest mine contamination problem. Over 670.000 mines and 650.000 unexploded ordinances on 10.000 locations estimated. Contaminated area estimated is over 2.000 km2 which is more than 4 % of the total territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Staff is advised to stay on well-travelled routes while in the country. See the http://www.bhmac.org.

You can check full entitlements at the duty station at https://app.unv.org/calculator. The complete UN Volunteer Conditions of Service is available at https://explore.unv.org/cos.