Peace and Development Specialist

Since its establishment in 2004, the Joint UNDP-DPPA Programme on Building National Capacities for Conflict Prevention (the Joint Programme or JP) has been engaged in bridging the gap between political engagement and development assistance in pursuit of sustainable peace.

The Joint Programme started a new phase (2024-2028) in a global context of new and protracted conflicts, intersecting crises, and multiple adverse impacts on progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Against this background, in his policy brief on A New Agenda for Peace, the United Nations Secretary-General is calling for prevention to be elevated as a political priority and proposed a shift in paradigm whereby all States agree to tackle the drivers of violence within their societies.

The Joint Programme contributes to joint UN action to help national stakeholders enhance their capacities and structures for conflict prevention, primarily through the deployment of international and national Peace and Development Advisors (PDAs) to UN Resident Coordinators Offices (RCOs) working in complex settings. PDAs provide analytical, advisory, and capacity-development assistance to national stakeholders to enhance capacities for dialogue, develop prevention policies and strategies, strengthen national infrastructures for peace and help foster the engagement of women and youth in these efforts.

 

In an effort to ensure that PDAs are better equipped and empowered to deliver on their mandates, the Joint Programme has established in a number of contexts small ‘Peace and Development teams’ where a Peace and Development Specialist (PDS) provides reinforced capacity to the PDA’s engagement in support of the RCOs, UNDP and the broader UNCTs, as well as DPPA in the area of conflict prevention and sustaining peace. In the context of Chad, and in partnership with the Swiss Expert Pool for Civilian Peacebuilding, a PDS position will be established. The Specialist will report to the PDA and work alongside the Peace and Development Team.

 

Chad’s Context – One of the world’s most underdeveloped countries, Chad – currently undergoing a political transition phase – faces significant peacebuilding challenges, and complex cross-border conflict dynamics, in an increasingly concerning regional context region. This includes social cohesion challenges, a large youth population increasingly dissatisfied with insufficient educational and employment opportunities, a massive refugee population as well as internally displaced persons, and non-state armed groups in border areas, including the terrorist group Boko Haram.

Despite these challenges, Chad generously hosts nearly over one million refugees from Sudan, the Central African Republic, and Nigeria, who compete local populations over limited natural resources further reducing due climate change, leading to increasing tensions and the potential for conflict. Moreover, Chad makes significant contributions to regional security and counter-terrorism efforts.

Against this already challenging backdrop, the late President Idriss Deby Itno was killed in the context of a rebel invasion that followed contested elections in April 2021, following which the army seized power and installed a transitional administration promising elections by October 2024. As the political transition enters its last, most difficult phase, efforts continue to bring further political and armed opposition segments into the transition. The challenge now for the UN and other engaged bilateral or multilateral partners is to accompany the Chadian transitional authorities and people back to a civilian-led constitutional order within the agreed timeframe and towards sustainable peace. Meanwhile, the UN, together with other bilateral or multilateral partners, has been supporting national political dialogue, peace and reconciliation initiatives, including an envisaged Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) process.

The United Nations is deeply engaged in Chad through in-country as well as regional initiatives aiming at promoting sustainable peace. The Joint UNDP-DPPA Program, through the Resident Coordinator’s Office, engages with the Transitional Government, civil society, the private sector, and academia to mitigate risks of instability and prevent conflicts in Chad. Key challenges pertain to:

 

–      Implementation of the Doha Peace Agreement (DDR and other interlinked provisions, including SSR)

–      Peaceful and acceptable elections

–      Peaceful community co-existence across the country

–      Design and implementation of a national strategy for social cohesion and peacebuilding

–      Establishment of a national peace infrastructure.

–      Coordination and collaboration among partners engaged in Peace & Security activities alongside Chadians counterparts.

 

Addressing these challenges require additional capacities to facilitate processes, sensitize national stakeholders on suggested peacebuilding approaches, increase technical support on aspects such as DDR/SSR, Youth Peace and Security (YPS), Women, Peace and Security (WPS), and the climate, peace and security and coordinate with relevant national / regional / international / multilateral partners, and mobilize resources.

In 2024, will work on reporting and analysis, support to good offices and facilitation mechanisms; facilitating implementation of the Doha Peace Agreement including DDR; promoting peaceful and acceptable elections; supporting national strategies for peace and reconciliation, and establishment of a national peace infrastructure.

To ensure that the Peace and Development team in Chad is better equipped and empowered to deliver on its mandate, a Peace and Development Specialist’s will be established. The Specialist will be under the supervision of the International PDA.

 

Tasks and responsibilities:

Under the direct supervision of the Peace and Development Advisor, the main duties and responsibilities of the Specialist include:

1.         Research, information gathering and analysis;

o   Gather and process data and information relevant to the UN’s role and activities in country, with specific focus on promoting peacebuilding, social cohesion and sustainable development;

o   Undertake political and conflict analysis, monitor the situation in the country and region, and report issues related to peace and security, as well as carry out research on particular issues and thematic areas, including through analysis of local sources;

o   Prepare reports and analysis in areas including conflict analysis, political economy analysis and women’s role in peace in the country.

 

2.         Identifying entry-points and propose inclusive and conflict-sensitive approaches in efforts to build national capacities for conflict prevention;

o   Identify areas of programmatic engagement with national stakeholders related to social cohesion, dialogue, conflict prevention and consensus building; HDP nexus; climate, peace and security, WPS, YPS, and contribute to the development of conflict-sensitive approaches;

o   Explore entry points with key national counterparts including the Government and civil society;

o   Train and advice UNCT members to ensure that the UNCT programme portfolio is conflict sensitive;

o   Undertake mappings and analysis with civil society actors (including youth, women, and marginalized groups) on capacities for conflict prevention / peacebuilding at local and national level, in order to give strategic advice for the programs provided by the PDA and UNCT;

o   Engage with national and local stakeholders, focusing particularly on engaging with civil society actors at local level and academia, link local initiatives to national-level institutions, structures and processes, as well as reinforcing dialogue between government and civil society and / or people-to-people dialogues.

 

3.         Provide technical advice for coordination, partnerships and M&E.

o   Facilitate establishment of relevant technical level working groups, and ensure secretariat for these working-level spaces involving international partners (both bi- and multi-lateral organizations);

o   Coordinate existing partnerships between stakeholders (government, civil society, private sector and the international community, including the UN system);

o   Perform monitoring and evaluation function, including collecting, processing and analyzing data in the framework of peace and development team workplan;

o   Provide knowledge management and share good practices on conflict prevention and peacebuilding; ensure that stories and lessons learned are shared with the Joint Programme Secretariat at UN Headquarter New York;

o   Perform an array of duties that support UN coordination and effective Peace and Development Advisors Team program implementation. These include organizing and implementing consultation processes with national and international partners.

 

Qualification and Experience:

·       Master’s degree, in lieu of an Advanced degree, a Bachelor university degree with additional years of experience.

·       Minimum 7 years of progressively responsible experience in conflict analysis, policy, and strategy development, development and/or conflict prevention in a governmental, multilateral or civil society organization;

·       Experience in research and project development/management;

·       A proven policy, advisory and advocacy experience and track record of engagement with senior levels of government, United Nations, and donors;

·       Experience in national and community-level conflict prevention and peacebuilding initiatives and programming;

·       Sound knowledge of and extensive experience in Chad or the region, including in dialogue and conflict prevention initiatives, is an advantage.

·       Fluent written and spoken English and French as working language and passive knowledge of two Swiss official languages is required. Knowledge of Arabic is an asset.

·       Physical and mental fitness to work in this context (Assignments are subject to successfully meeting the medical standards);

·       Possession of a valid automobile driving license and the ability to drive a 4×4 vehicle using manual transmission;

·       Swiss nationality (Dual citizenship with country of assignment not possible).

 

Duty station: N’Djamena – Republic of Chad

Travel advise: https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/fr/dfae/representations-et-conseils-pour-les-voyages/tchad.html

Start of assignment: June 2024

Duration of contract: 1 year, with the possibility of extension.

Deadline for applications: 21 February 2024

Interviews are scheduled to take place on: 5 March 2024

Family: accompaniment by family is not possible

 

Click here to learn more about the organisation: https://chad.un.org/fr/about/our-team

For further information, please contact:

·       Ms Carol Mottet, Program Manager (carol.mottet@eda.admin.ch, +41 58 46 91833) for questions related to the mission or

·       Ms Janine Misteli, Swiss Expert Pool (janine.misteli@eda.admin.ch, + 41 58 462 63 39) for questions on requirements and on the selection process.

 

Assignment:

The assignments take place within the framework of the Swiss Expert Pool for Civilian Peacebuilding. The seconded expert receives a contract from the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs for the duration of their deployment deployment PVFMH (D) / OPers-PDHH (F) / OPers-PRA (I).

Please apply through the Swiss Federal Administration recruitment system https://www.stelle.admin.ch/stelle/it/home/stellen/stellenangebot.html

A complete application contains:

·       an application letter in English;

·       a CV English;

·       diplomas and work certificates;

·       the completed Personal History Form PEP (see: http://bitly.ws/dTMd)[1]

 

[1] Swiss Expert Pool for Civilian Peacebuilding

The deployment of civilian experts within the scope of Switzerland’s policy on peace, human rights, and humanitarian issues is a long-standing tradition. Depending on specific needs, civilian experts are made available for temporary civilian peace projects as election monitors, police advisers or specialists in fields such as constitutional law and practice, mediation, the rule of law, human rights and humanitarian law (www.eda.admin.ch/expertenpool).