Programme Specialist-Stabilisation and Durable Solutions

The Central African Republic has been engulfed in insecurity for decades, characterized by violent conflict, political instability, human development challenges, and climate risks. Despite being a resource-rich country with extensive agricultural potential, it remains one of the least developed countries in the world. Its population of approximately 6 million, face multiple layers of challenges due to the lack of basic infrastructure, investments in productive sectors, and the State’s weak institutional and financial capacity to fulfil its critical functions. The 2022 UN Human Development Index ranks CAR 188 out of 191, HDI score of 0.404, with low scores on key dimensions of human development including health, education, and standard of living.

The UNDP stabilization programme was launched on February 24, 2023, during a high-level mission to Sam Ouandja, in northeastern CAR, led by the Prime Minister, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and the UNDP Resident Representative. The programme was developed following a request from the Government and aims to enable an integrated response to the immediate needs of populations affected by violent conflict while building momentum for peace, social cohesion, and recovery. Once minimum-security conditions are met and assured by MINUSCA and national security forces, UNDP will intervene rapidly with a package of interventions to improve access to basic services, support local economic recovery, and strengthen social cohesion. The objective of the programme is to restore a sense of normalcy for conflict-affected communities while breaking the cycle of dependency and strengthening the foundations for effective social contracts, human security, and ultimately more resilient and stable societies. This approach is embedded within the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus and supports durable solutions for IDPs and returnees, and community-based reintegration.

The target zones for stabilization were selected based on the priorities shared by the Government as well as the evaluation of criteria including: I) security conditions, areas with stronger MINUSCA presence will be prioritized, ii) proximity to border areas to support the national policy on border management and to capitalize on opportunities for trade with neighboring countries, iii) areas of high IDP return or with the potential to become areas of high IDP return, iv) insufficient state presence, and v) areas affected by inter-community violence.

To enhance resource mobilization and advocacy efforts, there is a need to reinforce the understanding of the UNDP CAR Stabilisation Programme and to strengthen the programme’s synergies with the priorities of different donors, and stakeholders. Effective implementation, timely reporting of the results and positive impact of the projects are also key factors in keeping partners,’ including the Government, confidence, in UNDP. In this regard, UNDP CAR Country Office is recruiting a Programme Specialist- Stabilisation and Durable Solutions.

Position Purpose

Under the direct supervision of the Resident Representative and in close collaboration with the DRR/P and the Team Leader Stabilization and Peacebuilding, the Stabilisation and Durable Solutions Specialist provides direct support to stabilization programme development and expansion through proposal development, new concepts exploration, donors and corporate reporting in addition to contribution to monitoring and evaluation processes. The Program Specialist will be responsible for the following:

1.  Support programme development and expansion;

2. Support the RR in the inter-agency coordination, partnership development and resource mobilization;

3. Ensure quality assurance, reporting, impact monitoring and communication;

4. Provision of top-quality policy advice and facilitation of knowledge building and management.

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. This is a recognition of interconnected nature of development risks & crises that the world is facing and that call for assembling of multidisciplinary teams for an integrated & systemic response. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across issues, units, functions, teams and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration

•  Provide clarity on stabilization and recovery concepts and its application within the context of CAR
• Develops concept notes and project documents aligned with the CPD (2023-2027) and provide clear and timely guidance to staff to facilitate preparation of project documents, concept notes, and reports.
• Provide advise and support for the coordination of field offices and field missions including with their needs assessment exercises and the prioritization of stabilization and durable solutions needs.
• Participate in Needs Assessment exercises when required.

2. Advise the RR in the inter-agency coordination, partnership development and resource mobilization: 

• Perform research on topics as assigned, analyze information and synthesize to support the RR in advocacy and partnership development.
• Participate in strategic meetings with donors, partners and UN agencies.
• Perform any other duties that the Resident Representative would assign as needed.
• Work closely with national counterparts, donors and other stakeholders aiming for common strategies/ensuring linkages and compatibilities/complementarities with Stabilisation and durable solutions efforts.
• Lead the development of specific communication tools needed for partnership and resource mobilization.

3.Ensure quality assurance, reporting, impact monitoring and communication

• Ensure high-quality reporting to donors and partners for both technical and financial reports.
• Participate in all monitoring and implementation activities of the stabilizationprogram.
• Contribute to the development of a database of potential partners (who does what, in which sector, their priorities, time to engage contacts, resource person, perception of UNDP, what are their needs …) on stabilization, recovery, and durable solutions.

4. Provision of top-quality policy advice and facilitation of knowledge building and management:

• Establish and maintain contacts with government officials, other UN agencies, MINUSCA, non-governmental organizations, and diplomatic missions.
• Support the quality control mechanisms.
• Prepare minutes of high-level meetings with donors, government and other key stakeholders;

Think Innovatively: LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems

Learn Continuously: LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences

Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands

Act with Determination : LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results

Engage and Partner: LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration

Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies

Business Direction& Strategy – System Thinking : Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system.

Business Management – Portfolio Management: Ability to select, prioritize and control the organizations programmes and projects, in line with its strategic objectives and capacity; ability to balance the implementation of change initiatives and the maintenance of business-as-usual, while optimizing return on investment

Business Management – Partnerships management: Ability to build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies

Digital & Innovation – Data Strategy and management: Knowledge to draft or execute a data strategy or a data management framework.

Partnership Management – Relationship Management: Ability to engage with a wide range of public and private partners, build, sustain and/or strengthen working relations, trust and mutual understanding.

Business Management – Results Based Management: Ability to manage programmes and projects with a focus at improved performance and demonstrable results