REGIONAL ELECTORAL ADVISOR - UNDP

Background

UNDP’s democratic governance practice focuses on fostering inclusive participation, strengthening responsive governing institutions, and promoting democratic principles. Inclusive participation expands equal opportunities for engagement by the poor, women, youth, indigenous people, and other marginalized groups who are excluded from power. Efforts in this area aim to strengthen opportunities for civic engagement in the core channels linking people and the state, at the national, regional and local levels.   Work on governing institutions has traditionally emphasized the design and functions of the core pillars of the state, including the legislative, executive and judicial branches, at national, regional and local levels. Strengthening responsive governing institutions entails promoting the core channels of representation and accountability in the state at the national, regional and local levels. Responsive institutions mean that the state reflects and serves the needs, priorities, and interests of all people, including women, the poor, youth, and minorities.   Supporting national partners to strengthen democratic practices grounded in human rights, anti-corruption and gender equality require UNDP leadership in promoting integration, coordination and information-sharing of policies, practices, and strategies strengthening democratic governance within and outside of the UN family.   In order to provide timely and quality policy advisory services and knowledge products in democratic governance, the Democratic Governance Group (DGG) has organized its work and its staff along these three main key results areas.    A core group of policy advisers representing capacity along these three key results areas are based in New York with a specific mandate of providing policy advisory services, knowledge management as well as partnership building and advocacy. As part of the practice architecture, which allocates decentralized capacity to the Regional Service Centers, a number of democratic governance policy advisers are based in Addis Ababa (for Africa), Bangkok (for Asia and the Pacific), Panama (for Latin America and the Caribbean), Istanbul  (for Europe and CIS) and Cairo (for Arab States).   UNDP provides support to countries to develop electoral laws, processes and institutions that strengthen inclusive participation and professional electoral administration. Elections are about much more than what happens on election day. Support includes the conceptual and programming guidance to the UN and national stakeholders alike in using an electoral cycle approach that grounds electoral administration and assistance in democratic governance. Global planning is led by BDP/DGG in close coordination with the Department of Political Affairs’ Electoral Assistance Division (EAD) and UNDP Brussels (which lends support to the UNDP-European Commission electoral assistance projects via the dedicated Joint EC UNDP Task Force on Electoral Assistance).   Thus far, UNDP’s global support to electoral assistance has relied on discrete resources from the Global Cooperation Framework and other funding sources to support activities in an ad hoc manner, year to year. Regional activities have been implemented through the various regional programmes without a common thread among them. And country-level basket funds have independently mobilized resources from in-country donors for electoral processes on an as-needed basis. These three levels of programming have tended to follow their own cycles, to take a piecemeal approach and to operate fairly independently of each other, without profiting from potential synergies, lessons and joint programming. Given the number of countries worldwide that are demanding assistance in the area, the need for an integrated approach within the UN and with external partners, and the high level of locally mobilized resources devoted to electoral assistance, this compartmentalized approach is no longer rational, feasible or sustainable.   To respond to the growing demands and ensure global coherence while balancing and responding to regional and country realities, UNDP has developed a Global Programme for Electoral Cycle Support (hereafter, ‘GPECS’).   The overall goal to which the GPECS will contribute is that of deepening democracy and accelerating human development. In contributing to this larger and longer-term goal, the GPECS will focus on the intermediate UNDP Strategic Plan outcome of “electoral laws, processes and institutions strengthen inclusive participation and professional electoral administration.” The GPECS seeks to achieve the outcome by: Providing leadership, advocacy and capacity development in the field of electoral cycle support at the global level; Supporting South-South cooperation and promoting regional knowledge development, exchanges and capacity; Supporting electoral cycle development and lessons learned in key countries at the national level; and Fostering inclusive participation and women’s empowerment.  The GPECS is a three-year, $50 million initiative. It will entail a significant amount of human and financial management, as well as donor liaison, reporting and policy advisory services. UNDP requires the services of several Regional Electoral Advisors to deliver the regional and country-level outputs of the programme. These Regional Advisors will be based in Addis Ababa and Bangkok and reflect the demand by countries in the Africa and Asia/Pacific regions for UNDP electoral assistance as well as the particular focus of the GPECS on Africa.   The Regional Electoral Advisor position falls institutionally within the Democratic Governance Group in the Bureau for Development Policy, the headquarters of which is in New York. However, the Advisor will be physically located within the Regional Service Centre in Addis Ababa. As such he/she will report both to the Democratic Governance Practice Leader in the Regional Centre in Addis Ababa (who in turn reports primarily to the Deputy Regional Director, RBA) as well as to the GPECS Programme Manager based in Brussels (who in turn reports to the Democratic Governance Group Director, BDP). His/her main focus will be to deliver on the regional components of the Global Programme for Electoral Cycle Support and provide support to the country-level components. He/she will also be expected to liaise continuously with the Senior Electoral Assistance Advisor (who supports the GPECS Programme Manager as country-level coordinator and coordinator of the Joint EC UNDP Task Force) based in Brussels, and represent UNDP in Joint EC UNDP Task Force activities in the region under the coordination of the Senior Electoral Assistance Advisor.     In addition, as part of the global policy advisory cadre, the Regional Electoral Advisor of GPECS will contribute to a multi-disciplinary democratic governance team responding holistically to country needs and contributing his/her particular area of expertise to the team, and leveraging relevant cutting edge knowledge.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Advisor will provide policy and programming support to country offices and national stakeholders in the region under the rubric of the Global Programme for Electoral Cycle Support (GPECS) and in response to country office needs in the sub-region. In collaboration with the lead DGG/BDP Electoral Advisor based in New York, GPECS Programme Manager based in Brussels, the Democratic Governance Practice Leader in the Regional Centre, and the Senior Electoral Assistance Advisor (GPECS country level coordinator and coordinator of the Joint EC UNDP Task Force) based in Brussels. The Regional Electoral Advisor will provide support to the design, management, implementation, monitoring and reporting of the GPECS projects at the country level. In particular: Provide policy advisory support to the Country Offices, Governments and the Africa Regional Governance Programme on electoral policies, norms and standards and other substantive issues; define substantive dialogue and technical; Provide GPECS programme support related to design, implementation oversight and results, including M & E; Provide direct technical advice to Country Offices in advising government counterparts on how to position the practice area’s initiatives within their local context (this may include reviewing how past efforts in assessing capacity can be leveraged); Advise Country Offices in leading consensus building and stakeholder management activities with government counterparts; Promote the utilization of financial resources mobilized and allocated for electoral support in regional and country programmes. Playa strong role in research and content developmentof the service area of electoral assistance from a regional perspective. Including: Conduct analysis of data, case evidence and research findings to distill relevant lessons; Generate, based upon research and analyses, innovative operations concepts aimed at widening UN/UNDP policy/programming options. Contribute to GPECS and HQ development, testing and roll out of tools and methodologies in elections to Share knowledge-based tools, such as policy positions/practice notes/concept papers and other research papers to help influence/advance policy dialogue in the practice service area and present such material at global and regional forums; Support the Practice Leader at the Regional Service Centre (RSC) in serving as the UNDP substantive focal point for the practice mandate by providing him/her with up-to-date information and analysis on the GPECS and other electoral initiatives; Lead implementation of the regional components of the GPECS; Serve as a member of and represent UNDP in the EC-UNDP Joint Task Force activities in the region; Support the activities of the UN/UNDP Brussels GPECS hub, under the guidance of the Senior Electoral Assistance Advisor of UNDP Brussels, for the promotion and delivery of the joint EC-UNDP activities carried out by the Joint EC UNDP Task Force and for the Country Component of the GPECS. Facilitate policy development, knowledge management and coordination in electoral assistance, in particular through GPECS contributions to the Service Delivery Platform. Functions also include actively supporting knowledge sharing through inputs to comparative experiences and lessons learned at regional and global levels and participation in relevant fora. Indicative activities include: Advice on corporate policy and guidance in focus areas. Recommend alignments and quality assurance in electoral assistance in order to bring coherence and consistency to operational activities in the region while at the same time taking into account country-specific differences and needs; Provide substantive inputs to international fora to help shape global and regional development strategies, policies, norms and standards; Contribute global, regional and local experiences and case evidence into formulation of global policies, norms and standards with Practice Directors in BDP HQ; Liaise continuously with the lead Electoral Advisor in BDP DGG on policy development, knowledge management and coordination in particular; Support the definition and communication of UN/UNDP’s global policy positions in electoral assistance. Impact of results:   Ultimately the work in the areas mentioned in section III will have the long-term impact of supporting UNDP country offices in delivering better policy advice and programming to their partners in the area of government performance, specifically by improving public service delivery and strengthening democratic governance. Failure to provide the cutting-edge knowledge and well-grounded policy advice to COs in inclusive participation and responsive institutions seriously diminishes UNDP’s credibility among national partners and donors. Electoral assistance, in particular, is a high-profile area of support for the United Nations and one in which high performance and impartiality are critically important for the UN´s credibility and for the peaceful conduct of elections in Member States.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies: Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards; Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UN and UNDP; Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability; Treats all people fairly without favoritism. Functional Competencies: Knowledge and expertise in democratic governance, electoral assistance and democratization and in particular in strengthening inclusive participation; Significant experience in providing practical advice to policy makers;  Expertise in working with counterparts in government, electoral management bodies, civil society, political parties, the private sector, academia, and the donor community;  Knowledge on how to contribute to building national capacity for development. Managing partnerships: Strong communication and interpersonal skills; Ability to foster networks and partnerships;  Good working knowledge of information and computer technology; Experience with coordination among the UN family of agencies; Very strong  initiative-taker; Capacity to move complex processes forward to achieve articulated results; Ability to work at varying levels and on different projects simultaneously; Personal organization, and ability to multi-task and to work under pressure. Knowledge Management and Learning: Ability to strongly promote knowledge sharing and knowledge products and services; Ability to integrate knowledge with broader policy and operational objectives; Demonstrated ability to understand clients' needs and concerns; Respond promptly and effectively to client needs and customize services and products as appropriate; Demonstrate ability to collaborate with others in own unit and across boundaries; Acknowledge others' contributions; Promote collaboration and facilitate teamwork across organizational boundaries; Open to new ideas; Shares own knowledge and applies it in daily work; Builds partnerships for learning and knowledge sharing; Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example; Seeks and applies knowledge, information and best practices from within and outside of UNDP. Judgment/Decision-Making: Mature judgment and initiative; Proven ability to provide strategic direction in service area;  Independent judgment and discretion in advising on handling policy issues, challenges and sensitive issue at HQ level, regional and country level.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: Advanced University Degree in relevant social / political sciences, law or related discipline. Experience: Minimum 7 years specialized experience in international context in democratic governance, electoral assistance and democratization, majority of which must be in electoral assistance; Regionally relevant experience a strong positive; Strong technical knowledge of the field of electoral assistance, as well as a general knowledge of cross-cutting democratic governance issues that are often addressed through electoral cycle or deepening democracy programmes;   Extensive practical experience in designing, managing, and monitoring electoral assistance programmes in developing countries, preferably also with UNDP programmes;  Strong networks within the international electoral assistance community, and demonstrated leadership in the field of electoral assistance. Application  http://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=41032 Language: Fluency in English and French.