UN VACANCY - CONSULTANT - MAPPING AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT TO DEVELOP A NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PEACE - (OPEN TO TANZANIAN NATIONALS ONLY)

CONSULTANT - MAPPING AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT TO DEVELOP A NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PEACE - (OPEN TO TANZANIAN NATIONALS ONLY)
Location :	Dar es Salaam, TANZANIA
Application Deadline :	04-Mar-14
Additional Category	Democratic Governance
Type of Contract :	Individual Contract
Post Level :	National Consultant
Languages Required :	English
Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start)	17-Mar-2014
Duration of Initial Contract :	40 working days
Expected Duration of Assignment :	40 working days

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Background

Tanzania has held four credible general elections since the reintroduction of multi-party politics in 1992. Citizens and the government are eager to maintain this track record and to further strengthen democratic practice in Tanzania. Looking to the 2015 general election, the government has undertaken early and comprehensive preparations for the electoral processes. Since receipt of official requests for UN assistance to the election cycle leading to the 2015 general election from the National Election Commission (NEC) and Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC), a UN Needs Assessment Mission recommended the development of a project in support of the national efforts.   In addition, in 2014 the United Republic of Tanzania will likely conduct a first national referendum on a new constitution. The EMBs and other stakeholders in preparing for these critical events have requested the assistance of UNDP to provide technical support to the preparation and execution of this referendum.   To these ends, the Democratic Empowerment Project is a four year (2013-2016) UNDP, UN One Fund and other donor-funded project with the overall aim of contributing to Tanzania’s UNDAP’s Outcome 7: i.e. “Key institutions of democracy, (i.e. EMBs, etc.) effectively implement their election and political functions”. UN Women and UNESCO are implementing partners in a One UN Country Team context. Project Objectives The Project seeks to promote democracy and contribute to the realization of the following four objectives: Capacity of the key democratic institutions (EMBs, CRC, RPP, etc.) enhanced to support and promote legal and institutional reform in the context of the on-going constitutional reform process and beyond; Capacity of the EMBs to conduct credible elections enhanced through strategic, technical and operational support and improved EMB engagement with stakeholders (i.e. political parties, CSOs, and the media) to foster a democratic environment; Inclusive participation in elections and politics enhanced through the empowerment of women, youth and PWDs; National peace infrastructure enhanced to mitigate and prevent election-related conflicts.

Duties and Responsibilities

Threats to peace and conflict remain an obstacle to the deepening and consolidation of democracy in many countries. Even in stable political environments, such as Tanzania, threats to peace and escalation of conflicts can threaten development gains and goals. Development programming, including governance programming, must be undertaken to help prevent conflict as much as possible. Development, including good governance and democratic objectives are put at serious risk where threats to peace are not addressed.   This assessment will make a substantial contribution to understanding and mapping the risks to peace related to the 2014 referendum and the 2015 general election environments, and going forward from there to larger and longer national needs. This knowledge will enable the development of an up to date infrastructure for peace and implementation through appropriate programming/activities in support of national stakeholders including community groups and conflict prevention partners.   This assessment will be nationwide, however special focus will be placed on regions/areas that have been prone to election related/ other political related violence in the recent past, including (inter alia) Zanzibar, Arusha, Mtwara and Dar es Salaam. In these areas, special attention will be given to identifying opportunities for and making recommendations regarding community-based approaches to enhancing an infrastructure for peace and to monitoring and mitigation activities with special consideration for addressing the needs of marginalized populations, including women and youth. The work and reports/recommendations of the UN conflict prevention expert deployed in Zanzibar in advance of the 2010 general election will inform this work. The assessment can be conducted using both a desk study and information gathering in the field.  Assessment framework: The assessment should compose of three chief areas of analysis   Contextual Analysis: What are the risks found in the security, political, economic, social and public administrative sectors?  What other risk factors—such as the type of electoral or political party system—exist?   Historical Conflict factors:  What has been the nature of the conflicts?   State and Non-state Stakeholders:  What are the characteristics of these stakeholders, and how do they relate to conflict prevention and building an infrastructure for peace?   Information gathered through the historical and contextual analysis can be applied to stakeholder analysis to determine potential perpetrators of conflict, their motives, the potential targets for such conflict, and the tactics utilized in conflict.   To achieve the desired purpose and objectives, the expert shall conduct the assessment, which shall require, in sequence: A detailed desk study, literature review, economic and political research, and preliminary information interviews including with Government which shall include the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Tanzania Police Force, and other Ministries and Agencies delivering services that relate to the national infrastructure for peace, along with interviews with a wide range of stakeholders that can be advised by the current “contact group”; This information gathering exercise serves to inform the first key steps of the assessment, the contextual analysis and the historical conflict analysis; Field work; Following the assessment field work, completion of the deliverables described below.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards; Displays cultural gender, religion, race, nationality, and age sensitivity and adaptability; Treats all people fairly without favoritism; Demonstrates diplomacy and tact in dealing with sensitive and complex situations. Knowledge, management and Learning: Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office through mentoring and personal example; Promote knowledge building and sharing with regards to management and operations, organization of project staff training, synthesis of lessons learnt/best practices and sound contributions to UNDP knowledge networks and communities of practice. Development and Operational Effectiveness: Ability to lead strategic planning, results based management and reporting; Ability to lead formulation and monitoring of management projects; Ability to lead business processes and implement new systems; Good coordination and interpersonal skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: Master’s degree in a relevant field (e.g. International Relations, Peace and Conflict Studies, development, political sciences, etc.).  Experience: At least 7 years of progressively responsible experience in international development including experience with elections, electoral security, prevention/mitigation of political and social conflict related to the electoral cycle; Thorough knowledge and demonstrated extensive experience in conflict prevention policy development, programming and advocacy related to the electoral cycle; Demonstrated substantive experience in security sector governance and collaboration among/between security services and electoral management bodies, reconciliation & dialogue, voter/civic education, engaging men and boys in prevention of gender based violence, community security and social cohesion. Demonstrated experience in conducting conflict, political economy and governance analysis and in designing and managing multi-stakeholder participatory conflict analysis processes and methodologies; Nuanced knowledge of conflict analysis tools and methodologies; Track record of building good working relationships with government counterparts; Demonstrated understanding of the gender aspects of peace and conflict through programming or research; Demonstrated experience in mainstreaming gender and human rights in projects.  Other desirable experience & skills: Good knowledge and understanding of the UN, its values, priority goals and systems and procedures will be a definite asset; Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to operate and deliver in a complex and multicultural environment; Work experience in East Africa will be a definite asset.  Language: A high level of written and spoken English is essential; Knowledge of Kiswahili an asset.