UNDP | Project Coordinator

UNHABITAT Project Coordinator - Municipal Governance - Gaza

Application Deadline : 19-Apr-16
Duty Station :     Gaza
Languages Required : Arabic, English,
Duration of Initial Contract :     12 months renewable
   
Background:

Special Human Settlements Programme for the Palestinian People
Governments at the 19th Session of the UN-HABITAT Governing Council, adopted by consensus resolution 19/18 calling on UN-HABITAT to establish a Special Human Settlements Programme for the Palestinian People (SHSPPP) and a Technical Cooperation Trust Fund (TCTF). The long-term development objective of the SHSPPP is to improve the human settlements conditions of the Palestinian People and in so doing contribute in a modest way to reaching peace, security and stability in the region. During the recent 23rd Governing Council, a new resolution was adopted, requesting UN-HABITAT "to further focus its operations on planning, land and housing issues in view of improving the housing and human settlement conditions of Palestinians, addressing the urbanization challenges, supporting the building of a Palestinian State, humanitarian action and peace-building, in the areas where there are acute humanitarian and development needs, identified through technical assessments by UN-HABITAT in coordination with all concerned parties";

Project Details

UN-Habitat is leading the implementation of a Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) funded Project: “Gaza Participatory Spatial Planning Support Programme” in partnership with the Palestinian Housing Council (PHC), and Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).
The project aims to strengthen participatory governance in Gaza through the utilization of municipality and neighborhood participatory spatial planning processes in five selected municipalities. 5 master plans and 10 detailed neighborhood plans will be prepared through the project. In addition, technical training of planners within the municipalities, and the institutional strengthening of the municipality to internally develop a plan and enforce a plan through a cross-departmental business processes will be supported. It is envisaged that each municipality engaged in the project will host a Municipal Technical Support Centre (MTSC) for planning process facilitation. The MTSC is foreseen to be a ‘one stop shop’ for information on and coordination of the municipal and neighborhood spatial planning efforts; it will be the place to hold discussion between the different project partners, coordinate activities, and engage members of the community who may have questions. The overall aim of the MTSC is to bring government and decision makers in one place and provide access to the citizenry as they engage with the technical municipal staff. Additionally, it will be the service point for legal assistance.
Description of Responsibilities:

- Providing overall technical and managerial support for the implementation of the Project
- Supporting collaboration and dialogue between the community and local government representatives, and as well supporting cooperation between all authorities so as to promote responsive local governance.
- Coordinating and supporting the implementing partners in the conducting of the project activities and delivery of the work plan outputs. This includes but is not limited to:
- Support PHC in establishing physical premises of the Municipal Technical Support Centers.
- Support implementing partners in the design, conducting, monitoring and evaluation of the community consultations, the development of fit-for-purpose community representative mechanisms, and engagement in leading community through the planning process.
- Support the implementing partners in the design and conducting of the training needs assessment for technical staff of the municipality, development of training curricula, and implementation of training.
- Support the implementing partners and the municipalities in the visioning exercises with community, urban planning and design workshops and the vetting of draft plan with community and consensus building.
- Support implementing partners in ensuring a gender perspective is incorporated in all project activities, and that women’s participation in specific is ensured.
- Coordination among all project partners and stakeholders to ensure local ownership of the process and streamlined and efficient implementation of all project activities.- Developing the regular narrative and financial reports required, maintaining an accurate shadow budget reflecting obligations and expenditures, ensuring value for money in all project activities.
- Coordinating study visits, advocacy, and partnership visits to the project sites to support scaling up of the spatial planning support in Gaza.

Impact of Results:

The Project Coordinator/Municipal Governance will support the Project Manager in proper knowledge management with regard to Governance issues in the Gaza Strip, and strengthen information flow between UN-HABITAT HQ and local HABITAT partners through representation, liaison, networking, and attendance at meetings, workshops and conferences.
Competencies :

Professionalism:

Demonstrates professional competence and mastery in the area of local governance, local government institutional strengthening, participatory spatial planning, community-led reconstruction and recovery; shows persistence when faced with difficult challenges; takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work; commitment to continuous Learning; actively seek to develop oneself professionally and personally.

Communication:

Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others; tailors language, tone, style and format to match audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.

Teamwork:

Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others' ideas and expertise; contribute to the learning of colleagues and subordinates; show willingness to learn from others; seek feedback to learn and improve.

Accountability:

Delivers outputs for which one has responsibility within prescribed time, cost and quality standards; operates in compliance with organizational regulations and rules; supports subordinates, provides oversight and takes responsibility for delegated assignments; takes personal responsibility for his/her own shortcomings and those of the work unit, where applicable.
Qualifications :

Education:
A Bachelor degree preferably in International Development, Public Administration, Urban Development, Architecture or a related field. A Master’s degree would be an important asset.

Experience:

Minimum of six (6) years, for BA degree holders, and three (3) years for Master degree holders, working experience in areas related to local governance, human settlements, project/programme management and coordination, urban development, international development, or socio-economic development.

Other Requirements:

Proven understanding of critical local governance, urban and development issues in Gaza;
- Excellent working knowledge of MS Office-Word, Excel, Power Point; GIS software, AutoCad.
- Fluency in spoken and written English and Arabic;
- Familiarity with UN procedures;
- Sound judgment, excellent analytical skills, strong networking and interpersonal skills, ability to plan, organize and coordinate work and to cope with a demanding workload is expected;
- Valid driving license.

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