National Project Officer Durable Solutions – Baidoa, Somalia

Terms of Reference

Post Title: National Project Officer Durable Solutions

Duty Station: Baidoa, Somalia with travel to other project sites in Somalia

Duration: 12 months – with option for extension based upon performance and funds availability

Level: SB 5

BACKGROUND

The United Nations Human Settlements (UN-Habitat) Programme is the United Nations agency for human settlements and sustainable urban development UN-Habitat mission is to promote socially and environmentally sustainable human settlements development and the achievement of adequate shelter for all. UN-habitat helps the urban poor by transforming cities into safer, healthier, greener places with better opportunities where everyone can live in with dignity. It works with organizations at every level, including all spheres of government, civil society and the private sector to help build, manage, plan and finance sustainable urban development

UN-Habitat Somalia is currently implementing two projects in Baidoa that are aimed at tackling challenges related to protracted displacement of vulnerable communities at scale in urban areas.

The Youth and Urban Regeneration in Somalia is designed to contribute to reduced spatial urban inequalities by promoting sustainable urban regeneration, youth development and re-integration of marginalised groups through building capacity of government institutions and socio-economic resilience of urban communities. The project has four main outcomes:

1. Increased employment opportunities in market sector driven value chains under the sustainable productive sectors;
2. Increased youth participation in peacebuilding and reconciliation efforts including engagement in local governance and national decision-making processes;
3. Enhanced local social, economic and spatial integration of displacement affected households through urban regeneration and upgrading projects that expand the delivery of basic services;
4. Improved/strengthened capacity of local authorities to implement durable solutions and youth development initiatives across Somalia.

The Saameynta – Scaling-Up Solutions to Displacement in Somalia launched in early 2022 is a UN joint programme to support local and state authorities and the national government in their efforts to implement the National Durable Solutions Strategy to develop, implement and upscale durable solutions for displacement affected communities. Like the YOURS project, Saameynta seeks to decrease dependency on humanitarian aid, reduce poverty for thousands of impoverished individuals and promote IDP’s integration into urban communities. Saameynta’s unique approach leverages the value generated by planned urbanization and investment to provide affordable housing, employment opportunities and community infrastructure and other locally identified priorities for communities affected by displacement.

The immediate programme outcomes are as follows:

1. Enhanced capacities of local authorities and displacement affected communities reinforce mutual accountability to plan, leverage and implement durable solutions at scale that reflect collective and area-specific priorities;
2. Strengthened self-reliance and social cohesion of displacement affected communities through employment generation, service delivery and additional investments in target sites.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The National Project Officer Durable Solutions will report to the Project Manager for Saameynta / YOURS. She/he closely collaborates with other team members, the support staff at Nairobi Office and the international consultants for Urban Planning and Land Governance.

Under the overall supervision of the Head of Country Programme and the direct supervision of the Saameynta/ YOURS Project Manager, the National Project Officer will perform the following activities/tasks:

• Develop strong relationships with representatives from displacement affected communities and other marginalized groups such as youth actors and further relevant local stakeholders to support inclusive participation and engagement processes;
• Coordinate and document site visits and organize participation of technical personal from relevant local authorities, project partners and state institutions;
• Assist in compiling local assessments including obtaining GPS and other socio-economic data from the selected project areas for YOURS and Saameynta and engage and train local action groups as well as assigned staff from local and state authorities by utilizing mobile phone apps/web-based technologies;
• Engage members from the communities in the selected project location for urban regeneration in the formation and consolidation of local action, project management and monitoring groups for urban regeneration projects;
• Assist in the preparation of community events that foster social cohesion in close collaboration with other team member and facilitate hand-over ceremonies of projects incl. documentation;
• Translate relevant material, for example project documents, from Somali to English and English to Somali to encourage and facilitate community dialogue and involvement.
• Prepare, organize and facilitate participatory planning meetings at community and city-wide level to prioritize their needs and assist in channelling and processing needs assessments into concept notes and projects for humanitarian-development support related to settlement upgrading, improved livelihood opportunities, better connectivity of settlements and basic service provision, disaster resilience and local building culture;
• Closely coordinate and liaise with assigned staff from project partners such as IOM, UNHCR, UNDP, UNICEF, NRC, Save the Children, DRC and others to support peaceful and inclusive local dispute resolution and facilitation of secure tenure arrangements and other Housing, Land and Property (HLP) matters, basic service delivery and disaster response;
• Join regular meetings of the Durable Solutions actors in South-West State and report back to the Project manager on agreed action; this includes participation and engagement in relevant Clusters such as CCM, Protection, Shelter/Housing and Water.
• Coordinate closely with Baidoa Municipality and the Ministries of Public Works, Reconstruction and Housing, Interior and Local Government, and Youth and Sports and provide backstopping support for the execution of Agreements of Cooperation (AoC) and planned project activities.
• Obtain necessary approvals from local authorities and state agencies;
• Assist the assigned project team members and assigned consultants in the monitoring and evaluation of contractual arrangements with implementing partners, for example in the urban regeneration area and regarding the application of the STDM and Fit-for-purpose Land Administration tools;
• Support and facilitate field missions;
• Prepare, manage and execute small-scale budgets for direct implementation of project activities, for example support for local action groups, preparation of workshops, meetings etc.
• Handle the preparation and execution of contracts with local service providers (for example local transport etc.) under supervision of the Programme Management Unit and the Project Manager;
• Ensure compliance with rules and procedures on local office management as guided by the Programme Management Unit and the Project Manager;
• Assist the assigned project engineer and consultant in supervisory work and project documentation incl. supporting documents for certification of progress achieved and hand-over procedures;
• Identify gaps and risks that hamper timely project implementation and consult whenever necessary with other colleagues of the UN-Habitat team;
• Support project documentation incl. progress and financial reports and assist project partners and community representatives in developing visibility and advocacy material with regard to Youth, HLP and human rights;
• Support UN-Habitat’s Somalia Communications Specialist for preparing and disseminating social media messages
• Ensure timely (e.g. weekly and monthly) reporting to the Project Manager and when required;
• Any other task as assigned by the Project Manager.