Minimum age: 22 years old. Applicants must be nationals of or legal residents in the country of assignment.

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of Chief of Field Office or his/her designated mandated representative(s), the UNV C4D Officer will:

1. Support to strategy design and development of C4D activities

• Research and/or participate in conducting comprehensive C4D situation analysis of social, cultural, economic, communication and political issues in the region. Collect and synthesize qualitative and quantitative information and data to support the establishment of comprehensive and evidence-based information for developing and planning C4D strategy and interventions in the region.
• Collect, draft and/or organize materials and related documentations for C4D strategies and plans to ensure optimum impact, scale and sustainability of achievements/results.
• Assess the impact of C4D activities on the CO and UNICEF goals to achieve measurable behavioral and social change resulting in the improvement of children’s rights and wellbeing. Submit qualitative report/synthesis of results for development planning and improvement.
• Support to contextualize the development, pretesting, translation and repackaging of existing as well as new Behavior Change and Communication (BCC) materials in consultation with relevant Regional Bureaus, Programme Officers, the C4D unit, and other relevant stakeholders
• In collaboration with UNICEF Programme staff and relevant government sector staff, participates in the development of evidence-based sectoral strategies and workplans (both development and emergency-related) to ensure the design and incorporation of specific Communication for Development components with objectives and activities aimed at different levels:
  
  • behavior development/change individual/household/facility levels;
  • community participation, social change and collective action at community level; and
  • social mobilization of community-based organizations and advocacy for decision makers;

2. Support to the implementation of C4D activities

• Collaborate with internal and external partners to provide operational and technical support to the design of C4D strategies, and research, develop, test, produce and use quality C4D materials and/or organize events and activities to ensure maximum outreach and impact on behavioral and social change of target audience.
• Assess and recommend potential contacts, networks, resources and tools to support the maximum impact and outreach of C4D initiatives.
• Follow up on the production of C4D materials to ensure technical quality, consistency and relevancy of communications materials that are developed, produced and disseminated to target audience (e.g. individuals, communities, government officials, partners, media etc).

3. Advocacy, networking and partnership building

• Build and maintain partnerships through networking and proactive collaboration with national and international civil society organizations, community groups, leaders and other critical partners in the community and civil society to reinforce cooperation through engagement, empowerment and self-determination and to pursue opportunities for greater advocacy to promote UNICEF’s mission and goals for child rights, social equity and inclusiveness.
• Collaborate with internal global/regional communication partners to harmonize, link and/or coordinate messaging to enhance C4D outreach and contribution to programmatic outcomes.
• Provide technical support to UNICEF, regional sector bureaus and partners including contributing to the adapting of or sharing relevant standards, protocols, guidelines and training materials for C4D

4. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Institutionalize/share best practices and knowledge learned/products with national/local partners and stakeholders to build capacity of practitioners/users, and disseminate lessons learned to key audiences including donors and partners.
• Support the organization, administration and implementation of capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders/partners across programme sectors in C4D planning, implementation and evaluation in support of programmes/projects. Develop training materials for training activities and revise them periodically for improvements and updates.
• Provide technical and coordination support to C4D trainings at regional, Zonal, and Woreda levels for Government counterparts, partner organizations, and their volunteer networks.
• Build the capacity of a social mobilization multi-sectoral regional platform (Health, Education, Religious groups, CSOs, medias, etc.) in terms of coordination, planning, monitoring of C4D interventions including use of emergency communication materials for creating a strategic network of social mobilization trainers

5. Monitoring and Reporting

• Undertake regular field monitoring and report based on agreed C4D indicators
• Contribute to the regular monitoring of C4D actors’ capacity according to the needs raised during rapid assessments / KAP surveys
• Compile regional C4D reports, emergency and development, from the field and update progress on key results
• Ensure multi-media materials are distributed to the intended target groups and monitor and address gaps
• Participates in regional and Zonal coordination mechanisms and follow up on C4D tasks
• Any other related tasks as may be required or assigned by the supervisor.

Minimum age: 35 years old. Nationals of the country of assignment are not eligible, except the assignments in Headquarters duty stations.

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of UNDP Resilience Project Manager and the the overall guidance of the Head of Division for Environment, Climate Change, Water and Land Management and the day-to-day direction of the Technical Coordinator of the Disaster Risk Reduction Unit, the Urban Risk Management Specialist will provide high quality technical support in areas such as urban risk assessment, early warning systems, preparedness for response and recovery as well as integration of disaster and climate risks in urban planning, infrastructure development and recovery, through coherent policy, strategic and programme advisory services, at the regional and national level, as per the requirements of the AUC.

The UNV will support the AUC in establishing an interdepartmental taskforce on Disaster Risk Reduction with focus on urban resilience and mainstreaming of DRR in relevant AUC Departments, developing an African roadmap on urban risk management, developing and rolling out guidelines for Regional Economic Commissions (RECs) and Member States on urban risk management.

The UNV Urban Risk Management Specialist will be responsible but not limited to the following:

1. Substantive delivery of urban risk management related technical assistance, and policy and programme support

• Provide technical support to the development of the AUC guidelines for Urban Risk Management.
• Provide technical inputs for the design, development, and implementation of urban risk management and resilience building programmes at regional and national levels through the RECs as required.
• Develop an African roadmap on urban risk management and guidelines, and support rolling out of the guidelines in RECs and Member States with initial piloting in the Sahel;
• Support AUC to implement the project “strengthening capacities for disaster risk reduction and adaptation for Resilience in the Sahel Region: fostering risk-informed solutions for sustainable development”.
• Support mainstreaming of Disaster Risk Reduction in general and Urban Risk Management in particular into AUC Departments.
• Support integration of risk reduction in sustainable urban development and urban risk management at sub-regional and national level.
• Assist in policy development, including the review and analysis of issues and trends, prepare evaluations or other research activities and studies related to urban risk management.
• Ensure the integration of cross-cutting issues, such as gender, peace building, rights of persons with disabilities, human rights, and resilience into all urban risk management-related activities, monitoring, and reporting.
• Assist DRR Unit with the delivery of policy and technical support in the area of urban risk management and resilience building, in contribution to the implementation of the Sendai Framework for DRR and the Africa Programme of Action.
• Participate in field missions, when required, including in post-disaster situations and provide technical and coordination support for the conduct of Post-Disaster Needs Assessments (PDNA) and the development of Recovery Frameworks (RF) as it relates to urban risk reduction and recovery.
• Appraise country requests for support in case of disasters and contribute to the preparation of project proposals and funding requests related to urban recovery and resilience building in post-disaster situations, in consultation with national and regional partners, ensuring that the needs of the vulnerable populations are adequately reflected.
• Collaborate with AUC, RECs, specialized agencies as well as other thematic teams on programmes related to urban risk management and resilience building, including linkages to climate change, livelihoods, displacement, fragility and gender issues.
• Contribute to the development of strategy and approaches to increase regional and national capacities for urban risk management and risk-informed urban development, including its integration in national and regional disaster risk reduction and recovery strategies, policies and legislative system, or developing standalone urban risk management strategies.
• Support the implementation of regional urban risk management, resilience building and recovery programmes and projects.
• Serve as AUC’s resource person for the project “strengthening capacities for disaster risk reduction and adaptation for Resilience in the Sahel Region: fostering risk-informed solutions for sustainable development”.

2. Substantive development of urban risk management related tools and resources

• Develop a continental framework that offers systematic and pragmatic approaches and tools for assessing urban resilience and for developing urban risk management plans in Africa.
• Support the development and delivery of urban risk management related training modules/guidance/tools for regional entities and Member States to facilitate the practice of urban risk analyses/assessments, early warning systems, preparedness in response and recovery, integration of risks in urban planning/infrastructure development, and post-disaster recovery in urban areas.
• Provide technical expertise in developing tools, methodologies and producing knowledge management products on urban risk management, with linkages to disaster risk reduction, resilience, climate change and other relevant themes.
• Provide technical expertise, as required, on the content development for regional/country-level knowledge products through the analysis of data, case evidence, and research findings on urban risk management.
• Promote and enhance urban risk management approaches that link climate change adaptation with disaster risk reduction and risk-informed programming.

3. Knowledge management and community of practice for urban resilience and risk management

• Build the knowledge base and documented experience to further substantiate the link between urban disasters, urbanization processes, urban governance, development planning, infrastructure development and basic services in Africa.
• Compile, analyze, report and codify urban risk management and recovery experiences and lessons learned in Africa.
• Support the development and effective application of knowledge products and policy documents.
• Provide relevant substantive inputs to build and strengthen a regional Community of Practice on urban resilience in Africa, including with the UN system, the EU, the World Bank, other Regional Intergovernmental Organizations, Regional Development Banks, bilateral partners, external experts, etc.
• Advocate and enable facilitation of exchanges and experiences sharing related to urban risk management and resilience between institutions and specialized agencies, among Member States, between RECs within Africa as well as through South-South cooperation, where valuable.
• Support capacity building of AUC DRR Unit and other departments and Specialised Agencies, Member States (including national disaster management institutions, urban local bodies), and other governmental and non-governmental stakeholders such as the academia/research institutions, civil society organizations and the private sector in urban risk management, including in the application of urban risk management tools and practices.
• Strengthen linkages with DRR and climate change communities of practice, both inside the AUC, with relevant entities within the RECs and Member States.
• Support the DRR Unit and the AUC in responding to RECs and Member State requests for information on global/regional/national best practices and experiences on urban risk management together with partners and expert institutions.

4. Advocacy and partner engagement for effective policy positioning on urban risk management

• Work in close collaboration with members of the DRR Unit, DREA and other relevant Departments of the AUC to promote urban risk management at the Regional, National and sub-national/local levels.
• Support AUC in leveraging its policy leadership and convening power in advocating for and ensuring that the Member States take into account the multi-dimensional risks (disaster, climate and conflict) in urban planning, infrastructure development and urban risk management processes.
• Contribute to the development and nurturing of partnerships between RECs and between Member States (especially on cross-border processes related to urbanization, migration, risk reduction and recovery), different organs of the AUC, and with the EU, World Bank, UN agencies and regional intergovernmental organizations, bilateral partners, think tanks, academic institutions and non-governmental organizations to foster and strengthen the practice of urban risk management and sustainable urban development.
• Participate in consultations and drafting of joint agreement and MOUs and statements of intent on urban risk management and resilience building.
• Foster partnership through attendance in regular meetings, contributions to joint knowledge products and joint conferences and workshops on urban risk management and resilience building/recovery or relevant areas.
• Support AUC in its engagement in partnerships on urban risk management and resilience building through reporting and developing briefing notes and background information when required.
• Support resource mobilization efforts for urban risk management and resilience building through development of project concept notes and proposals.
• Support establishment of interdepartmental task force at AUC to facilitate mainstreaming DRR, including urban resilience in AUC department.
• Carry out any other relevant tasks assigned by the supervisor.