Livelihoods and Enterprise Recovery Specialist Full-Time

Background

Following the widespread devastations caused by Cyclones ldai and Kenneth, the Government and its international partners began the long and challenging emergency response and recovery efforts. The severity of the damage and loss, estimated at 3.2 billion, plus the underlying vulnerability and limited capacity in the affected areas have made the recovery effort much more difficult. UNDP has been supporting the Government of Mozambique from the inception including providing policy and technical support for the International Pledging Conference that took place on 31st May and 1st June 2019 in the city of Beira. The International Pledging Conference yielded $1.3 billion in pledges from development partners. Both Government and development partners underscored the importance of building resilience and fast-tracking implementation.

Drawing from the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) and the Disaster Recovery Framework (DRF), UNDP’s vision of the cyclone recovery programme in Mozambique arises from key considerations related to development governance and resilience. To realize this vision, UNDP has established a Recovery Facility funded through a UNDP-led multi-donor Basket Fund as an agile tool to implement short-to-long term recovery activities that will contribute to addressing the root causes of vulnerability and build resilience to future disaster.

It has three important pillars:

1. (1) Help the communities recover from the impact of cyclone and floods and rebuild their assets and livelihoods with a focus on women and persons with disabilities;
2. (2) Rebuilding public and community infrastructure to bounce back from the disaster; and
3. (3) Develop national capacities and systems to plan and implement the recovery and resilience programme.

The Recovery Facility is being funded with the support of resources from the European Union, Canada, Finland, Netherlands and Norway along with UNDP. The programme’s total budget is $72.2 million. Given the mandate of the programme, size of resources and the imperative of fast­ tracking implementation, UNDP has decided to establish a dedicated Programme Management Unit based in Beira.

The Livelihoods and Women Economic Recovery is one of the main components of the Pillar 1 of the Recovery Facility. UNDP works with communities and societies affected by the Cyclones to achieve early and long-term economic recovery and livelihoods recovery of the most vulnerable affected people. Livelihoods and economic recovery programmes are linked to the process of promoting sustainable and inclusive growth, working with institutions and communities to recover, be resilient and sustainable. By doing so, we help societies and countries in their rapid return to sustainable development by tackling the social, economic and environmental drivers of vulnerability.

In order to fulfill this mandate, under the guidance and supervision of the Programme Manager of the Recovery Facility Programme Management Unit, the Livelihoods and Enterprise Recovery Specialist will be responsible for the design and implementation of the livelihoods and economic recovery schemes including recovery grants for micro/small businesses in the crisis affected areas, to enable local entrepreneurs to replenish assets that have been lost or damaged due to the cyclones. This will comprise strategic planning, resource mobilization, the provision of technical assistance and the start-up of activities as well as monitoring and evaluations plans.

He/she will also have a key role for the due reporting process with the objective of systematically communicating and ensuring accountability of results of the livelihoods recovery and community economic revitalization activities with the Government, development partners and others as applicable.

Duties and Responsibilities

Task Descriptions:

Project management

• Design and conduct beneficiary selection procedures and identification of community productive assets for employment activities;
• Provide direction and guidance to livelihood and economic recovery project team, contractors and consultants to ensure the project outputs are achieved;
• Assess the recovery needs, capacities, available resources and market conditions for the re-activation and recovery of MSMEs in the cyclone affected provinces using appropriate methodologies;
• Analyze the state of financial institutions and Micro Finance Institutions (MFls);
• Incorporate a needs assessment for women and girls and ensure that the interventions offer them a package of new skills, access to capital and market information;
• Design transparent transfer of non-reimbursable funding/kits in tranches according to pre- set business recovery goals;
• Develop an implementation strategy for enterprise recovery as part of the recovery facility framework to target the quick revival of the local economy, enhancing stability and recovery in the post cyclone situation;
• Ensure local ownership and sustainability through liaison with provincial, local Government entities;
• Identify and obtain any support and advice required for the management, planning and control of the project;
• Under the direction of Programme Manager organize regular meetings for the project team members to assess work progress, discuss challenges and constraints, and provide guidance and support;
• Support communication, outreach and visibility of the pillar as applicable;
• Any other tasks assigned by the supervisor.

Project planning and implementation

• Responsible for the quarterly and annual planning of project activities in the responsible area, with the participation of all project personnel; substantially contribute to finalize plans and submit them to Programme Coordinator;
• Provides technical assistance to the project team, implementing partners and ensure required progress reporting and accountability for resources used;
• Support Programme Coordinator to ensure systematic and effective implementation and monitoring of the Livelihood and Economic Recovery related projects and establish appropriate implementation and monitoring plans;
• Ensures total accuracy and the highest level of transparency in the management of the Project financial resources in accordance with UNDP and national regulations and procedures;
• Works with project staff and IPs to prepare all necessary financial reports to accompany Project quarterly and annual work plans and reports;
• Supports the resource mobilization for the project by explaining the need for post disaster employment and livelihood recovery and elaborating the approach of UNDP along with other partners.

Monitoring and knowledge management

• Carry’s out monitoring visits to Project sites on a regular basis; survey (informally) the intended beneficiaries and other stakeholders;
• Closely monitors the Livelihood and Economic Recovery activities and ensures the efficient management of relevant records and register for cash disbursement, based on a monitoring plan;
• Collates the results of monitoring, analyze them, and formulate proposals for adaptive management measures for consideration by the Project Board;
• Ensures preparation of lessons learnt and the best practices;
• Responsible for documentation of the implementation effectiveness of the 3×6 approach for Livelihood Recovery.

Project outreach

• Responsible for outreaching communities through community engagement experts and other forms of outreach to sensitize the importance of the Livelihood Recovery activities and foster community engagement in the implementation and monitoring of the project activities;
• Responsible to create and foster a good working relationship with the media (print, radio and television);
• Ensures and contributes to the production and publication of public information material;
• Establishes and maintains good working relationships and cooperation with peer project officers;
• Arranges stakeholder visits to the project sites to witnesses the progress.

Reporting and accountability

• Provides regular report to UNDP management, donors and other forums/meeting noting progress and achievements, acknowledging difficulties and proposing possible solutions for consideration and guidance by the Project Board/management and/or programme manager;
• Responsible for the preparation of quarterly and annual project plans and reports;
• Respond to request for reports on Project management and performance from any key stakeholders, through the Project Board.

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;
• In-depth practical knowledge   of programmatic   issues regarding   transition   from   relief to recovery;
• Strong knowledge of community based economic development and poverty related issues and approaches;
• Ability to build and sustain effective partnerships with UN agencies and main constituents;
• Advocate effectively, communicate sensitively and across different constituents.

Functional Competencies:

Development and Operational Effectiveness

• Ability to lead strategic planning, change processes, results-based management and reporting;
• Ability to lead formulation, oversight of implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects;
• Ability to apply development theory to the specific country context to identify creative, practical approaches to overcome challenging situations;
• Strong knowledge of community based economic development and poverty related issues and approaches.

Management and Leadership

• Demonstrates team-building capacity including interpersonal and communication skills and ability to cope with a difficult environment where formal institutions of government are at the embryonic stage;
• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Deals diplomatically with challenging bureaucratic processes, and pressure to meet strict deadlines;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
• Ability to lead effectively, mentoring as well as conflict resolution skills;
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
• Proven networking, team-building, organizational and communication skills;
• Capacity to work under pressure, manage stress and adapt to rapidly evolving situations;
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment with sound understanding and capability to empower and develop the capacity of national counterparts.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in economics, business and enterprise development, international development, sustainable livelihoods, public policy, or other relevant social sciences;
• Areas of specialization could include; economic development, environmental planning, land use and comprehensive planning.

Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in enterprise development, livelihood or local economic developments;
• Vast experience in programme development and management in challenging environments including in humanitarian and development environments;
• Relevant professional experience in rural development policy analysis, and project management;
• Facilitation and reporting skills highly desirable;
• Experience in project implementation;
• Experience in post-disaster/conflict context;
• Experience in programme/project design, execution and financing with UNDP and IFis will be considered as an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in written and spoken English and Portuguese.

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