Background
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-HABITAT, is the United Nations agency for human settlements. It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing 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 with dignity.
The Regional Office for Arab States (ROAS) was established in 2010; the work in the Maghreb sub-regional office was activated in January 2019 although it was operating in Libya for more than 18 years, in Morocco since 2007 and in Tunisia since 2017. UN-Habitat’s presence in Tunisia operates under a Host Country Agreement.
In Tunisia, the office is implementing several operational projects focussing on the National Urban Policy, the response to the Covid-9 crisis, in particular with regards to homelessness, housing and evictions, the integration of migration in local governance, as well as support to measuring and monitoring the SDGs related to the urban agenda. |
The Habitat Programme Manager works under the supervision of UN-Habitat’s Representative for the Arab States and Director of the Regional Office for the Arab States (ROAS). In exercising his/her functions s/he will be assisted by two Project Managers and a Finance Associate, as well as several consultants based in Tunis, and supported by the ROAS technical, financial and administrative team, and by technical staff across the Arab States Country Offices.
S/he coordinates with the UN Resident Coordinator in Tunisia, relevant UN-Habitat’s headquarters’ substantive branches, governmental institutions in addition to non-governmental entities including civil society and private sector, to ensure alignment of the work programme with UN-Habitat’s Strategic Plan for 2020-2023.
S/he will be responsible for managing the Tunis Office staff, and the substantive delivery of UN-HABITAT’s mandate, objectives, focus areas and expected results at country level, working closely with a wide variety of local, national and international partners to implement the New Urban Agenda by:
UN-HABITAT Representation:
- S/he will be a member of the UN Country Team (UNCT) and Security Management Team (SMT) in Tunisia.
- S/he will participate actively in UN system activities and other coordinated initiatives and in UN common strategic planning through his/her active involvement in the common strategic planning processes.
- S/he will contribute to cultivating good relations and cooperation with governmental institutions, non-governmental entities including civil society and private sector entities, s well as relevant stakeholders, and supporting them in implementing the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. Activities will include inter alia:
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- Formulation and updating of the Habitat Country Programme Document (HCPD)
- Support the formulation, updating of UN Assistance Framework documents by provision of inputs to the Common Country Assessment (CCA), Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), Humanitarian Needs Overview and Humanitarian Action Plans, UN Development Assistance Framework and related documents to ensure Habitat Agenda issues and the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 11 are adequately reflected;
- Support the monitoring of the Agenda 2030 SDG indicators;
- Negotiate with focal Ministries to get the Habitat Agenda issues prominently in their governments’ national development plan.
Project and Programme Management:
- Identify Programmes or Projects related to the urban sector, good urban governance and urban management, urban recovery in conflict affected areas, shelter, slum upgrading, rural-urban linkages, local economic development, social inclusion, safety, transportation, wastes management and any other related fields. Prepare briefing notes, concept notes, full-fledged project and programme documents.
- Liaise with donors to generate project resources with the support of UN-HABITAT ROAS.
- Identify specific requests (policy, technical and information assistance) from key governments and Habitat partners and coordinate responding to it with UN-HABITAT ROAS.
- Manage new and ongoing UN-HABITAT supported Programmes/Projects and substantive operational projects including overall management, coordination, reporting, monitoring and evaluation.
- Strengthen liaison and communication with the UN System and in particular with UNDP, government and other national partners, and the UN-HABITAT ROAS to ensure partnership for effective delivery.
- Coordinate the agenda and support all visiting UN-HABITAT experts and associated missions. Follow up on actions recommended or agreed during visiting missions and ensure documentation of missions’ activities in timely reports.
- Supervise and coordinate experts’ and staff involvement in Programmes and Projects implementation and ensure that reports and deliverables are of the required standard and are prepared and submitted in time.
- Advise ROAS on recruitment and procurement of consultants, experts and services necessary to ensure effective country projects and programmes delivery.
Liaison with UN-HABITAT partners:
- Strengthen linkages and information flow between UN-HABITAT and local partners and correspondents through representation, liaison, networking, and attendance at meetings. Provide adequate and informed feedback to UN-HABITAT Regional Office;
- Represent Habitat in international, regional, and national workshops and conferences hosted in by the country and overseas when delegated by the Director of ROAS.
- Provide adequate and relevant information feedback to UN-HABITAT Regional Office and Headquarters.
- Contribute to backstopping the Morocco, Libya and Algeria Country Offices.
Knowledge management and information dissemination:
- Disseminate information including Campaign materials, Habitat publications and global commitments and decisions on human settlements issues conjunction with the Information Office;
- Coordinate and provide information and materials for partners to organize the World Habitat Day and Urban October events and participate in World Urban Forums.
Work implies frequent interaction with the following: national counterparts, UNDP country offices and other UN agencies, Human Settlement Officers, Programme Management Officers, Branch/ Regional Managers, Programme Support Division and other units at UN-Habitat’s headquarters. |