The International Institute For Democracy and Electoral Assistance ( IDEA ) is looking for an Associate Programme Officer, Constitution Building Retour vers les opportunités

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance — International IDEA is an intergovernmental organization that supports sustainable democracy worldwide. International IDEA’s mission is to support sustainable democratic change by providing comparative knowledge, and assisting in democratic reform, and influencing policies and politics .

International IDEA acts as a catalyst for democracy building; by providing knowledge resources, policy proposals and supporting democratic reforms in response to specific national requests. It works together with policy makers, governments, UN organizations and agencies and regional organizations engaged in the field of democracy building. 

International IDEA develops, shares and enables the use of comparative knowledge in its key areas of expertise: electoral processes,constitution building,political participation and representation, democracy and development and democracy assessments.
It also addresses the important issues of gender, diversity, and conflict and security as they relate to democracy .

International IDEA is based in Stockholm, Sweden, and works worldwide through offices in New York, Brussels, The Hague, Latin America, Africa and Asia .

Associate Programme Officer, Constitution Building – Tunis

Context  

The Africa and West Asia programme was launched in 2011 after the revolutions that swept many countries in the region.  Since that time, 10 countries in the region have amended, replaced or reconsidered their constitutional frameworks.  In these countries, some progress has been made in the struggle for democratization, however significant challenges remain.   International IDEA continues to support constitution building across the region through the provision of support to constituent assemblies, members of the legal community, academics and others.

Under the Africa and West Asia Constitution Building Programme, International IDEA has been implementing a project since 2016 to provide support to Yemen’s peace negotiations.  From 2016 to October 2018, the project mainly consisted of dialogue sessions and expert meetings and focused on Yemen’s constitutional future.   A new phase of activities started in November 2018 and will last until December 2019.  During this new phase, the following activities will be organised:

1. Dialogue sessions on Yemen’s constitutional future, including a focus on the long-term constitutional and federal arrangements as well as the short term institutional and power sharing arrangements that will be in force in the immediate post-conflict period.   
2. Working sessions with Yemen’s main political forces that will seek to deepen mid-level political party members’ understanding of the range of options on key constitutional and legal issues, and each option’s likely advantages and disadvantages.  These working sessions will enable the negotiating parties to engage with the inevitable constitutional and legal complexities that will arise when the broader political arrangements are agreed.  
3.  IDEA will organize highly specialized sessions for Yemen’s leading legal experts, with a view to developing their understanding of how the text of a federal constitution should work, etc.  The outputs will include: (a) the formation of a group of skilled drafters who can serve as a resource for all future negotiations; and (b) a series of briefing papers on all the drafting issues that will have to be considered, and that will be made available to all interested parties.

Duties and Responsibilities 

• Conducts research on issues relating to the peace negotiations in Yemen (in particular, the future power sharing and sequencing arrangements); and drafts analyses, memoranda, and research papers;   
• Assists with the implementation of projects relating to constitution building in other regional and country specific projects; 
• Assists in the preparation of related reports, articles and other publications;  
• Facilitates the development and implementation of conferences and/or workshops (including drafting the agenda, identifying participants, assisting with basic logistics and report writing) in accordance with the work plan; 
• Coordinates with national and international experts contributing to all aspects of the project;    

• Provides support to the regular monitoring and impact assessment of project activities; 
• Collaborates with the Constitution Building Processes team in Global Programme and other regional and global programmes as necessary; 
• Contributes to the development of quarterly and annual reports .

General Profile  

• Requires good knowledge, excellent skills and initial experience in their field; 

• Will contribute to assigned projects in different aspects of the project life cycle, more specifically will conduct research and analysis, will draft various documents (articles, concept notes, agreements, etc.) and will support the projects vis-à-vis all internal and external stakeholders;  
• Adds value to team-based activities in his/her unit; collaborates with other entities of the Institute as required; 
• Can be expected to travel globally to any geographical area involved in his/her projects; 
• Follows internal procedures to ensure high standards of performance and compliance with Institutional guidelines; 
• Integrates a gender and diversity perspective in all activities.

Reporting Line 

• Senior Programme Officer, Constitution Building 

Programmatic Knowledge 

• Has good knowledge in own discipline and some understanding of related disciplines to be able to approach programmatic issues in a holistic manner.  

 Operational Knowledge, skills and experience 

• Integrates a results-based approach into the design, management and evaluation of all his/her programmatic activities; 
• Has a good understanding of relevant constitution building issues in Africa and West Asia with demonstrated field experience in the region;  
• Contributes to the research of information on donors and partners, preparation of reports and project briefs, identification of opportunities for initiation of new projects, and all other activities related to resource mobilization and partnership building; 
• Illustrates integrity, a collaborative spirit, a sense of achievement, and an understanding of risk management in past experiences. 

Leadership 

• No people management responsibility over permanent staff; 

Problem Solving 

• Is able to solve problems of varying degrees of complexity; approaches issues with new perspectives; analyses situations from a multitude of intervening factors. 

 Impact 

• Has an impact on the programme development and delivery. 

 Communication and Interpersonal Skills 

• Liaises regularly with all internal and external stakeholders involved in his/her projects;  
• Acts in all assignments with personal energy and engagement. 
• Excellent knowledge in written and oral English and Arabic is required; Any other widely spoken language in an International IDEA priority region (Arabic, French, Spanish) would be an asset

Education and Experience 

• University degree in law, political science, public administration or a related field;  
• Minimum three (3) years of experience related to constitution building processes. Experience working more broadly in the areas of democracy and governance will also be considered; 
• Experience engaging with national or international actors from government, political parties, civil society or other stakeholders would be an asset; 

• Experience working with local civil society organizations and/or international organizations is desirable;

Terms of Contract

• Local Post. Two (2) year fixed-term appointment.
• Salary € 987 GROSS per month.

Please note as this is a local post, International IDEA will bear no costs relating to relocation of the selected candidate to the duty station. This position is open to those legally authorized to live and work in Tunisia.