Internship: Designing Dreams Project at United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Vacancy Description

This internship is located within the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Regional Office for Eastern Africa (UNODC ROEA), CPCJ Programme. UNODC – ROEA in the context of its Regional Programme for 2016-2021 entitled “ Promoting the Rule of Law and Human Security in Eastern Africa” in partnership with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, through its Department of Children Services (DCS), is supporting a rehabilitation and reintegration initiative for adolescent girls in conflict with the law at the Kirigiti Rehabilitation School and Dagoretti Rehabilitation School in Nairobi.

This initiative is part of the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice programme of the Regional Programme and seeks to empower and provide adolescent girls with soft and life-skills, entrepreneurship skills, education, and vocational training, as well as psycho-social support. Through this initiative, UNODC undertook a needs assessment for rehabilitation homes, borstal institutes and prisons in Kenya. The findings of this this assessment highlighted the complexity and challenges associated to the reintegration young women and adolescent girls in the community, who, in many instances, are unable to return to their homes and have no means to sustain themselves. For the past years Kenya has embarked in the reform of care systems for children. dismantling institutional care and redirecting resources towards family support and strengthening other forms of family-based alternative care. These include kinship and foster care.

In an effort to address the findings of the assessment, UNODC, in partnership with a Spanish NGO, THRibune, is supporting the national Government with the establishment of a residence providing temporary accommodation and a safe space for adolescent girls who are unable to find placement in foster care or traditional structures. This temporary arrangement will allow them to pursue education and training programs, receive comprehensive psychosocial support post release, avoid recidivism and maintain the gains earned through their rehabilitation process.

As part of this initiative, UNODC launched fashion design and entrepreneurship programme, in partnership with local fashion designers and the Kenyan Government. At this inception stage and with a first cohort of adolescent completing their first creations, UNODC organized two fashion events to showcase the outcomes of the adolescent’s training. These events served to diminish the strong stigmatization surrounding this vulnerable group of youth making them susceptible to crime and recidivism, human trafficking, substance use and radicalization. It also underlined the principle that sound investment in these girls will sustain the tidal wave of progress achieved as we strive to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

Following these fashion events, UNODC in partnership with the Government of the Republic of Kenya and THRIBUNE (a Spanish NGO) seeks to collaborate to establish the first residence for temporary accommodation for adolescent girls in conflict with the law. The reintegration programmes will be offered for the duration of the stay of the girls, or until they reach the age of eighteen.

The internship position is offered for a period of six months starting in October 2020. The intern will work five days per week (40 hours) under the first supervision of the head of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme, UNODC – ROEA. The internship is UNPAID and fulltime.

For further information on UNODC, please visit the following website: www.unodc.org

Given the current situation due to COVID-19, selected interns may have to start working remotely from their country of nationality/residence subject to travel restrictions in effect both in their home country and duty station as well as availability of affordable air or surface transportation as applicable.

Responsibilities

Purpose of the assignment:

To assist in the implementation of the Designing Dreams project in Kenya

Specific tasks to be performed by the Intern:

Under the overall supervision UNODC ROEA Head of the Criminal Justice Programme the intern will; –

• Assist in the design, planning and implementation of the Designing Dreams project in Kenya,
• Assist in meetings with counterparts and partners as it is related to the project
• Assist in the reporting and monitoring of the Designing Dreams project
• Assist in the activities related to building a temporary residence for girls in conflict with the Law
• Carry out any other duties as required

Competencies

• Professionalism: Knowledge, experience and/or training in criminal justice, criminal law, human rights and/or public international law. Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations.
• Communication: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets message from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; tailors language, tone, style and format to match the audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.
• Teamwork: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organisational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decision may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.

Education

Applicants must at the time of application meet one of the following requirements:

• Be enrolled in, or have completed, a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher).
• Be enrolled in, or have completed, the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum bachelor’s level or equivalent).

(OFFICIAL WRITTEN PROOF FROM THE UNIVERSITY SUPPORTING ONE OF THE ABOVE POSSIBILITIES MUST BE ATTACHED TO THE INSPIRA APPLICATION);

In addition, applicants must meet all of the following requirements:

• Be computer literate in standard software applications.
• Have demonstrated keen interest in the work of the United Nations and have a personal commitment to the ideals of the Charter.
• Have a demonstrated ability to successfully interact with individuals of different cultural backgrounds and beliefs, which include willingness to try and understand and be tolerant of differing opinions and views.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. Fluency in oral and written English is required. Knowledge of another official United Nations language and/or Kiswahili is an asset.

Assessment

Short-listed candidates may be contracted directly if further information is needed during the review of their application. Due to the high volume of applications received, candidates who have not been short listed will not be contacted.

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Result of Service

To work on the implementation of the project portfolio of the Land Housing and Shelter Section (LHS) and the project “Fostering local communities of solidarity for migrants and refugees from Venezuela” in coordination with the UN-Habitat Andean Hub in Colombia

Outputs

Output 1: Formulate LHS conceptual documents on migration and:

housing and tenure rights.
tools and instruments to support housing diversity.
information management systems.
metropolitan governance in relationship to housing models.

Output 2: Draft LHS and finetuning the existing methodologies for migration related projects:

formulation of local government’s stakeholder groups.
definition of consensus-based city priorities.
fine tuning the LHS section methodologies on City Migration Profiles.

Output 3: Draft the following documents required to support the creation of pilot projects supporting migrant inclusion in housing strategies and overall urban development:

Formulation of a concept note for pilot projects
Formulation of terms of reference for pilot projects
Conduct application, implementation, and monitoring processes for pilot projects

Output 4: Conduct technical revisions -as required- to the products submitted to the LHS by the Andean Countries Hub on the theme of housing and migration.conceptual documents on migration and:

housing and tenure rights.
tools and instruments to support housing diversity.
information management systems.
metropolitan governance in relationship to housing models.
Work Location

Home Based

Expected duration

8 Months (October 2020- May 2021
Duties and Responsibilities

ORGANIZATIONAL SETTING

UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate and affordable housing for all. It works with organisations 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, through the Land Housing and Shelter section, supports New Urban Agenda partners and governments at all levels in formulating and implementing progressive housing sector reforms, policies, programmes and legislation which contribute to the creation of inclusive and sustainable cities, and comply with international law relating to the right to adequate housing. It provides expertise to support sound analysis of the housing sector and, in particular, the review of key legislation and elements affecting affordable housing provisions. UN-Habitat assists governments to formulate and implement policies and strategies designed to maximise the impact of housing in national socio-economic development and employment generation, as well as in urban development. It helps with in-depth local diagnosis of the state of the housing sector and provides technical support to the formulation of national housing policies and subsequent implementation strategies.

BACKGROUND TO THE CONSULTANCY

Venezuela experiences a significantly deteriorating socio-economic situation. More than 3 million Venezuelans now live out of the country, with the numbers growing strongly over recent months. While initially a majority had moved to the United States and Spain, this changed significantly with the growing number of persons leaving in 2017. At present (October 2018), more than 2.6 million have moved to Latin American neighbouring countries (first and foremost Colombia with 1,174,000 migrants, but increasingly also Peru with 506,156, and Ecuador 221,000. In Colombia, this also includes 300,000 Colombian returnees who had fled violence in Colombia, as well as numerous families of mixed Venezuelan and Colombian nationality. The legal status of Venezuelans varies across and within the countries in the region, which can determine their rights to work and to access basic services. As a consequence, migration is placing significant pressures on institutions, service provision systems.
Given the described situation, UN-Habitat, IOM and UNHCR as United Nations Agencies have agreed on formulating and proposing an inter-agency project to address the described problematic: Fostering Communities of Solidarity. The overall objective of the project is to reduce vulnerabilities of migrants and refugees and address the impact on host communities in order to design stable and durable solutions with medium and long-term vision.
In particular, the consultant will provide direct support to the implementation of the Fostering Communities of Solidarity Project and the links between this project and the overall work from the Land Housing and Shelter section on the field of migration.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Under the leadership of the Housing Specialist, Land Housing and Shelter Section, Urban Practices Branch, the consultant is expected to conduct the following tasks:

• Work with UN-Habitat’s LHS advocacy, outreach, and knowledge management, as well as internal communication on housing diversity and culture and its links to migration governance.
• Increase migrant’s housing rights-related knowledge by leveraging on UN-Habitat’s Housing team as well as connecting with the on-going Mediterranean City to City Migration Project’s network’s technical expertise.
• Revise and contribute technically on the products stemming from the Fostering Communities of Solidarity project, by drawing on lessons learnt from UN-Habitat’s projects on migration, formulating new conceptual documents and methodologies on themes related to housing and migration.
• Carry out research and drafting of thematic papers, reports, and any document related to vulnerable populations’ access to adequate housing, the prevention of homelessness and unlawful forced evictions.
• Proofread and edit all outputs and documentation as required, in English and in Spanish.

Cross-cutting issues

The expert will be prompted to look at a number of cross-cutting themes in the template/guidelines provided to complete the aforementioned products, these include human rights, youth, gender, climate change, etc.
Most importantly, the expert should pay attention to studying how far the human rights of migrants are addressed and guaranteed (in particular, the right to adequate housing). This will include an analysis of the adoption of international human rights standards and principles (equality, non-discrimination, participation, inclusion etc.) at the national and local levels, particularly as they relate to migrant women, migrant youths and undocumented migrants.

Remuneration

The consultant will be paid per output delivery. Remuneration to be discussed

Qualifications/special skills

• Skills: Excellent skills in editing analytical reports and methodologies. Ability to proofread and edit long texts to ensure that complex ideas are articulated in a clear and accurate manner.
• Excellent proofreading and editing skills in English and Spanish to correct spelling and grammatical errors and ensure that there is consistency in the language style.
• Ability to ensure that sources are correctly and consistently referenced in-text and in the bibliography.
• Planning and management skills: ability to coordinate own work plan in order to meet deadlines set by the project team.
• Knowledge of research and policy issues in the field of migration, housing rights, culture and diversity, including the prevention of homelessness, unlawful forced evictions, and human rights abuses.
• Academic Qualifications: Advanced university degree (masters or similar) in journalism, communications, social sciences or related fields (including political science, public policy, international development, migration studies, or similar) is a requirement
• Experience: Minimum 2 years of relevant professional experience, including writing published articles, reports and/or academic texts is a requirement; Experience in writing analytical texts relating to housing rights, urban governance, migration governance, or migration issues would be an advantage.
• Language: English and French are the working languages of the United Nations. For this position, proficiency in spoken and written English and Spanish are required