Career Opportunities at UN-Habitat

Competencies

Communication: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively. Listens to others, correctly interprets messages 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 organizational 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 decisions may not entirely reflect own position. Shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.

Client orientation: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be "clients" and seeks to see things from clients' point of view. Establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect. Identifies clients' needs and matches them to appropriate solutions. Monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients' environment to keep informed and anticipate problems. Keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects. Meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client.

Education

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

• Be enrolled in a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher);
• Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree program (minimum Bachelor's level or equivalent);
• Have graduated with Bachelor's degree, Masters, PhD or equivalent
• Be computer literate in standard software applications (Microsoft Office, Adobe).
• 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.
• Preferred areas of studies: Urban Planning, Urban Design, Landscape Architecture, Urban Policy, Urban Geography, and GIS.
• Strong analysis of urban form, urban systems, underlying social, legal and financial mechanisms and the political context of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), especially Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan is an asset.
• Ability to develop substantive reports as well as supporting graphics (report visuals, graphs, charts, etc.) is an asset.
• Knowledge of urban development issues is an asset.
• Ability to observe deadlines, achieve set goals, work and deliver under pressure is an added advantage.

Work Experience

• No working experience is required to apply for the United Nations Internship Programme. Your training, education, advance course work or skills should benefit the United Nations during your internship.
• Knowledge of five main challenges and priority action in Common Wealth Independent States (CIS) countries is desirable.
• Ability to submit timely and accurate reports/deliverables in a team setting is required.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this internship, fluency in oral and written English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable.

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Responsibility
Under the overall supervision from the Head of the Production Unit and in close collaboration with the task leader of the Urban Agenda Platform Team in the Strategic Planning Section, the incumbent will be responsible to perform the following duties:

• Fix bugs/technical parts of the Platform, including user registration
• Enhance overall user-friendliness, navigation and operability of the Platform by making improvements to the design, backend, technical features, etc.
• Add a module on user statistics and prepare, run and evaluate a web site survey for non-registered users
• Enable cross-referencing of content across Platform sections, in particular on (but not limited to) stakeholder pages under Engagement section
• Update and add content to the Urban Agenda Platform in close cooperation with Urban Agenda Platform team.
• Update/modify page layout of Platform
• Collaborate with short-term web developer on identifying hard coded sections of the Platform to be turned into modules, and creation of module-based default and content type pages
• Make Urban Community Forum application operational and user-friendly, including its link to the Cities in Action App
• Technical maintenance of Platform, including undertaking security updates
• Take part in the technical reviews and testing processes for quality control and security.

Qualifications/special skills
Academic Qualifications:

• A bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or equivalent is required. In lieu of a university degree, 2 years additional professional experience may be accepted
• Experience: A bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or equivalent is required. In lieu of a university degree, 2 years additional professional experience may be accepted
• Minimum 4 years of experience in web development, web best practices, responsive design, and current techniques is required.
• Technical experience in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, and PHP; Working experience in Git version control and the command line is required.
• Proven experience in Drupal is required.
• Self-motivated, critical thinker and the ability to thrive in a team environment is required.
• Strong client-services orientation with excellent communication skills to non-technical staff is required.
• Fluency in both oral and written English is required.
• Ability to work with minimal supervision and a high level of resilience is required.
• Excellent team player with strong interpersonal skills and ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity is required.
• Language: Fluency in both oral and written English is required.

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Specific Tasks and Responsibilities

• The consultant “Impact Assessment Expert” shall report to the Chief, Land, Housing and Shelter Section (LHSS) under the Urban Practices Branch or any authorized staff. The consultant, as part of the inception report, should provide a detailed plan and methodology in undertaking the work. The inception report should be discussed and agreed with LHSS.
• The consultant should be able to assess emerging impacts and outcomes of the pilot project including on matters related to land tenure security, norms/traditions, gender, social, economic/financial, political, environmental, voice and empowerment and other applicable impact indicators.
• The consultant, in consultation with LHSS, partners and target communities, should investigate the following key elements including but not limited to:
• How relevant was the pilot project to intended beneficiaries, government and partners? Did the planned project results respond to the gaps identified in the land and natural resource tenure security sector at the national, regional and local levels?
• What are the general impressions of the beneficiaries of the pilot interventions, particularly the processing and issuance of certificate of customary ownership (CCO)? What are the strengths and weaknesses/gaps? What could be the recommendations for improvement in the future?
• How effective was the project’s approaches regarding strengthening women, youth and other vulnerable groups participation and engagement to project activities? What worked and didn’t work, and what could be improved?
• How did the pilot interventions impact tenure security of the beneficiaries? How did this change over time?
• How did the pilot interventions impact on agricultural productivity and productive land investments? Did productive land, crop and property investments increase?
• Did the pilot project activities result in increase/decrease in productive non-land investments (education, health, labour etc.)?
• What is the likelihood that the pilot project contributed to positive (or negative) unintended impacts in the priority project sites? What emerging outcomes, if any, can be attributed to the implementation of the pilot project?
• How did the pilot interventions impact women’s access to land and land tenure security? Do they experience more tenure security and are they able to access agricultural inputs more easily? Are the dynamics within families (for instance related to decision-making processes) changed? How did the pilot interventions increase the voice, participation and empowerment of women beneficiaries
• Has there been an impact on the number of land transactions and land market? Has the CCO impacted on land values?
• Have there been any impacts on access to financial resources? Did people take out more loans? Did they seek the necessary financial knowledge?
• Has the CCOs directly or indirectly resulted in increased revenues for local governments? Was the resulting revenue invested in improving the land sector or the project sites? If not, why?
• How did the pilot interventions impact beneficiaries’ investments and practices in improving sustainable land use and environmental management?
• Did the pilot interventions on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) provide sustainable results? What are the impressions of the beneficiaries in its effectiveness? Did the number of conflicts or disputes decrease, also on the long term? What are the recommendations for improvement?
• To what extent has the innovation, approaches and knowledge from the pilot project been shared, mainstreamed and disseminated within the Project partners and target groups? What are the possible improvements in this regard (i.e. capacity development, more awareness raising, etc.).
• To what extent did the implementation of pilot project support synergies and interlinkages with other projects of the Netherlands Embassy and other donors? To what extent did the intervention’s design and implementation coordinate with other donor’s activities?
• To what extent did the pilot project interventions complement and support other government and key partners’ efforts?
• What intervention strategies were implemented? What worked and which ones were less effective and why?
• What is the actual and perceived costs of acquiring the CCO? Are the target beneficiaries willing to pay the cost? Is it affordable? Is it worth it?
• What is the estimated true cost of producing the CCO collectively (systematically) and individually (sporadically)? How much time does (should) it take to issue the CCO?
• What factors or type of obstacles (institutional, political, administrative, financial and managerial) contributed to or inhibited the efficient and effective implementation?
• To what extent were the results achieved by the pilot project sustained or replicated or scaled up? What are the facilitating and impeding factors in sustaining or scaling up the pilot project interventions?

Qualifications/special skills

• Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in land administration, project management, development economics, agriculture, rural development, sociology or related area is required. A first-level university degree in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A minimum of seven (7) years’ related experience in programme evaluation in developing countries particularly in areas of land administration, agriculture and food security and natural resource management
• At least three (3) years of experience in programme design and/or implementation of land and natural resources management programmes in developing countries is required
• Extensive knowledge in addressing land sector issues in developing countries through policy and institutional changes, land tenure security, land tools and innovations is desirable;
• Previous experience with UN and/or international organization is desirable

Competencies

• Professionalism: Demonstrates knowledge and skills on land and gender issues in Uganda; Shows pride in work and achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professionalism rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with challenges; remain calm in stressful situations; and takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work.
• Planning and Organising: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required; allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; and uses time efficiently.
• Teamwork: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational 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 decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcoming

Languages
Fluency in English (both oral and written) is required; knowledge of the other UN languages is desirable.