Associate Livelihood & Economic Inclusion Officer – UNOPS Consultancy

UN High Commissioner for Refugees

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is offering a UNOPS Individual Contractor full-time position of Associate Livelihood and Economic Inclusion Officer within the Socio- Economic Inclusion Section in the Division of Resilience and Solutions*.*

UNHCR is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people. Every year, millions of men, women and children are forced to flee their homes to escape conflict and persecution. We are in over 125 countries, using our expertise to protect and care for millions.

Title: Associate Livelihood and Economic Inclusion Officer

Duty Station: Geneva, Switzerland

Duration: starting as soon as possible until 31 December 2022

Contract Type: UNOPS IICA, Level 1

Closing date: 11 September 2022

Start date: as soon as possible

Organizational context

The Associate Livelihood and Economic Inclusion Officer will be key in operationalizing the strategic vision to align livelihoods and economic inclusion efforts with the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), which underscores the need to mobilize additional actors and to adopt a whole-of-society approach to strengthen refugee self-reliance and help ease pressure on host countries. Promoting economic inclusion of refugees is a key development area that will enable the achievement of these objectives and contribute to the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The Associate Livelihood and Economic Inclusion Officer will be based with the Livelihoods and Economic Inclusion Unit in the Division for Resilience and Solutions at UNHCR HQ in Geneva. The Livelihoods and Economic Inclusion Unit supports Regional Bureaus and Country Operations in their work to:

  1. Improve the enabling environment for livelihoods and economic inclusion – including through advocacy on the right to/at work, financial inclusion, freedom of movement, access to economic opportunities and services;
  2. Seek new and strengthen existing partnerships including with the private sector, development actors, government institutions and specialized agencies to amplify innovative approaches and advance the economic inclusion of refugees, and;
  3. Enhance ongoing livelihoods and economic inclusion programming through evidence-based and market-driven approaches, and the sharing of knowledge and tools, to improve economic inclusion outcomes.

The Associate Livelihood and Economic Inclusion Officer will be instrumental in supporting this work of the Unit. He/she should be proactive, always looking for new opportunities and persuasive in mobilizing donors and new partners around new models of economic and social integration. The Associate Livelihood and Economic Inclusion Officer will be working closely with livelihoods and economic inclusion colleagues including regional livelihoods and economic inclusion officers and field-based colleagues in charge of or supporting the livelihoods engagement and economic inclusion in each country operation. S/he will as well be working closely with colleagues across the Division of Resilience and Solutions, and contribute to coordination with DIP, DSRP, PSP and the Bureaus as relevant. The Associate Livelihood and Economic Inclusion Officer will also be supporting engagement with external actors.

Duties and responsibilities

The Associate Livelihood and Economic Inclusion Officer will support the advancement of inclusive digital work and internal and external communication processes. Responsibilities will include the following:

  • Support management of the Poverty Alleviation Coalition (PAC) and advance refugees’ access to digital livelihoods and digital work in coordination and partnership with UN agencies, private sector companies and entities that have made pledges towards digital work during the Global Refugee Forum.
  • Support coordination with different humanitarian, developmental and governmental stakeholders to enhance refugees’ self-reliance and economic inclusion. This includes advocating to include UNHCR PoC in supporting services (business development, micro-finance, training, saving accounts, poverty alleviation and social protection, etc.) and local development plans.
  • Assist in knowledge management and regular information sharing of key findings regarding livelihoods programme outcomes and the global enabling environment for economic inclusion, including by feeding into strategy development and global advocacy.
  • Manage the Annual Global Livelihoods and Economic Inclusion Survey and results dissemination.
  • Support management the Livelihoods Information System, the revision and upkeeping of the monitoring tools and the fronted data visualization in the Livelihoods Information System. Assist in ensuring alignment of livelihoods indicators in institutional systems and develop an appropriate interoperable plan for data collection across the platforms, integrating with existing platforms whenever possible (i.e. across COMPASS, LIS, the GCR indicator framework, etc.).
  • Collaborate with multi-sectoral colleagues and partners and recommend advocacy initiatives and policy reforms to enhance the enabling environment and improve UNHCR PoC’s economic inclusion, rights and access to work.
  • Provide support to Country Operations and Regional Bureaus in research, socio- economic assessments, capacity building, and the dissemination of best practices related to livelihoods and economic inclusion.
  • Provide technical support in monitoring for colleagues in County Operations and Regional Bureaus and facilitate the increased use of M&E tools in Country Operations.
  • Other tasks as deemed priority by the livelihoods and economic inclusion unit.

The UNOPS ICA will work under the direct supervision of the Senior Livelihoods and Economic Inclusion Officer / Head of Unit (SEIS, DRS).

Essential minimum qualifications and professional experience required

  1. Education

Master’s Degree in Socio-Economic Development, Economics/International Economics, International Development, or other relevant field.

  1. Work Experience
  • At least 3 years of professional experience required.
  • Experience in facilitating the economic inclusion of vulnerable and marginalized groups in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders, ideally in varied field contexts.
  • Experience in working with and developing partnerships with private sector, NGOs, UN organizations, development actors, and government authorities in sub-sectors relevant to livelihood and economic inclusion programming e.g. financial inclusion, employment, entrepreneurship, private sector development, local economic development, poverty reduction, agriculture, livestock, vocational and technical education and training, etc.
  1. Key Competencies

Essential

Technical competencies in sub-sectors relevant to livelihoods programming e.g. financial inclusion, employment, entrepreneurship, private sector development, local economic development, poverty reduction, agriculture, livestock, vocational and technical education, and training, etc.

Desirable

Knowledge about latest development in the livelihoods sector, including broader UN processes on the SDGs and the Global Compact on Refugees.

Location

The successful candidate will be working in Geneva, Switzerland.

Conditions

The UNOPS Individual Contractor contract is until 31 December 2022. Working 100% (full-time)

How to apply

Interested applicants should submit their letter of motivation and Personal History Form (PHF) to [email protected] indicating DRS/2022/014; First Name/Last Name, Associate Livelihood and Economic Inclusion Officer, UNOPS in the subject of the email.

Personal History Forms are available at PHF Form / Supplementary Sheet.

Applications without PHF Form will not be considered.

The UNHCR workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages and opinions. UNHCR seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. Applications are encouraged from all qualified candidates without distinction on grounds of race, colour, sex, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.


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