Country: Kenya
Closing date: 19 Jun 2015
CONSULTANT VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT
Issued on: 12th June 2015
ORGANIZATIONAL LOCATION:
UN-Habitat, Housing and Slum Upgrading Branch, Slum Upgrading Unit
DUTY STATION:
Nairobi, Kenya
FUNCTIONAL TITLE:
Program Management Expert
DURATION:
6 months
CLOSING DATE:
19 June 2015
BACKGROUND
There are 863 million slum dwellers globally and if no serious action is taken, the number is projected to rise over the next 30 years to about 2 billion. Unless radical efforts are made to provide a range of affordable housing options and legal and secure land at scale, cities will be host to hundreds of millions of new slum-dwellers. The situation is critical and unprecedented. In response, UN-Habitat aims to mobilize a global coalition of partners to address the challenge of unsustainable urbanization. UN-Habitat’s vision is “to help create by 2013 the necessary conditions for concerted international and national efforts to stabilize the growth of slums and to set the stage for the subsequent reduction in and reversal of the number of slum dwellers.” This vision, derived from the Millennium Development Goals, cannot be realized without systemic reforms to promote access to land and housing for all.
The Housing and Slum Upgrading Branch of UN-Habitat promotes increased access to adequate housing, slum upgrading and prevention, and community development through five cross-cutting strategies: Advocacy, knowledge management, policy advice, capacity development at the global, regional, national and local levels, and implementation support at the national and local levels. The main activities of the Branch include supporting local authorities and central governments in the formulation and implementation of housing policies and strategies to achieve adequate housing for all, as part of sustainable urban development. The Branch promotes a twin-track approach focused on improving the supply and affordability of adequate and sustainable housing for all, and slum upgrading and prevention initiatives, in the implementation of operational activities. This is done through promoting the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing as a component of the rights to an adequate standard of living.
With the objective of contributing to the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 7D "to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers”, the Slum Upgrading Unit assists governments to harmonise actions towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by pro-actively engaging at neighbourhood, city, national, regional and global levels; and strategically plan urban development for an efficient socio-economic transition in developing countries, cities and neighbourhoods.
UN-Habitat and the Slum Upgrading Unit will continue 1) promoting partnerships for sound urban development practices, up-scaled and city-wide slum upgrading programmes; 2) emphasizing the importance of constant learning and sharing of best-practices worldwide; 3) changing perceptions for inclusive cities and urban vulnerability reduction; advocating for national pro-poor urban policies and slum upgrading strategies and funds to sustainably improve living conditions; and 4) linking efforts to decentralization and empowerment of non-state actors for policy reforms, green economies and participatory pro-active planning.
Therefore UN-Habitat partnered with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Secretariat and the European Commission to implement the Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme (PSUP) in 35 countries. Some 150 cities across Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific are implementing the program currently.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Purpose of the consultancy
This consultancy has a threefold aim in assisting PSUP in its implementation: preparation of programmatic publications, programme content development and supporting programme implementation at country level.
Outputs and deliverables
The consultancy is output based. The following activities are expected to be carried out by the consultant:
- Auxiliary/Supplementary PSUP Publications
- PSUP Mid-term Publication
- PSUP Methodology/Tool Update
- Urban Renewal and Participatory Slum Upgrading
- Project Proposal and Resource Mobilisation
- Country Follow Up.
Proposed content, methodology, key resources
- Auxiliary/Supplementary PSUP Publications:
Development of PSUP auxiliary/supplementary publications (e.g. brochures, concept papers, charts, etc.) focused on mainstreaming and giving visibility to programmatic aspects of PSUP. The consultant will be heavily involved in background research, conceptualisation of content and preparation of the actual material to be published. A comprehensive approach should be followed in order to give coherence to the various auxiliary publications.
- PSUP Mid-term Publication:
A mid-term programmatic publication is an expected output for PSUP in 2015. This publication shall consider a status report on the MDG 7 goals with focus on the PSUP countries; linkages to the proposed SDGs two page country briefs of all PSUP countries; design of related materials and e-content; data collection, analysis and presentation. The consultant shall carry out the background research and data collection, conceptualisation of content and preparation of the actual material to be published.
- PSUP Methodology/Tool Update:
An update of existing PSUP methodological tools is expected to incorporate best practices and lessons learnt identified during the implementation period. The consultant shall focus mostly in methodology and tools for the second and third phases of the programme, updating toolkits and terms of references.
- Urban Renewal and Participatory Slum Upgrading:
The consultant will produce an action-oriented concept paper and related material articulating the link between city-wide urban renewal and participatory slum upgrading. In doing so, the consultant is expected to refer to the sustainable development framework provided by the New Urban Agenda and Habitat III.
- Project Proposal and Resource Mobilisation:
The consultant is expected to engage in the programme’s resource mobilisation through the preparation of project proposals for different PSUP-related funding opportunities, as well as providing inputs for other UN-Habitat’s proposals that could link with the programme, its principles and objectives.
- Country Follow Up:
The PSUP Programme Leader will assign countries to the consultant to act as focal person on PSUP implementation whereby the consultant will provide monthly update to the PSUP management on the activities at country level.
Duration and timeframe
The assignment will be undertaken for a period of 6 working months, between 1 July 2015 and 31 December 2015. Conditions of this consultancy are subject to the UNOPS rules and regulations.
Reporting structure
The consultant will report to the Leader, Slum Upgrading Unit, Housing and Slum Upgrading Branch UN-Habitat.
The consultant shall ensure that all materials are submitted in electronic format (using MS Word) by email to the reporting officers above.
Property rights
- Once the outputs are accepted by UN-Habitat, they will be the property of the United Nations, which shall be entitled to all property rights, including but not limited to patents, copyrights, and trademarks with regard to all material which bears a direct relation to, or is made in consequence of, the services provided to UN-Habitat by the Consultant.
- UN-Habitat will make reference to and acknowledge the contribution made by the consultant to the preparation of the materials produced by the consultant.
QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience in the field of slum upgrading, urban planning and development projects
- Experience in preparing publications and advocacy material
- Experience in community management and working with less privileged groups in an urban setting
- Experience in project formulation and management
- Experience in organizing and holding outreach events to reach diverse groups of people
- High motivation to support the Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme (PSUP)
EDUCATION
Master’s in the following fields: Architect, Urban Development, Urban Planning, Geography and Environmental Planning.
WORK EXPERIENCE
- Minimum of 10 years working experience in informal settlements upgrading from an international perspective
LANGUAGE SKILLS
Fluent English, spoken and written. Multilingual: preferably French and Spanish or any other UN official languages
REMUNERATION
Remuneration depends on the qualifications and experience of the candidate.
How to apply:
Applications should include:
• Cover memo (maximum 1 page)
• CV in the PHP format, accessible through the INSPIRA website (inspira.un.org) Please note, if using INSPIRA for the first time, you need to register in order to activate your account, which will allow you to log in and create a personal History Profile.
• The PHP should be attached to the application as a PDF file.
• Summary CV (maximum 2 pages), indicating the following information:
- Educational Background (incl. dates)
- Professional Experience (assignments, tasks, achievements, duration by years/ months)
- Other Experience and Expertise (e.g. Internships/ voluntary work, etc.)
- Expertise and preferences regarding location of potential assignments
- Expectations regarding remuneration
- Three references
Please also be advised that since April 15th 2010, applicants for consultancies must be part of the
UN-HABITAT e-Roster in order for their application to be considered. You can reach the e-Roster
through the following link: http://e-roster.unhabitat.org
All applications should be sent to psup@unhabitat.org
Deadline for applications: 19th June 2015
UN-HABITAT does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process. If you have any questions concerning persons or companies claiming to be recruiting on behalf of these offices and requesting the payment of a fee, please contact:recruitment@unon.org