UNDP supports stabilization, state building,
governance and development priorities in Afghanistan. UNDP support, in
partnership with the Government, the United Nations system, the donor
community and other development stakeholders, has contributed to
institutional development efforts leading to positive impact on the
lives of Afghan citizens. Over the years UNDP support has spanned such
milestone efforts as the adoption of the Constitution; Presidential,
Parliamentary and Provincial Council elections; institutional
development through capacity-building to the legislative, the judicial
and executive arms of the state, and key ministries, Government agencies
and commissions at the national and subnational levels. UNDP has played
a key role in the management of the Law and Order Trust Fund, which
supports the Government in developing and maintaining the national
police force and in efforts to stabilize the internal security
environment. Major demobilization, disarmament and rehabilitation and
area-based livelihoods and reconstruction programmes have taken place
nationwide. UNDP Programmes in Afghanistan have benefited from the very
active support of donors. UNDP Afghanistan is committed to the highest
standards of transparency and accountability and works in close
coordination with the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan and the UN
system as a whole to maximize the impact of its development efforts on
the ground.
UNDP supports stabilization,
state-building, governance and development priorities in Afghanistan.
UNDP support, in partnership with the Government, the United Nations
system, the donor community and other development stakeholders, has
contributed to institutional development efforts leading to positive
impact on the lives of Afghan citizens over the years. Risk management
is an integral part of effective managing for development results.
The
Strategic Programme Review (SPR) of UNDP Afghanistan in November 2011
and other management review studies highlighted the need to strengthen
quality assurance, monitoring and oversight in programme and office
operations with enhanced risk managements. Notwithstanding the gradual
improvement in audit results, it is clear that additional efforts need
to be undertaken to ensure that optimum safeguards are in place given
the high-risk environment, which entails corruption, low capacity of
counterparts and limited access due to the volatile security situation
across the 34 provinces.
The role of the
effective risk management will become even more important as UNDP
prepares to play an increasingly critical role during the transition
period leading up to the withdrawal of the international security
forces. In the recent past, risk analysis and assurance determining how
UNDP navigate and respond to existing and emerging risks has been
limited. UNDP’s Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) process provides useful
guidance on the risk management process, but the actual use of this
tool has been varied across different projects and office unites. In a
transitional and fragile context such as that of Afghanistan, a
comprehensive risk management framework needs to be established and
executed for all aspects of programme/project management and office
operations.
In this regard, UNDP requires top-quality
specialist expertise to institute, execute and mainstream risk
management into programme/project management as well as quality
assurance and oversight functions in the office in order to ensure
programmatic result accountability, financial and operational fiduciary
in programme and office operations, and credibility both with the
government and national counterparts as well as with donors and other UN
agencies. To this end, the Afghanistan Country Office (CO) intends to
situate the specialist in its newly created Oversight and Compliance
Unit, which is responsible for establishment of a dedicated capacity to
undertake risk management, quality assurance, and oversight functions,
directly reporting to the country director.
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Under the overall direction of the UNDP
Afghanistan Country Director and direct supervision of the Management
Advisor, Head of Oversight and Compliance Unit, the Risk Management
Specialist will lead overall risk management for UNDP Afghanistan,
aiming at achievement the following results:
- Risks
(Threats/Opportunities) in all aspects of programme and office
operations to be appropriately identified, assessed, and responded in
order to achieve programmatic and organizational goals
- Effective,
responsive, and proactive risk mitigation measures with risk reporting
and surveillance system to be instituted and fully implemented for
programme/project management at national and sub-national levels
- Risk management to be fully addressed and integrated into Assurance, Oversight, and Compliance Framework in UNDP Afghanistan
- Risk assurance support provided to Senior Management in CO and HQ as well as respective partners
- All relevant staff and personnel equipped with proper knowledge and skills on risk management
More specifically the Risk Management Specialist will:
Lead and coordinate overall risk management in UNDP Afghanistan
- Assess
and identify critical risks in all aspects (incl., environmental,
financial, operational, organizational, political, regulatory, strategic
and reputational) of overall programme management and office operations
in the country.
- Provide technical guidance to UNDP
Afghanistan on strategic choices and decision-making based on the
expected gains from an activity and associated risk exposure.
- Design
and institute effective and appropriate risk mitigation measures and
tools in key business lines in the office, such as procurement, human
resources, finance, and security in collaboration with the respective
units in CO
- Secure institutional support to mitigate the
potential threats and safeguard UNDP from being exposed to the excessive
risks in collaboration with respective offices in the UNDP
Headquarters(HQ).
- Develop policies and procedures for UNDP Afghanistan for risk management and contingency planning.
- Establish an effective and efficient risk monitoring and reporting systems in UNDP Afghanistan.
- Regularly monitor the status of identified and emerging risks as well as the effectiveness of the instituted risk measures.
- Provide
advice to UNDP Senior Management and Programme Teams on how to navigate
or respond to escalating risk events in fragile environment and
recommend strategies to strengthen risk containment measures.
- Manage
and update UNDP’s corporate risk management tools, such as Business
Continuity Management (BCM) plan, Integrated Work Plan (IWP),
Result-Oriented Annual Report (ROAR), and Enterprise Risk Management
(ERM).
- Establish networks with relevant national and
international actors (universities, researches, etc) to obtain risk
intelligences and analyses grounded on expert knowledge.
Establish and operate effective risk management for project implementation both at national and field level
- Undertake
and manage the risk analyses on programme/project management to
identify and prioritise possible risk events as well as the risk
implications for UNDP programmatic interventions in the country;
- Provide
inputs for UNDP’s risk assessment tools for programme/project design,
such as the Environmental and Social Screening Procedures for UNDP
Programmes/Projects and conflict-sensitivity analyses, in close
collaboration with DCDs and CTAs and the Policy Unit to prevent UNDP’s
planned interventions from aggravating underlying political, economic,
and social factors in the country
- Provide technical
advice to ensure all necessary risk measures are incorporated in
programme/project design and implementation arrangements both under
Direct Implementation (DIM) and National Implementation (NIM) modalities
- Provide quality assurance on programme/project risk logs and other risk management planning.
- Provide support to the programme/project teams at national and sub-national levels to implement effective risk measures.
- Design, institute and manage risk mitigation measures for field operations in insecure provinces.
- Institute,
conduct, and manage risk surveillance mechanisms to monitor risks
associated with programme/project implementation at national and
sub-national levels.
- Develop a tool for project managers and project officers to assess the risk levels and report on updates of the risk status.
Integrate Risk Management Process into Assurance, Oversight, and Compliance Framework
- Identify
constraints on undermining integrity, fiduciary, and compliance in
programme and office operations in the high risk environment and
recommend appropriate countermeasures.
- Ensure that the
critical issues of risk management are adequately and appropriately
addressed and integrated in the office and programme accountability
frameworks and measures
- Provide technical guidance and
support to the programmes/projects to integrate risk management tools
and contingency planning tools in the programme/project assurance and
compliance frameworks;
- Assess and monitor the
effectiveness of risk management plan and measures for the assurance and
oversight frameworks on a regular basis
Provide Risk Assurance to Senior Management and Partners
- Support senior management at country level to ensure that risk management is a central part of programme and office management
- Provide
clear and consistent updates and reports on the risks and threats to
Country Director and the HQ with actionable recommendations
- Provide
pertinent advice and timely and accurate information on risk events and
threats to ensure effective crisis communication with the key
stakeholders and audiences in collaboration with External Relations and
Programme Support Units.
- Support Country Director in
managing relationships with donor partners and other stakeholders to
secure a shared understanding on how UNDP balances between the pursuit
of ambitions results and risk exposure in its activities from a
risk-sharing perspective.
- Engage with other UN agencies and partners to form a common approach to risk management across the UN system
- Prepare
proposals for mobilization of human, technical or financial resources
from international development organizations, non-government
organizations and the private sector to support/strengthen risk
management process in country
Knowledge Management and Capacity Development on Risk Management
- Ensure appropriate capacity building for risk management at the country office as well as programme and project levels
- Document risk management processes and develop Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) on risk management in UNDP Afghanistan
- Collect
information on best practices and lessons learned on managing the risks
in post-conflict situations and apply them in accordance with the
context in Afghanistan
- Develop informal networks and
relationships of trust with relevant research institutions and other
bodies involved in risk analyses and management particularly in
fragile/conflict affected countries
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Corporate Competencies:
- Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
- Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
- Treats all people fairly without favouritism.
Conflict Assessment Experience
- Strong experience in conducting broad contextual analysis of fragile/conflict-affected situations;
- Experience in working on conflict sensitive programming and mainstreaming conflict sensitivity;
- Experience in designing development–related interventions in conflict-affected countries
Risk Management Experience
- Strong experience in strategy and risk assessment at senior management level;
- Deep familiarity and experience with applying risk management tools and processes in large organisations;
- Excellent critical thinking ability.
Development and Operational Effectiveness
- Solid experience in leading strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
- Ability to advocate and provide policy advice at senior management levels;
- Solid experience in formulating, implementing, monitoring and evaluating work plans and programmes;
Management and Leadership
- Excellent interpersonal skills and collaborative work style;
- Focuses on impact and results and responds positively to feedback;
- Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
- Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
- Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors, at the senior levels;
- Remains calm, in control and good humoured even under pressure;
- Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities
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