International Technical Advisor at United Nations

Duties and Responsibilities

• Background The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the agency for human settlements. It is mandated by the General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.
• The current portfolio of UN-Habitat’s activities in Africa is expanding and there is need for strengthening the capacity at country level, as part of the Regional Office for Africa (ROAf). Internal displacement in Nigeria is a multi-faceted, complex and protracted crisis that has lasted for over a decade in the North-East and most recently in the North-West with the effects trickling down to the North-Central with increasing complexities and urbanization pressure. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) Round 45 report, a total of 2,295,534 people (471,346 households) are recorded as internally displaced across North-East Nigeria and according to IOM’s DTM North-Central and North-West Displacement Report Round 11 of March 2023, 27,058 individuals are displaced in Kano State – which includes Kano Metropolitan area extending into Katsina and upward, and amounting to up to 252,268 displaced individuals. In the North-East, up to 35% (921,201 individuals) of internally displaced persons (IDPs) reside in camps and camp-like settings, while 65% (1,374,333 individuals) reside in host communities.
• The ongoing insurgency in North-East Nigeria is widely reported as the main driver of displacement, followed by communal clashes, natural disasters (mainly flooding and drought), and farmers-herders conflicts. These clashes involve confrontations between ethnic and religious groups, often triggered by land and border issues, shrinking access to natural resources, and increasing tensions between herder communities and sedentary farmers aside from other drivers. While the contexts vary from the North-East, and North-West to the North-Central in terms of population movements, including migration, forced displacement and urbanization drivers, the challenges faced by the displaced population include coping capacities, status perception, human rights fulfilment and protection.
• How the host communities co-exist with the IDPs and their rights to access land, livelihood, and basic and social services, remains contentious.
• In the North-West displacement is characterised by inter-regional and inter-communal conflict, compounded by the impacts of climate change, limited access to basic services and natural resources, and long-standing tensions between ethnic and religious groups which often result in attacks and banditry. UN-Habitat is about to start the implementation of a Joint Programme funded by the European Union jointly with IOM and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in three (3) states covering the North-East, the North-West and the North-Central of Nigeria, to respond to the above-described crisis.
• The Joint Programme aims to enable durable solutions through local integration in urban and urbanizing areas by adopting a multi-scale, integrated and area-based territorial approach for displaced communities in Adamawa State, Yobe State and Kano State, with a specific focus on women and children, and fostering conditions for sustainability, replication and scaling-up. Objective The main objective of this consultancy is to oversee the kick off phase and coordinate UN-Habitat’s implementation of the Joint Programme for sustainable urban integration of displaced populations in northern Nigeria funded by the European Union. Duties and Responsibilities The Consultant will report to the Senior Human Settlements Officer, Head of the West Africa Sub-Regional Hub located in Dakar, Senegal, and work in close collaboration with the National Programme Officer for Nigeria.

He/she will be responsible for the following duties:

• Collaborate with IOM (Programme Manager), UNHCR, Federal Government officials and the Delegation of the European Union in Abuja in a clear definition of the Joint Programme governance structures, i.e. steering committee and technical working group
• Elaborate a detailed workplan to be carried out by UN-Habitat within the framework of the Joint Programme during the first six (6) months - inception phase.
• Finalise the recruitment of the three National Senior Technical Advisors to be stationed in Kano, Yobe and Adamawa States and discuss their individual workplans with them. • Organise and carry out missions to the three (3) targeted States by the Joint Programme in order to, among other aspects: (i) define clear programme implementation mechanisms with concerned States authorities; (ii) negotiate office space for UN-Habitat in government buildings in Kano, Damaturu and Yola; (iii) organise field visits to potential implementation areas (Local Government Areas/LGAs) jointly with state government officials; (iv) discuss details on programme implementation with IOM and UNHCR colleagues.
• In coordination with the three (3) UN-Habitat National Advisors and in collaboration with IOM and UNHCR, plan and carry out a rapid training/capacity building needs assessment of concerned State Government authorities and targeted LGAs.
• Devise a viable workplan with clear responsibilities and budget implications to implement strategic spatial planning activities for Northern Nigeria, support the three (3) targeted States in preparing their Spatial Development Strategies, and the targeted LGAs in developing their Local Urban Plans and Local Action Plans in a participatory manner.
• Get a deep understanding on how to secure land in well located urban/peri-urban areas in the targeted LGAs for implementing the physical interventions.
• Perform other duties as required.

Qualifications/special skills

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in urban planning and management, programme management or a related field.
• A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience in the management of similar projects/programmes in post-conflict environments at the international level is required. Work experience in Africa is desirable.