Regional Programme for Africa:
UNDP is the knowledge frontier organization for sustainable development in the UN Development System and serves as the integrator for collective action to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP’s policy and programmatic work is carried out at HQ, Regional and Country Office levels, and forms a contiguous spectrum of deep local knowledge to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. The Regional Programme for Africa is a flagship programme for UNDP that responds to challenges and opportunities facing the African Continent and to the priorities and aspirations of Africa as articulated by the African Union and other regional organs. These are convergent with the vision, areas of work, and guiding principles of the UNDP strategic plan, 2018-2021. The programme builds on the successes and responds to the lessons from past cooperation, with special attention to programme focus and effective engagement with the African Union and the regional economic communities through the development of long-term strategic partnerships.
Borderlands Africa Programme: Africa’s Borderland Regions have attracted international attention in recent years due to fresh waves of conflict linked to violent extremist organizations including Boko Haram and Al Shabab as well as ongoing crisis in the Great Lakes and Sahel. These regions have had to deal with violent conflict, climate change, persistent poverty, marginalization, and poor governance. The challenges of Borderlands can only be understood through a regional and cross border perspective: the case for approaches to development programming and planning in Africa that are more explicitly cognizant of dynamics at a regional level is becoming critical. These ‘complex conflict clusters’ and large movement of people across borders highlight not only the security risk of instability, but also the impacts of the developmental deficit in these regions. Additionally, development partners face constraints in responding to sub-regional issues and dynamics, being closely tied to developing country government partnerships. UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks are focused on national development planning as a starting point and, as a result, they are geographically bound to state borders, when the challenges and, more importantly, the solutions are increasingly regional in nature. Many challenges facing Governments require a sub-regional and cross-border response.
In response to this, UNDP has developed a Borderlands Programme Project Initiation Plan. This PIP is related to the Regional Programme for Africa 2018-2021 Outcome 3: Regional institutions sustain peace and build resilience to crises and shocks. The PIP will focus on ensuring that the Borderlands Programme has operational capacities to ensure a coordinated and sustainable approach to Borderlands development efforts. The team will be based out of RBA’s Thematic Hub in Nairobi, Kenya. The Borderlands Programme is expected to be fully operational by July 2020.To ensure effective operation and achievement of its objectives, the Africa Borderlands Programme will consist of three units, reporting to the Chief Technical Advisor, with the following responsibilities:
Policy, Research and Data Unit: The PRDU will lead on policy development on Borderlands for UNDP Africa and will commission research and studies to fill significant gaps in knowledge and understanding of border areas. The Unit will host a Borderlands Innovation Lab and Sahel Lab to test and deploy innovative initiatives in the Borderlands areas and support their replication and scaling up. The Unit will have dedicated capacity for conducting multi-dimensional analysis, collect data and manage a platform for managing and collaborating on data and analysis.
Programme Support Unit: The Programme Support Unit will provide technical support to project formulation, project monitoring and assurance regimes, and resource mobilization efforts. The unit will provide advice and training to Country Offices on integration and operationalization of cross-border programming in their portfolios, as well as ad hoc support to the resolution of programme design and operational issues negatively affecting delivery rates.
Partnership and Thematic Advisory Unit: The Partnership and Thematic Advisory Unit leads on the strategic positioning of the Borderlands Programme and develops and implements the partnership and engagement, advocacy and resource mobilization strategies for the Programme. The Unit leads on establishing partnerships with the African Union, Regional Economic Communities, International Financial Institutions (particularly World Bank and African Development Bank), the wider UN system (particularly the PBF) and key donor partners (particularly the European Union). The unit provides substantive thematic advice on key focus areas of the Borderlands Programme, including Sustaining Peace, Stabilization, Climate-Security and Youth Employment and collaborates closely with UNDP’s Global Policy Network and Regional Bureau for Africa to identify deployable technical expertise.
Duties and Responsibilities
Partnerships & Representation:
Develop and implement a partnership and advocacy strategy for the Africa Borderlands Programme and ensure the articulation of UNDP’s value proposition to and support UNDP strategic positioning with partners;
Mobilize, foster and strengthen strategic partnerships with UN entities, particularly the UN Peacebuilding Fund, DPPA, DPO, ECA, DCO and AFP partners;
Represent the Africa Borderlands Programme in technical level UN interagency coordination as well as other fora with the aim to advance UNDP’s Africa Borderlands Strategy;
Establish partnerships with the African Union and Regional Economic Communities in Africa, monitor AU/REC priorities and policies and identify opportunities for country-level and regional collaboration on Borderlands programming;
Facilitate and maintain a close engagement between the Borderlands Programme and key multi-lateral and bilateral International Financial Institutions, particularly the World Bank and the African Development Bank, including ensuring UNDP Africa Borderlands engagement with the IDA 19 FCV Strategy;
Promote close UNDP internal coordination and collaboration between the Africa Borderlands Programme and the Regional Bureau for Africa and its regional and country-level presence, the Global Policy Network and the Bureau for External Relations and Advocacy;
Support the Chief Technical Advisor of the Borderlands Programme with the development of a resource mobilization strategy for the Borderlands Programme, including annual action plans and put in place systems to monitor and oversee commitments/pledges and grants that have been provided to support the Programme;
Explore opportunities for partnerships with established and emerging donors and monitor global trends in developed cooperation and resource partner development policies and priorities, particularly with the European Union;
Facilitate the building of strategic alliances and partnerships with key think tanks, academia and civil society organizations in partnership with the Africa Borderland’s Policy, Research and Data Unit.
Substantive Technical Advisory:
Provide substantive thematic support to UNDP and Government partners in the areas of Sustaining Peace, Stabilization, Climate-Security and Youth Employment, collaborating closely with UNDP’s Global Policy Network and Regional Bureau for Africa to identify deployable substantive technical expertise;
Provide substantive capacity building and backstopping to UNDP implemented cross-border or sub-regional projects;
Promote a close collaboration between the Partnership and Technical Advisory Unit and the Policy, Research and Data unit to ensure that thematic technical advice is based on the latest research and to inform ongoing research through feedback from programming;
Ensure that the substantive technical advice provided is gender-responsive and takes into consideration the specific needs of vulnerable groups including youths and people with disabilities.
Communications & Innovation:
Oversee a communications strategy for the Unit including website, relevant social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook);
Supports knowledge building and management led by the Policy, Research and Data Unit and promote innovation and knowledge transfer within the Borderlands Programme;
Ensure effective provision of communication services for the Borderlands Programme and to UNDP implemented cross-border projects across Africa;
Provide substantive contributions to UNDP knowledge networks and communities of practice, particularly the UNDP Communities of Practice on Crisis Prevention and Resilience and on Governance;
Support cross-regional and Africa-wide exchange of knowledge by collaborating with teams in HQ, Regional Hub.
