Regional Programme Coordinator, Consultant (UNOPs)
Terms of Reference
Consultancy Regional Programme Coordinator,
United Nations Programme for Human Settlements (UN-Habitat)
Grade Consultancy (UNOPs) โ Level B
Duration 12 months
Starting date 23rd May 2025
Duty Station Home-based, with possible field missions, as required.
Background and justification
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the agency for human settlements mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities. UN-Habitat has been working in human settlements throughout the world, focusing on building a brighter future for villages, towns, and cities of all sizes. The Regional Office for Africa supports African countries developing human settlements projects to address fast urbanization of the continent and achieve sustainable development by focusing on challenges faced by cities in Africa.
UN-Habitat in West Africa is expanding from 5 active country programmes in 2020 to 14 by the end of 2025 and has a fast-growing portfolio with a total of almost 50 millions, that has a potential to grow much more in the future. Key thematic issues related to the programme are: Urban policy and Strategic Spatial Planning; Durable Solutions for Displaced Populations; Housing, Basic Services, and Urban Resilience; Urban Governance, Municipal Finance, Youth, Public Spaces and Smart Cities; and Urban Planning and Land Management. To address the needs of the region, UN-Habitat is settling-up a West African Hub, that will oversee the regional portfolio and transboundary initiatives, providing technical, financial, and administrative guidance to the countryโs programmes, as well as contribute to mobilize resources through new initiatives in the region. There is a high need to strengthen UN-Habitatโs activities for the region, to be closer to Member States and enhance programme delivery and resource mobilization.
To contribute to the implementation of its programmes, such as support to National Urban Policy and spatial/regional planning, UN-Habitat has developed several tools. This includes the Spatial Development Framework (SDF), a spatial planning method, built to support national, regional and local governments on decision making processes on where, why and how to prioritise investments. The SDF supports the grounding of national development plans and monitoring of subsequent action plans. It was recently applied in the Sahel countries, through a Spatial Development Strategy for the Sahel (SDSS), covering Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal, to address disaster, climate and conflict-related aspects of the crisis, and support regional, national and local governments in the Sahel, to progressively enhance the resilience of their cities & towns to shocks and stresses and to provide spatial strategic recommendations in the form of action plans for transboundary areas.
The SDSS is currently being detailed through Spatial Strategic Action Plans (SSAPs). The SSAPs are focusing on two (2) strategic areas, such as the Liptako-Gourma area (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger) and the Kano-Agadez corridor (Niger and Nigeria). In the Liptako-Gourma, UN-Habitat is also implementing the DA16th Tranche project โโPromoting a multi-scaled territorial approach: strengthening urban resilience to better prepare for protracted displacementโโ which includes the development of a spatial observatory for the region, to collect and analyse data of spatial areas.
The Government of Senegal, through the Ministry of Urban Development, Housing and Public Hygiene (MULHP) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), have agreed to collaborate for the development of a National Urban Policy (NUP) in order to face the challenges of rapid urbanization and take advantage of the increased capacities and interest in the urban issue. In February 2020, President Macky Sall requested the UN-Habitat Executive Director to support the development of the NUP for Senegal. Since mid-2021, in collaboration with the MULHP, UN-Habitat provided technical support for the elaboration of a thorough diagnostic starting from consultations in the 14 regions of the country, ensuring a bottom-up approach.
On another side, the Gambia has one of the fastest urbanization rates in sub-Saharan Africa with the Greater Banjul Area (GBA) already accounting for 68% of the total population of the country. This rapid increase in urban population has brought with it several environmental and socio-economic problems including deforestation, soil erosion, pollution and waste generation, and stress on health, education, and employment services (Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (2007-2011), The Gambia).
UN-Habitat, through the Catalan Agency for Development and Cooperation (ACCD), is promoting sustainable and integrated urbanization processes in Senegal and the Gambia. This initiative aims to provide key policies and strategic tools to the government of Senegal and the Gambia, to better guide urbanization processes, promoting coherent and strategic investments and greater inter-country cooperation. In the Gambia, it will contribute to implement a Strategic Spatial Analysis, to promote inter-country cooperation, and in Senegal, it will contribute to the development of an inclusive and integrated National Urban Policy. Plus, to promote the localization of the NUP, UN-Habitat has managed to mobilize additional fundings through the project โโPartnership Platform on Localizing the SDGs in Senegalโโ, funded by the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security of Italy (MASE). In Senegal, it will provide National SDG Localization Frameworks within the scope of the National Urban Policy, contributing to its implications at the local level.
Finally, UN-Habitat is also supporting the durable establishment of the Center of Excellence on Housing (CEH), at the regional level, in collaboration with the University Joseph Ki-Zerbo of Burkina Faso and Cheikh Anta Diop of Senegal. This center aims to serve as an innovative and sustainable knowledge hub that provides data, knowledge, expertise and long-term capacity building and training services to develop the skills of urban practitioners in the eight countries of the West Africa Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU โ Benin, Burkina Faso, Cรดte dโIvoire, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo). The capacity building activities, as well as the digital component of this center are linked to the implementation of the DA 15th Tranche project โโHarnessing urbanization for a more resilient, inclusive and green recovery in French-speaking least developed countriesโโ.
With this scenario, UN-Habitat is seeking to recruit a Regional Programme Coordinator, to implement and monitor Regional Projects and Programmes in West Africa, develop new portfolios for the region and mobilize additional resources.
Objective of the Consultancy
Under the direct supervision of the Senior Human Settlement Officer (SHSO) overseeing Western Africa, the consultant will be responsible for providing substantive and technical inputs in the implementation and development of UN-Habitatโs regional portfolio in Western Africa, within the Sub-Regional Hub for West Africa and the Regional Office for Africa (ROAf).
Duties and Responsibilities
Specifically, he/she will have to:
Contribute to the Establishment of UN-Habitatโs West Africa HUB, by coordinating activities for the establishment of the institutional set-up, the mobilization of international experts, and the budgetary and financial implications for the sustainability of the Hub. Contribute to the activities of the Urban Resilience initiative for the Sahel (Phase II), and the project โโPromoting a multi-scaled territorial approach: strengthening urban resilience to better prepare for protracted displacementโโ (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger), coordinating and planning activities, drafting content and report documents and providing technical support to the consultants, as well as providing regional policy guidance, linked to regional opportunities (eg. EU Global Gateway, AfDBโฆ). Implement the activities of the project โโPromoting Sustainable and Integrated Urbanisation Processes in Senegal and the Gambiaโโ (ACCD), by providing guidance to the teams, planning the activities, drafting project reports and reviewing the outputs produced. Contribute to the activities of the Senegal country programme, facilitating recruitment and on-boarding processes and activities within the national portfolio and the scope of the National Urban Policy and its localization framework. Provide technical and administrative inputs to the sustainable Establishment of a Center of Excellence on Housing for the WAEMU region, by promoting synergies with the project โโHarnessing urbanization for a more resilient, inclusive and green recovery in French-speaking least developed countriesโโ (DA15) and elaborating a cooperation plan. Contribute to the implementation of new initiatives in countries with no or limited UN-Habitatโs presence, by planning activities, facilitating the recruitment processes, providing general guidance, and participating to meeting with partners โ mainly for Sierra Leone, Liberia, Togo, Mali and Niger. Facilitate the resource mobilization process activities by drafting concept notes and project documents, reviewing budget and providing guidance for the internal project validation procedure.Expected Outputs
By the end of the consultancy, the following products are expected:
Documents contributing to the institutional set-up of the West Africa Hub (e.g. institutional framework, guidance notes, and budgetary planning); Inputs to the capacity building approach for West Africa (i.e. capacity building of the Hub, capacity building of staff working at the country and regional level, in-house capacity building); Reports on the implementation of the Urban Resilience initiative for the Sahel (Phase II - SSAPs) (e.g. budgetary previsions, quarter activities reports, alignment with other initiatives, e.g. EU, AfDBโฆ); Reports on the implementation of the DA 16th for the Central Sahel (e.g. work plan, budget revision and activities monitoring, draft of agreements of cooperationโฆ); Reports on the implementation of the ACCD project for the Gambia and Senegal (e.g. work plan, budget and activities monitoring, mission planningโฆ), including reviews and inputs to the Spatial Strategic Analysis for the Gambia; Reports on the initial implementation of the โโPartnership Platform on Localizing the SDGs in Senegalโโ project (e.g. recruitment plan, budgetary planning, activities monitoringโฆ); Reviews and inputs to the National Urban Policy documents for Senegal and its localization implications; Inputs to the setting-up of the Senegal country programme (ex: on-boarding processes of new staff, Memorandum of Understanding with the government, resource mobilization draftsโฆ); Reports on the DA 15th activities, linked with the establishment of the Center of Excellence on Housing (e.g. digital tools package, terms of reference of workshops and trainings, project reports, cooperation framework with the CEH, roundtable for resource mobilizationโฆ); Reports on the implementation of the C2CC in Sierra Leone (e.g. detailed work plan, budgetary prevision and planning, monthly meeting participation); Contributions to the country programmes in Liberia, Togo, Mali and Niger; Concept Notes and Project Documents for resource mobilization in the region.Competences
Communication: excellent oral and written communication skills, combined with a proven ability to make presentations and write reports/projects, as well as in conceptualising and implementing strategies for fund-raising.
Professionalism/Technical Skills: should have technical skills in project monitoring, execution and development, as well as recognised technical knowledge in the fields of urban planning, urban policy and urban studies.
Teamwork: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; provides input by genuinely valuing others' ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.
Education
Advance university degree (Masterโs degree or equivalent) in Urban Planning, Urban Development and International Cooperation or related field. A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
Work Experience
A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in urban planning, urban policy and/or related field. Knowledge of the UN system and procedures is an asset. Familiarity with the regions is an asset.
Language Skills
Fluency in oral and written French, and English is required.
Application :
CVs should be sent by the 9th May to Ms. Yasmine Baamal (yasmine.baamal@un.org), with the reference [REGIONAL PROGRAMME COORDINATOR โ APPLICATION]. Duration 12 months Grade Consultant Duty Station Home based Post date 05/05/2025 - 12:00 pm Deadline 09/05/2025 - 12:00 pm