Description

Background
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are core principles at UNDP: we value diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate, we foster inclusion as a way of ensuring all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, and we ensure equity and fairness in all our actions. Taking a ‘leave no one behind’ approach to our diversity efforts means increasing representation of underserved populations. People who identify as belonging to marginalized or excluded populations are strongly encouraged to apply. Learn more about working at UNDP including our values and inspiring stories.
UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Office/Unit/Project Description

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 work carried out at HQ, Regional and Country Office levels forms a contiguous spectrum of deep local knowledge to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. In this context, UNDP invests in the Global Policy Network (GPN), a network of field-based and global technical expertise across a wide range of knowledge domains and in support of the signature solutions and organizational capabilities envisioned in the Strategic Plan.

Within the GPN, the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan. BPPS’s staff provides technical advice to Country Offices; advocates for UNDP corporate messages, represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora including public-private dialogues, government and civil society dialogues, and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas. BPPS works closely with UNDP’s Crisis Bureau (CB) to support emergency and crisis response. BPPS ensures that issues of risk are fully integrated into UNDP’s development programmes. BPPS assists UNDP and partners to achieve higher quality development results through an integrated approach that links results-based management and performance monitoring with more effective and new ways of working. BPPS supports UNDP and partners to be more innovative, knowledge and data driven including in its programme support efforts.

UNDP's Sustainable Finance Hub

The Sustainable Finance Hub, a finance and innovation platform, draws on a critical mass of UNDP expertise,

initiatives, and partnerships to leverage and align resources for the SDGs and support the implementation o

UNDP’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025. The Hub is an integral part of both the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support

(BPPS) and the Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy (BERA), as well as part of the GPN. Through regional focal

points, it supports sustainable finance work in UNDP’s Country Offices and works in close collaboration with the Regional Bureaus. The Hub serves as a connector, broker and global coordinator among internal and external actors; curates and manages UNDP’s catalogue of service offers on SDG financing to governments, investors and companies. The Hub has five interconnected service offers:

1) Public finance for the SDGs;

2) Unlockign private capital and aligning business operations for the SDGs;

3) SDG impact management and finance tracking;

4) Integrated National Financing Frameworks and Portfolios; and 5) SDG Finance Academy.

UNDP’s Insurance and Risk Finance Facility

The collaboration between the insurance industry and the development sector has grown significantly over the last five years. Key initiatives, such as the Insurance Development Forum, InsuResilience Global Partnership and the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance, have evolved into significant policy and standard setting partnerships, bringing together countries, the development sector, and the private and mutual/cooperative sectors of industry. The Tripartite Agreement between the German Government, UNDP and Insurance Development Forum (and its private sector members) is a flagship example of such transformative partnerships. Increasingly, these partnerships are moving beyond policy to programming, with a strong focus on not only delivering insurance and risk financing solutions to countries and communities, but also on long-term transformational change of insurance markets.

UNDP’s growing work in this space has led to the creation of the Insurance and Risk Finance Facility, within the Sustainable Finance Hub. This work covers a range of critical areas where insurance and risk transfer solutions and collaboration with the industry can add significantly to achieving and delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs.) Covering inclusive insurance, sovereign risk financing, insurance investments, natural capital, health, SME development and more, UNDP’s work will look to not only develop and deliver insurance solutions together with countries and communities, it will also look to work with partners to transform insurance markets, working on legislation, regulation and institutional capacity.

UNDP’s dedicated team working on insurance, risk and resilience financing, is now being enhanced with additional capacity to deliver on the promise and commitment at the core of this flagship initiative.

Reporting to Regional Technical Specialist the role of the Regional Programme Support Analyst is a critical function in UNDP’s growing Insurance and Risk Finance Facility team, with an overall role of being to support programmes across the RBA and RBAS region with a focus on Francophone countries. Working across a diverse portfolio of work in development and already financed, he/she will support the Facility’s work, together with the UNDP regional and technical teams, country office, development partners, government partners and regional organizations, as well as with the full range of private and civil society entities. In collaboration with the Central Team, units across Sustainable Finance Hub and country offices, s/he will support the delivery of the Facility strategy areas across the relevant region:

Inclusive Insurance
Sovereign Risk
Natural Capital and Risk
Insurance Investments
Integration into Development

Specifically, H/she will support regional development and implementation across a set of four inter-locking deliverables through which will deliver this work:

Policy Support and Representation.
Direct Support to Country Office and Regional Programming
Programme Identification, Development and Resource Mobilization
External Engagement, Knowledge Management, Advocacy, Research and Evidence

Duties and Responsibilities

Policy Support and Representation

Provide regional support on UNDP’s work across insurance and Risk Finance
Support representation efforts by UNDP and its work on insurance and risk finance across a range of regional and country fora, and actively promote and position UNDP’s work.
Work across UNDP teams of the Global Policy Network to ensure coherent representation across issues of financing, risk, and development, including, but not limited to those working in disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation, health, social protection, and economic growth.
Support UNDP’s regional work on insurance and risk finance by providing advocacy support and critical analysis and information to enhance UNDP’s overall positioning on insurance and risk finance, including the preparation of briefing notes, presentations, speeches etc.
Support the integration (both regionally and at a country level) of UNDP’s financing and investment work as part of its Sustainable Finance Hub (SFH)
Where appropriate support the management of resources that may be delegated as part of overall regional policy and programmatic work

Direct support to Country Office and Regional Programmes

Work closely with the Regional Technical Specialists to offer comprehensive support to country offices in the delivery of all Insurance and Risk Financing Programmes within the region, especially programmatic work that has long-term sustainability.
Support development and delivery of work-plans in collaboration with country offices and industry partners.
Provide direct technical support to Country Offices and Programme Countries, especially for the implementation of country-level programmes, and where appropriate jointly manage the delivery of specialized insurance/risk finance staff at the country level.
Liaise with both public and private sector delivery partners together with country offices, and actively work with members of key insurance/development partnerships, such as the Insurance Development Forum and InsuResilience Global Partnership.
In collaboration with SFH academy, support implementation of the lessons-learnt programme across countries which will be supported by UNDP’s Insurance and Risk Finance Facility.
Where appropriate support development and implementation of regional initiatives drawing on the relevant expertise available within the Facility and SFH when necessary.

Project Identification, Development and Resource Mobilization

Support Regional Technical Specialists in representing UNDP’s Insurance and Risk Finance Facility across regional media.
Proactively seek to support resource mobilization efforts for all projects in development, and support country offices in their task of securing financing for Insurance and Risk Finance.
Contribute to the development of strategic programmatic partnerships with both internal and external partners to advance the implementation of UNDP’s Insurance and Risk Finance Facility.
Support development of strong relationships with donor financing and technical teams where they exist, at the regional level but also increasingly at the country level (in support of UNDP Country Offices

External Engagement, Knowledge Management, Advocacy, Research and Evidence

Support KM, advocacy and research effort for the Insurance and Risk Finance teams in the region in collaboration with SFH academy.
Where appropriate support the development of marketing, policy, learning and advocacy materials related to the team’s work, as well as in support of both the Finance Sector Hub and wider GPN.
Ensure that all training materials, tools and advocacy work are disseminated across country offices and programme countries.

Where appropriate represent UNDP’s Insurance and Risk Finance Facility across regional media, and actively contribute to its work through a strong social media presence.

Institutional Arrangement

The Regional Programme Support Analyst will work under direct supervision of the African Regional Technical Specialist and in close collaboration with all relevant technical and regional leads. Preference will be given to qualified candidates who are based in Africa to accommodate African time zone`s

Competencies
Core
Achieve Results: LEVEL 2: Scale up solutions and simplifies processes, balances speed and accuracy in doing work
Think Innovatively: LEVEL 2: Offer new ideas/open to new approaches, demonstrate systemic/integrated thinking
Learn Continuously: LEVEL 2: Go outside comfort zone, learn from others and support their learning
Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 2: Adapt processes/approaches to new situations, involve others in change process
Act with Determination: LEVEL 2: Able to persevere and deal with multiple sources of pressure simultaneously
Engage and Partner: LEVEL 2: Is facilitator/integrator, bring people together, build/maintain coalitions/partnerships
Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 2: Facilitate conversations to bridge differences, considers in decision making

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies
Thematic Area Name Definition
2030 Agenda: Engagement and Effectiveness

Insurance for development

Working knowledge of disaster risk management concepts and the ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations
Working knowledge of inclusive growth, decent employment and social protection concepts, principals and issues, and the ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations

2030 Agenda: Planet Sustainable Development

Knowledge of sustainable development concepts, principles and issues and the ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations, covering the economic, social and environmental dimensions

Business Development Global Development Finance

Knowledge of global development financial trends, global financial institutions and processes, and ability to apply in strategic and/or practical situations

Business Management Results-based Management

Ability to manage programmes and projects with a focus at improved performance and demonstrable results

Partnership management Relationship management

Ability to engage with a wide range of public and private partners, build, sustain and/or strengthen working relations, trust and mutual understanding

Communications Advocacy strategy and implementation

Ability to create and implement advocacy strategies which lead to impactful change

Required Skills and Experience
Min. Education requirements A Master’s degree in Economics, Insurance, Public Financial Management, Disaster Risk Management and /or financial inlcusion or development financing or other closely related area is required
Min. years of relevant work experience A minimum of 2 years of relevant experience in either the public sector (national or multilateral, including UN), private (academia, non-governmental sector, corporate), preferably in the implementation of projects relevant to insurance and risk finance
Required skills
Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section

Demonstrable experience working in insurance and risk financing, especially in developing countries, with specializations in key areas welcomed, such as in women’s empowerment, natural capital, inclusive insurance etc. is highly desirable.
Experience at international level and with developing countries is desirable.
Experience in results-based and results-oriented project implementation and management is desirable.
Experience in project management/implementation of projects involving government, NGO/CSO, private sector, academia and/or intergovernmental stakeholders is an asset.
Working experience in UN or other international organization, and knowledge of UNDP policies, procedures and practices is an advantage.

Required Language(s)

Must be bilingual with excellent knowledge of the French and English language, with good writing, presentation and communication skills is required
Working proficiency in Portuguese and/ or Arabic is an asset