Peace and Development Advisors and Specialists (hereafter PDA) work with national stakeholders to build, strengthen, and sustain nationally owned and driven efforts to prevent violent conflict and build just and peaceful societies. The range of countries to which PDAs are deployed vary considerably, with some deployed to countries emerging from conflict, others where violence is escalating, and others to countries where there is no violent conflict but underlying structural causes of `conflict are present. PDAs are also deployed in countries where broad political and developmental challenges exist around issues related to elections and constitutional processes, exclusion and inequality, environment, climate change and natural resource management.
PDAs are deployed through a partnership between the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), under the Joint UNDP-DPPA Programme on Building National Capacities for Conflict Prevention. PDAs support Resident Coordinators (RC) and UN Country Teams (UNCTs) in their efforts to work with national partners on conflict prevention and sustaining peace. They support early warning and risk management measures, and ensure that UN assessments, frameworks (mainly UN Cooperation Frameworks), strategies and programmes are conflict-sensitive and informed by high quality analysis. They are located in the Resident Coordinators’ office, with a direct reporting line to the RC, and a secondary reporting line to the UNDP Resident Representative and DPPA-DPO regional divisions.
In 2020, PDAs are deployed to more than 50 countries through the Joint Programme. While most PDAs are deployed at country-level, there are a number of PDAs who cover multiple countries. In some contexts, PDAs are part of a small Peace and Development Advisory team composed of a PDA and a substantive national or international officer/analyst. PDAs also receive additional support from a Joint Programme secretariat based at UN Headquarters in New York, from UNDP and DPPA technical advisors/specialists globally, and from a cadre of regional programme specialists supporting their regions from Amman, Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Dakar, Istanbul and Panama.
Given the broad range of skills and experience required by PDAs, the Joint Programme encourages applications from individuals with a combination of expertise spanning sustainable development, political affairs, peacebuilding, sustaining peace, conflict prevention/resolution, community engagement, justice, reconciliation, dialogue, mediation, and humanitarian-development-peace nexus among other relevant areas. While UN experience is a major asset, it is not a requirement for this position. Moreover, the skills of diplomacy, dialogue and facilitation, analysis, advocacy, networking, capacity development and coordination are critical elements of a PDA’s work.
Following September 2017 parliamentary elections and a peaceful presidential transition, Angola embarked on a path of political and economic reforms aimed at curbing corruption, reducing poverty, implementing political and administrative decentralization as well as reforming the security apparatus in accordance with the Constitutional provisions. Diversifying the economy by promoting the development of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and innovation remain one of the main priorities of the Government. While relatively peaceful since the civil war from 1975-2002, the democratic and state institutions as well as civil society require further strengthening and support in the context of opening of the democratic space, freedom of expression, association and participation. The first local elections as part of democratic governance reforms, slated for 2020, were postponed due to COVID-19 complications. Meanwhile, Angola also strengthened and asserted its strategic position in Africa, and in the regional bodies such as African Union, Southern African Development Community, International Conference of the Great Lakes Region and Economic Community of Central African States, by playing a critical role in peacemaking and promoting political and security stability in the region.
At the same time, Angola is experiencing an economic and financial crisis, with the drop in oil prices and a fourth consecutive year of recession. The COVID-19 pandemic hit amid high levels of poverty with a significant share of the population in the informal economy, a limited social protection system and high unemployment, especially among youth and women. Moreover, the macro- and socio-economic effects of the pandemic are likely to strain economic restructuring and other reform efforts. Furthermore, Angola remains vulnerable to natural disasters and climate change, particularly floods and droughts.
The UN work in Angola is anchored on the United Nations Sustainable Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2020-2022, signed between the Government and the UN, aligned with the African Union Sustainable Development agenda 2063. The UNSDCF is based on the national priorities set in the National Development Plan 2018-2022 sets six pillars: 1) human development and well-being; 2) economic, sustainable, diversified and inclusive development; 3) infrastructures necessary for development; 4) consolidation of peace, strengthening the democratic and rule of law, good governance, state reform and decentralization; 5) harmonious development of the territory; and 6) guaranteeing stability and territorial integrity in Angola and strengthening its role in the international and regional contexts. Since 2017, the UN has been supporting the strengthening of local governance, social cohesion and resilience in refugee-hosting communities in the Angolan northeastern province of Lunda Norte, helping to build bridges with the authorities in the neighbouring Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Within that framework, the UN prioritizes the SDG targets on social and economic areas, in particular focussing on children, youth, women, health, environment, resilience, stability (including refugees and transborder issues) as well as democratic governance support goals.
It is against this background that the services of a PDA are being sought to work in country, providing political and programmatic advisory services to the larger UNCT and UNHQ, drawing on the UN Secretary-General’s Prevention Agenda, and in this way contribute to the strengthening and sustaining of Angola’s efforts for the consolidation of peace with a view to preventing electoral violence, crisis management and contingency planning, and building a peaceful society. For this effect, the PDA will engage with national stakeholders owned and driven efforts, including identification of entry points of engagement for the UN. The PDA reports to the Resident Coordinator with a reporting line to the UNDP Resident Representative, as well as the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and the Regional Bureau for Africa of UNDP in New York.
While the nature of the PDA role varies according to country and regional context, there are three broad functions of the position:
PDAs have a primary reporting line to the Resident Coordinator, and secondary reporting lines to the DPPA-DPO regional division and the UNDP Resident Representative. Under their guidance and agreed workplan, and in close collaboration with the country team, the PDA will:
1. Undertake political, peace and development analysis and provide strategic advice to the Resident Coordinator in his/her engagement with high-level government officials, academia, civil society including youth and women’s networks, UN Country Team, HQ, and other relevant stakeholders. Submit the analysis and reporting to the RC, UNDP RR and DPPA-DPO Division.
2. Identify opportunities to build national capacities on strategic, programmatic and policy engagement with national stakeholders, and support the RC and the UNCT action in areas ofearly warning, peacebuilding, human rights, humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus, Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) among others.
3. Establish and strengthen strategic partnerships with key national stakeholders, regional and international actors and development partners on issues related to Sustaining Peace and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
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