UNOPS Bangladesh
UNOPS
has been present in Bangladesh since 2003, initially providing operational
support programme focusing on police reforms and disaster management. The
presence has significantly grown since then with UNOPS being appointed as Local
Fund Agent for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in
Bangladesh.
In
2014, UNOPS established formal representation in Bangladesh as a response to a
request from the Executive Board of UNOPS to provide more substantial support
to the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) across various areas, including
organisational capacity development and integrating resilient infrastructure
approaches. The office currently provides capacity development support to
several GOB infrastructure related agencies and some key national NGOs with a
focus at improving operational capacities within the sectors of procurement,
human resources management, finance and internal control, and project
management.
Moving
forward, UNOPS, in line with its global priorities is expanding its portfolio
within Bangladesh to provide more significant support in the sectors of
resilient infrastructure, fund management and operational efficiency with an
emphasis on building national capacities, improving resilience of communities
and supporting in the implementation of SDGs.
Within
this focus, UNOPS is currently in the process of formulating the next
Bangladeshi National Resilient Programme due to commence in early 2017 with
UNDP and UN-Women in keeping with priorities of GOB and international
agreements such as the Sendai Framework. Building on its extensive global
expertise in Fund Management, UNOPS is also working with key development
partners in the country in setting up a development fund that will support
humanitarian, disaster management and early recovery sectors.
General Background on the
Assignment
Strengthening
Humanitarian Preparedness and Response Programme (SHPR)
DFID–Bangladesh (DfID-B)
Strengthening Humanitarian Preparedness and Response (SHPR) programme aims to provide
more effective, timely and predictable humanitarian support to refugees in
Bangladesh and to vulnerable communities following disasters. It also aims to
strengthen the ability of the Government of Bangladesh to effectively meet the
needs of these groups, and to reduce the scale of impact of disasters when they
occur.
The principle
objectives of the SHPR are articulated around three Pillars.
Pillar
1:
Augment disaster preparedness and disaster risk reduction including for large‐scale catastrophic emergencies
and recurrent, predictable events;
Pillar
2:
Respond to the impact of disaster events through the provision of predictable,
timely and high quality humanitarian support;
Pillar
3:
Deliver urgent humanitarian support to Rohingya refugees and needy host
communities as well as creating an enabling environment for Rohingya related
relief agencies through support to coordination fora.
The SHPR will be
initially established as a facility to support DFID funding only. Depending on
its successful implementation, and possible appetite from other donors to
coordinate their humanitarian funding through a joint platform, the Programme
may be upgraded to a multi donor programme at a later stage.
DFID has requested
UNOPS to provide fund management services to programmes under Pillar 1 and 3,
whilst DFID will manage Pillar 2. Programmes under Pillars 1 and 3 include a
Joint Needs Assessment programme by CARE, a joint-UN disaster preparedness
programme via UNICEF, support to Mission Aviation Fellowship, IOM’s support to
the Government of Bangladesh’ Rohingya Strategy and a Coordinated iNGO
programme via ACF.
As the Fund Manager,
UNOPS will be responsible for multiple functions vis-à-vis the SHPR Programme
including, design of an early recovery/emergency response facility, fiduciary
management, legal and technical oversight, monitoring and evaluation,
reporting, quality assurance and communication. UNOPS will also be required to
support DFID in its humanitarian agenda from the onset of this project.
Purpose and Scope of Assignment
UNOPS seeks a
qualified candidate to support the in the capacity of Project Associate (Grants
Management). Under the overall guidance, direction and
supervision of the International Project Support Officer (IPSO), the incumbent
will support the IPSO in the grants administration and management and also will
provide administrative support for all operational aspects of the SHPR,
including but not limited to procurement, human resources, contracting and
logistics, administration in close consultation with the relevant colleagues.