Department: Programmes
Position: Peace Building Program Manager
Contract duration: 12 months Location: Osh
Starting Date January 2013
I. Background on ACTED
ACTED is an independent international, private, non-partisan and non-profit organization that operates according to principles of strict neutrality, political and religious impartiality, and non discrimination.
ACTED was created in 1993 to support populations affected by the conflict in Afghanistan. Based in Paris, France, ACTED now operates in 30 countries worldwide, with over 200 international and 4000 national staff. ACTED has a 100 million � budget for over 340 projects spanning 8 sectors of intervention; including
emergency relief ,
food security , health promotion,
economic development , education & training, microfinance, local governance & institutional support, and cultural promotion. For more information, please visit our website at
www.acted.org
II. Program Information
Projects: 15 (2011) National staff: 184 (2011) International Staff: 11 (2011) Capital Office: Bishkek Total number of direct beneficiaries: 758,095 (2011) Budget: 7,6 M Euros (2011)
ACTED has been active in Kyrgyzstan since 2000, and operates in the Jalalabat, Osh, Batken, and Naryn regions with a staff of over 150 people. ACTED in Kyrgyzstan contributes to
poverty reduction by decreasing the impact of the world recession through adding value to labour migration, improving the food security of vulnerable people, supporting local initiatives for development, reducing the risks to
natural disasters to decrease socio-economic damage and resolving cross border conflicts for stable socio-economic development .
In June 2010, a violent crisis broke out in the Ferghana valley, Southern Kyrgyzstan, whereby close to 1,900 houses were burnt and approximately 400,000 people were displaced. Following a year of providing predominantly emergency assistance, 2011 has seen ACTED Kyrgyzstan continue to give emergency aid while also assisting in the recovery phase of the country's development. This has included involvement in health, education, and economic development - partly concerning food distributions and housing constructions for those whose homes were lost. Throughout, ACTED has supported the humanitarian agencies with REACH - an online interactive mapping tool that incorporates socioeconomic data and highlights potential sources of disputes.
Today, ACTED continues the shift from emergency and reconstruction towards peace-building, conflict mitigation,
Disaster RiskReduction and long term development working with local communities.
III. Position Profile The Program Manager ensures the effective planning and implementation of this project by ACTED and its partner organisations, while contributing to the coordination with other implementing partners.
- Ensure external representation of ACTED in relevant sectors
Representation vis-à-vis provincial and National authorities: Supervise national and local level events involving authorities: round tables, hearings, events Participate in technical and sectoral meetings to ensure visibility amongst local authorities Liaise closely with local authorities in the planning and implementation to ensure maximum cooperation with and involvement of them;
Representation vis-à-vis Donors: Participate in technical and sectoral Donor meetings and pass relevant information to the Country Director;
Representation vis-à-vis international organisations:
Collaborate closely with all organisations involved in peace building/
Conflict Mitigation to avoid duplication and ensure effectiveness of program Participate in technical and sectoral meetings and working groups involving NGOs and all other inter-governmental institutions, notably in the peace building working groups/Cluster; Contribute to the creation of reports, ensuring the quality and accuracy of technical information provided as well as the confidentiality of internal information as required;
More generally, the program manager is expected to contribute to the creation of a positive image and overall credibility of the organisation, notably through the application of ACTED's mandate, ethics, values and stand-point with regard to other actors.
- Project Cycle Management
- Project implementation: Plan the various stages of project implementation; Guide the implementation of the project and the methods of follow-up bearing in mind that the overriding objective of the project is to facilitate informed public policy and early warning analysis and fully integrate this analysis into local leadership's capacities for citizen protection. More specifically;
Component 1: Support for Actionable Analysis on Conflict and Instability Trends
a) Enhance REACH online mapping platform and extend nationally providing a socio economic mapping tool used as an early warning system for identifying vectors of conflicts\ - Train DCCA to manage the information exchange platform through a series of training sessions and hands-on practice activities.
- Gather macro-level data on political vulnerability, conflict drivers, socio-economic variables and media penetration from local & national authorities (Baseline wise in the North of Kyrgyzstan, and evolution wise in the whole country).
- Gather micro-level data with DCCA on past conflicts evolution and other potential vectors of conflict and disputes related to socio economic variables through focus groups and surveys in high priority conflict prone communities in Southern Kyrgyzstan. - Develop thematic investigations of three of the most common sources of tension between communities in Kyrgyzstan to determine the extent of these issues, the role that government authorities play in either resolving or accentuating them and their geographical components. - Establish together with GIS/REACH/UNOSAT teams an online interactive web interface for storing, analyzing and presenting conflict and socio economic data. - Together with the GIS/REACH/UNOSAT teams, integrate in the REACH online platform an interactive map of pasture-land and private forest ("leshoz") demarcations in the upper-altitude areas of Southern Kyrgyzstan an d provide them to the EWNs at the district level to help resolve conflicts over access to upper-altitude land at the local level and to the national-level EWN to use as a method of analyzing equity of access to these
natural resources
b) Establishment of a recognized and credible information exchange platform for conflict mitigation in Kyrgyzstan - Liaise with OTI to receive necessary approvals to use USAID technologies developed in Kyrgyzstan through IRG. - Use OurVoice (USAID / OTI
information dissemination mobile phone application) to support the formulation and strengthening of EWNs.
- Use GeoPoll (USAID / OTI mobile phone application) to collect real-time information from communities in relation to identification fo conflict vectors and potential dispute resolution or peace building responses.
- Together with a mobile phone company develop crowdsourcing (An SMS-based system to be developed) to collect real-time information from individuals in relation to potential disputes, conflicts, complaints, and peace building activities.
- Establish a filter and response mechanism for all information collected via GeoPoll and crowdsourcing, responding to priority issues. - Together with the REACH/GIS/UNOSAT teams, display all appropriate data collected via GeoPoll and crowdsourcing through the online interactive web interface.
c) Establish 13 EWNs to be integrated with existing early warning councils and other stakeholders involved in associated activities over the past seven years - Develop a list of at least 50 stakeholders for each of the regions where the EWNs will be formulated, incorporating organizations and individuals already involved with conflict mitigation, peace building and early warning systems.
- Secure the involvement of religious and non-traditional leaders - Form 13 Early Warning Networks across 9 Rayons, 3 Oblasts and 1 nationally by bringing together key stakeholders on the EWN lists. - Undertake 26 EWN strengthening activities to reinforce the formulation of the EWNs.
d) EWNs, conflict mitigation, dispute resolution, and peace building is institutionalized into existing social infrastructure - Generate visual and interactive tools quarterly using high tech and low tech approaches to assist local community members in identifying issues and analyzing trends. - Arrange 65 round tables across the 13 EWNs to receive and act upon quarterly updates of changes to vectors of conflict, disputes, peace building and dispute resolution activities.
- Improve local governance as a peace building and conflict mitigation activity through improved feedback to government institutions. - Integrate the early warning system into existing institutions and infrastructure. Disseminate information from analysis to existing networks of local community leaders and community mediators that form the EWN lists.
- Use REACH's online map of high-altitude pasture lands and private forests to help EWNs resolve local-level disputes over access to these lands
Component 2: Support for Informal and Formal Community Leadership
a) Improved capacity to analyze and resolve potential conflicts, mediate disputes, contribute to peace building activities and inform of civic rights - Conduct 13 Early Warning Data Collection trainings for members of EWN members, governmental, NGOs, CBOs and youth in how to carry out surveys and collect focus group data specializing in identifying potential vectors of conflict. - Conduct 52
Early Warning Systems trainings for members of EWNs, governmental, NGOs, CBOs and youth in how to access, analyze and utilize data.
- Conduct 52 Mediation and
Conflict Resolution trainings for members of EWNs, governmental, NGOs, CBOs and youth in how to mitigate conflict, resolve disputes, mediation, and develop peace building activities related to the early warning systems. - Conduct 13 practical and hands-on trainings for mediation from a selected group of EWN members, governmental, NGOs, CBOs and youth in how to mitigate conflict, resolve disputes, mediate, inform of civic rights, and develop peace building activities related to the early warning systems.
b) Reduced tension in the community through being informed of conflict related issues, early warning systems, REACH, mobile technology and the EWNs - Provide ongoing and practical assistance in resolution of problems identified through the Early Warning Networks and SMS complaints mechanism. - Organize 65 community events where local community leaders who are part of the EWNs and have been trained present the results of the data to the community. - Organize a large-scale information campaign about the crowdsourcing application for the SMS complaint register. - Implement a TV and radio campaign on conflict drivers and mitigation to diffuse conflict issues and increase participation in peace building activities. - Conduct a wide ranging outreach program through existing networks and conduits of information in relation to the EWNs, SMS complaints register, and
conflict management activities.
c) Improved capacity of the national government, Parliament and Presidential administrations and local leaders to identify key concerns and to make policy decisions on conflict mitigation - Through the national EWNs, conduct five quarterly hearings at national level involving the representatives/experts/policy makers of the President's Administration, Government Apparatus and the Parliament to discuss public policy, public planning and institutional capacity related to early warning systems, conflict mitigation, peace building and dispute resolutions - Through the national EWNs, conduct five quarterly hearings at the Presidential Administration level to discuss public policy, public planning and institutional capacity related to early warning systems, conflict mitigation, peace building and dispute resolutions.
- Develop Advocacy Strategies across each of the EWNs to inform policy and the broader community on approaches to conflict mitigation, dispute resolution, mediation and peace building activities. - Produce policy recommendations with local and national stakeholders and experts groups on the basis of data collected through the round tables, hearings and EWNs. - Establish
Information Management Units, in order to support government and related agencies in improving their information management capacity on peace building such as the use of GIS and early warning systems data - Conduct a national-level roundtable on the results of the online map of pasture land and private forest ("leshoz") demarcations
d) Strengthened links with Presidential Administration, Government Apparatus, Parliament and EWNs - ACTED will facilitate links between the Presidential Administration, Government Appartus and the Parliament and the EWNs with six significant events. - Links will be developed between the EWNs, local media, and representatives of religious and non-traditional groups (for example, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Grand Mufti, the heads of Parent
Teacher Associations , etc) with 15 mutual events.
- Project reporting requirements:
Set up a clear timeline of reports to be submitted to project Donors;
Contribute to the drafting of narrative reports and the development of financial reports through regular budgetary follow up; Ensure adherence to FLAT (Finance, Logistic and Administration) procedures. More generally, communicate systematically to the Country Director, Deputy Country Director or Area Coordinator on project progress and planning. Respect the Branding Strategy and Marking Plan of the project
- Provide Relevant Technical Expertise
- Ensure that technical quality and standards are considered during project implementation: Collect technical information and analyse associated opportunities and risks; Identify relevant technical authorities and partners, and propose formal partnership and/or contracts.
Undertake quality control: Analyse technical added-value and project impact; Set up technical evaluation exercises during and following implementation.
- Oversee Program Staff and Security
Guide and direct program staff: Organise and lead project coordination meetings; Prepare and follow work plans with each project member; Ensure a positive working environment and good team dynamics (solve out potential conflicts); Promote team working conditions in the limit of private life; Adapt the organigramme and ToRs of project personnel according to the project development; Undertake regular appraisals of directly supervised colleagues and pass appraisal forms to the Country or Area Administrator with recommendations (new position, changes to contract or salary etc.); Ensure a building of capacity amongst technical staff in the relevant sectors.
Contribute to the recruitment of expatriate staff: When requested by HQ, undertake interviews to assess technical abilities of expatriate candidates living in the country.
Oversee
staff security : In cooperation with the relevant Security Officer, monitor the local security situation and inform the Country Director or Area Coordinator and Country or Area Security Officer of developments through regular written reports; Contribute to the updating of the security guidelines in the project area of intervention; Ensure that security procedures are respected by each member of the project team.
- Identify Best Practices and Lessons Learned
Collect information and tools employed for project implementation; Draft memos detailing lessons learned and best practices identified during the project; Share such memos with internal and external partners; Communicate such information to the Country Director or Area Coordinator, to Regional Support Offices and to HQ Reporting Department.
IV. Qualifications:
The best candidate will have experience in large scale project management, have demonstrated expertise in conflict management , organisation of community networks, and have experience in GIS/Assessment. The candidate would ideally also have an understanding of Central Asia and Kyrgyzstan and would be proficient in either Russian or Kyrgyz languages.
V. Conditions:
Salary defined by the ACTED salary grid; educational level, expertise, hardship, security, and performance are considered for pay bonus
Additional monthly living allowance
Free food and lodging provided at the organisation's guesthouse
Transportation in and out + luggage allowance
Provision of medical, life, and repatriation insurance + retirement package
.jpg)
