Durable Solutions Coordination and Community Engagement Expert

Enhanced effectiveness, coordination and technical quality of UN-Habitat’s Durable Solutions Portfolio by strengthening community-based engagement and planning processes at local level and enhanced area-based coordination with relevant Durable Solutions partners to profile the Humanitarian-Development-Peacebuilding and Environment Nexus.

Nairobi

6 months

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-Habitat, is the United Nations agency for Human Settlements. It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate housing and shelter for all. As the United Nations focal point on human settlements, UN-Habitat will lead advocacy efforts to raise awareness of sustainable urbanization issues; provide evidence-based policy advice; build capacities; develop tools, norms and standards based on best practices; work on demonstration projects and aid national and subnational governments, local authorities, and other public institutions responsible for urban issues. To enable it to respond to the challenges and opportunities of 21st Century cities and human settlement in a more holistic way, and to address one of the most significant areas of need in developing countries; With its Strategic Plan for the period 2026-2029, UN-Habitat introduces a strategic focus on access to adequate housing, land and basic services for all, including the urgent transformation of informal settlements and slums. It includes a more cohesive response to displacement and addresses access to adequate housing, land and basic services for a more integrated response with all actors involved, to localize and enable solutions for migrants, refugees and internally displaced people. using urban and territorial planning and multilevel governance. Somalia is a critical juncture an estimated 3.9 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) with a confluence of both new and protracted displacement adversely impacting the humanitarian, development and peacebuilding goals of the country. Between 2022 – 2024, Somalia was one of the pilot countries of the Secretary-General’s Action Agenda on Internal Displacement and its push for government-led, development-anchored and development-financed solutions. In November 2024, the Federal Government of Somalia launched the National Solutions Pathways Action Plan (2024 – 2029) to provide durable solutions to approximately one million internally displaced persons (IDPs) across 33 key districts and with a projected budget of USD 2.09 billion. The plan focuses on six priority areas (pathways) and accompanied by an M&E framework. The need for long-term investment in the Pathways Action Plan has also been emphasized in the country’s new five-year National Transformation Plan launched in March 2025. In early 2025, a new National Centre for Rural Development and Durable Solutions (NCRDS) was established under the Ministry of the Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation (MoIFAR). The IDP Bill has been passed by Parliament. The principal relationship between NCRDS and the National Commission for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (NCRI) has been clarified by MoIFAR with NCRDS advocating, coordinating and overseeing durable solutions programmes and leading technical working group discussions. Federal Member States (FMS) have Durable Solutions Working Groups in place. Somalia has also been heavily impacted by the sharp decrease in humanitarian and traditional donor funding despite continued humanitarian needs. An Area-Based Coordination (ABC) operational coordination platform was put in place in January 2025 as part of the Humanitarian Reset Agenda. A draft UN operational framework upon Durable Solutions was developed in 2025. The revised architecture reflects upon the importance of decentralized coordination and localization, especially in operational coordination at the lowest administrative level. Already, UN-Habitat closely aligns with respective government counterparts from the local administration upon Durable Solutions in the respective project areas, line ministries at state and federal level, from the Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation; and the Ministry of Public Works, Reconstruction and Housing. The Somalia Programme at the Regional Office for Africa is seeking the support of a qualified and experienced Durable Solutions Coordination and Community Engagement across its programmes and projects aimed at Durable Solutions for displacement affected communities. Furthermore, the Somalia Programme seeks to expand its presence in relevant Clusters and technical groups related to Shelter & Housing, Protection, WASH, and Camp Coordination and Camp Management. The incumbent works under the overall supervision of the Head of Programmes, Somalia programme, and the direct supervision of the Head of the Programme Support and Coordination Unit She/he will closely collaborate with the respective project managers and assigned team members for Durable Solutions programmes and projects. Work Assignments Key Responsibilities: • Draft and review comprehensive community engagement plans with clear objectives, timelines, resources and accountability in close coordination with respective project managers and assigned staff. • Provide technical expertise development and dissemination of tailored communication materials, such as newsletters, flyers, social media updates, and community bulletins in close coordination with the Communications Specialist of the Somalia Programme and the resp. project managers. • Establish and maintain partnerships and networking with community leaders, local organisations, and representatives from host and displacement affected communities, including planning, monitoring and evaluation session and with particular focus upon land tenure, housing and neighbourhood development. • Provide substantial technical expertise to gather community feedback and insights, ensuring that the voices of community members are reflected in project activities. • Work closely with the Communications Specialist of the Somalia Programme, the respective project managers and the Communications Unit of the RCO Somalia to develop and edit human interest stories and project background material including social media messages. • Serve as a focal point for UN-Habitat’s presence in relevant and regular coordination sessions under the Durable Solutions coordination architecture. • Document key events and interaction with government, CSO, UN and development partners for internal communication with project managers along with recommendations for operational and strategic programming. • Provide regular updates and reports on coordination meetings under the Durable Solutions architecture and from relevant Cluster meetings (Shelter, Protection, HLP AOR ,CEA taskforce, ABC coordination meeting, HCT, WASH and CCCM) to relevant staff in Durable Solutions projects of the Somalia Programme. • Provide technical support to project and donor reports and concept notes in close coordination with the assigned Programme Support Expert Durable Solutions. • Undertake monitoring and evaluation activities for Durable Solutions Projects.

Advanced university degree in international relations, international development, peace and conflict studies, urban studies, public administration, crises response and management or other related social sciences is required. A first level university degree in combination with additional two years of relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. At least two years working experience in project management including coordination of complex multi-partner and multi-sector projects, preferably in the field of migration, durable solutions for displacement affected communities, crises response and preparedness/resilience, urban management is required At least two years working experience in post conflict and/or fragile states is desirable Previous work experience related to Somalia or another country in post-conflict phase with protracted displacement at scale and/or with international agencies and governance counterparts is desirable.

Strong written and oral skills in English is a requirement. Fluency in Somali language is an asset.

Not available.