World Bank
1818 H St NW
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 473-1000
Background / General description:
Sub-Saharan Africa, with a population of around 780 million people in 48 countries, is home to 36 of the world's poorest countries and despite recent progress continues to present the world with its most formidable development challenge. The Africa Region comprises over 1,700 staff members, with about 60% based in the Region's 37 field offices.
The Region has an active work program encompassing a large number of IDA operations, a smaller number of middle-income clients, a wide-ranging advisory and analytical program, active partnerships with Regional and Sub-Regional institutions and a large portfolio of around 400 projects under supervision. The core values guiding our work are passion for our mission of sustainable development and poverty reduction, putting the needs of our clients at the core of our work, trust and respect in everything we do, intellectual rigor and imagination, teamwork, openness to learning from our successes as well as our failures.
AFTOS has a wide-ranging work program that covers development effectiveness, procurement, financial management, governance/anti-corruption, and safeguards (AFTSG). AFTSG is responsible for ensuring that the portfolio plays a strategic, advisory and knowledge role for the Region's work in these areas. The Unit has around 5 staff and three major work streams: support for fragile states and conflict-affected countries; social development; and social safeguards.
AFTSG is recruiting a Senior Social Development Specialist to support regional management in meeting the Region's expanding and complex social safeguards agenda and promote the social sustainability of its investments in Africa. The selected individual will work on the safeguards agenda in close collaboration and partnership with the Regional Safeguards Advisor and the social safeguards team in AFTCS. He/she will report primarily to the Regional Safeguards Advisor, and will be expected to work closely with CMUs, SMUs and Task Teams across the Region. The selected candidate will also be expected to work collaboratively and develop good relations with the Bank-wide Safeguards Practice Group, the Social Development Anchor, OPCS, and Legal (LEGEN).
Note: If the selected candidate is a current Bank Group staff member with a Regular or Open-Ended appointment, s/he will retain his/her Regular or Open-Ended appointment. All others will be offered a 3 year term appointment.
Duties and Accountabilities:
In the above context, AFTSG is seeking to recruit a senior GG level candidate with core expertise in the area of involuntary resettlement, to:
(i) provide expert, solutions-oriented support to task teams on social safeguards; and
(ii) build capacity on social safeguards, especially among clients and nationally based colleagues.
Key responsibilities include:
- Advise and guide Regional Management, task teams and client governments on the applicability of, and compliance with, Bank social safeguard policies for investment lending (including emergency and FCS operations), DPLs, and PforR operations; undertake portfolio reviews, as required, on social safeguards issues; provide occasional cross-support to prepare, monitor projects and/or help task teams resolve any problems involving social safeguards; in collaboration with AFTCS, formulate any necessary supporting documentation required internally by the Bank to process projects;
- Advise Management and the Regional Safeguards Advisor on major or sensitive matters relating to social development and contribute to discussions of social safeguard issues;
- Working with AFTCS, design and lead training on social safeguards issues, as well as preparation of social assessments;
- Assist the AFTOS Director with the preparation of AFR operations risk review;
- Assist AFTSG in the Safeguards Review and Update through the preparation of and participation in consultations and working groups;
- Represent AFTSG in meetings on safeguards policy and operational issues, both in the Region and at the corporate level (OPCS, Legal, SDN);
- Undertake studies/analysis in the field of social safeguards, social assessment, and other aspects of social development, including efforts to:
- strengthen country systems on environmental and social management through evaluations of country systems in relation to social risk management (including safeguards) and advisory assistance on legal, regulatory and other institutional reforms, as well as related capacity building;
- promote environmentally and socially sustainable outcomes in the Region's lending; and,
- contribute to the broader social development knowledge and solutions agenda in Africa and Bank-wide through policy analysis and strategy formulation, operational and analytical activities, policy dialogue and engagement with a broad range of stakeholders, and participation in country teams and communities of practice.
Selection Criteria:
- Advanced degree in a relevant social science (anthropology, political economy, social development, etc.) with a substantive professional experience (a minimum of 8 years) in areas relevant to social development (e. g., social safeguards, voice and participation, gender, CDD, CSO engagement);
- Demonstrated experience and knowledge of Bank operations and social safeguard policies, OP 4.12 (Involuntary Resettlement) and OP 4.10 (Indigenous Peoples);
- A good understanding of land management institutions and land tenure systems;
- Knowledge of MIGA and IFC social performance standards is desirable;
- Familiarity with multi-disciplinary approaches for addressing the needs of persons displaced from
- their land and/or homes;
- Commitment to poverty reduction and social development; highly self-motivated and talented in motivating others on social development themes;
- Experience in participatory processes, civic engagement and community development approaches.
- Excellent interpersonal, problem-solving, and team skills and ability to think innovatively and strategically to find balanced and practical solutions to complex safeguard issues.
- Experience and ability to dialogue with senior government officials, and other stakeholders including the private sector, donor community, NGOs and civil society.
- Good language skills; English essential; French desirable;
- Very high level of energy, initiative and self-motivation; willingness to travel extensively in the Africa Region and work under challenging circumstances; and
- Excellent oral and writing skills, and proven capacity to present complex safeguard and social development issues to task teams and Bank audiences, and to engage effectively and constructively with Government counterparts, private sector, project beneficiaries and civil society.
Social Development Competencies:
- Knowledge and Experience in Development Arena - Translates technical and cross-country knowledge into practical applications and contributions to country and sector strategies; interacts with clients at the policy level.
- Policy Dialogue Skills - Anticipates needs and requests in the field and conducts independent policy discussions with representatives of the government and non-government partners.
- Integrative Skills - Understands relevant cross-sectoral areas how they are interrelated; able to undertake cross-sectoral work in lending and non-lending operations.
- Analytical Tools for Social Sustainability - Extensive experience conducting social development analyses, deriving results that resonate with the client; ability to coach others in the application of the tools.
- Participation and Consultation - Extensive experience conducting social development consultative and participatory approaches, deriving results that resonate with the client; ability to coach others in the application of the interventions.
- Social Development Implications on Policy, Institutions, and Operations - Solid understanding of the implications of social development on policy, institutions, and operations.
- Social Safeguards - Experience successfully applying the social safeguard policies to category B and C projects, with minimal supervision.
- Client Orientation - Maintains client relationships in the face of conflicting demands or directions and provides evidence-based advice and solutions based on sound diagnosis and knowledge.
- Drive for Results - Identifies the needed resources to accomplish results involving multiple stakeholders and finds solutions to obstacles affecting key deliverables.
- Teamwork (Collaboration) and Inclusion - Shows leadership in ensuring the team stays organized and focused, and actively seeks and considers diverse ideas and approaches.
- Knowledge, Learning and Communication - Leads in the sharing of best practice, trends, knowledge and lessons learned across units and with clients and partners, articulating ideas verbally and in writing in a clear and compelling way across audiences of varied levels.
- Business Judgment and Analytical Decision Making - Gathers inputs, assesses risk, considers impact and articulates benefits of decisions for internal and external stakeholders over the long term.
- The World Bank Group is committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, nationality, culture and educational background. Individuals with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.
http://unjobs.org/vacancies/1367957948397