Integrated Asset Management Associate

Closing date: Friday, 24 June 2022

General

Description of assignment title: Integrated Asset Management Associate

Assignment country: Nepal

Expected start date: 07/01/2022

Sustainable Development Goal: 11. Sustainable cities and communities

Volunteer category: National UN University Volunteer

DoA reserved for persons with disabilities: No

Host entity: UNCDF

Type: Onsite

Duration: 6 months

Number of assignments: 6

Duty stations: Dhulikhel, Hetauda, Butwal, Dharan, Tulsipur, Bheemdatta

Details

Mission and objectives

UNCDF is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s 46 LDCs. UNCDF uses its capital mandate to help LDCs pursue inclusive growth. UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models to unlock public and private capital, especially domestic resources, to reduce poverty and support local economic development. UNCDF uses ‘smart’ official development assistance to unlock and leverage public and private domestic resources; it promotes financial inclusion, including through digital finance, as a key enabler of poverty reduction and inclusive growth; and it demonstrates how localizing finance outside the capital cities can accelerate growth in local economies, promote sustainable and climate-resilient infrastructure development, and empower local communities. Using capital grants, loans and credit enhancements, UNCDF tests financial models in inclusive finance and local development finance; ‘de-risks’ the local investment space; and proves concept, paving the way for larger and more risk-averse investors to come in and scale up. UNCDF’s financing models work through two channels: financial inclusion that expands the opportunities for individuals, households and small businesses to participate in the local economy, providing them with the tools they need to climb out of poverty and manage their financial lives; and localized investments that show how intergovernmental fiscal transfers, innovative municipal finance and structured project finance can drive public and private funding for local economic growth, women’s economic empowerment, climate adaptation, and sustainable development. The Strategic Framework of UNCDF builds on UNCDF’s financial instruments to drive innovations to respond to the needs in LDCs and reach out to underserved segments of the community.

Context

UNCDF has worked in Nepal since 1984, channelling technical assistance and capital investment in several thematic areas, emerging from its mandate from the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to assist LDCs in the development of their economies. Nepal is one of the most vulnerable country in terms of climate-related risks. Nepal has suffered from the impacts of increased frequency of extreme weather events, such as landslides, floods and droughts resulting in the loss of human lives as well as high social and economic costs. With urbanization becoming one of the pressing development challenges, UNCDF, through its Municipal Investment Finance Programme aims to increase the capacity of local governments to address key urbanization challenges through access to sustainable sources of capital financing. The programme aims to leverage resources of governments to mobilize public and private investments, while transitioning local government finances from traditional pure grant funding to a broad mix of financial sources to address local challenges. In Nepal, UNCDF in partnership with Town Development Fund, is preparing innovative solutions to expand financing for local governments which helps meet the financing gap that municipalities face. It supports the Municipal Finance Capacity Building programme to build capacity in the Town Development Fund and 15 pilot municipalities, for strengthening the resource base and contribute to sustainable achievement of SDGs particularly SDG 11 and SDG 13 while municipalities transition towards green growth/ sustained green infrastructure financing. UN-DESA and UNCDF has been partnering with Town Development Fund (TDF) in the area of integrated municipal asset management piloting in an initial 6 municipalities, followed by scaling up to additional municipalities following the initial phase. The Assignment will include working with pilot municipalities in strengthening municipal asset management, and follow up on the asset management action plan initiatives which is being scaled up to additional municipalities.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of the National Programme Coordinator and in close coordination with the Programme Officer of UNCDF and Experts of UN DESA and Town Development Fund, the National UN Youth Volunteer will:

• Participate in trainings offered on Infrastructure Asset Management;
• Support respective municipality that they are placed in, to update the municipal asset mapping;
• Support pilot municipalities in review of pilot municipalities’ gaps and opportunities to build sustainable climate resilient infrastructures reviewing earlier assessments conducted;
• Review existing asset management action plans, and update documents as required in coordination with concerned units of the municipality, and keep a log of the status on progress of the interventions;
• Undertake field visit to other wards in the allotted municipalities to track what is being done in each of the ward offices and support in updating ward level asset inventory as required;
• Review the progress made by municipality in terms of data entry into PAMS software and provide support as required;
• Keep track of ongoing project activities relating to maintaining record/ inventory of municipal assets;
• Provide support to maintain record of integrated infrastructure assets;
• Extend support to respective municipality focal persons on asset management;
• Support the team research on good practices in municipal asset management and contribute to Bi-monthly reporting;
• Any other related tasks as may be required where UN agencies, respective municipality and TDF are involved. Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities:
• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
• Provide annual and end of assignment self- reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities.
• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.;
• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers;
• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible. For the above tasks, following are the expected results/outputs:
• Trained and sensitized on infrastructure asset management principles and best practices
• Experience in working with local governments
• A good understanding of municipal asset management developed
• Existing practices of Integrated Asset Management assessed
• Enhance coordination, reporting, analytical and interpersonal skills
• Suggestions and feedback on innovations and improvements provided
• Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated and documented in all activities throughout the assignment
• A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for peace and development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed

Eligibility criteria

Age: 18 – 26

Nationality

Candidate must be a national or legal resident of the country of assignment.

Requirements

Required experience

1 years of experience in Civil Engineering/ Engineering, OR understanding/exposure/knowledge of Civil Engineering/ Engineering; motivated to contribute towards peace and development and to serve others; good interpersonal, networking and communication skills; willingness to contribute and work as part of a team; flexible and open to learning and new experiences; respect for diversity and adaptability to other cultures, environments and living conditions; previous experience as a volunteer and/or experience of another culture, (i.e. studies, volunteer work, internship) would be highly regarded; computer skills (i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, social media, and others).

Area(s) of expertise

Engineering and construction

Driving license

–

Languages

Nepalese, Level: Fluent, Required English, Level: Fluent, Required

Required education level

Bachelor degree or equivalent in Civil Engineering or related field

Competencies and values

• Professionalism: demonstrated understanding of operations relevant to UNCDF, technical capabilities or knowledge relevant or transferrable to UNCDF procedures and rules; discretion, political sensitivity, diplomacy and tact to deal with clients; ability to apply good judgement; ability to liaise and coordinate with a range of different actors, especially in senior positions; where appropriate, high degree of autonomy, personal initiative and ability to take ownership; resourcefulness and willingness to accept wide responsibilities and ability to work independently under established procedures; ability to manage information objectively, accurately and confidentially; responsive and client-oriented;
• Integrity: demonstrate the values and ethical standards of the UN and UNCDF in daily activities and behaviours while acting without consideration of personal gains; resist undue political pressure in decision-making; stand by decisions that are in the organization’s interest even if they are unpopular; take prompt action in cases of unprofessional or unethical behaviour; does not abuse power or authority;
• Teamwork and respect for diversity: ability to operate effectively across organizational boundaries; excellent interpersonal skills; ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and harmonious working relations in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, mixed-gender environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity; sensitivity and adaptability to culture, gender, religion, nationality and age; commitment to implementing the goal of gender equality by ensuring the equal participation and full involvement of women and men in all aspects of UN operations; ability to achieve common goals and provide guidance or training to colleagues;
• Commitment to continuous learning: initiative and willingness to learn new skills and stay abreast of new developments in area of expertise; ability to adapt to changes in work environment.
• Planning and organizing: effective organizational and problem-solving skills and ability to manage a large volume of work in an efficient and timely manner; ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate and monitor (own) work; ability to work under pressure, with conflicting deadlines, and to handle multiple concurrent projects/activities;
• Communication: proven interpersonal skills; good spoken and written communication skills, including ability to prepare clear and concise reports; ability to conduct presentations, articulate options and positions concisely; ability to make and defend recommendations; ability to communicate and empathize with staff (including national staff), military personnel, volunteers, counterparts and local interlocutors coming from very diverse backgrounds; capacity to transfer information and knowledge to a wide range of different target groups;
• Flexibility: adaptability and ability to live and work in potentially hazardous and remote conditions, involving physical hardship and little comfort; to operate independently in austere environments for protracted periods; willingness to travel within the area of operations and to transfer to other duty stations within the area of operations as necessary;
• Genuine commitment towards the principles of voluntary engagement, which includes solidarity, compassion, reciprocity and self-reliance; and commitment towards UNCDF’s mission and vision, as well as to the UN Core Values.

Other information

Living conditions and remarks

Placement of the UNVs will be in 6 pilot municipalities of (Dharan, Dhulikhel, Heauda, Butwal, Tulsipur and Bheemdatta). As these are urban municipalities of Nepal, It will allow UNVs to easily adjust to these locations. Candidates should indicate thei order of preferference for location of assignment (among the six municipalities) fwhen submitting their application. Wherever possible , preference will be given to volunteers originating from the respective municipalities and placements will be matched as far as possible in accordance to preferred choices indicated by candidates.

Inclusivity statement

United Nations Volunteers is an equal opportunity programme that welcomes applications from qualified professionals. We are committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, care protected characteristics. As part of their adherence to the values of UNV, all UN Volunteers commit themselves to combat any form of discrimination, and to promoting respect for human rights and individual dignity, without distinction of a person’s race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.

Note on Covid-19 vaccination requirements

Selected candidates for certain occupational groups may be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) in line with the applicable host entity policy

Tagged as: Associate, NGO INGO, United Nations