Job Description
Tiered Approach
In line with the commitment to safeguard capacity and support personnel already in the Organization, a majority of UNDP UNCDF/UNV vacancies are advertised using a tiered application process whereby:
Please make note of the Tier(s) indicated in the vacancy title, if any, and ensure that you satisfy the eligibility to apply.
Background
Violent conflict has surged in recent years. In 2025, 65 state-based conflicts were recorded across 35 countries, the highest number in nearly 80 years. While the complex relationship between conflict, security and development is increasingly understood, international assistance and investment in conflict prevention have remained relatively low. At the same time, approaches to preventing conflict have been refined considerably, as policy and practice on peacebuilding have evolved – and the UN, its Member States and other partners are increasingly looking to prevention as a critical strategy for sustaining peace and nurturing development. Conflict prevention is increasingly recognized as a rational and cost-effective strategy for countries at risk of violence and for the international community.
The Joint UNDP-DPPA Programme on Building National Capacities for Conflict Prevention has made a ground-breaking contribution in bridging the gap between political engagement and development assistance in pursuit of preventing conflict and sustaining peace. In its new phase (2024-2028), the Joint UNDP-DPPA Programme will further strengthen the analytical capacities of national stakeholders and the UN system in support of Member States’ efforts to advance policy and programmatic coherence on conflict prevention and support strategies for sustaining peace. Central to this effort, the deployment of Peace and Development Advisors (PDAs) has been the Joint Programme’s primary instrument for providing UN Resident Coordinators, UNDP Resident Representatives and UN Country Teams (UNCT) with capacity to support national partners in dialogue and national or local mediation processes, in the establishment and operationalization of national infrastructures and mechanisms for peace, and in other initiatives aimed at sustaining peace. The current cadre includes 63 PDAs deployed globally, including 25 national positions.
To ensure that PDAs are better equipped and empowered to deliver on their mandates, the Joint Programme has established ‘Peace, Development and Peacebuilding Fund teams’ in a number of contexts, where a national Peace and Development Officer provides reinforced capacity to the PDA’s engagement in support of the RCO (Resident Coordinator’s Office) and UNCT in the area of conflict prevention and sustaining peace. In Somalia, the Joint Programme and the Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding and Peace Support Office (PBPSO) deploy the Peace and Development and Peacebuilding Fund Advisor (PD/PBFA), to whom the Peace and Development Officer (PDO) will report.
Operationally, the PDO supports the PD/PBFA in enhancing coherence across UN entities, government counterparts, civil society, and development partners to deliver unified results. To support robust governance, the PDO assists the Advisor in servicing local mechanisms such as the PBF Joint Steering Committee, helping to ensure that all PBF allocations are catalytic, conflict-sensitive, gender-responsive, and grounded in regular political economy and conflict analysis. The PDO further contributes to the Advisor’s efforts to build strategic partnerships with donors, International Financial Institutions (IFIs), and alternative financing mechanisms to scale up successful initiatives, in close collaboration with the Somalia Joint Fund Secretariat.
Country’s context
Somalia has made notable progress in state-building and reform momentum over the past decade, including the milestone achievement of the Completion Point under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative in December 2023, and the launching of a new National Transformation Plan (NTP) in early 2025, which sets out the authorities’ medium-term reform priorities, including enhancing governance, economic diversification, human capital development, and environmental resilience.
But Somalia continues to face multi-faceted challenges, including contestation around electoral and constitutional processes; challenged relations between Federal and some State governments; the presence of non-state armed actors; and cyclical climate shocks exacerbated by insecurity that cause recurrent humanitarian crises. The political Mission UNTMIS (previously UNSOM), present in the country since 2013, is in the process of drawing down, with a planned exit by 31 October 2026, and transition of responsibilities to the Federal Government of Somalia, UN Country Team (UNCT), and other partners.
The new UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, launched in June 2026, is aligned with the NTP priorities, as well as with the UNTMIS transition roadmaps. Following the mission’s departure, the UNCT must ensure that peacebuilding and conflict sensitivity are infused across its programming in the new Cooperation Framework. In 2026, Somalia applied for renewed eligibility for the Peace Building Fund (PBF), based on a strong history of prior engagement. The Government counterpart to the PBF is the Federal Ministry of Interior, Federalism and Reconciliation (MoIFAR), which launched a National Reconciliation Framework for Conflict Resolution and Prevention in 2023.
The Peace and Development Officer works under the direct supervision of the PD/PBFA, to provide substantive support in three main areas of activity, including:
Education:
Experience:
Language requirements (Required / Desired)
Other
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the United Nations' global development network. UNDP works in about 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. W... Read More
