National Project Coordinator – International Labour Organization

Introduction

70 per cent of Uganda’s population of 42 million people are living in poverty when using the international poverty threshold of USD 3.20 (PPP) per day (or USD 1.09 in nominal terms). Uganda’s social protection system is nascent, only 2.9 per cent of the population is covered by at least one social protection benefit (ILO, 2019). Only around 5 per cent of the working age population is contributing to any of the mandatory or licensed social security schemes. The national social protection policy was adopted in 2015 but progress on the implementation is slow: the 2019 review found only 20 per cent of the target have been met.

In spite of the recent adoption of a law on social health insurance, there is no operational social health protection scheme at the moment. Among those working, informality and underemployment are widespread and persistent. Over 90 per cent of the employment in Uganda occurs in the informal sector, where fringe benefits are absent, and earnings are low and unpredictable. Furthermore, social care and support services are so limited that in the government’s draft National Development Plan, a baseline could not be established for the proportion of the population in need of these services, who are actually accessing them (Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, 2019).
The slow implementation and limited scale of the programmes is largely due to underinvestment. Uganda’s social protection spending currently stands at only 0.3 per cent of GDP (excluding health care expenditure) (ILO, 2019). Public health expenditure represented only 15.7 per cent of current health expenditure (i.e. 0.93 per cent of GDP) in 2016, leaving the rest to be covered by out-of-pocket payments (Ministry of Health, 2017). Direct income support expenditure, at 0.06 per cent of GDP is low by international standards, and total social spending is a falling share of government spending (Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, 2019). Social development (including social protection) budget allocations have remained flat at less than 1 per cent for the last decade.

In this context, the EC-ILO-UNICEF Action “Improving synergies between social protection and public finance management” aims to support the government to accelerate and expand the social protection interventions by organizing and building upon the country’s existing social protection programmes to cover the most excluded, so that the vulnerabilities of the population are adequately addressed. More specifically, the project will cover the following areas of work

• Technical support for the implementation of the National Social Protection Policy, notably through a national dialogue that will follow the Social Protection Policy Options (SPPOT) tool methodology for building consensus around key interventions to work towards the establishment of a national social protection floor in Uganda
• Exploring the feasibility of different mechanisms for extending social protection to the informal and rural economy through innovative financing options
• A review of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) with a view to strengthening its capacity to extend coverage to informal economy workers
• Strengthening knowledge and technical capacities of government officials and other stakeholders to design, to deliver, monitor and report on social protection programmes

The TA to the project will be guided by relevant labour standards, in particular Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. R202.) and Social Security Minimum Standards Convention 102.

Uganda is one of 8 countries that have been included in the EU-ILO-UNICEF Action on Improving synergies between social protection and Public Finance Management. Further countries will receive on-demand technical advisory services during the three years implementation phase. In addition to the implementation of activities in Uganda, the project will benefit from and contribute to the documentation of experiences and knowledge exchange across the countries included in the Action.

Project Management

The project shall maintain internal contacts are with staff and managers in field offices, project locations and headquarters to build and maintain effective working relationships, exchange information and gain agreement on issues related to the EC-ILO-UNICEF Action. The incumbent will provide support in the development and dissemination of products and outputs of the Action.

External contacts are primarily counterparts in government, employers’ and workers’ organizations, United Nations (UN) agencies, the EU delegation in Uganda, International Financial Institutions, other development partners, general public, academic institutions, service providers, and other international /or public and private sector organizations to maintain effective working relationships, promote the work of the ILO, respond to inquiries and to discuss opportunities for joint initiatives.

The Action is a joint project between UNICEF and the ILO with ILO as the lead agency. In the ILO Office, the position works under the technical supervision of the Social Protection Technical Officer and guidance of the Social Protection Specialist of the Decent Work Team in Pretoria. The project team in Kampala comprise the Social Protection Technical Officer, National Project Coordinator, Admin and Finance Assistant and a Driver. The Team will work closely with the EU delegation in Kampala. ITCILO may be mobilized for technical support on capacity building programs. Close collaboration with SOC/PRO is necessary since SOC/PRO is responsible for the overall coordination of activities under the EC-ILO-UNICEF Action, including in particular reporting to the donor. A close network of research and academic institutions as well as media organizations needs to be developed that can be called on to support promotion, knowledge development, capacity building and other project requirements as needed. The project needs to coordinate with MoGLSD, MoFPED, MoLG, NSSF, KCCA, and the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministries of Health, Education, and Agriculture.

Main Purpose or Objectives of the Position

Under the overall guidance of the Social Protection Technical Officer, the incumbent provides comprehensive and professional services for the efficient, effective and client-oriented design, management, delivery and administration of the EC-ILO-UNICEF Action, in particular as regards the ILO allocation for Uganda. This includes technical inputs as well as project management, budget management, reporting, monitoring and evaluation and representation of the ILO in processes and meetings at national level as needed. The incumbent is expected to have a high degree of independence in completing work assignments.

Reporting Lines

The National Project Coordinator will work under the overall responsibility of the Director of the ILO Country Office for the United Republic of Tanzania, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda (CO-Dar Es Salaam) and under the direct supervision of the Social Protection Technical Officer. S/he may receive technical backstopping, support and guidance from the Social Protection Specialist of the ILO Decent Work Team in Pretoria and the EC DEVCO Team in SOCPRO, HQ Geneva.

Description of Duties

General Functions

• Provide substantial professional services for the development and delivery of quality, timely and widely accessible outputs as established in the work plan, including knowledge products and research and oversee the work of and provide guidance to consultants. Supervise staff and consultants as applicable.
• Support the project timely implementation, monitoring and evaluation through management functions, including the development of work plans, preparation and monitoring of budget, provision of technical and administrative supervision to the project team in line with the ILO policy, rules and regulations and according to the final project document and work plan.
• Help identifying suitable external collaborators and contractors for conducting certain project activities related to social protection, draft terms of reference, prepare work plan and costs estimates and provide support for preparing the contracts.
• Plan and organise quarterly in-house project review meetings, identify problems/challenges in technical and financial delivery of the project, and propose solutions, action and through the technical officer, follow-up with relevant ILO units including those in the headquarters and regional office, government offices, constituents and other organizations including project’s implementing partners to expedite implementation and meet technical as well as financial delivery targets.
• Periodically monitor and report progress of the project and activities by reviewing, verifying and analysing work-plans, progress reports, final reports and other data for clarity, consistency and completeness. Prepare required technical progress reports and ad hoc reports on the status of project planning and implementation.
• In coordination with UNICEF, support communication and visibility activities of the project activities, including commission, research, write, edit and/or translate from/to the local language audience-specific communication and information products, conduct surveys, maintenance and updating of websites, organize press conferences, media interviews and other public information events, provide media briefings, in order to communicate persuasive, evidence-based and solution-oriented messages on the project activities.
• Coordinate day-to-day operational management of the project, facilitate budgeting and expenditure tracking, regular review of financial reports and records, monitor status of obligation

Specific Functions

• Under the guidance of the Social Protection Technical Officer, coordinate with UNICEF and EU for the implementation of the project and HQ for reporting. This includes the timely development and regular updating of detailed work plans and budgets, support the setting up and subsequent participation in the national country steering committee of the Action, ensuring sound monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the ILO allocation at country level and developing related annual progress reports for the country level activities
• Perform other coordination and representation roles, as appropriate and required. Facilitate anchoring coordination within the Government’s Social Protection Agencies/units and ensuring a good floor of communication with national stakeholders.
• Promote and maintain partnerships within the UN family and with donors for better results of the project, such as for example WB and EU in the area of Public Finance Management; EU member countries for technical collaboration in social protection related programme/projects; UNDP.
• Support resource mobilization for long-term funding (domestic funding or development cooperation) to ensure future continuity of activities
• Maintain effective coordination with other ILO executed Projects in Uganda in particular, the PROSPECTS project which has a strong component on improving enabling environment for social protection, in particular in the area of health and in particular for refugees.
• Support the organization of conferences, seminars, workshops, training sessions and meetings. Ensure documenting experiences and sharing of information across the other projects of the Action, e.g. by preparing briefs, periodical reports and statistical data on social protection.
• Perform other duties as may be assigned by the supervisor.

Required qualifications

Education

First level university degree in one of the following disciplines: Economics, Social Protection, Political Sciences, Statistics, Development, Anthropology, Demography, and Population Studies;

Experience

Three years of experience in project management, supervision, administration and implementation of grant/cooperation agreement requirements. Experience in mobilising high level officials of the constituents to influence policy and institutional reforms, mainstreaming social dialogue, ILS and gender, and working with different SP stakeholders is a preference.

Technical requirements: Strong knowledge of social protection administration and delivery as well as national policies, financing and legislations affecting social protection. Knowledge of the policy making process in Uganda. Experience in public finance management/fiscal policies desirable.

Languages

Excellent command of English.

Competencies

Must be result focused and be able to work under pressure and tight deadlines;

Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to establish strong working relationships, collaborative and good interpersonal relations in culturally diverse environments ;

Strong analytical skills;

Technical knowledge and experience in implementation of gender and disability sensitive approaches is a plus;

Knowledge and experience in implementing of either public finance management or social protection programme

Demonstrated ability to manage technical co-operation projects of international organizations.

Ability to understand and effectively work with Government, workers and employers organizations, non-government organizations and UN agencies.

Ability to conduct action oriented research and write analytical technical reports and project communication materials in English.

Ability to conduct policy discussion and high-level political processes.

Clear commitment to mainstream ILO, social dialogue and gender into project activities.

Proficient in basic computer software (Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Adobe Reader) and ability to use other software packages required by the Office

Ability to work independently with a minimum of supervision taking responsibility for the performance of activities, both in regard to the quality of the products and the results achieved;.

Ability to synthesize and draw conclusions from empirical research on policy and managerial issues, and to transmit and share these knowledge to team members and to partners and beneficiaries of the project;

Ability to evaluate and monitor activities and projects of technical cooperation

Ability to work simultaneously with several institutions clients

Ability to work in a multicultural environment and to demonstrate gender-sensitive and non-discriminatory behaviour and attitudes.