Associate Economist at United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: (Deadline 20 November 2023)

A (least hardship)

Family

Family

NOB

National Professional Officer

Reason

Regular > Regular Assignment

No

2024-01-01

November 20, 2023

Associate Economist

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships
Framed by the Global Compact for Refugees (GCR) and UNHCR’s mission to find solutions to refugee situations, strengthened cooperation with development and private sector partners is essential. The increasing number of refugees and internally displaced persons in protracted displacement situations, together with the increasing scale of irregular migration, large-scale refugee movements, and costs of responding to humanitarian situations, have placed forced displacement high on the global agenda. These elements have further driven the realization that humanitarian support must be complemented by development and private sector actors to lift displaced populations out of poverty, enable solutions, and encourage an area based approach to poverty reduction.

Within UNHCR, the Division of Resilience and Solutions (DRS) was formed to address these challenges, in part by broadening strategic partnerships with key actors in these areas, including importantly the World Bank and other multilateral development banks and in so doing aligning approaches by Government. To support investments by development actors in area based approaches including both forcibly displaced and their hosts, requires better data and standardized information about refugees and host community households, particularly in relation to their socio-economic status or multidimensional poverty status. Accurate data on welfare conditions is also needed for UNHCR and partner operations, including cash, livelihoods, and education programming, welfare targeting and monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals. Finally, comparable information for both refugees and host community members is a pre-requisite for measuring changes in welfare required to inform medium-term programming with development partners and national governments. DRS together with the World Bank Poverty Global Practice supported by the UNHCR World Bank Joint Data Center manage the partnership and play the global coordination role for the institution in working with National Statistics Offices to include forcibly displaced into National Poverty Assessments.

The Associate Economist will contribute to the Global Compact for Refugees (GCR) objectives: 1 – Ease the pressures on host countries and 2 – Enhance refugee self-reliance. Concretely, the incumbent will contribute to the indicators measuring the success of the GCR and particularly the proportion of refugees living below the national poverty line in the host country. Depending on where s/he is based, the reporting lines will differ. If the Associate Economist is based in Headquarters, s/he will report to the DRS Partnership Analytics Research and Knowledge (PARK) section. If s/he is based in a country or regional office, will report to either the Representative or Deputy Representative (Programme), or in some cases Head of Sub-Office or Senior Operations Officer. In all cases, there will be a dotted line to DRS PARK for technical functional clearance of candidates and for technical oversight of economics products. The Associate Economist will work closely with Programme and Protection colleagues in addition to Senior Management in the operation as well as Bureaux and technical unit key, external stakeholders and development agencies, including the World Bank, government agencies, national statistical agencies, and other operational partners.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties
Project Management
– Support the design and implementation of assessments and other data-driven products related to the socio-economic welfare of refugees, forcibly displaced persons and host communities.
– Facilitate and support collaboration with partners and activities in the collection of comparable socio-economic (poverty) data on forcibly displaced.
– Support data collection activities, as appropriate. This may take place at all stages of data collection (preparation, survey design, sampling, onsite data collection oversight and supervision and quality assurance, data analysis and report writing).
– Support data analysis using econometric programs (R, Stata).

Data Collection and Analysis
– Consolidate raw primary and secondary datasets into final datasets to be used for analysis, as needed. This will involve creating and merging various sources of data and may require programming matching algorithms, linking up with field staff for additional information, and performing manual matching.
– Provide secondary data analysis as appropriate.
– Clean datasets and support creation of necessary indicators.
– For any field survey, assist in programming the instrument and support development of protocols to ensure high quality data.
– Prepare and document relevant datasets for archiving on the UNHCR Microdata Library.
– Support the preparation of research papers including formatting and creating tables, graphs, and related analysis.
– Engage with country operation, partners and government, as appropriate, in the design and implementation of data collection and research projects.

Coordination
– Facilitate good communication and coordination among members of the country team, Governments, researchers and partners, serving as a link between these parties.
– Support drafting and writing of presentations, analytical reports, research and policy briefs.
– Identify research opportunities and contribute to proposals for research partnerships and funding.
– Support preparations of reports on achievements in data collection and analysis.

– Support the identification and management of risks and seek to seize opportunities impacting objectives in the area of responsibility. Ensure decision making in risk based in the functional area of work. Raise risks, issues and concerns to a supervisor or to relevant functional colleague(s).

– Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications
Education & Professional Work Experience
Years of Experience / Degree Level
For P2/NOB – 3 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 2 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 1 year relevant experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education
Economics; Statistics; International Business

or other related field

Certificates and/or Licenses
Not specified

Relevant Job Experience
Essential
At least three (3) years of demonstrated experience in economics, analysing data and/or conducting research.

Desirable
Familiarity with processes of the World Bank, the African Development Bank or other international financial institutions, bilateral development agencies or research institutions. Familiarity with displacement and development issues. Experience of working with the private sector. Experience working in applied development economics. Experience in poverty modelling. Experience leading primary data collection effort and data analysis. Experience of working with synergies between the humanitarian-development nexus. Demonstrated skills and experience with measuring welfare through socio-economic profiling. Demonstrated experience with analysis of large datasets. Demonstrated expertise in utilization of relevant statistical software (R, Stata). Ability to work independently with limited supervision and deliver high quality products. Demonstrated ability to think creatively, and to explore, harness and translate innovative concepts into relevant practical approaches for programming, policy, and advocacy purposes. Demonstrated ability to think creatively, and to explore, harness and translate innovative concepts into relevant practical approaches for programming, policy, and advocacy purposes.

Functional Skills
CO-Drafting and Documentation
SO-Networking
MG-Project Management
EC-Statistical and modelling software
DM-Data Collection and Analysis
IM-Statistics Analysis
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements
For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.
For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.

All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination and abuse of power.

As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.

UNHCR in Rwanda is seeking a dedicated and highly motivated professional for the position of Associate Economist at UNHCR in Rwanda, with a strong commitment to supporting the organization’s mission to protect and assist refugees and internally displaced people. Bringing a solid background in economics, data analysis, and international development, and a passion for creating positive socio-economic impact in humanitarian crises.
We are looking for someone with a Master’s degree in Economics, Development Economics, or a related field. S/He should have a Minimum of 2-3 years of relevant work experience in economics, data analysis, and research. Experience working with international organizations, NGOs, or governmental agencies, especially in humanitarian and development contexts. Proven ability to conduct economic assessments, surveys, and data analysis (a functional clearance test will be required). Demonstrated experience in monitoring and evaluating socio-economic development programs. Strong knowledge of the socio-economic situation in Rwanda and the region.
We are looking for someone who has the ability to conduct economic assessments and analyze socio-economic data in refugee and IDP contexts, providing evidence-based recommendations., proficient in evaluating the impact of development programmes and projects, can conduct research (collect, analyze, and interpret data to inform policy and decision-making. Our candidate can work collaboratively with internal and external partners, and work in challenging and fast-changing environments with limited resources.

English

Kinyarwanda

French

Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:

Nature of Position:

Rwanda is stable country with a sustained economic growth over the last two decades, despite the COVID-19 pandemic which temporarily dampened growth worldwide. The GDP per capita has grown from $125.5 (1994) to $833 (2021) and the current Government programme Vision 2050 projects the long-term strategic direction for the Country to reach upper middle-income status by 2035 and high income by 2050.  The first seven years of the path to Rwanda’ s Vision 2050 are actualized through the National Strategic Transformation (NST1 2017-2024), providing pillars for accelerated transformation in the areas of economy, social protection and governance, while emphasizing sustainability of results and inclusiveness of development for all, including refugees. The NST1 integrates global, regional commitments and international frameworks such as the Global Compact for Refugees.  The next NST is due to be released mid-2024, and UNHCR provides inputs to this planning process through the UN Country Team (UNCT).

Rwanda hosts over 135,000 refugees, mainly from Burundi and the DRC, in 5 camps throughout the country.  The Government of Rwanda, UNHCR, and other humanitarian partners work together to ensure the protection and well-being of these refugees, as well as their socio-economic inclusion. The UNHCR operation in Rwanda is dedicated to providing refugees and asylum seekers with protection, humanitarian assistance, and opportunities for self-reliance. This includes access to education, healthcare, shelter, and livelihood support. The Associate Economist will play a crucial role in advancing UNHCR’s strategic objectives within the country.

Within this framework, there are many opportunities for the inclusion of refugees within Rwanda’s development. To support this aim, the Ministry in charge of Emergency Management (MINEMA) of the Government of Rwanda and UNHCR launched a joint strategy on Economic Inclusion of Refugees and Host Communities for 2021-24 which aims at graduating refugees from extreme poverty.

Adopting the concept of Humanitarian-Peace – Development Nexus

Over the coming years UNHCR will increasingly place emphasis on supporting refugee’s economic inclusion, particularly through working with our development partners such as the World Bank, GiZ, CARE, Caritas and so forth.  These partners are also supporting the communities that host refugees to ensure that the overall economy of a region is buoyed up by the presence of refugees.

UNHCR and partners hope to encourage self-reliance, build resilience to shocks and make investments to support the graduation of refugees out of poverty while reducing the potential for frictions within the communities. In addition, UNHCR and partners aim reinforce advocacy and inclusion inputs through gathering, analyzing and disseminating validated data, including socio-economic and demographic data.

Living and Working Conditions:

Additional Qualifications

Skills

CO-Drafting and Documentation, DM-Data Collection and Analysis, EC-Statistical and modelling software, IM-Statistics Analysis, MG-Project Management, SO-Networking

Bachelor of Arts (BA): Economics, Bachelor of Arts (BA): International Business, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Statistics

Certifications

Competencies

Accountability, Analytical thinking, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Empowering & building trust, Judgement & decision making, Organizational awareness, Planning & organizing, Teamwork & collaboration, Technological awareness

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