The objective of the International Housing Expert, supported by the national experts, is to support the Ministry of Housing, Urbanism and Spatial Planning in the elaboration of a participatory diagnosis of urban habitat and a New Urban Housing Strategy, which will be accompanied by a consequent action plan for implementation. This strategy will be based on an update of all existing documents, information, and data related to national and sectoral policies, strategies, and programmes on housing, urban development, and land.
Homebased
9 months
Background
The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is a vast country in sub-Saharan Africa with a surface area of 1,030,700 km², bordering five countries and opening onto the Atlantic Ocean where it has 754 km of coastline. The territory is divided into 13 wilayas (regions) subdivided into 53 moughataas (departments) and 250 municipalities. The wilaya is placed under the authority of a wali (governor), the moughataa is headed by a hakem (commissioner) and the municipality is headed by a mayor elected by universal suffrage and assisted by a council whose size depends on the population.
The population of the IRM is estimated at 4.5 million in 2019, with a growth rate of 2.17% per year, a life expectancy at birth of 63 years, a literacy rate of 52.1%, nearly 58% of the population aged 15 to 64 years, 40.6% of working-age adults in employment, more than 55% of households are urban and less than 2% are nomadic.
As part of the strengthening of its housing and urbanization policy, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (IRM) has signed a Contribution Agreement to finance technical assistance from the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) over a period of twelve (12) months. The objective is to develop a new National Urban Housing Strategy (NUHS), including the improvement of mechanisms for the production of decent and affordable housing for the vast majority of households. This Agreement is intended to extend the collaboration initiated in 2016 and which has enabled both parties to conduct several studies in the urban housing and development sector.
The policies, strategies, and action plans formulated for the housing sector have not been implemented. They provide for relevant and clear objectives in terms of production, as was the case for the Urban Housing Development Strategy (UHDS) elaborated in 2004-2005 with a production programme of 10,500 urban lots per year. However, there is a demand for land and property estimated, for the next 10 years, at more than 10,000 housing units and 20,000 plots per year, apart from the need of restructuring vulnerable neighborhoods and urban renewal. The Contribution Agreement aims to meet these various needs through the UN-Habitat technical assistance project, the main deliverables of which are a participatory diagnosis of urban housing and a National Urban Housing Strategy (NUHS).
The Ministry of Housing, Urbanism and Spatial Planning (MHUSP) and UN-Habitat plan to entrust the implementation of this Agreement to a Technical Team (TT) of three (3) experts, composed as follows:
- An international housing expert, Head of the TT;
- One national expert in the development and evaluation of Housing policies, strategies, and programmes;
- One national socio-economic expert specialized in the collection of data and information necessary for the Project.
The present terms of reference present the tasks to be performed, the duration of the intervention, and the profile of the international Housing expert.
Specific tasks to be performed by the International Housing Expert, Head of the TT
The International Housing Expert will be responsible for the quality, content, and consistency of the work to be delivered by the Technical Team. Under the direct supervision of UN-Habitat, which will provide the necessary technical support as required, and the overall supervision of the Ministry of Housing, Urbanism and Spatial Planning, he/she will perform the following tasks:
- Develop and implement a monitoring and evaluation plan for the tasks assigned to the Technical Team, including specific indicators and timelines for measuring progress towards outcomes;
- Collaborate with national consultants working in the Technical Team to ensure the quality and accuracy of their work, and provide technical assistance and support as needed to help them achieve their objectives;
- Contribute to the preparation of all necessary documentation for the Steering Committee and Technical Secretariat meetings, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Housing, Urbanism and Spatial Planning, ensuring that the documentation is complete and accurate and participate physically (preferably, especially for Steering Committee meetings) or virtually in Steering Committee and Technical Secretariat meetings, and keep the minutes accurately reflecting key discussions, decisions, and action items;
- Review and incorporate feedback, inputs, and recommendations from stakeholders involved in or concerned with the National Urban Housing Strategy development process into the relevant documents being prepared by the Technical Secretariat, ensuring that modifications and additions are made in a timely and accurate manner;
- Organize and participate, as much as possible, in online or face-to-face data collection, stakeholders interviews, and thematic workshops and focus groups, ensuring the inclusion of youth, women, and people with disabilities to integrate their perspectives and prerogatives in the diagnosis;
- Identification of constraint points, and analysis of the impact of climate change, conflicts, existing vulnerabilities, etc., on the production, management, and maintenance of housing and identification of ongoing opportunities and innovative approaches.
The Expert must have a minimum of a Master's degree in housing finance, urbanization processes, urban governance, and sustainable development in general is required
The Expert to be recruited must have a minimum of seven (7) years of experience in housing and habitat policies in Africa and developing countries in general, proven knowledge in terms of housing finance, urbanization processes, urban governance, and sustainable development in general is required.
Proven analytical and writing skills, dialogue, and consultation skills, ability to work in a team and also under pressure, a high level of multicultural sensitivity is desirable
Proven experience in Mauritania or a Sahelo-Saharan country is an asset
Computer literate, using Word, Excel, and Powerpoint under Windows as well as the Internet is desirable
English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this position, fluency in English and French is required. Knowledge of Arabic is an advantage.
THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.