Today Ukraine is facing its most serious challenges since achieving independence in 1991. The ongoing war has already resulted in significant loss of life, unprecedented displacement, internally and towards neighboring countries, and devastating destruction of infrastructure. The UN Ukraine Flash Appeal shows that at least 15.7 million people are in immediate need of emergency assistance and protection. Early projections indicate that if the war should continue in the medium to long term, up to 90% of the Ukrainian population could face poverty and extreme economic vulnerability, and the country’s socio-economic progress could be set-back by almost 20 years. In the short-term, 62% of the population is at high risk of falling into poverty. Ukraine’s economy is set to shrink by 45% this year due to the war and even with a moderate recovery in the next few years, by 2025 the GDP would still only be two-thirds of the pre-war GDP in 2021.

In addition, the country faces losses of many people’s lives and devastative destruction of infrastructures and economic bases. Currently, more than 50% of the energy infrastructure damaged, causing the massive disruption of energy supply nationwide with millions of people experiencing power outages and challenges in heating. Extensive scale of destruction of infrastructure, rehabilitating or constructing infrastructures and installing equipment with necessary supply of the materials is urgently required to restore or maintain lifeline and key basic services, followed by removal or mines and explosives as well as debris.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Rule of Law and Access to Justice Associate will be responsible for:

• Support the delivering the specific activities envisaged in the Project (and in other Projects under Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme umbrella) in the area of Rule of Law and Access to Justice;
• Support the development and partnership building with project stakeholders at national and sub-national sector (both civil society and governmental);
• Actively participate in implementing an area- and community-based approach by supporting the work of the community mobilization team with local communities, with an emphasis on the engagement with the justice service providers and with local authorities;
• Assist the Project team to mainstream protection of civilians, human rights, and upholding of rule of law issues into reform priorities, throughout Project’s implementation.

Specifically, s/he will perform the following tasks:

Support the delivering the specific activities envisaged in the area of Rule of Law and Access to Justice:

• Participate in development of the detailed project activity plans together with the Rule of Law and Access to Justice Specialist, and provide inputs to development of Project Annual Work Plans;
• Participate in project implementation, including drafting of relevant Project documents (memos, briefs, talking points, meeting debriefs, minutes), and other reporting requirements in the area of rule of law and access to justice;
• Support national institutions to develop and implement action plans which strengthen access to justice;
• Provide support in collecting and issuing updates on activities in the rule of law and access to justice area (assisting in research activities, processing statistical data, drafting conclusions and recommendations) including drafting changes in legislation and national or sub-national strategies or action plans;
• Participate in monitoring and reporting on the developments in rule of law and access to justice trends and activities by key stakeholders, including both state and non-state actors.

Building partnerships with Project stakeholders and partners:

• Support close coordination and cooperation with other UN agencies working in the sphere of Rule of Law and Access to Justice (including UN RPP agencies – UN Women, UNFPA, FAO);
• Liaise with Project partners and facilitate communication on Project-related activities including organizing joint thematic learning and networking events;
• Support and participate in local coordination and engagement meetings with stakeholders on issues relating to rule of law and access to justice;
  • Assist in developing and maintaining close working relationships with local civil society and community groups to facilitate project implementation;
• Participate in monitoring and reporting on rule of law and access to justice issues locally, and identify emerging trends using project mapping and other available data.

Actively participate in implementing an area- and community-based approach:

• Support Civil Society and community groups to develop skills to actively engage in advocating for and providing services in the area of access to justice and to the rule of law, including planning and implementing joint activities;
• Participate in implementation of the Project small-grants (including specialized grants) facility by assessing proposals, nurturing networks, as well as identify issues, risks, priorities, and opportunities that support the implementation of grant activities;
• Assist in overseeing the work of beneficiaries of Small Grants Facility and ensure quality of outputs in keeping with grants applications.

Provide support to the project management and implementation:

• Prepare regular updates (written and verbal) on Project progress in meeting Rule of Law and Access to Justice targets, including challenges and lessons learned for supervisors;
• Support of monitoring of the key interventions of the Project particularly for vulnerable groups such as IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons), children, the elderly, and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV);
• Draft inputs for regular Project reports to the donor and M&E activities;
• Perform other duties as required.

Institutional Arrangement

The Rule of Law and Access to Justice Associate (henceforth, the Associate) will be based in the Dnipro or Poltava Office and will be under the direct supervision of the Rule of Law and Access to Justice Specialist, operational supervision of the Community Security and Social Cohesion Coordinator and overall supervision of the Component Lead (Community Security and Social Cohesion Specialist). 50% of the working time may be performed from another city of the UNDP Field Office location (Kyiv, Lviv, Uzhhorod, Odesa). Travel time and associated costs will be the responsibility of the incumbent; travel from one city to another will be performed outside of the working hours. The Associate will provide technical and advisory support on rule of law and access to justice. S/he will be assisting and supporting the implementation of all rule of law and community security activities in target oblasts under the Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme.

Competencies