(JRP) Project Support Associate

Office/Unit/Project Description

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) supports Jordanians in achieving sustainable development that leads to transformational change, bringing about real improvements in people’s lives, through the design and implementation of policy and programming to address the development challenges that affect the country. UNDP also ensures that considerations such as Gender Equality, Private Sector Engagement, Environmental Sustainability, and Innovation are addressed while aligning local demand-driven development solutions to the 2030 Agenda.

UNDP and the European Union collaborate in increasing the socio-economic well-being of vulnerable refugees and host populations in Jordan and decrease relative inequalities through supporting effective funding planning, coordination and management through enhanced institutional human, operational and systematic capacities at Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation in order to manage Humanitarian, Development and Syria Crisis Response (HD&SCR), efficiently and effectively. The “Project” shall also aim at aligning and streamlining funding management to national priorities and international commitments, including the 2030 Agenda and response to the Syrian crisis, accelerating Jordan’s pathways towards human and sustainable development. 

The objective will be achieved through (1) Supporting strengthening human, institutional, digital, and technical capacities for HD&SCR funding coordination and management within MoPIC, targeting, namely,

Foreign Funding Unit and Humanitarian Relief Coordination Unit. Support will also be extended to MoPIC related departments and sections, including the Aid Coordination Section (ACS) (2)   Enhancing alignment of aid with national priorities and international commitments through dialogue, empirical data, and research (3) Strengthening partnerships, communication, and ODA diplomacy.

The ‘Project’ aims to facilitate digital transformation by identifying and reinforcing capacities, addressing system gaps, and providing essential equipment, hardware, software, and digital tools. These resources will enhance efficiency and effectiveness in HD&SCR settings. Given the challenges posed by the Syrian crisis, Jordan has been significantly impacted, experiencing an unprecedented influx of refugees that strains resources and infrastructure. Since 2016, the Government of Jordan has actively responded through the ‘Jordan Response Plan for the Syria Crisis’ (JRP), a dynamic plan consolidating efforts to respond and mitigate the crisis’s impact. 

As part of our project, we are also constructing a new Jordan Response Information System for the Syria Crisis (JORISS) 2.0, to serve as the updated online platform for stakeholders. This new system will facilitate the submission, tracking, monitoring, and reporting of JRP-related projects, further contributing to the overall response efforts.

Jordan has been one of the most affected countries by the Syria Crisis. The influx of an unprecedented number of refugees towards Jordan did not go without an effect on the country’s resources and infrastructure. Since 2016, the Government of Jordan has been issuing the “Jordan Response Plan for the Syria Crisis” (JRP) as a rolling plan to consolidate all required efforts to respond and mitigate the impact of the Syria Crisis on Jordan and its people. 

The Jordan Response Information System for the Syria Crisis (JORISS) serves as the primary online platform for various stakeholders, including government bodies, UN agencies, CBOs, INGOs, and non-profit companies, to submit, track, monitor, and report on projects related to JRP. By centralizing financial and technical project data, JORISS is designed to empower the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MoPIC) to monitor project progress, funding allocation, and sector-based activities. The system is intended to enhance transparency, enable evidence-based decision-making, and support efficient targeting and prioritization. 

The JORISS platform was initially commissioned in 2015. While the JRP process has undergone evolution, the platform itself has not kept pace with changing business and policy needs, for example, it lacks the capability to measure the development and resilience impact of JRP projects and utilize resulting insights to inform scale-up decisions. Under this project, JORISS will be upgraded to become more scalable, adaptable, informative, and user-friendly, through the implementation of a new platform, JORISS 2.0. This modernization initiative presents an opportunity to enhance the effectiveness of humanitarian assistance by addressing data gaps and streamlining the JRP process through improved automation and analytical insights, and it shall be supported by the two JRP Project Support Associates, who will be supporting functionalities of JORISS 2.0.

Scope of Work

The (JRP) Project Support Associate will play the role of the Secretariat within MOPIC Humanitarian Relief Coordination Unit (HRCU) to facilitate the swift implementation and accurate monitoring of JRP projects.

Duties and responsibilities will include:

Support Data Analysis and Reporting

• Supporting the analysis of the Jordan Response Platform (JRP) and its pillars.
• Supporting the preparation of donor reports and programme documents under the Humanitarian portfolio

Provide administrative support. 

• Processing applications, assessing compatibility with identified Jordanian needs and liaising with decision-makers within MoPIC, as well as with line ministries.
• Documentation: Maintaining accurate records of meetings, decisions, and actions taken as part of the response plan. This includes drafting minutes, reports, and other relevant documents.
• Providing Secretarial support to the HRCU Unit within MoPIC.

Support Coordination and Liaison 

• Undertaking a coordination role among different stakeholders involved in the JRP process: Facilitating communication and coordination among various stakeholders involved in the response plan, including focal points from government agencies, international organizations, NGOs, and other partners.
• Serve as a liaison between different stakeholders, fostering collaboration and information exchange.

Perform Secretariat Role:

• Act as the Secretariat within the Humanitarian Relief Coordination Unit to ensure smooth implementation and monitoring of JRP projects.

Support knowledge building, knowledge sharing and capacity building:

• Participate in training and organize briefings on internal procedures for the project staff. Provide support to other capacity building activities, including to the design and delivery of tools, materials for workshops, or platforms that tap into the collective intelligence of communities and mobilize action.
• Provide support in the dissemination and sharing of relevant data and lessons learned within the CO and regionally. Keep pulse on emerging best practices nationally, regionally, and internationally that relate to the work of the assigned project.
• Make sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice. Support compiling and systematizing project knowledge, products and tools as well as their wide distribution to partner.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization. 

Institutional Arrangement: 

The Project Support Associate will work under the guidance of the Governance and Peace Pillar Team Leader and in collaboration with the Project’s Team at UNDP and the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation.

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies 

Minimum Qualifications of the Successful NPSA