Legal Specialist – Compensation

Result of Service

The Legal Specialist – Compensation will support the work of the UN-Habitat team’s project to Strengthen the data systems of the Government of Iraq to improve the management of IDP cases and enhance data analysis for informed policy making, resource allocation, and responsive capacity, ultimately supporting more effective and targeted service delivery to vulnerable populations.

Work Location

Home-based/part time (with field visits to Baghdad, Iraq)

Expected duration

12 months/ part time

Duties and Responsibilities

Organizational Setting: The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all. Background: UN-Habitat has been active in Iraq since 1996 under the Oil for Food Programme. After 2003, UN-Habitat was largely engaged in early recovery efforts, particularly those supporting internally displaced persons through providing shelter and reconstruction solutions. Since 2015, UN-Habitat has supported recovery efforts in war-affected areas by building new core houses in situ, rehabilitating damaged houses, infrastructure, marketplaces, and agricultural water facilities; improving the living conditions of IDPs and returnees; protecting Housing Land & Property (HLP) rights and securing tenure rights for vulnerable communities; providing vocational training and creating jobs for the IDPs and returnees. Currently, UN-Habitat continues to support the Government of Iraq in developing lasting and sustainable solutions as the country transitions to a long-term development agenda. Conflict and forced displacement have been a recurrent feature of Iraq’s past 50 years and had a strong impact on the capacity of authorities to manage land efficiently, as well as on citizen’s ability to access affordable land and housing or recover the properties they lost as a result of destruction or occupation during conflict and displacement. At the peak of the displacement crisis, there were 6 million displaced within the country, mostly in urban and peri-urban areas. Once people started to return, many experienced challenges, particularly for tenants or those whose property is occupied or damaged. In the face of ongoing challenges posed by internal displacement in Iraq, there is a critical need for transformative initiatives that address key bottlenecks hindering effective assistance to affected populations. To this end UN-Habitat under the auspices of the Internal Displacement Solutions Fund (IDSF) is currently implementing a project focusing on the enhancement of data systems within the Government of Iraq, with aims of improving cross-ministerial national referral systems for IDPs and returnees, strengthening data-driven policy development and enhancing access to compensation mechanisms to IDPs and returnees. Reporting Line: The incumbent will work under the supervision of the Head of the UN-Habitat Country Programme and the Project Manager. Duties and responsibilities: Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of the Head of the UN-Habitat Country Programme and the Project Manager, the Legal Specialist – Compensation will be responsible for the following duties: • Build a repository and conduct a thorough examination of the current legal and regulatory landscape governing compensation. This comprehensive analysis will encompass an assessment of existing laws, regulations, policies, and institutional frameworks to pinpoint areas necessitating modification or enhancement to better facilitate eligible Iraqis accessing compensation. • Work closely with the Ministry of Migration and Displacement (MoMD) to conduct an in-depth needs assessment and gap analysis with the Central Compensation Committee of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to identify the challenges to accessing compensation claims • Organize a series of workshops/roundtables with government counterparts to develop a straightforward process for filing for compensation. • Provide technical assistance to the Compensation Committee to strengthen the overall data collection and management system. • Support UN-Habitat in conducting high-level advocacy and awareness-raising activities to advocate for streamlining bureaucratic procedures to facilitate access to entitlements (such as compensation claims). • Provide technical assistance to draft a strategy on how to mitigate the identified challenges and revise the existing policies and procedures to improve access to HLP rights and compensation. • Develop and deliver presentations, meeting materials, and policy briefs, and organize and facilitate meetings and events with stakeholder groups and government counterparts in close coordination with the MoMD. • Where required, represent UN-Habitat in meetings and coordination forums, • Organize consultation meetings with key national, governorate, and district stakeholders on compensation-related issues as required. • Maintain regular communication and develop relationships with stakeholders, including the government counterparts, implementing project partners and other relevant UN Agencies. • Provide advice on legal, policy, and regulatory matters related to compensation.

Qualifications/special skills

• A master’s degree in Housing, Architecture, Urban planning/management/governance, Civil Engineering, Social Sciences, International Development, Public Policy, Law, Economics, or similar is required. • A bachelor’s degree with two additional years of experience, in lieu of a master’s degree, can be acceptable. • A minimum of five (5) years of relevant and progressive experience at the international level in areas related to research on law, public policies, policy development and policy design, urban development, urban design, urban planning, housing, social housing, displacement or similar areas is required. • A demonstrated level of experience in policy development and advocacy is required. • Experience leading and coordinating multidisciplinary technical teams of senior national and international experts is required. • Demonstrated experience conducting research and writing reports and assessments, preferably related to displacement, is required. • Experience in establishing relationships with counterparts and organizations is desirable. • Good interpersonal, networking, and communication skills is desirable. • Willingness to contribute and work as part of a team is desirable. • Experience in Iraq or the Arab States Region is desirable. • Experience elaborating policy and technical guidelines related to displacement is desirable. • A demonstrated level of experience in HLP rights and/or displacement or previous consultancies in these areas is desirable.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nation Secretariat, for this position, fluency in English and Arabic (both oral and written) is required.

Additional Information

Not available.

No Fee

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.