The mandate of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is to promote sustainable and inclusive development and regional connectivity in the Asian and Pacific region. ESCAP’s role as a regional development arm of the United Nations Secretariat is to support its membership with policy oriented research and analysis, normative support and technical assistance and capacity building, to respond to the development priorities and changing needs of the Asian and Pacific region. This position is located in the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Subregional Office for North and Central Asia (SONCA), Almaty, Kazakhstan. SONCA covers Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The incumbent reports to the Senior Economic Affairs Officer of SONCA.
Under the direct supervision of the Senior Economic Affairs Officer of SONCA, the Research Assistant is responsible for the following duties: • Follows up on communications with the UN Resident Coordinators’ offices in North and Central Asia and provide monthly updates on issues to the Office staff. Prepare draft inputs to the annual revision of the Common Country Assessments, soliciting necessary inputs from ESCAP substantive divisions. • Assists in identifying and monitoring substantive aspect of the work of the Office in the subregion. Identifies, evaluates and stores a variety of documents, summarizes pertinent materials for the use of office. Collects and analyses data and prepares background materials for assessment papers, studies, briefs, and reports. Ensure appropriate formatting. • Systematically follows through and retrieves, highlights and compiles information from a wide variety of information sources; prepares input for the electronic database and the internet and co-operate with research institutes and organizations in the collection of data. • Assembles and examines original statistical material to ensure accuracy, clarity, and validity; makes appropriate adjustments. • Designs, prepares, and maintains a country profile for each country assigned to the Office. • Prepares a variety of reports, Power Point, and other presentation materials, with effective use of infographics, tables, lists, charts, data sets, and/or diagrams for information to facilitate the in-depth analysis of the retrieved information for the use of the supervisors and other users. • Participates in the substantive and policy discussions of the Office. • Maintains and expands contacts with other departments in the Secretariat, as well as the UN agencies and programmes and other public, private, and civil society organizations relevant to the region and co-ordinate the input of other departments in the collection of data for assignments received. • Prepares, maintains, and updates files (electronic and paper) and internal databases; designs and generates a variety of periodic and ad hoc reports, statistical tables, charts, graphs, and other background materials/notes to facilitate inspection and other reviews. • Drafts programme/project reports, co-ordinates review and clearance process and coordinates with editor, translation services, etc., on finalization and publication of reports in multiple languages. • Identifies the organizational requirements for conferences and meetings and assists in the preparation of concept notes, background documentations, moderator’s briefs, and reports, which include analyses of evaluation questionnaires and list of participants for these meetings. • Supports identification and securing of experts and speakers, drafts letters and other correspondences. Backstop the actual meetings and provide substantive and administrative supports. • Attends a variety of meetings to follow discussions, takes notes and prepares summary report, notes for the file, correspondence, etc. Supports administrative arrangements of the meetings and fixing appointments, provides backstop functions in UMOJA for the Requisitioner Role. • Assists with the recruitment of interns and consultants and supports monitoring their work and conducts substantive and related administrative tasks. • Provides guidance and training to new/junior staff and interns. • Provides partial substitution of the work when section staff is absent/on leave. • Performs other related ad-hoc substantive and administrative work of the office as required.
Link: https://careers.un.org/jobSearchDescription/249249?language=en
