Peace and Development Analyst

The UN Resident Coordinator’s Office (UNRCO) supports the UN Resident Coordinator (RC) in their roles to work with UN entities to improve the impact, efficiency and effectiveness of the UN’s operational activities for development at the country level. As designated representative of the UN Secretary-General, the RC in Malawi leads and strategically positions the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in support of national priorities, development strategies, and plans. The UNRCO in Malawi provides inter-agency coordination support to the UN Country Team (UNCT) and its various sub-groups (Programme Management Team - PMT, Operations Management Team - OMT and UN Communications Group - UNCG). The support includes strategic planning, programme and operations management, policy guidance, data management and results reporting as well as knowledge management, advocacy and communications – all seeking to enhance UN coherence and improve overall programme impact to better achieve development results.

Politically, Malawi is a generally peaceful country and has had stable governments since independence in 1964. This notwithstanding, Malawi remains a country with deep-seated social, economic, and political inequalities, tensions, and grievances that have from time to time manifested in conflict and violent incidences, especially during elections. The 2019 elections and the court processes that led to the nullification of the presidential election have exposed Malawi's vulnerability to socio-economic, political, and religious risks and threats. The social and political violence, conflicts/tensions that resulted from Civil Society led demonstrations across the country, and the level of violence experienced during the Fresh Presidential Election held on 23 June 2020 have been unprecedented in Malawi's history.

All these point to the fact that there are longstanding, unaddressed socio-economic and political grievances, that could derail Malawi's efforts at national cohesion and national healing. The situation is further compounded by climate change effects which exacerbate conflicts. Malawi is projected to experience a severe food crisis after an El Niño-induced drought. The effects range from lower agricultural yields to commodity price inflation, effects on human health, education participation, lower economic growth rates, and increased poverty and vulnerability of people experiencing poverty. The adverse effects of El Niño also come on the back of already high inflation, particularly food inflation, and the cumulative impacts of shocks in 2022 and 2023. In 2023, Tropical Cyclone Freddy hit the country causing loss of life, livelihoods, infrastructure damage, and a total economic cost estimated at 0.5 percent of GDP. The cyclone also hit the country on the heels of Tropical Storm Ana and Cyclone Gombe (2022). Crop estimates by the Ministry of Agriculture show that the country has not harvested enough harvest to satisfy the national consumption requirements.


For this reason, the UN, is supporting the strengthening of national capacities for peace and conflict prevention through the full implementation of the National Peace Policy (NPP) and Malawi Peace and Unity Act that led to the establishment of the Malawi Peace and Unity Commission (MPUC). The MPUC will ensure the institutionalization of a National Peace Architecture to enhance socio-economic and political dialogue, conflict prevention and create spaces for dialogue and civil society participation in peacebuilding, conflict prevention and early warning. The UN will support the Government of Malawi, MPUC and civil society organizations among others to strengthen the Peace-Development and Humanitarian nexus and address the wider governance and social cohesion challenges. These include the intersection of political and economic dynamics that affect sustainable development, at both the national and local levels.

Under the direct supervision of The Peace and Development Advisor, or his/her delegate, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

1. Assisting on research, information-gathering and analysis with specific focus on supporting and promoting peacebuilding and conflict prevention:

- Support the PDA in data gathering and analysis of socio-economic, political risks and conflict dynamics, including regional developments relevant to conflict prevention and peacebuilding activities in Malawi, with specific focus on supporting and promoting peacebuilding, social cohesion, conflict prevention and prevention of violent extremism; support cross-border engagements and collaboration to enhance with regional colleagues.

- Support the PDA in undertaking political, political economy and/or conflict analysis, conflict early warning monitoring and response in the country, and reporting of issues related to peace and security, including through analysis of local sources.

- Draft peace and conflict analysis reports

2. Assist in identifying entry-points and support inclusive and conflict-sensitive ap-proaches in efforts to build national capacities for conflict prevention, particularly with regard to civil society, including women’s and youth networks:

- Assist the PDA in identifying areas of programmatic engagement with national stake-holders related to social cohesion, dialogue, conflict prevention and consensus build-ing; and contribute to the development of conflict-sensitive approaches.

- Support the PDA in developing new project ideas, concept note and assist the coordi-nation of the implementation of existing conflict prevention and peacebuilding initiatives and projects.

- Under the guidance of the PDA, support the exploration of entry points with key national counterparts including the Government and civil society.

- Contribute to mappings and analysis with civil society actors’ (including youth, women, and marginalized groups) capacities for conflict prevention/ peacebuilding at local and national level, using the exercise to inform the support provided by the PDA and UNCT throughout the duration of the assignment.

- Support the PDA in their engagement with national and local stakeholders, focusing particularly on engaging with civil society actors at local level and academia, to help link local initiatives to nation-al-level institutions, structures and processes, as well as reinforcing dialogue between government and civil society and/or people-to-people di-alogues.

3. Contribute to the provision of technical support for coordination, partnerships and M&E:

- Support the external coordination of existing partnerships between stakeholders (gov-ernment, civil society, private sector and the international community, including the UN system).

- In close collaboration with the PDA and the Joint Programme Secretariat, support mon-itoring and evaluation function, including collecting, processing and analysing data in the framework of peace and development team workplan.

- Support knowledge management and sharing of good practices on conflict prevention and peacebuilding; ensure that stories and lessons learned are shared with the Joint Programme Secretariat; and respond to specific requests for information.