The position is located within the Drug Unit, of the ECOWAS Commission, Abuja Nigeria. The incumbent will report through the Law Enforcement Officer (Project Coordinator) to the Director of Gender, Youth, Sports, Employment, Civil Society and Drug Control). While accomplishing his/her duties, the incumbent will contribute to implementing parts of the project, “support to ECOWAS Regional action Plan on Illicit Drug Trafficking, Organized Crime related to it and Drug Abuse in West Africa”. The incumbent will bring technical expertise in the areas of prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, social integration to support the implementation of the 2015-2019 “ECOWAS Action Plan to Address the Growing Problem of Illicit Drug Trafficking, Organized Crimes and Drug Abuse in West Africa”.
Within delegated authority, the Project Officer, Drug Demand Reduction, will carry out a range of tasks aimed at providing programme, policy, advocacy support and technical expertise for the development of evidence based drug policies and programmes in the region, and the availability of epidemiological data on drug in West Africa. In particular, the incumbent will be responsible for the following duties:
Provide technical assistance and advisory services to the Drug Unit on the prevention of drug abuse, treatment and rehabilitation.Assist in providing technical support and training to West African Epidemiology Network on Drug Use Focal Points to conduct regular epidemiology surveys on drug abuse including data collection, drug use trends and ensure their contribution to ECOWAS periodic reports on drug abuse;Technical advice, coaching and support to networks to IMDCCs (or equivalents) to strengthen their cooperation with National AIDS Councils and other relevant institutions;Support the organisation of annual meetings of IMDCC's or equivalent Focal Points and Ministerial Conference on the implementation of the Regional Action Plan.Advice and coaching to national/regional drug abuse and treatment networks including NGO’s and CSOs on the organization public awareness events/campaigns on anti-drugs and related crime issues with a regional added value. Conduct an impact assessment after each of these visibility events.Advice and expertise to disseminate good practices on drug and crime policies identified by other components of the project. Dissemination should be cost-efficient;Advice/training/coaching and support to the IMDCC (or equivalents) staff and provision of basic communication equipment/promotional material to support awareness-raising activities;Expert advice and analytical work to collect good practices on drug and crime policies worldwide;Support the design and establishment of the Monitoring and Evaluation Mechanism (MEM) in line with the ECOWAS Regional Action Plan;Support the set-up, implementation and deployment of a Monitoring Mission Team (MMT) to monitor the progress, if need be;Assist in preparing progress reports including narrative and financial reports related to the implementation of all project activities related to drug prevention, abuse, treatment and rehabilitation;Participate in the ECOWAS-EU Project Steering and Coordinating Committee’s (PSCC) meetings;Perform other duties as required.A Bachelor Degree in Public Health, Social Sciences or in any other relevant discipline.A minimum of five years of professional experience in managing drug prevention and/or treatment programmes at national and international level is required. A higher degree will substitute for two-years of work experience.Experience in developing and managing projects is required. Demonstrated experience in working with project management tools is a strong advantage. Knowledge of UN programme policies, guidelines and procedures in drug prevention and/or treatment is an asset.Competencies:
Professionalism: Knowledge of theories, concepts and approaches relevant to drug abuse prevention and treatment. Good knowledge of the institutional and medical aspects of preventing and treating drug abuse. Able to identify issues, analyze and participate in resolution of issues/problems. Expertise in training curricula development, treatment protocols, as well as international cooperation n mechanism, programme planning and implementation.Teamwork: Works collaboratively in a multi-cultural setting with colleagues and national authorities to achieve organizational goals; solicits input be genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise, is willing to learn from others, places team agenda before personal agenda, supports and acts in accordance with the final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position, shares credit for team accomplishment and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings. Ability to plan own work, manage conflicting priorities and meet deadlines.Other Skills: Familiarity with the ECOWAS mandate, the region and the ECOWAS Regional Action Plan against Illicit Drug Trafficking, Drug Abuse and Organized Crime.
Candidate should not be 50 years old or over at the point of recruitment and must be a citizen of one of the ECOWAS member states.
Must be fluent in one of the official languages of ECOWAS: English, French and Portuguese. A working knowledge of second official language would be an advantage.
