1. Background

On January 12, 2010 an earthquake registering over 7.0 on the Richter scale struck the Republic of Haiti killing more than 200,000 people, displacing over a million and affecting a total of 3,000,000. The epicenter of the quake was close to Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince, destroying and heavily damaging homes, schools, churches, and critical infrastructure. The Government of Haiti (GoH) was also devastated by the earthquake, which destroyed most public buildings and records and took the lives of many key staff. All government functions have been significantly affected and it faces tremendous challenges in carrying out the most basic of operations, including providing security and paying government employees.

Even before the catastrophic quake, which shattered the fragile and impoverished Haitian government and economy, Haiti had a reputation for weak governance and accountability. Donors had called for guarantees of oversight and accountability in the rebuilding process.

The Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC) has been set up by the international donors' conference on March 31, and has been subsequently approved by Haiti's parliament. Along with Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive, former U.S. President Bill Clinton will co-chair the IHRC, which will permit foreign donors to participate in rebuilding Haiti after the earthquake. Sitting on the Commission, under the joint chair, will be an equal number of Haitian and non-Haitian representatives. The latter includes officials of international organizations, multilateral lenders and major donors. The body will operate for 18 months before handing over to a government redevelopment authority.

The IHRC’s main responsibilities will be to ensure the effective planning, coordination and deployment of bilateral, multilateral, non-governmental organization and private sector resources; providing accountability and transparency to such efforts; and, optimally sequencing and leveraging contributions and investments involving these entities. The IHRC will continue to develop and refine Haiti's development plans, assessing needs and gaps, and setting out priorities for investment. The IHRC shall approve project proposals for consistency and coordination with the Haiti Action Plan. It shall also draw up and solicit projects that fit within the priorities of the Haiti Action Plan and decide on the eligibility of external submissions.

As part of the post-earthquake response in Haiti, USAID/OTI is working with Chemonics under the Haiti Recovery Initiative (HRI) (Ann Leve Kanpe) to fund short- and medium-term activities to prevent political instability that would hamper the recovery effort and worsen the humanitarian situation. These activities are aimed at restoring the GoH’s operational capacity and target additional stabilization priorities as they arise. Specifically, HRI is focused on four components:

1.) Enabling the Government of Haiti to Function
2.) Community Stabilization through Temporary Employment
3.) Enhancing Citizen Participation in Relief and Recovery
4.) Debris Management/Flood Mitigation

HRI is an 18-month project that began on January 17, 2010, and this STTA would respond to Program Component 1 – Enabling the Government of Haiti to Function.

2. Position Purpose

The purpose of this position is to provide project management assistance to the IHRC. The Project Officer will assist the IHRC with refining the process and criteria for reviewing and approving proposals criteria. S/he will also be responsible for collating, reviewing, and approving initial project submissions. The Project Officer will work in an intense, very fast moving, high profile/high stakes, and constantly changing environment under the direction of the Executive Director of the IHRC.


3. Responsibilities

Key responsibilities of the Project Officer include:

• Establish systems for approving project proposals for consistency and transparency, and in coordination with the Haiti Action Plan.
• Solicit proposals that fit within the priorities of the Haiti Action.
• Analyze proposals according to established criteria.
• Conduct worthiness assessments of partner organizations to identify organizational weaknesses as foci for capacity-building interventions, and facilitate such interventions as needed.
• Maintaining implementation schedule. Identity implementation issues and constraints that require IHRC action to resolve.
• Track overall progress against milestones and deliverables.
• Make recommendations for additional resource requirements based on workload, work flow processes, and work plan.

4. Experience and Skills Required

• University degree required, advanced degree preferred.
• At least five years of demonstrated experience in project design, development, and management of development-type projects.
• Experience with soliciting and evaluating project proposals.
• Experience with international donor-funded project preferred.
• Knowledge and understanding of Haitian politics and previous work experience involving interfacing with the GoH.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including public speaking, report writing, and presentation skills.
• Fluency in written and spoken French and English required; Creole fluency strongly desired.
• Preference will be given to candidates who are immediately available.

The Project Officer will be under the direction of the IHRC Executive Director, but the consultant’s contract will be administered by Chemonics.

2010-06-11