UNDP Ethics Advisor || Apply Now |

In collaboration with the other Ethics Advisor and other UNDP Ethics Office personnel, the Ethics Advisor will advise and support the Director of the Ethics Office in carrying out his/her responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities of  Ethics Advisor

1. Provide Confidential Ethics Advice and Guidance to Staff, Non-Staff Personnel and Management (Including Senior Management):
   • Provide confidential advice and guidance on ethics and standards of conduct to individual staff and business units, ethical business decision making, ethical behavior, and on organizational resources available to them.
   • Advise of possible avenues to address sensitive situation and ethical dilemmas facing the individual. Work with the Director, or at the Director’s request, on responding to various questionnaires and/or requests for information received by the organization where Ethics’ input is required or warranted.
   • Ensure a more informed and engaged staff (and other personnel) committed to embedding and living the values of an ethical culture in UNDP. Queries on ethical conduct made by staff that are promptly answered with practical and pragmatic advice and guidance.
   • Advise staff and non-staff personnel on the UN Staff Regulations and Rules and how ethical decision-making must be a part of daily activities at work.
   • Based on the facts presented by an individual seeking advice and guidance, the Ethics Advisor provides advice on various courses of action a staff member or non-staff personnel may take in his or her personal or professional life to avoid compromising his or her official duties.
2. Administer the Financial Disclosure Programme (FDP) and Address Potential Conflicts of Interest:
   • Administer the rollout of the annual Financial Disclosure Programme and serve as initial provider of advice and guidance under the FDP Policy.
   • Raise awareness within UNDP on what constitutes a conflict of interest (COI) and support staff and non-staff personnel with advice and guidance on how to resolve any cases of COI that are reported by or detected in the activities or disclosures of individuals working for UNDP.( The primary purpose of the FDP is to identify and propose ways to manage/mitigate actual, apparent and potential conflicts of interest arising from financial holdings and outside activities of staff, non-staff and their respective spouses and dependent children. This may result in advising staff/non-staff to divest themselves of holdings in stocks, bonds, and other business interests, or to recuse themselves from a particular activity or aspect of their official functions)
   • Prepare all memos and bulletins to announce and roll-out the annual programme.
   • Draft and issue memos to all FDP focal points to identify annual filers.
   • Work with dedicated IT resource to ensure smooth rollout.
   • Conduct verification exercise on a representative sample of filers to ensure accuracy in their filings.
   • Monitor the Ethics Office email box and address requests for approval to engage in outside activities. This will entail reviewing such requests for potential Conflicts of Interest. As a result, the Organization should experience a reduction in the incidents of conflict of interests on the part of staff through prevention and an increase in managing/mitigating conflicts of interest that are detected through timely and appropriate advice and guidance.
   • Advise staff about existing mechanisms for reporting restricted or prohibited activities (such as accepting gifts or participating in unauthorized outside activities) or for granting authorization for them.
3. Protect Staff and Non-staff Personnel from Retaliation and Promote Whistleblowing:
   • Advise and Support the Director of the Ethics Office in reviewing requests for protection against retaliation. The EA will: Monitor and track all requests for protection against retaliation reported to the Ethics Office.
   • Advise and support the Director of the Ethics Office in reviewing the case and in establishing if a prima facie case exists.
   • Advise and Support the Director of the Ethics Office in recommending appropriate corrective measures for protection of the individual seeking protection.
   • Monitor and follow-up on all administrative actions taken with respect to the individual requesting protection.
   • Draft the necessary report(s) supporting or declining to find a prima facie case, and letters transmitting findings at the conclusion of the preliminary review and investigation (if any);
   • Performs other functions as the Director of the Ethics Office considers important;
   • Adequately document all actions taken by the Organization with respect to cases of retaliation that are filed with the Ethics Office.
4. Promote awareness through outreach/communication and provide Advocacy, Education and Training on Ethics, Values, and Standards:
   • Responsible for assisting the Director in developing and delivering training and education on ethics issues. This will include undertaking missions on his/her own in order to deliver said training where and when needed, and/or delivering in-person training live via the Web.
   • Contributes substantially to developing the content and method of delivery for periodic ethics training, including live classroom-based training.
   • Coordinates and delivers training efforts by collaborating with other key contacts within and outside of UNDP to tailor the training to the needs of the group and to enhance the curriculum of ethics training.
   • Take a substantive role in raising awareness in the Organization regarding ethics and ethical issues so that the ethical culture in the organization is strengthened.
   • Reinforce and raise awareness of staff and non-staff personnel regarding the ethics and accountability practices and standards of the Organization and develop strategies and methods to disseminate to staff and non-staff personnel the resource materials necessary to foster ethical conduct and ethical decision-making. These may include easy to understand guides on standards of conduct for international the civil service, social media messages, blog posts, ethics email messages, website improvements and updates, and other informational material.
5. Consult on Policy Development, and Standard Setting;
   • Advise and support the Director in developing standards, drafting, reviewing and/or editing policies within the ambit and control of the Ethics Office as well as policies and standards with which the Ethics Office regularly works and on which the Office offers guidance, EA may also be called upon to represent the Ethics Office on cross-functional teams and collaborative efforts to review, revise and update other policies where Ethics’ input is required or warranted.
   • Apprise Director of ethics-related risks (as they arise) that may be of important to senior management,
   • Provide statistical and narrative reports on all activities undertaken during the preceding year, to be incorporated into the annual report of the Ethics Office.
   • Draft the annual report of the Ethics Office to the Director and to the Executive Board of UNDP.
   • In the absence of the Director of the Ethics Office, the Ethics Advisor will represent UNDP on the Ethics Panel of the UN.

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Required Skills and Experience