The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-Habitat, is the UN agency for human settlements. It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all. The Urban Economy Branch of UN-Habitat has the mandate to promote local capabilities of local governments... Land Governance Expert: Lead a detailed diagnostic of formal, informal, and customary land tenure systems in Busia (Kenya and Uganda sides), with specific focus on barriers faced by informal women and youth traders. Analyse existing land-related laws, policies, and institutional frameworks in both countries and identify gaps, overlaps, and opportunities for cross-border harmonization. Guide the design and rollout of participatory land tenure mapping exercises, ensuring representation and validation by women, youth, local leaders, and customary landowners. Coordinate the development and piloting of a fit-for-purpose land information system (LIS), tailored to cross-border, informal, and gender-sensitive land recording needs. Provide technical assistance to integrate land and property data into the spatial economic development framework and local planning systems. Support land dispute identification and management mechanisms, and advise on community-led land conflict resolution approaches. Facilitate development of local by-laws, agreements, and protocols on tenure recognition and land use that align with both national and community systems. Deliver targeted training and mentorship for local government officers, land boards, survey teams, and community land actors on land governance, participatory tools, and LIS management. Collaborate with legal and gender experts to ensure all land interventions reflect inclusive, pro-poor, and gender-equitable principles. Develop knowledge products including policy briefs, case studies, and technical guidance notes based on project findings and pilot experiences. Contribute to the visibility and dissemination of land-related innovations, tools, and lessons from the project through technical briefs, public presentations, stakeholder workshops, and engagement with national and regional platforms. Senior Advisor, Urban Finance & Local Economic Development: Under the overall supervision of the Programme Lead on Finance and Economy, the consultant will be responsible for the following duties: Providing technical support in the adaptation of UN-Habitat’s financial tools to support the Section’s work on SDG localization and urban finance. Developing methodological guidelines and templates that standardise the assessment of local fiscal capacity and national financing architectures. Analysing fiscal decentralization frameworks to identify bottlenecks and formulate policy recommendations that strengthen national-to-local financing systems. Advising on investment readiness by reviewing project concepts and providing technical inputs on funding strategies and financial structuring for local development initiatives. Facilitating technical dialogues by preparing concept notes, talking points, and presentation materials for workshops with national institutions and development partners. Representing the Finance and Economy team in UN-Habitat internal meetings and engagements with external partners and stakeholders. Preparing and delivering presentations on UN-Habitat’s work on urban finance and economy. Providing administrative and coordination support to the Finance and Economy team.
