Description Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank Group provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org
The Sustainable Development Practice Group helps countries tackle their most complex challenges in the areas of Agriculture; Climate Change; Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy (ENB); Social Sustainability and Inclusion (SSI); Urban, Resilience and Land Development; and Water.
SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY AND INCLUSION DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT
The Social Sustainability and Inclusion (SSI) Global Practice helps countries provide opportunities for all people and communities, with support to tackle deep rooted social problems stemming from fragility, climate change, racism and exclusion, and structural inequality. The Global Practice engages with citizens, communities and governments to deepen resilience to exogenous shocks and fragility, build inclusion and address structural inequalities, and empower vulnerable and marginalized groups to have more influence and voice. The SSI GP prioritizes participatory, multi-sectoral approaches that build on norms and informal institutions to address social challenges and to build more inclusive, empowered communities. It also works across the Bank’s portfolio to implement the Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) standards and strengthen inclusive development. Cross-GP collaboration is critical for the ESF and also the direct operational work of the staff. In particular, the GP focuses on three opportunity sets:
• Social Resilience: Deepening opportunities for people to thrive by building cohesive and resilient communities able to withstand divisions caused by inequality, violence, climate change, and other risks to their livelihoods.
• Inclusion for All: Expanding opportunities for people who have been excluded from participating fully in markets, services and society, because of their ethnicity, race, gender, disability, income, or religious or sexual orientation.
• Empowerment: Creating opportunities for people to lead their communities, engage more fully in government, and shape their own futures.
BACKGROUND
The heightened global awareness around racial injustice and persistent racism underscores the need to address more explicitly the structural inequalities that make it difficult for some groups to benefit from and contribute fully to development with dignity and respect. It is increasingly clear today that racial discrimination impacts development, poverty reduction and economic growth and that its impacts have been exacerbated by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Certain racial groups face persistent and deep challenges in accessing basic services and economic opportunities and exercising their voice that create inequality and poverty traps. Unless the root causes of structural discrimination are addressed, it will be challenging to support sustainable inclusive growth and rapid poverty reduction. Eliminating the conditions that limit the full inclusion of racially discriminated populations will make societies more inclusive, just, and resilient.
The World Bank is intensifying its support to build more inclusive and equitable societies, especially for the most marginalized people in the countries. The challenge Bank task teams face is that racial discrimination most often manifests itself in imperceptible, structural ways that have direct social and economic consequences for marginalized racial minorities but are difficult to identify and address. More specifically, both Borrowers and Bank teams often do not have adequate analytic tools, data or ‘entry points’ to integrate anti-discrimination mechanisms into Bank financed operations work and to address more fundamental roadblocks that sustain discrimination. The Global Unit of the Social Sustainability and Inclusion Global Practice is seeking a Race and Structural Inequality Advisor for the World Bank to help build an analytical and operational approach to address racial discrimination - broadly defined to include exclusion based on race, ethnicity and social distinctions. As an institution driven by evidence and knowledge, the Bank’s entry point will be defined by robust analysis and data on race and racial discrimination drawing on its projects, programs and advisory work.
RESPONSIBILITIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES
The advisor is accountable for performing the responsibilities, modeling the behaviors, and maintaining the competencies (listed below) in her or his capacity as a member of the Social Global Unit (SSOGL). Accountability means being answerable for achieving results; managing quality, risks and institutional initiatives; and helping to ensure compliance with Bank policies and procedures.
The fundamental objective of the World Bank's nascent work on addressing racial and ethnic discrimination as defined above is to better understand and increase the extent to which Bank policies, programs, analytical work, and projects address persistent discrimination, structural inequality and exclusion in its operations and globally. Toward this end, this position will work closely with the Regional Management Teams, Operations Policy and Country Services, the ESF Implementation Unit, and Task Team Leaders from across the GPs in the World Bank to:
• Provide effective and strategic leadership to SSOGL & the Social Sustainability and Inclusion (SSI) Global Practice on race, racial discrimination and structural inequality. Link the work on race, racial discrimination and structural inequality to the new GP SSI strategy and to the Bank’s twin goals of ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity in an innovative and forward looking way.
• Help to lead the production of first class, cross-sectoral, evidence-based analytical products, including a flagship analytical report on race and structural inequality in Bank projects, that will provide strategic directions to the Bank's engagement in anti-racism and inclusion with our clients. In addition, strengthen the Bank's intellectual and operation leadership in the field and disseminate good practices throughout the Bank and globally.
• Along with OPCS, advise management and regional teams on the inclusion and operationalization of race in project design and policies in relation to anti-racism and structural inequality. This will involve (1) researching and disseminating best practice in design, evaluation and implementation of successful anti-racism interventions, and (2) helping to ensure that best practice lessons and innovations are incorporated in relevant Bank operations through the provision of cross-support to the Regions as a team member, peer-reviewing, participating in quality enhancement reviews, and on-going technical support. Working with OPCS and the ESF ISU, the Advisor will have a leading role in the work on developing a Good Practice Note for the Environmental and Social Framework on race and non-discrimination as well as advancing the interpretation of the Bank Directive: Addressing Risks and Impact on Disadvantaged or Vulnerable Groups to be more explicit about race and racial discrimination.
• Participate in the review of the Bank's Country Partnership Strategies, Systematic Country Diagnostics and other operational instruments to constructively suggest ways that senior regional and operational leadership can expand more racially inclusive practices in operations and better address structural inequality.
• Help establish criteria and an operational results framework for monitoring the outcomes of the Bank's work on social inclusion and structural inequality, using a race lens and conduct assessments based on those criteria to evaluate performance over time.
• CO-Lead the SSI Global Practice’s Anti-Racism Task Force, which aims to develop and action a set of strategic activities, including generating and disseminating knowledge on race and development to Bank staff and external audiences, including sponsoring research and training activities.
• Lead our interaction and work with other institutional efforts to address anti-racism and structural inequality in Bank operations, as well as work closely with the Social Inclusion Global Lead and the Indigenous Peoples and Ethnic Minorities (IPEM) Coordinator as well as the Human rights, Inclusion and Empowerment Umbrella program.
• Have a leading role for the Bank at international conferences on race and anti-racism as it relates to its operational work, and play a significant role in policy dialogue, both in terms of new clients and business, and for established major borrowers.
• Contribute knowledge management and learning around racial discrimination and structural inequality, including high profile roundtable events, trainings, and townhalls.
• Mobilize trust fund resources to support new and innovative work on race and racial discrimination in Bank products.
• Prepare corporate briefs, notes and other material on the state of race and anti-racism in Bank projects.
• Provide cross-support to regional task teams and Country Management Units.
• Participate at corporate activities related to the development of corporate policies pertaining to the race and anti-racism in the Bank’s work.
REPORTING
The Advisor will report directly to the SSOGL Practice Manager. Selection Criteria The candidate could come from academia or a think tank and should offer strong analytical skills, experience working on the ground in developing countries to address issues or racism and inequality, and should have experience engaging in the broader policy dialogue and debate over how to address racism.
• A Ph.D. in the social sciences, law, or similar relevant subject to race, broad anti-discrimination work, and 12 years of directly relevant Bank and or external experience, or Masters’ degree and 15 years of directly relevant experience.
• In-depth knowledge of and demonstrated intellectual leadership in race and anti-racism work globally; and an established track record of cutting-edge race and inequality related research and operational leadership in the sector or other multilateral/bilateral agency, academia, private sector or NGOs.
• Demonstrated high level capacity to identify opportunities for addressing racein multi-sectoral projects programs and or programmatic operations.
• Significant substantive operational experience in studying and implementing anti-racist policies beyond the United States with intentionality in developing countries.
• Evidence of strategic capacity to position race and structural discrimination most effectively in client government programs and policy dialogue.
• Demonstrated ability to share knowledge and experience, identify and disseminate good practices and work effectively in a team setting and across organizational, cultural and national boundaries.
• Demonstrated evidence-based analytical research publications and writings on race, inclusion and development.
• Contributions to the literature on race, poverty and inclusion, including the ability to assist clients to understand the importance of addressing race as an element of poverty reduction strategies.
• Experience and/or substantive exposure with recent developments in race and anti-racism as a development issue.
• Sound knowledge of relevant international and regional legal frameworks and norms for addressing racial discrimination.
• Proven analytical skills, including capacity to conduct high quality quantitative and qualitative analysis.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, in particular ability to effectively dialogue with and relate to clients and stakeholders.
• Highly developed communication and leadership skills
• Ability to work well in a small team, to operate under pressure, to deliver high-quality work within deadlines, and meet team objectives.
• Excellent written and oral communications skills in English; additional official languages (French, Spanish) of the Bank is a plus.
TECHNICAL & BEHAVIORAL COMPETENCIES
• In Depth Knowledge and Analytical Skills - Possesses a track record of intellectual leadership and ability to integrate economic-specific knowledge and specific micro/sector fields of expertise; provides quality assurance and assesses technical soundness of work/reports.
• Knowledge and Experience in Development Arena - Influences the design and execution of major policy and/or research initiatives; conceives and promotes innovations in development policies, project design, organization and management to improve operational and sector work.
• Policy Dialogue Skills - Has a track record of conducting effective policy dialogue with country counterparts; communicates and defends difficult issues and positions to senior bank management and government officials.
• Integrative Skills – Able to think strategically and horizontally to integrate race and inequality across technical specializations.
• Client Orientation - Translates insight into practice across disciplines, hierarchies, geographies and organizational units in service of clients.
• Drive for Results - Ensures successful implementation and delivery of key programs and projects, ensuring that outputs positively impact results.
• Teamwork (Collaboration) and Inclusion - Creates a team climate of practical and innovative action. Poverty has no borders, neither does excellence. We succeed because of our differences and we continuously search for qualified individuals with diverse backgrounds from around the globe. |
