GIS Associate

Uganda is a home to 1,421,137 Refugees as of 31st December 2020. Wars, violence and persecution in the Horn of Africa and Great Lakes Region remain drivers of forced displacement into Uganda, insecurity and ethnic violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), South Sudan’s conflict, and political instability and human rights violations in Burundi.

South Sudanese make up the largest refugee population in Uganda (945,931) as of December 2020 followed by refugees from the DRC (448,377) and Burundi (53,516).  Approximately 61 percent of Uganda’s refugees are under the age of 18, one of the most visible consequences of conflicts in neighbouring countries – and with clear implications for the provision of protection services. Women represent 52 percent of the entire refugee population

Twelve of Uganda’s 134 districts host the overwhelming majority of refugees. About 95 percent live in a total of 33 settlements alongside the local communities, mainly in northern Uganda or West Nile (Adjumani, Koboko, Lamwo, Madi Okollo, Obongi, Terego and Yumbe) with smaller numbers in central Uganda or Mid-West (Kiryandongo and Kikuube) and southern Uganda or South West (Kyegegwa, Kamwenge and Isingiro). Urban centres are home to less than five percent of the refugee population, mainly Kampala and Wakiso, although there is a trend from settlements to these centres that requires more attention than has been the case to date.

Refugee settlement planning and land management is the process by which the spatial allocation of land is decided in support of the protection, access to basic services and infrastructure, livelihoods, and socio-cultural life of displaced people and the host community, while equally pursuing adequate environmental protection and restoration measures. The government of Uganda (OPM) is a custodian of settlement physical planning and UNHCR only provides technical support to the Government of Uganda to ensure that all refugee settlement spatial planning standards are developed to allow adequate protection and self-resilience of refugees, as well as the protection of the natural environment and preservation of biodiversity where they are settled to mitigate negative impacts of occupation.

Proper physical planning and accurate mapping of settlements is crucial as it provides a basis for the sustainable development of communities; security of tenure, facilitating the integration of displaced populations, contributing to the peaceful coexistence of communities and defining land use to meet the needs of those displaced within the wider national governance and development framework.

Development of site plans and preparation of as-built drawings are critical for proper planning, maintenance and documentation of infrastructure in settlements, offices and accommodation facilities

The GIS/Land Surveyor associate in close coordination of Settlement planning officer, Shelter Officer and Field Engineers will contribute specialised surveying support to UNHCR, OPM and relevant line Ministries, to survey, produce topographical plans & profiles, prepare as-built block plans and development of sustainable, integrated refugee settlements in Uganda

Under the supervision of the Senior Technical Coordinator the Land Surveyor will liaise with technical sector leads (Shelter and Site Planning, Energy and Environment, WASH and Health) to gather and process geographic information for further analysis, mapping and dissemination.

The incumbent will be responsible for producing various information management products as required by the Technical Sector Leads and will be expected to participate in the GIS Sub Working Group of the inter-agency Data Management Working Group as a core component of the Refugee Response Plan’s coordination efforts.

• Surveying and preparation of as-built plans for existing infrastructure is refugee settlements, Offices and Base camps. Consolidation of existing plans and data management
• Surveying for Infrastructure development including Roads, Water systems, Energy systems, buildings, etc
• Contribute to OPM settlement development plans for future environmental restoration in close collaboration with the Energy and Environment Sector, National Forestry Authority, MoLHUD and other relevant Ministries. Ensure that all key features are included and reflect up to date geospatial information, including but not limited to wetlands, woodlots and outdoor communal lighting.
• Contribute to OPM settlement development plans for land use optimisation and to harmonise with other broad government-led infrastructure expansion projects, catchment management plans and physical development plans (such as water supply networks, national electricity grid expansions) to then feed into the National Land Information System and relevant government GIS platforms.
• Update UNHCR’s GIS inventory to include Education Facilities, WASH Facilities, Health Centres inclusive of medical waste management facilities, Energy and Environment spaces.
• Geographic data standards and datasets promoted and disseminated within UNHCR, to the relevant Government line ministries as required and partner organizations to facilitate operations.
• Liaise directly with technical sector leads (Shelter and Site Planning, Energy and Environment, WASH and Health) and partners to identify mapping needs and develop appropriate products according to defined UNHCR/National standards.
• Retrieve, clean and convert geo-spatial data collected in the field onto settlement maps and development plans.
• Identify and implement a client-oriented map request process to track and manage map requests and products.
• Undertake data exploration and collation to produce standardised maps for technical sector working groups, Inter-Agency structure and other UNHCR units based on operational needs.
• Support the established standards for operational, geographical and population data to be used throughout the country.
• Advocate for harmonized data and mapping standards at field, national and regional levels.
• Maintain and expand the geographic data repository and related metadata.
• Provide GIS analysis to support UNHCR and partner decision making and guidance to achieve analytical products and derived geographic information.
• Provide geographic information management services to support technical sector monitoring and evaluation in the refugee response.
• Ensure GIS integration with corporate data and reporting systems and harmonize geodata management across systems.
• Perform any other tasks as required delegated by the operation
• Determine the most appropriate modality for the GIS data collection/mapping processes, as well as the presentation of the finished products, to ensure they can easily feed into Government systems/platforms, while equally harmonise with UNHCR standards.

• Good at Preparation of Site Plans, sketches, As-built Plans, maps, and reports of legal descriptions of surveys.
• Good at Verifying data and calculations.
• Good at Surveying with precise equipment and recording results of surveys.
• Good at Calculating the measurements of sites.
• Good at Writing descriptions of property boundaries.
• Good at Researching legal documents, survey records, and land titles to clarify information about property boundaries

• Undergraduate degree in Land Surveying from a recognised university is required.
• Minimum of 5 years of relevant working experience is required.
• Demonstrated work experience with database and management related to GIS is required.
• Good Experience in GIS software (must include ArcGIS) and some experience with CAD software (AutoCAD) is required.
• Demonstrated work experience, implementing, and maintaining geographic data collection systems is required.
• Experience in Topographical surveys, Preparation of topographic drawings and Reports is required
• Experience in preparation of As-built drawings, site plans and block plans is required
• Excellent written and oral presentation skills is required
• Fluency in English and working knowledge of another relevant UN language or local language is required

• Certificate in GIS is an added advantage
• Registration with an institutional body is an added advantage.
• Demonstrated geospatial data analytical skills applied to humanitarian and/or development scenarios.
• Knowledge in the use of survey equipment such as; Geographical Positioning System (GPS), Real-time kinematic (RTK), Total station and theodolite, GIS and CAD Software are added advantage.

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