Programme Specialist -Ecology at UN Volunteers

This UN Volunteer position is in the Africa Office of UNEP based at Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. The Africa Office is responsible for implementing UNEP’s approved 4-year Medium Term Strategy and the biennial Programme of Work in the 54 countries of Africa under different the seven (7) sub-programmes namely: Climate change, ecosystems, chemicals and wastes, environmental governance, environment under review, resource efficiency, and environmental resilience to disasters and conflicts. This position falls under the Ecosystems and Biodiversity sub-programme.

Under the Ecosystems sub-programme, the Africa Office of UNEP is responsible for the sound management of water resources in Africa through various efforts aimed at governments, civil society actors, private sector and the local communities. This is achieved through partnerships with other UN entities such as FAO, UNESCO, UNICEF and the African Development Bank. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration is jointly led by UNEP and FAO. In Africa the Pan-African Action Agenda on Ecosystem Restoration, Africa’s commitment to implement the UN Decade, is coordinated by NEPAD with support of UNEP and other partners. UNEP further supports regional integration by working with the African Union and Regional Economic Commissions (EAC, SADC, IGAD, ECOWAS, etc).

Task description

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system, and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. This position is located in the UNEP Africa Office in Nairobi, Kenya under the Healthy and Productive Ecosystems Sub-Programme.

Under the direct supervision of Coordinator of the Healthy and Productive Ecosystems Sub-Programme, Africa Office, United Nations Environment Programme, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks related to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and the Pan-African Action Agenda on Ecosystem Restoration for increased resilience in Africa. The National Volunteer will further assist to establish links to other policy processes and decisions such as the Africa Green Stimulus Programme of the African Ministerial Conference on Environment, and the Africa Green Recovery Action Plan of the African Union. In specific the incumbent will support the implementation of ecosystem restoration programme by:

Project management

• Support implementation of projects, activities and initiatives by preparing plans budgets and instruments to facilitate implementation of the Pan-African Action Agenda on Ecosystem Restoration on different aspects of ecosystem restoration.
• Monitoring the implementation progress of various projects/activities, preparing re-ports, and following through to see that management actions are acted upon.
• Liaising with stakeholders, project implementation partners, government officials etc to ensure that restoration projects fit into the priorities of countries e.g., in national restoration action plans etc.
• Participate in capacity building activities of the programme and Unit as required from time to time.

Knowledge management

• Compile reports from various restoration initiatives from across Africa and populate the Monitoring Platform developed by NEPAD.
• Support the visibility of the Pan-African Action Agenda on Ecosystem Restoration through communications activities of the project by identifying story items, soliciting contributions, drafting stories, etc and liaising with the communications Unit of Africa Office, etc.
• Manage the Africa Eco-Voices communication project of the Pan-African Action Agenda on Ecosystem Restoration.
• Adapting global resources of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and making them suitable for the African context and aligned to the Pan-African Action Agenda on Ecosystem Restoration.
• Support in organizing various meetings, preparing documentations and presentations of the meetings, maintaining records of the meetings, and following up to action points agreed during the meetings, etc.
• Develop and maintain a basic database of projects, partners, policies, minutes of meetings etc.
• Keep track of requests from partners and other stakeholders, and prepare responses to as appropriate, etc.

Programme development

• Assist in preparing concept notes, project proposals, programme documents, etc for resource mobilization.
• Conduct desk studies, surveys, and limited field research on ecosystem restoration, including by using GIS resources, and prepare reports based on the analyses of data;
• Review documents and provide comments as required

Results/Expected Outputs

• Implementation of the Pan-African Action Agenda on Ecosystem Restoration enhanced
• Africa Eco-Voices communication project revamped and functional in a timely manner and with high quality articles
• A simple knowledge management platform established to support the implementation of the Pan-African Action Agenda on Ecosystem Management
• At least one concept note developed for resource mobilization