Climate Change Officer

Contract

This is a UNV International Specialist contract. This kind of contract is known as International UN Volunteer. It is normally internationally recruited only. More about UNV International Specialist contracts.

UNCDF is bringing its expertise in promoting green and climate resilient local communities and economies and youth access to finance, including through digital, in support of job creation, under the “Jobs, Skills and Finance (JSF) for Women and Youth in The Gambia” Programme. This programme contributed to stabilizing the economic, social and security situation of the country during the democratic transition by facilitating social inclusion and employment of the youth and women, with a specific emphasis on promoting gender equality and addressing climate change. Launched in 2018, the JSF Programme is funded by the European Union (EU) and is implemented by UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) in partnership with the International Trade Centre (ITC) under the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs of The Gambia. JSF was designed to address persistent challenges in The Gambia such as lack of job opportunities for youth and women, low levels of financial inclusion, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. To overcome these challenges, the JSF Programme focuses on fostering inclusive and sustainable growth as well as creating employment for youth and women by establishing a local ecosystem where youth, women, local governments and SMEs are supported to access the resources they need to grow. It does so by working on three distinct, but interlinked, result areas: • Creating sustainable and equal employment opportunities for youth and women; • Improving Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), skills development and apprenticeship opportunities, and making them more accessible to youth and women; • Improving the regulatory framework of the financial sector. The JSF programme is delivered essentially through two UNCDF mechanisms/approaches: the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL), and Youth Start (YS). The Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) of the UN Capital Development Fund provides a country-based mechanism to increase awareness and response to climate change at the local level, integrate climate change adaptation into local governments’ planning and budgeting systems in a participatory and gender-sensitive manner, and increase the amount of finance available to local governments for climate change adaptation. Local combines performance-based climate resilience grants (PBCRGs) with technical and capacity-building support. It uses a demonstration effect to trigger local adaptation flows, including national fiscal transfers and global climate finance for local authorities, through their central governments.

For this position, the Climate Change Officer will be under the daily supervision of the Country and Programme Manager, with the general supervision of the Local Climate Facility Manager. As part of the Project Team, the Climate Change Officer will contribute to the effective delivery of the Programme’s activities under Output 1.1, and will work closely with the two other outputs. In carrying out their work, the Climate Change Officer will work closely with the central government counterparts to ensure the full integration of climate change and environmental sustainability in the performance-based climate resilience grants system (PBCRGS) that will contribute to improve women and youth employment in The Gambia.

Under the daily supervision of the Country and Programme Manager, with the general supervision of the LoCAL Global Facility Manager and in close collaboration with the national counterparts, the Climate Change Officer will contribute to the daily implementation of the project, including overall gender-sensitive planning, oversight and monitoring of project implementation and substantive and financial reporting. The Climate Change Officer will provide regulatory and technical advice to the national counterparts, local councils and wards in relation to component 1, Job creation for the youth, women and local communities and equal access to employable skills development, of the JSF Programme and with a focus on the integration of climate change and environmental sustainability into public planning and budgeting systems at sub-national level.

Programme management (40%) • Oversee the day-to-day implementation of selected activities related to Output 1.1 (“Improved capacity of The Gambian government and local authorities for managing the job-creating, green economy, climate resilient and gender-sensitive investment programmes according to LoCAL approach”), with a focus on climate change and environmental sustainability; • Builds effective and efficient partnerships at the operational level with national counterparts and EU Delegation to coordinate selected activities in country; • Contribute to the management of the risk log of the project; • Contribute to the preparation and timely submission of comprehensive technical and financial reports in line with contractual agreements including semi-annual reporting; • Ensuring the timely and effective management of the activities as scheduled.

Technical advice to government counterparts and key stakeholders (40%) • Provide technical advice on climate change issues and environmental sustainability to government counterparts at national and sub-national levels; • Provide technical advice and capacity building support (“learning by doing”) for the piloting and establishment of a national local information system for local climate risk assessments (including projections and mapping) addressing hazards, vulnerabilities and exposure of local councils and wards in relation to climate change including desk review, data collection, preliminary design of the system, analytical writing, piloting, consultation and validation and gradual deployment of the local climate information system; • Provide technical advice and capacity building support (“learning by doing”) for the integration of environment and climate change issues in the local government development and investment plans and budgets that foster job creation, gender equality and green and climate resilient local economies; • Provide technical advice and capacity building support for the adequate integration of environment and climate considerations (e.g. specifications) in the investments delivered in the context of the Programme; • Contribute to the technical dialogue and provision of technical advisory services to national and local government counterparts in relation to climate change information and assessments, climate mainstreaming, climate finance and (direct) access to international climate finance (e.g. through accreditation to the Green Climate Fund).

Knowledge management and communication (10%) • Identify key knowledge constraints and organize learning, knowledge exchange, training, workshops, etc. to build the awareness and capacities on relevant themes (i.e. climate change, local climate risk assessments, environmental sustainability, mainstreaming, in support of women and youth employment, etc.); • Contribute to the implementation of the Communication and Visibility Plan of the Programme, in collaboration with Project team, partners and technical consultants; • Identify, collect and disseminate best practices and lesson learned from the Programme in areas of specialty; • Manage the process of convening national and regional stakeholders to share lessons learned on selected themes.

Networking and partnership building (10%) • Maintain close working relationships with the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government, Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and other key stakeholders at various levels in order to support the quality of the execution of the PBCRGS and its key results areas, to expand the mechanism in The Gambia; • Organize consultative meetings, seminars and workshops to drive analytical and policy work of the Programme; • Serve as the UNCDF focal point in working groups and steering committees on the issue of environment and climate change and related sectors and provide inputs for conducive policy and regulatory environment; • Develop strategies to mobilize additional resources based on programme requirements and new opportunities.

Results/expected outputs:

• The incumbent will pursue the following key result of the Programme: Output 1.1. “Improved capacity of The Gambian government and local authorities for managing the job-creating, green economy, climate resilient and gender-sensitive investment programmes according to LoCAL approach” • As an active UNCDF team member, efficient, timely, responsive, client-friendly and high-quality support rendered to UNCDF and its beneficiaries in the accomplishment of her/his functions, including by pursuing the following key results of the Project and related activity results: o JSF/LoCAL in the Gambia is effectively, efficiently and transparently implemented in line with UNCDF project management regulations; o Government partners at national and subnational levels and communities benefit from quality and timely provision of technical assistance and capacity building support; o JSF/LoCAL in the Gambia is effectively and efficiently monitored, assessed and reported on; o JSF/LoCAL experience in the Gambia is well documented, best practices identified and lessons learned and disseminated through various communication channels; o JSF/LoCAL in the Gambia is strengthened as a result of in-country technical and financial partnerships.

• Professionalism: Deep knowledge and understanding of key concepts related to climate change and environment sustainability; Understanding of key concepts related to local government finance including decentralization and local economic development; Relevant technical experience with policy and regulatory bodies and central and local governments; • Innovation and commitment to continuous learning: Builds confidence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation; Takes on new approaches and fosters innovative thinking; Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities and resolve problems; Excellent analytical skills; • Client-orientation: Strong client orientation, recognizing the importance of providing appropriate, user-friendly and affordable services; • Integrity: Conducts fair and transparent decision making; Demonstrate the values and ethical standards of the UN and UNCDF in daily activities and behaviours while acting without consideration of personal gains; resist undue political pressure in decision-making; stand by decisions that are in the organization’s interest even if they are unpopular; take prompt action in cases of unprofessional or unethical behaviour; does not abuse power or authority; • Teamwork and respect for diversity: Experience being part of teams, working with other stakeholders to achieve common goals; Experience managing consultants, including recruiting, hiring and managing and evaluating international and national expertise; Displays cultural and gender sensitivity and adaptability; Treats all persons fairly without favouritism; • Planning and organizing: Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure; Effective organizational and problem-solving skills and ability to manage a large volume of work in an efficient and timely manner; Ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate and monitor (own) work; ability to work under pressure, with conflicting deadlines, and to handle multiple concurrent projects/activities; • Communication: Creates and promotes open communication; Approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude and responds positively to feedback; proven interpersonal skills; Excellent spoken and written communication skills, including ability to prepare clear and concise reports; ability to conduct presentations, articulate options and positions concisely; ability to make and defend recommendations; Capacity to transfer information and knowledge to a wide range of different target groups; • Genuine commitment towards the principles of voluntary engagement: which includes solidarity, compassion, reciprocity and self-reliance; and commitment towards UNCDF’s mission and vision, as well as to the UN Core Values.

progressively more responsible positions in the field of climate change adaptation and mitigation, environmental management and/or climate science applied to development; • A minimum of two (2) years’ experience related to environmental assessments, climate risk and vulnerability assessments, climate modelling, geographical information system (GIS) and/or risk mapping, in particular at the local level; • A minimum of one (1) years’ experience working on advisory services with national and local counterparts, preferably in Africa is desired; • Work experience with local governments, local stakeholders, local communities, and with addressing gender equality as project objective and/or cross-cutting issue in developing countries is desired; • Knowledge of current developments in local economic development for the most vulnerable (women and youth) is desired; • Strong networking capabilities and ability to associate him/herself with a range of actors (inter alia central and local governments; policy makers; national statistics office and donors, local communities, women and youth) with a view to building relations and facilitating links; • Experience with a UN organization/agency is desirable; • Experience with ATLAS and UNDP Procurement Processes is desired, but not a requirement

The Gambia, officially the Republic of the Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland Africa and is surrounded by Senegal, except for its western coast on the Atlantic Ocean. It has an area of 10,689 square kilometers with a population of 1,857,181 as of the April 2013 census. Banjul is the Gambian capital and the country's largest metropolitan area. The largest cities are Serekunda and Brikama. The Gambia's economy is dominated by farming, fishing, and especially, tourism. In 2015, 48.6% of the population lived in poverty. In rural areas, poverty was even more widespread, at almost 70%. Adama Barrow became the Gambia's third president in January 2017, after defeating Jammeh in the December 2016 elections. The Gambia has a tropical climate. A hot and rainy season normally lasts from June until November, but from then until May, cooler temperatures predominate, with less precipitation.

This post requires regular travels to in-country.