National Consultant for Technical Advisory to the Government of Guyana

Environment

Overview

Revise and update Guyana's Solid Waste Management Bill based on legal frameworks and stakeholder input.

You have:

• Advanced University Degree (Master's or equivalent) in Law, International Relations, Political Science, or related areas.
• At least five years of professional experience in areas related to environmental law, Common Law, drafting legislation and public policies, sustainable development, etc.
• Fluency in written and oral English is required.
• Experience in International and Caribbean Environmental Law is preferable.
• Proven ability to manage different stakeholders.
• Be computer literate in standard software applications.
• Have a demonstrated keen interest in the work of the United Nations and a personal commitment to the ideals of the Charter;
• Have a demonstrated ability to successfully interact with individuals of different cultural backgrounds and beliefs, which include willingness to try and understand and be tolerant of differing opinions and views.

Result of Service Objective. The objective of this assignment is to revise and update the existing “Draft Solid Waste Management Bill” in line with Guyana’s growing solid waste management needs, and any relevant international standards and best practices.

Resposibilities. Responsibilities of the consultant will include the following activities:

• Background Research: Review of environmental legislation and legal frameworks of Guyana to address waste-related public health and environmental issues, in close collaboration with national authorities who will lead the drafting process. The Consultant is expected to engage in virtual and/or in-person consultations with focal points in the AG’s Chambers, the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other relevant stakeholders.

• Waste Management Baseline: Develop a baseline with a comprehensive mapping of the legal and institutional frameworks related to waste management and the protection of the environment in Guyana, which will serve as the basis for proposing the revisions and updating of the “Draft Solid Waste Management Bill”, as well as the identification of trends and current gaps on the legal and institutional frameworks in relation to international standards and best practices.

• Identification of Environmental Law guidance: including products, models, publications, reports, and toolkits developed by UNEP and relevant partners to improve this work.

• Stakeholder consultation workshops: To organize two sectorial and national meetings with main stakeholders related to solid waste management, oriented to Government Agencies, Local Governments Organs, Businesses, and other relevant stakeholders. A face-to-face or virtual working group workshop will be organized, in accordance with COVID health restrictions at that time, in which the Revised Bill will be presented to national stakeholders for discussion; a second workshop will be held virtually to validate the Revised Bill.

• Revision of “Draft Solid Waste Management Bill”: To revise and/or update the “Draft Solid Waste Management Bill” based on baseline research findings, guidance products and stakeholder feedback, including maintaining records and documentation on the recommended revisions, meeting notes, briefings, and/or internal minutes, as required.

• Follow up and reporting to UNEP Latin America and the Caribbean Office on the progress of activities and/or feedback from relevant stakeholders.

A. Comprehensive mapping of the legal and institutional frameworks and the convening of a consultative workshop with national stakeholders.

Outputs/Work Assignments Product No.1: - A baseline report on findings of the comprehensive mapping and identification of trends and current gaps in the legal and institutional frameworks associated with waste management in Guyana. - Agenda for the two Workshops with the definition of purpose, panels and speakers, to be held with national stakeholders. - Summary of key points agreed in discussions with the AG Chambers, the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development and/or working groups of the 1st workshop held in April 2022 on the “Draft Solid Waste Management Bill”.

B. Revision and updating of the “Revised Solid Waste Management Bill” validated by workshop participants and key national stakeholders.

Product No.2: - Revised “Solid Waste Management Bill” that includes all recommendations obtained in the workshops and from consultations with Government Agencies, Local Governments Organs and Businesses. - Outcomes of the validation workshop held in May 2022 on the Revised Bill. - Including annexes with relevant summaries, briefings, and presentations of the meetings held in this consultancy.

Work Location Home-based.

Expected duration Two (2) months, one (1) week.

Duties and Responsibilities 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.

The UNEP Latin America and the Caribbean Office (ROLAC), located in Panama City, works closely with the 33 countries of the region and its activities are integrated into the Medium-Term Strategy and the Programme of Work approved by the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA).

Legal and institutional frameworks are key mechanisms for environmental management at the national and regional levels. They provide the structures to set up standards, manage and regulate the environment in terms of developing legal approaches and in mandating various environmental institutions to take up their roles to implement, monitor and achieve environmental compliance. Although countries have over the years put in place national environmental legislation and related institutions, assistance to develop and strengthen their national environmental legislation and institutional capacity to implement environmental law is still required.

Strengthening the institutional capacity of developing countries, and in particular, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to develop and implement environmental actions including environmental legislation in response to their national environmental management needs is one of the core functions of UNEP and a strong tool for enabling countries to address environmental concerns and to develop and implement environmental laws. In this regard, UNEP´s Environmental Governance Sub programme aims to strengthen the capacity of countries to develop and enforce laws and strengthen institutions to achieve internationally agreed environmental objectives and goals and comply with related obligations.

In this regard, UNEP supports the efforts of Governments to design and implement specific programmes and to formulate legal means to address environmental and sustainable development issues as well as to comply with relevant international environmental standards and obligations, including through legal technical assistance, training and other legal capacity-building activities. Strategic direction in this respect comes from the Fifth Programme for the Development and Periodic Review of Environmental Law (Montevideo Programme V) adopted by the United Nations Environment Assembly under resolution 4/20 in March 2019, as an intergovernmental programme designed to promote the development and implementation of environmental rule of law, strengthen the related capacity in countries, and contribute to the environmental dimension of the 2030 Agenda.

The Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, through the AG´s Chamber, is welcoming the assistance offered by UNEP’s Latin America and the Caribbean Office (ROLAC) to support the review and revision of the “Draft Waste Management Bill” to enable the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development and Local Democratic Organs (LDO) to address public health and environmental issues relating to solid waste collection and disposal, and to contribute to incremental and sustainable improvements to the Solid Waste Management sector.

To achieve this overall objective, UNEP’s support has been requested (as part of the UN Country Team) to advise the Attorney General's (AG’s) Chambers which is updating Guyana’s legislative approach on environmental and planning matters, focusing in the first instance on the “Draft Solid Waste Management Bill”. Government is also reviewing and updating the Environmental Protection Act (1996). Attention will be also given to strengthening the institutional capacity to implement these instruments.

The UNEP Latin America and the Caribbean Office via its Sub-Programme on Environmental Governance it is recruiting a National Consultant for technical advisory to the Government of Guyana: 1) to establish a baseline from a comprehensive mapping and analysis of the legal and institutional arrangements related to waste management and the protection of the environment; 2) to identify trends and gaps in existing legislation; and 3) to organize two national consultations with relevant stakeholders in Guyana – to present, discuss and validate the Revised Bill.

The incumbent will be home-based and shall report to the UNEP Environmental Governance Regional Coordinator, who will supervise the tasks and deliverables of this consultancy.

Qualifications/special skills ACADEMIC: Advanced University Degree (Master’s or equivalent) in Law, International Relations, Political Science, or related areas.

PROFESSIONAL: - At least five years of professional experience in areas related to environmental law, Common Law, drafting legislation and public policies, sustainable development, etc. - Experience in International and Caribbean Environmental Law is preferable. - Experience in environmental review and development legislation is an advantage.

LANGUAGE: Fluency in written and oral English is required.

SPECIAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS: - Proven ability to manage different stakeholders. - Be computer literate in standard software applications. - Have a demonstrated keen interest in the work of the United Nations and have a personal commitment to the ideals of the Charter; and have a demonstrated ability to successfully interact with individuals of different cultural backgrounds and beliefs, which include willingness to try and understand and be tolerant of differing opinions and views.

No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.

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Added 4 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: careers.un.org