Technical Specialist - Biodiversity and Adaptation, Guinea-Bissau

Submitted by programs on July 05, 2011

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TECHNICAL SPECIALIST(BIODIVERSITY & ADAPTATION PROJECTS)
Location :	Bissau, GUINEA-BISSAU
Application Deadline :	12-Jul-11
Additional Category	Environment and Energy
Type of Contract :	FTA International
Post Level :	P-3
Languages Required :	English French Portuguese
Duration of Initial Contract :	1 year with possibility of extension
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Background
The forest belt region of Guinea-Bissau (south and southwest) contains several endemic and rare and threatened species of birds, higher plants, reptiles and mammals, including elephants, large ungulates, hypos and the threatened derby eland. Dozens of families of chimpanzees inhabit that area and are poorly studies. These outstanding terrestrial ecosystesms have until now remained unprotected, while the country’s coastal and marine region has received for the past decade the undisputed attention of both donors and Government in their effort to conserve the country’s natural endowment. Six marine and coastal parks covering almost 15% of the country’s territory have been created and are being effectively managed. This new biodiversity project proposes to correct this imbalance in conservation priorities with respect to ecosystem representation and avert threats the country’s terrestrial biodiversity by establishing the Dulombi-Boé-Tchetche (DBT) Complex with 319,000 hectares of protected areas in the forest belt region of Guinea-Bissau. Through the project, the Institute for Biodiversity and Protected Areas (IBAP), which has the broad responsibility for biodiversity conservation in Guinea-Bissau, intends to expand the National System of Protected Areas (SNAP) onto the southeastern forest belt region and protect an additional 8.8% of the country territory by seeking the following results: (i) better ecosystem representation in the SNAP, (ii) enhanced ecological connectivity, (iii) the enabling of trans-frontier migration of large mammals and threatened and endangered species (including elephants), and (iv) increased resilience of the Complex overall to the effects of climate change and desertification process. The proposed project is based on the priority adaptation option identified in Guinea-Bissau’s National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA). The impacts of climate change on Guinea-Bissau’s agricultural water resources will affect human health, agricultural production and food security. Predicted climate change scenarios are likely to constrain long-term development through: (i) increased temperatures, affecting crop productivity, disease spread and water availability (ii) changing rainfall volumes and variability, including more frequent events of short and intense rains, causing flash-floods in several catchment areas; (iii) progressive sea level rise and salt water intrusion. Consequently, a major challenge for Guinea-Bissau is to mainstream climate change adaptation measures into integrated agricultural and water resource management across different institutional, social and spatial frameworks. Technical capacity of both government and local communities to manage the emerging threats imposed by climate change is required. The likely impacts of climate change are still poorly understood and the need for adaptation not sufficiently incorporated into relevant frameworks. The proposed project will build adaptive capacity and increase the agriculture and water sector’s resilience to climate change. Financial resources from the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) will be used to address systemic, institutional and individual capacity gaps to manage agricultural and water resources for human, agricultural and other uses in the face of a changing climate. This will include focused capacity-building measures that are additional to the existing baseline both at the national and regional level for agrarian and water planning and management systems, and development of policies, strategies, decision-making processes, relevant budgeting and monitoring systems. The project will also support the demonstration and implementation of climate-resilient water and land management techniques located in the semi-arid rural area of eastern Guinea-Bissau. Lessons-learning and relevant knowledge dissemination will equally be enhanced. Both project documents foresee the engagement of a Chief Technical Adviser (CTA) by sharing the associated costs of the post. The CTA is expected to dedicate approximately half of his/her time to each of the projects, regardless of the budgetary contribution from each project to funding the post. A small portion of the incumbent’s time is also expected to be spent in mobilizing resources through UNDP for new environmental projects for Guinea-Bissau. Environmental funds are multiplying and UNDP is carving an important niche in terms of providing innovative environment finance to its client countries. The CTA will be an experienced expatriate, responsible for providing overall technical backstopping to the projects. He/She will render technical support to the National Project Coordinators (NPC) and staff of both the Biodiversity and Adaptation projects, as well as to government counterparts in the host institutions. The CTA will coordinate the provision of the required technical inputs to the project, reviewing and preparing Terms of Reference and technical reports, and performing quality control on the outputs of project consultants and other sub-contractors.
Duties and Responsibilities
Under the overall supervision of the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative for Programme for Guinea-Bissau, supervision that is to be performed in close consultation and collaboration with the National Project Coordinators for the two projects, and under the general guidance of the respective Project Steering Committees for each of the projects, the incumbent will: Provide technical and strategic assistance for project activities, including planning, monitoring and site operations, and assuming quality control of interventions; Provide hands-on support to the National Project Coordinators, project staff and other government counterparts in the areas of project management and planning, management of site activities, monitoring, and impact assessment; Finalize Terms of Reference for consultants and sub-contractors, and assist in the selection and recruitment process; Coordinate the work of all consultants and sub-contractors, ensuring the timely delivery of expected outputs, and effective synergy among the various sub-contracted activities; Assist the National Project Coordinators in the preparation and revision of the Management Plan, including strategic budget revisions, as well as Annual Work Plans; Coordinate preparation of the periodic Status Report when called for by the National Project Coordinator; Play a key role, in close collaboration with the National Project Coordinators and support from project consultants, in the preparation of the Combined Project Implementation Review/Annual Project Report (PIR/APR), inception report, technical reports, quarterly financial reports for submission to UNDP, the GEF, other donors and government departments, as required; Assist in mobilizing staff and consultants for project implementation, in the conduct of a mid-term and a final project evaluation, and in undertaking revisions in the implementation program and strategy based on evaluation results; Assist the National Project Coordinators in liaison work with project partners, donor organizations, NGOs, private sector, academia and other groups to ensure effective coordination of project activities, as well as in the mobilisation of additional co-financing to the projects through strategic partnerships (e.g. with research institutions on ecological monitoring, climate change forecast; with extractive industries in view of compensating for environmentally destructive activities in the vicinity of protected areas; with bilateral donors for the provision of specialised technical assistance to the projects, etc.) Document lessons from project implementation and make recommendations to the Steering Committees (for each of the projects) for more effective implementation and coordination of project activities; and Perform other tasks as may be requested by the National Project Coordinators, Steering Committees and other project partners. Resource mobilisation function (less than 5% of time): Working in close collaboration with Group Regional Technical Advisors from UNDP Environment and Energy Group, and under the guidance from the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative for Programme for Guinea-Bissau, the incumbent will: Assist in identifying priorities and entry-points for UNDP assistance to Guinea-Bissau in the area of ecosystems and natural resources arena, climate change, in particular adaptation. Assisting with the design, preparation, submission and approval of project proposals and requests for project development financing for the mentioned project ideas. Liaison with potential financing agencies and institutions.
Competencies
Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing in order to communicate complex, technical information to technical and general audiences Skill in negotiating effectively in sensitive situations Skill in achieving results through persuading, influencing and working with others Skill in facilitating meetings effectively and efficiently and to resolve conflicts as they arise Strong skills in monitoring and evaluation Ability to effectively coordinate a large, multidisciplinary team of experts and consultants Be an effective negotiator with excellent oral and presentation skills
Required Skills and Experience
Education: Advanced university education (preferably a PhD level) with expertise in the area of environmental management in general (the specialization profile will need to be assessed vis-à-vis the needs of both the biodiversity project and the adaptation LDCF project); Experience: At least 5 years of professional experience, of which at least four are at international level in implementing environmental projects; previous experience with GEF projects and friendly with UNDP procedures is an added plus; Language: Excellent writing skills in English; A good working knowledge of Portuguese (or alternatively Spanish) is an added plus.

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