Background

Instructions to Applicants: Click on the "Apply now" button. Input your information in the appropriate Sections: personal information, language proficiency, education, resume and motivation. Upon completion of the first page, please hit "submit application" tab at the end of the page. Please ensure that CV or P11 and the Cover letter are combined in one file.

The following documents shall be required from the applicants:

1. Personal CV or P11, indicating all past positions held and their main underlying functions, their durations (month/year), the qualifications, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate, and at least three (3) the most recent professional references of previous supervisors. References may also include peers.
2. A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page) indicating why the candidate considers him-/herself to be suitable for the position.
3. Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of the candidates’ experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns or other materials.

Travel: 

a) UNDP will cover the cost of travel of the individual to the duty station, as well as their return to their home upon completion of their services. Travel costs are covered only in the event that the function will be undertaken physically in the duty station and excludes working from home arrangements.

b) Include any official travel expected to be associated with performing the functions

Background Information

UNDP’s 2018-2021 Strategic Plan emphasizes the critical links between environmental sustainability, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and broader efforts to achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda and Paris Agreement. As part of the Global Policy Network in the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP’s Nature, Climate Change, and Energy (NCE) Team promotes and scales up integrated whole-of-governance approaches and nature-based solutions that reduce poverty and inequalities, strengthen livelihoods and inclusive growth, mitigate conflict, forced migration and displacement, and promote more resilient governance systems that advance linked peace and security agendas.

The NCE Team works with governments, civil society, and private sector partners to integrate natural capital, environment and climate concerns into national and sector planning and inclusive growth policies; support country obligations under Multilateral Environmental Agreements; and implement the UN’s largest portfolio of in-country programming on environment, climate change, and energy. This multi-billion dollar portfolio encompasses: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services including forests; Sustainable Land Management and Desertification including food and commodity systems; Water and Ocean Governance including SIDS; Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation; Renewable and Modern Energy; Extractive Industries; Chemicals and Waste Management; Environmental Governance and Green/Circular Economy and SCP approaches. This work advances crosscutting themes on innovative finance, digital transformation, capacity development, human rights, gender equality, health, technology, and South-South learning. UNDP's Nature, Climate and Energy practice spans 137 countries, with a portfolio directly benefiting 86 million people. Our support to Governments focusses on enabling an inclusive, resilient, green recovery by: building competency to accelerate access to sustainable energy and climate and nature-positive policies and finance; scaling capacity to ensure No One is Left Behind; catalyzing SDG and Paris-aligned investments (public and private); delivering client-focused solutions that respond to countries' immediate, mid- and long-term recovery and socio-economic development priorities; and leveraging our on-the-ground presence and networks to unlock bottom-up solutions that deliver lasting impacts at country level.

In addition to UNDP’s bilateral partnerships on nature climate and energy, UNDP is an accredited multilateral implementing agency of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Multilateral Fund (MLF), and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) which includes the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund (GEF Trust Fund); the Nagoya Protocol Implementation Fund (NPIF); the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF); and the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF). As part of UNDP’s partnership with these vertical funds, UNDP provides countries specialized integrated technical services for eligibility assessment, programme formulation, capacity development, policy advice, technical assistance, training and technology transfer, mobilization of co-financing, implementation oversight, results management and evaluation, performance-based payments and knowledge management services.  The Nature, Climate and Energy Team focuses on managing the oversight of climate and environmental financial resources from global trust funds to catalyze and unlock other types of public and private financing for sustainable development. This includes oversight of the design as well as implementation phase of projects (together with Country Offices and Regional Bureaus), as well as portfolio level oversight and management.

Land degradation, desertification and drought are significant and growing barriers to sustainable development as the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation impact human health, productivity and resilience for billions of people. The Nairobi-based Global Policy Centre on Resilient Ecosystems and Desertification (GC-RED) focuses on strengthening the linkages between environmental sustainability and human development and resilience, and particularly contributes to improving the sustainable management of natural capital (biodiversity, land and ecosystem services) in support of expanded employment and livelihoods opportunities. It also contributes to UNDP’s resilience agenda based on the long track record of the Centre in drylands/drought resilience. The main service lines offered by GC-RED are: 

1. Sustainable management of land, biodiversity and ecosystem services for optimal livelihoods and jobs creation, with a focus on the poorest communities. GC-RED’s work in this area complements and builds on the global project portfolio supported by UNDP through vertical funds. 
2. Building resilience of communities in drylands and other fragile ecosystems to shocks and stresses from climate-related weather events, particularly drought.
3. Mainstreaming land, biodiversity and climate objectives for poverty eradication into development planning and budgeting systems and into public and private finance and investment.

The Centre work is guided by UNDP’s strategic vision and approach, as outlined in its current Strategic Plan (2018-2021), specifically under “Signature Solution 4 – Promote nature-based solutions for a sustainable planet” which responds to challenges presented by environmental degradation. It supports UNDP’s nexus approach on the themes of climate change, inequality and migration as entry points for supporting countries to address their pressing development challenges.

Project Description 

The Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Network (BES-Net) is a capacity sharing “network of networks” initiative managed jointly by UNDP, UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre and UNESCO with the financial support of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and SwedBio. It promotes dialogue between science, policy and practice sectors for more effective management of biodiversity and ecosystems, contributing to long-term human well-being and sustainable development.

BES-Net complements and contributes to the capacity building work of the Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) by aligning its activities with the IPBES global assessment themes and applying the related IPBES guidance documents. In implementing its mandate, BES-Net follows an inclusive approach, collaborates with Multilateral Environmental Agreements, and draws on the support of other partner organizations.

As BES-Net entered into its second phase (i.e. BES-Net II), the project renewed its commitment to: build national and regional science-policy-practice capacity to co-generate knowledge, jointly design evidence-informed, strategic and transformative solutions; and effectively coordinate their implementation towards the shared vision of securing diverse, healthy and resilient ecosystems, in the target countries across the IPBES regions. To this end, BES-Net applies tailor-made techniques and context-specific stakeholder engagement methods across the project components, which are implemented at the global, regional and national levels. With close reference to the systems thinking principles and the Theory U process, BES-Net II’s general approaches to stakeholder engagement encompass:

• Cultivate deep listening as a basis to generate trust, stimulate innovation and build commitment and ownership;
• Acknowledge, embrace, and illuminate the Blind Spot, by focusing not only on the visible but also on the invisible/hidden factors associated with the stakeholder relations, interactions and power dynamics, etc.; and
• Cultivate a balanced stakeholder engagement dynamic by watering the seeds of the partnership while perusing the expansion. 

Institutional Arrangement: The incumbent will work under the supervision of the BES-Net Project Manager and in close consultation with collaboration with the Project Coordinator, other BES-Net team members and relevant existing BES-Net partners. During the contract period, the incumbent is expected to ensure regular communication with the BES-Net team and timely delivery of the expected outputs, informing the team of the status/progress as well as any obstacles that might occur.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

The overall objective of the position is to provide the BES-Net II with expert support and technical backstopping expertise in implementing the project’s Stakeholder Engagement Strategy and other related strategies. More specifically, under the supervision of the BES-Net Project Manager, day-to-day guidance of the Project Coordinator and close coordination with other project team members within UNDP and the BES-Net Consortium agencies, the incumbent is expected to perform the following tasks:

• Lead the stakeholder analysis, mapping and consultation vis-à-vis the geographic and thematic foci of the Regional Trialogues, and facilitate their engagements in different stages of the Trialogue process. Due consideration must be given to various key criteria such as policy-science-practice balance, gender mainstreaming, sub-regional representation, meaningful participation of indigenous people and local communities, etc.;
• Support the Regional Trialogues’ background document/action document development process by providing necessary technical assistance to the authors and engaging the relevant stakeholders in the document review processes;
• Provide technical support in nurturing, expanding and strengthening the BES-Net’s global network of registered users and experts, institutional partners and NEA teams, and support in rolling out  innovative partnership building/stakeholder engagement approaches;
• Provide regular  coordination supportwith stakeholders on various BES-Net online activities, including directing partners’ attention and traffic to the BES-Net website, newsletter and social media channels and fostering their participation in any planned outreach campaigns and activities, as well as guidance to Post-NEA and Post -Trialogue supported countries on stakeholder engagement;
• Support the project visibility/outreach by providing technical backstopping on knowledge management and communication efforts and assisting the development of visibility/publicity resources, news articles, technical reports, etc., on different BES-related thematic areas in online and printable formats, in different languages, in coordination with relevant partners and contractors as required;
• Provide technical inputs to the periodic project activity review and target monitoring process from partnership and stakeholder engagement perspective; and
• Monitor the implementation of the BES-Net Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Strategy and Gender Strategy periodically and recommend the area of improvement in strategies.

Competencies

Professionalism:  Shows pride in work and achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work.

Communication: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; Listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; Asks questions to clarify and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; Tailors language, tone, style and format to match the audience; Demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.

Client Orientation: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be "clients " and seeks to see things from clients' point of view; Establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; Identifies clients' needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; Monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients' environment to keep informed and anticipate problems; Keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects; Meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client.

Required Skills and Experience