Programme Officer

IUCN is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It provides public, private and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together.

Created in 1948, IUCN is now the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network, harnessing the knowledge, resources and reach of more than 1,400 Member organisations and around 16,000 experts. IUCN provides a neutral space in which diverse stakeholders including governments, NGOs, scientists, businesses, local communities, Indigenous People’s organisations and others can work together to forge and implement solutions to environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development.

Working with many partners and supporters, IUCN implements a large and diverse portfolio of conservation projects worldwide. Our Human Rights in Conservation Team is part of the IUCN Secretariat and leads IUCN’s global thematic work on Indigenous Peoples, combining the latest science with the traditional knowledge of Indigenous Peoples, championing rights-based approaches to enhance inclusive conservation within Indigenous territories and advocating for the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Our work actively supports the empowerment, leadership, and conservation efforts of IUCN’s Indigenous Peoples Organization (IPO) Members, as well as other influential Indigenous partners such as the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB).

The team works as a delocalised team across several IUCN duty stations with the staff divided between its Washington D.C. Office and Gland-based Headquarters. The incumbent will support the team in tasks related to the communications related to the PODONG Indigenous Peoples Initiative. PODONG Indigenous Peoples Initiative

The Podong Indigenous Peoples Initiative is a global initiative that aims to recognize and support Indigenous peoples’ contributions to the conservation of biodiversity and climate solutions through their indigenous knowledge systems, while ensuring their full and effective leadership and access to adequate resources for the implementation and achievement of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The initiative is co-led and co-designed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), IUCN’s Indigenous Peoples’ Organisation Members (IPOs) and the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB), who all have signed an agreement to jointly develop and implement the initiative.

Concretely, the PODONG Indigenous Initiative directly addresses the biodiversity and climate challenges mentioned above. Moreover, IUCN IPO Members and IIFB have directly requested to work more closely with IUCN as a trusted partner in accelerating resource mobilisation for IPs and Local Communities (LCs), through the co-design, co-leadership and co-delivery of biodiversity and climate solutions. This is why since July 2023; we have been working with those IP partners to ensure that action is taken on our institutional commitment along these lines.

The initiative’s ultimate outcome is to maintain, enhance and restore the integrity, connectivity and resilience of globally significant biodiversity located within Indigenous territories. This is achieved through four, mutually supportive pillars, fully co-designed and co-led by Indigenous leaders, that aim to increase inclusive, gender-responsive, and fully financed, Indigenous-led in situ conservation action.

Under the PODONG IP Initiative this specific role will be dedicated to increase the visibility and influence of Indigenous Peoples – particularly women and girls – in global biodiversity and climate fora, focusing specifically on developing the PODONG communication strategy, including a communication plan and branding, taking into account gender considerations.

Job Description:

The P2 Programme Officer will serve as the technical lead for the execution of the PODONG Indigenous Peoples Initiative, which has been co-designed and co-developed by IUCN, IUCN IPO Members and the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB) and which is currently being financed by Global Affairs of Canada (GAC). Their responsibilities include planning, coordination and delivery of all technical execution work in accordance with PODONG work plan as already approved by GAC. The PODONG technical lead will work with our PODONG indigenous partners, under the supervision and reporting to the Senior Program Manager on Indigenous Peoples and Conservation, of the Human Rights in Conservation Team.

Specific areas of work under PODONG include:

• Primarily role is technical lead for the PODONG Indigenous Peoples Initiative.
• Responsible for the overall technical execution of PODONG as agreed with the HRCT’s Senior Program Manager on Indigenous Peoples and Conservation and guided by the already GAC approved PODONG workplan.
• Ensure timely and quality delivery of IUCN tasks under PODONG, specifically on the following Ultimate Outcomes, Intermediate outcomes and Immediate outcomes as approved by GAC in the PODONG workplan:
• ULTIMATE OUTCOME: enhanced global biodiversity by guiding the implementation of CBD Article 8(j) through the integration of Indigenous knowledge and practices – directly contributing to achieving the KM-GBF, by 2030 and 2050.
• INTERMEDIATE OUTCOME: enhanced biodiversity outcomes via scaled-up Indigenous-led conservation actions on the ground by 2050.
• Immediate Outcome: enhanced biodiversity outcomes via scaled-up Indigenous-led conservation actions on the ground by 2050.
• Immediate Outcome: advanced inclusive policies and governance for environmental stewardship and community ownership.
• Immediate Outcome: effective implementation of Indigenous-led initiatives on biodiversity conservation.
• INTERMEDIATE OUTCOME: increased IPs leaders’ impact, especially women and youth, at global biodiversity spaces by 2030.
• Immediate Outcome: Strengthened leadership and advocacy skills of indigenous leaders, especially women and youth, on biodiversity conservation (scaling up IUCN’s Stewarding the Earth Campaign).
• Immediate Outcome: Increased visibility and influence of Indigenous Peoples – particularly women and girls – in global biodiversity fora through the IUCN Stewarding the Earth Campaign.
• INTERMEDIATE OUTCOME: Increased IPs leaders’ impact, especially women and youth, at global biodiversity spaces by 2030.
• Immediate Outcome: Co-designed and co-developed direct IPs financing mechanism, with specific provisions for the participation of Indigenous women and girls.
• Immediate Outcome: enhanced capacities and reinforced support for Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations in resource mobilization and finance access.
• Prepare technical reports to be submitted to GAC for project review and approval.
• Laise with the IUCN Monitoring and Evaluation Unit to ensure timely and quality delivery of PODONG M&E tasks and reports.
• Maintain strong relationships with IPLC leaders engaged in PODONG in Tanzania, Nepal, Guatemala and Panama, and ensure timely and quality execution of their PODONG workplan on the ground.
• Maintain a strong relationship with IIFB and IUCN IPO Members as key partners of PODONG.
• Actively participate and maintain IUCN’s active role in the PODONG Project Management Unit in coordination and collaboration with IIFB.
• Actively participate in IUCN’s PODONG weekly coordination meetings with HRCT’s Senior Program Manager on Indigenous Peoples and Conservation, the Gender and the Outreach & Communication staff, and the Resilience Program Manager of the Climate Chance and Energy Transition Team.
• Participate in the bi-monthly HRC Team meetings.

Requirements:

• Five (5) to seven (7) years of experience as an indigenous leader and/or other professional role who is and/ or has worked closely with, and on a mandate from, Indigenous Peoples.
• Significant experience representing interests of Indigenous Peoples in regional, national and international fora.
• Possess comprehensive knowledge, experience and understanding of the sensitivities of working with Indigenous communities, priorities, and rights; and has a high-level of commitment, passion and drive to champion Indigenous Peoples priorities and rights at all times.
• Master’s degree or equivalent professional experience in Indigenous Peoples rights, Indigenous development, environmental policy, natural resource management, philanthropy or a related field.
• A strong and verifiable programmatic delivery track record with respect to deploying knowledge, evidence and policy influence to facilitating and enabling substantive and demonstrable place-based change.
• At least 5-7 years’ experience of direct field-based delivery and project implementation and management.
• Strong writing skills. A track record of publications and quantitative analysis is desirable.
• Demonstrated ability to work under pressure and tight timelines, with a multidisciplinary / multicultural/ and diverse team.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English, including ability to communicate complex issues to a wide range of audiences, read, write and speak is required. Communicating clearly and accurately when speaking Spanish is a requirement.
• Availability to travel frequently.
• Diplomacy, good networking skills and excellent interpersonal skills. Track record of working effectively in a multicultural and diverse environment with colleagues at all levels

Source: https://hrms.iucn.org/iresy/index.cfm?event=vac.show&vacId=11188&lang=en