Programme Specialist – Environment, Climate and Resilience

Mozambique is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and the third most hydro-meteorologically disaster-prone country in Africa (World Bank Risk Index, 2017). An estimated 25% of the population is directly exposed to hazards and a far greater number indirectly (GFDRR, World Bank, 2017). The country’s economy is heavily dependent on renewable and non-renewable natural resources. Unsustainable management practices of the environment and natural resources threaten people and biodiversity through, for example, water pollution, land degradation, deforestation, unsustainable fishing, and unplanned urbanization.  The socio-economic benefits of the environment and natural resources are reduced over time from unsustainable use, contributing to development challenges and poverty intensification. 

• There is a gap in terms of sustainable and equitable management of natural resources and related revenues in Mozambique. One of the root causes is related to an inadequate translation of poverty objectives into implementation strategies and actions supported by sufficient investments.  This problem is primarily driven by four gaps: policy coherence and coordination; human capacity; information; and financial resources. The costs of unsustainable management of the environment and natural resources were estimated to be equivalent to 17% of GDP in 2012, impacting disproportionately on the poor. At the same time, natural resources provide an opportunity for sustainable and inclusive development, if appropriate mechanisms and resource governance frameworks are created and sustained.
• On the other hand, the Government is committed to deepening and broadening the poverty-environment mainstreaming achievements made and using the opportunity offered by current public reforms and the 2030 Agenda to further environmental sustainability for poverty eradication. The Government is also exploring ways to channel investments and manage natural resource revenues to benefit-sharing mechanisms for environmental sustainability and poverty reduction.
• UNDP Mozambique is supporting the Government in different areas related to the environment, sustainable management of natural resources, climate change and resilience to disasters. These include biodiversity conservation through interventions to combat Illegal wildlife trade, expansion of conservation areas, promotion of financial sustainability of the protected areas system as well as policy development and planning for climate and disaster resilience at national and subnational levels, including recovery and livelihoods restoration and enhancement. The disruption of the worldwide COVID-19 and Ukraine crises creates unprecedented opportunities for assessing Mozambique’s development pathway, to re-shape its sustainable, green, and climate-smart economic growth to build its resilience and revert the trend of one of the poorest countries in the world.
• The work of UNDP Mozambique is guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF 2022-2026), which describes the collective vision and response of the UN system to the Government of Mozambique development priorities, and the Country Program Document 2022-2026 (CPD), which outlines UNDP’s contribution to the Government 5-year Programme (PQG) results; the 2022-2026 UNSDCF and 2022-2025 UNDP Strategic Plan theory of change.
• Against this backdrop, UNDP Mozambique is recruiting a Programme Specialist – ECR to be based in Maputo, and with travel to the field, to support the implementation of the existing portfolio as well as the development of strategic, robust and comprehensive programming for the Environment, Climate and Resilience (ECR) Unit and Country Office.
• Under the direct supervision of Head of ECR Unit and overall guidance of the DRR-Programme, the Programme Specialist-ECR will provide technical guidance for the proper development and implementation of projects funded by vertical funds and other sources and advice to the ECR portfolio.
• The focus of her/his role will be to develop programmes, mobilize resources as well as provide technical advice on programmes and projects related to the environment, natural resources/biodiversity, green recovery, climate change,) and resilience to disasters. The Programme Specialist will also support the CO in chairing and/or engaging in thematic group discussions, such as the Climate Change and Resilience Working Group, the SP3 (Intra-UN working group on Environment) and any other platforms, workshops or events related to above topics. He/she will also identify and advise the CO on opportunities for strong UNDP positioning in national, regional or international environmental debates. In addition, the Programme Specialist – ECR will support the Unit in ongoing policy engagement, by providing high-quality technical advisory services to the Government counterparts. As the office holds and aims to further develop its GEF and GCF portfolio, Carbon Markets, Extractive Industry, Energy, Disaster Risk Finance/Risk Insurance, Green Recovery and Blue Economy, the Programme Specialist – ECR will provide technical guidance for the proper development and implementation of those programmes.

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide strategic and technical advisory support to the Head of Unit and the CO to ensure consistent design and implementation of unit programmes in accordance with UNDP Country Programme Document (CPD):

• Provide strategic advice on the design process and direction of the UNDP ECR portfolio with focus on ongoing GEF/GCF proposals and programs, as well as on the development of the portfolio on Climate change, climate finance and green recovery;
• Provide technical advice and lead the draw-up process of innovative program approaches related to: (i) climate finance with a focus on disaster finance/ risk insurance, carbon offsets and carbon market mechanisms as an instrument to support NDC achievement under the Paris Agreement (but not only limited to this aspect); (ii) green recovery programme to explore opportunities with the Government to trigger innovation, undertake measures to restructure critical sectors for the socio-economic development of the country and accelerate existing environmental plans; (iii) blue economy to explore opportunities with the Government to promote conservation of marine biodiversity while making sustainable use of resources; (iv) Extractive industry to prepare and guide a sustainable economic growth and industrialization strategy for the country;
• Spearhead in-depth technical reviews of Key Strategic Documents to inform the Country’s development priorities in line with the Government’s 5-year Programme (PQG); the 2022-2026 UNSDCF and UNDP’s CPD 2022-2026;
• Support the testing and scaling-up of public-private initiatives that can increase livelihood opportunities from productive capacities based on green growth and sustainable development;
• Substantially contribute to institutional effectiveness, to be achieved through higher-quality programmes, better project planning, design, monitoring and evaluation, underpinned by stronger results-based management (RBM);
• Support to identify significant issues with programme implementation and provide advice on mitigation plans;
• Promote teamwork, collaboration and synergies with other UNDP areas at both national and regional levels;
• Support systems’ thinking through a portfolio approach to foster interlinkages and coherence in the CO and with internal and external partners for greater impact of joint interventions.

Provide technical and policy support and advice to the CO, development partners and government with particular focus on climate change and resilience: 

• Provides high-quality, expert level and evidence-based advice to government and other partners on institutional, policy, legal and regulatory issues, and options for expanding the scope, scale and effectiveness of efforts to accelerate innovative interventions on ECR;
• Provide technical support and expert advice for monitoring and reviews of the UNSDCF and the Country Programme in ECR;
• Support UNDP participation in the “Climate Change and Resilience Working Group”, the “Blue Economy Working Group”, the SP3 UNSDCF on Resilience and Climate Change and other related platforms;
• Support the engagement across units within the CO and with partners and government on linkages such as climate-health and climate-conflict;
• Provide donor intelligence in the areas of the ECR and attend meetings and workshops with development partners and government in the areas of climate change and resilience, including climate finance;
• Build networks and partnerships with domestic and external, private and public, organizations/entities/institutions to foster technical, financial and programmatic collaboration.

 Active engagement in resource mobilization 

• Initiates, formulates and effectively follows-through on an innovative fundraising/resource mobilization strategy that elicits financial support from a wide range of private, non-profit and public sector partners, both domestic and external, to sustain and expand UNDP programmes and projects within the ECR portfolio;
• Identify and engage with bilateral and multilateral partners for resource mobilization;
• Establish a strong partnership with relevant parties, particularly the Government, to meet the UNDP’s goals with respect to the donor agreements.

 Active knowledge management focusing on achievement of the following results 

• Facilitate in fostering knowledge management processes and strategic learning; identifying lessons learned and good practices from project implementation that can be replicated/upscaled;
• Facilitate experience sharing, identification of innovative initiatives, improved coordination with other stakeholders to enhance programme synergies and mobilize additional resources;
• Identify, analyze, and communicate lessons learned that may be useful in design and implementation of projects within the ECR Portfolio. The duty of identifying and analyzing lessons learned is an on-going one, and the duty to communicate those lessons is on an as needed basis; 
• Sharing of Programme results through Programme publications, and by taking responsibility for knowledge networking with national agencies and UNDP’s global community;
• Assistance in knowledge sharing with line ministries and among different stakeholders.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Environmental Science; Forestry Engineering, Economics, or other related areas is required. Or
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the areas stated above, in combination with two (2) additional years of experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• Minimum of  5 years (with master’s degree) or 7 years (with bachelor’s degree)  of professional experience in areas relevant to environment, sustainable land management, renewable energy, green growth, natural resources management, biodiversity conservation, climate change, disaster risk management or similar, linked to programme design and management is required;
• Extensive experience working with governments, bilateral and multilateral development organizations, and civil society;
• Experience in advising on country planning and budgeting processes;
• Experience and good understanding of poverty/ environment assessments, including gender elements, and incorporation of poverty reduction in programmes and projects;
• Experience and good understanding of the international experience and best practices in the mainstreaming of cross-cutting issues into national development processes.
• Excellent knowledge of computer software in full Microsoft Office equipment and office technology;
• Experience in fieldwork in developing countries, especially on environmental and climate-related issues is an asset;
• Experience of UNDP programming modalities is desirable;
• Experience and solid knowledge of development issues in Mozambique and other African countries is an asset;
• Proven relevant work experience in the African context on issues of sustainable development, climate change and natural resources management is desirable.

Required Language(s):

• Fluency in English is required. Working level of Portuguese or Spanish is desirable.

Source: https://estm.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1/requisitions/job/21563