Social and environmental safeguard specialist (National Consultant)
Location : Dili, Timor Leste
Application Deadline : 12-Apr-21
(Midnight New York, USA)
Type of Contract : Individual Contract
Post Level : National Consultant
Languages Required : English
Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start)
20-Apr-2021
Duration of Initial Contract : 8 months
UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.
UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.
Background
Timor-Leste is highly vulnerable to climate changes, particularly increasing variability of rainfall and extreme weather events. Lives and livelihoods in the remote interior of the country and coastal regions are both highly exposed. Impacts of intensified extreme events include damage and degradation of decentralized small-scale critical infrastructure, particularly water supply and drainage structures, embankments, and feeder roads and bridges. Damages leave rural populations isolated, lacking basic services. In response to this challenge, in 2019, the government of Timor-Leste, with the support of UNDP, received funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to undertake the project.
The objective of the project is to safeguard vulnerable communities and their physical assets from climate change-induced disasters. It aims to address existing institutional, financial, and legislative barriers, increasing the climate resilience of vulnerable small-scale rural infrastructure. The project targets 175,840 direct beneficiaries, an estimated 15% of the total population. Benefits include increased climate resilience for small-scale infrastructure as well as 300 ha of reforested and rehabilitated land to buffer against climate-induced disasters.
This will be achieved by delivering the following results:
The project is supporting the ongoing decentralized investment frameworks which are administered through the Municipality Development Investment Program (PDIM) and National Suco Development Plan (PNDS) processes, by embedding the knowledge of climate risks and skills of climate-proofing design, construction, operation, and maintenance of rural infrastructure. Through the project, local authorities' capacity for climate-risk informed development of long-term investment plans will be enhanced, thereby strengthening de-centralized decision-making.
As part of the approved project, the Government and UNDP to prepare an Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP). ESMP is an integral part of the project implementation process and will determine the effective delivery of the project results and their sustainability in the long term.
Duties and Responsibilities
Under the overall supervision and guidance of the Project Manager and CTA, the Social and Environmental Safeguards Specialist will be tasked with the responsibility for updating and implementing the ESMP; undertaking audits to ensure compliance; and providing input and/or preparing reports as required for the implementation of the project. The Social and Environmental Safeguards Specialist will work closely with the Communication and M&E Officer under the PMU on related aspects of the project, including reporting, monitoring, evaluation, and communication.
The Social and Environmental Safeguards Specialist is required to provide specialized safeguards technical input to the Project Management Unit (PMU) prior to commencement of any groundworks on the target 6 municipalities. The Social and Environmental Safeguards Specialist will also provide necessary inputs throughout the project implementation to ensure all involved in the project (Governments at all levels, contractors, etc.) have a full understanding of the ESMPs and that there is a timely implementation of ESMP measures by the PMU. Moreover, Social and Environmental Safeguards Specialist will need to ensure full compliance in the updated ESMP; and where there is non-compliance, to work with the PMU and others to rectify the problems quickly. The Social and Environmental Safeguards Specialist will work with the PMU, Secretary of State for the Environment (SEA), Ministry of State Administration (MSA), Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF), Secretary of State for Civil Protection (SSCP), and Ministry of Public Works (MoPW)) and UNDP Country Office, under overall technical guidance from the CTA and CC&SE Unit, including UNDP-GEF Regional Technical Advisor (RTA) for climate change adaptation.
The Social and Environmental Safeguards Specialist will coordinate with PMU members, relevant government and non-government counterparts, and UNDP during the consultation, formulation, and implementation process of municipality-specific ESMPs to ensure that risks are identified, avoided, mitigated, and managed throughout project implementation.
Specific responsibilities will include:
Competencies
Knowledge Management and Learning
Management and Leadership
Corporate/Functional
Language requirements: Tetum and English Language - excellent written and oral communication skills. In addition to excellent command of Tetun and English, the ability to communicate in Portuguese and/or Bahasa Indonesian will be considered beneficial to the assignment.
Required Skills and Experience
Interested applicants are mandatory to apply online through https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?job_id=97967. Supporting documents/filled templates to be submitted along with the applications are following, and those templates can be download from https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=76835.
Any request for clarification must be sent in writing to [email protected]
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This vacancy is archived.