Technical Advisor/Biodiversity

Cabo Verde

  • Organization: UNV - United Nations Volunteers
  • Location: Cabo Verde
  • Grade: Mid level - UN International Specialist Volunteers
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Environment
    • Biology and Chemistry
    • Agriculture and Forestry
    • Project and Programme Management
    • Natural Resource Management
  • Closing Date: 2025-11-03

Details

Mission and objectives

Cabo Verde became the first pilot Joint Office (JO) of the Ex-Com agencies (UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA and WFP) on 1 January 2006. This was a major step in the UN reform towards the harmonization and simplification of UN activities in small countries. The Joint Office model consists of a single UN office of the participating agencies, led by one representative who equally represents all the participating agencies. The JO has one organizational structure and a single program/common country program encompassing the activities and mandates of all participating agencies, and uses one set of business processes, rules, and regulations under a “support agency”. Since 2010, with the discontinuation of WFP Office in Cabo Verde, following the graduation to a Middle-Income Country in 2008 , the Joint Office is now comprised of three agencies - UNDP, UNFPA and UNICEF.

Context

Cabo Verde offers a unique setup. In 2006, UNDP, UNFPA and UNICEF joined forces and created a Joint Office to harmonize and streamline the activities of the UN agencies, funds and programs in the country. The Joint Office builds on the mandates of the three agencies and combines their strengths. It implements one Common Country Program with one budget under the direction of a Joint Resident Representative who is accredited on behalf of the three agencies. Thus, the Joint Office offers fully integrated support to the Government of Cabo Verde. In the Joint Office, a future UNV will thus get hands-on experience with three important UN agencies and actively support programmatic UN integration which goes beyond the ambition of the current reform of the UN development system.

The JO has one organizational structure and a single programme/common country programme encompassing the activities and mandates of all participating agencies, and uses one set of business processes, rules and regulations under a “support agency” arrangement. In Cabo Verde, UNDP systems are used.  The Joint Office is the leading entity in the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2023-2027 which is fully aligned with the National Sustainable Development Plan and with Agenda 2030. A joint UNDP, UNFPA and UNICEF Common Country Programme Document (CCPD) for 2023-2027, is based on four results areas aligned with SDGs (People, Planet, Prosperity, and Peace), with a strong focus on building systems and partnerships for SDG implementation in the country, leading to the need for innovative, creative and integrated solutions both on programme and operations. 

The Energy, Environment and Climate Change Portfolio is responsible for management of environment and climate action projects for the Joint Office programme. The environment Portfolio’s priority is to ensure sustainable management of natural resources, and programme priorities cover renewable energy and energy efficiency, environment management, WASH, disaster risk reduction strategy and resilience building, reporting on Nationally Determined Contributions, climate change adaptation & mitigation, and biodiversity conservation. The programme aims to strengthen the institutional capacities at local, municipal and national levels to manage and utilize natural resources in a sustainable manner, and to enhance resilience and adaptive capacity to long-term climate change risks and to reduce the associated risks and impacts of natural disasters, particularly those related to the country’s status as a small island developing state (SIDS).

Task description

Under the direct supervision of the National Directorate of Environment, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

- Provide on-going support to the project coordinating unit for adaptive management, best practice assessment and implementation.

- Enable the project to maintain strategic direction during implementation by helping project management to remain focused on overall results in addition to the day-to-day implementation concerns of supporting project implementation on national level.

- Emphasize a learning and adaptive approach to project management and implementation. The Technical Advisor (TA) will be expected to provide reasonable continuous support to the PM by electronic communication when not directly engaged on the project. The TA will be recruited by UNDP and will work closely with the National Project Coordinator (NPC).

- Lead on the development of annual workplans for Outcome 1.1, 1.2, 2.1 and 3.1 activities.

- Evaluate implementation progress and provide technical guidance to project teams to ensure consistency with project plans, intended outcomes and gender, stakeholder engagement and safeguards requirements.

- Provide technical review and quality assurance of project technical and progress reports for Outcome 1.1, 1.2, 2.1 and 3.1.

- Facilitate partnership development for the development of the new National Plan for Management of the PA Network with key government agencies, NGOs, private sector bodies and projects in order to achieve synergistic benefits and strengthen sustainability of outcomes.

- Support the organizational working group led by DNA to develop the vision, objectives, principles, scope and concept for the national plan.

- Support the legal working group led by MAA/DNA to ensure strong correlation with the parallel process for development of the National Masterplan for Management of the PA Network, and coordination with related legislation and policy objectives.

- Support the capacity development leading group within DNA/MAA to elaborate the project’s capacity development strategy for DNA, MAA Delegations, Municipalities and other key actors for the national protected area network and biodiversity governance more generally.

- Provide technical inputs to detailed training and institutional capacity development plans.

- Provide technical advice on biodiversity governance strategy for detailed implementation planning, technical review meetings and workshops.

- Identify best practices and lessons learned, and provide technical articles related to Outcome 1.1 for project knowledge management platforms.
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Before applying, please make sure that you have read the requirements for the position and that you qualify.
Applications from non-qualifying applicants will most likely be discarded by the recruiting manager.
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