Technical Coordinator, Water and Wetlands

IUCN Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office welcomes applications from qualified women and men for the following vacancy:-

 

Vacancy Announcement

 

Position: Technical Coordinator, Water and Wetlands

Location: Pretoria, South Africa

 

Reporting to: IUCN Regional Programme Coordinator for Eastern and Southern Africa

 

I. OVERVIEW OF THE ESARO WATER & WETLANDS THEMATIC PROGRAMME

 

The IUCN Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) operates in twenty two countries in the Horn of Africa, east Africa, southern Africa and the Western Indian Ocean.

 

The freshwater ecosystems of Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) play an important role in contributing to the socio‐economic development goals of the people in the region. The region is generally characterised by a high economic dependence on local natural resources in the form of agriculture (frequently subsistence), including pastoralism, in which the variability of climate and the availability of water to a large extent determine production. For many of the region’s inhabitants, the ability to generate livelihoods depends on access to water. The availability and access to water strongly influence patterns of economic growth and social development in

the region. This, coupled with its relatively low development status, makes the economies and social character of the ESA region particularly vulnerable to changes in the availability of water over space and time. Such changes may be defined in terms of the total amount of precipitation received, its frequency of recurrence, the persistence of wet or dry day combinations or the onset and duration of the rainy season or in terms of the quality of the available resource.

 

The water and wetlands resources in ESA are affected by numerous problems and challenges that impede sustainable development and threaten the sustainability of water and wetland resources. These, among others, include:

(i) Poverty and inequality;

(ii) Weak legal and regulatory framework;

(iii) Inadequate institutional capacities of national water authorities, and regional or river basin organizations;

(iv) Weak policy framework for sustainable development of national water resources.

(v) Poor information acquisition, management and dissemination systems;

(vi) Low levels of awareness, education and training with respect to economic, social, environmental and political issues related to water resources development and management;

(vii) Lack of effective public participation by all stakeholders particularly women and the poor; and

(viii) Infrastructure is inadequate and unable to meet the growing demands for service. 

 

Guided by a situation analysis, the ESARO Water and Wetlands thematic programme seeks to contribute to an overarching vision: “Eastern and Southern Africa’s freshwater resources and wetlands are sustainably managed for biodiversity conservation and human well‐being”.

 

The mission of the ESARO Water and Wetlands Programme is to “influence, encourage and assist societies in Eastern and Southern Africa to sustainably manage water and wetland resources, ensuring biodiversity conservation, equitable development and improved human livelihoods.”

 

The main goal of the programme for the period 2010 to 2015 is to “implement sustainable water and wetland management and mainstream ecosystems approach into Integrated Water Resources Management processes in order to support poverty reduction, equitable development, resilience to climate change and conservation of biological diversity”.

 

The IUCN ESARO Water and Wetlands Programme contributes to the region’s response to the water and wetland resources management and poverty reduction challenges faced by the region; the global and regional search for a proper balance between human needs and the intrinsic value of ecosystems at all levels of water and wetlands management; and the conservation of biological diversity. The Programme also contributes to the achievement of the water and wetlands objectives of The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD),

The African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), The African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW), and other initiatives in Africa; the Millennium Development Goals (MDG 1 [poverty eradication], 3 [gender equality and empowerment of women] and 7 [ensuring environmental sustainability]); implementation of the water and environment agenda of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the East African Community (EAC), the West Indian Ocean Islands (WIOI) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC)and the WANI initiative in eastern and southern Africa, and the encouraging of global joint learning under the WANI initiative. The water and wetlands programme is based on demonstration logic: action, capacity development, and policy justification. The water and wetlands management approaches are based on:

• Demonstrating the sustainable use of ecosystem services, leading to implementation of IWRM through learning by doing;
• Promoting aquatic ecosystem‐based sustainable livelihoods and conservation of freshwater biodiversity;
• Improving water governance through policy reviews, influencing policy formulation and existing policies, and supporting policy implementation and stakeholder participation;
• Promoting equitable sharing of water benefits and costs;
• Empowering national partners and communities to sustain water and wetland management interventions;
• Generating and share lessons on water resource management through information gathering and collation, communication and dissemination;
• Catalysing adaptation of water resources management to enhance the community resilience and adaptation to climate change.

 

Programme Strategic Areas

The strategic results of the Water and Wetlands Programme are linked to the IUCN Global Results and ESARO Results. Annex I presents the link of the Programme results to both ESARO and IUCN Global results. Within the scope of the region’s water and wetlands sector and the diverse nature of stakeholders involved in the sector, 1 Draft, under review.

the current interventions and activities as well as past experiences of IUCN ESARO, the focus for the programme are:

• Ecosystem‐Based Management and Biodiversity Conservation
• Good Water Governance and Stakeholder Participation
• Learning, Leadership and Knowledge Sharing
• Water Resources and Climate Change Resilience

 

All focus areas are components of implementing IWRM from local to national to transboundary levels.

 

II. RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS

The Technical Coordinator for Water & Wetlands reports directly to the IUCN ESARO Regional Programme Coordinator (RPC). The Technical Coordinator is responsible for: i) Guiding the strategic direction and development of the thematic area, including development and marketing of project proposals with donors; ii) Ensuring that programmatic activities within the thematic area are effectively and efficiently implemented; iii) Promoting learning, knowledge generation and innovation within both the thematic area and in relation to the ESARO Intersessional Programme and Strategy; and iv) Ensuring that progress and performance of the Thematic programme is regularly monitored and evaluated.

 

The Technical Coordinator is also a senior member of the ESARO Technical Coordination Group (TCG) and, accordingly, works with the other members of the Group in strategic planning; monitoring and evaluation; and learning, innovation and knowledge generation at the overall Intersessional Programme level. This includes (when requested) contributing to the development of and adhering to IUCN/ESARO policies and procedures related to both organizational and Programme management.

 

A. Strategic Guidance

The Technical Coordinator is directly responsible for leading the strategic direction of the ESARO Water and Wetlands Thematic Programme, in line with the ESARO Intersessional Programme and Programme Strategy (which is ESARO’s contribution to the IUCN global programme) – positioning IUCN as a lead technical body in the region. Successful strategic leadership is the priority for the position. More specifically, this will involve:

• Ensuring that IUCN’s work in the region is of high technical quality, based on good science and drawing upon state of the art thinking and knowledge
• Leading the strategic development of the Thematic Programme, including periodically conducting situation and scoping analysis to develop/refine the Thematic Area’s strategic framework, ensuring that priorities identified are relevant to IUCN’s members and partners and aligned with IUCN’s value proposition;
• Leading fundraising and resource mobilization for the Thematic Area through the development of proposals and maintaining good relationships with donors and funding agencies so as to ensure the financial viability of the Programme. This work requires coordination with the regional team, global programme heads and the IUCN strategic partnerships unit;
• Acting as a focal point for facilitating and supporting the involvement of IUCN Commissions, Members and other members of the Secretariat in the development and implementation of programmatic activities;
• Developing and maintain strong strategic partnerships with global programme units, members, commissions, policy bodies and donors;
• Developing, coordinating and supervising a Water and Wetlands Thematic Programme team (including programme and project officers) to ensure that individuals work together as an integrated team, that there is coherence and consistency in programmatic outputs and a high quality of technical advice is given to IUCN global and regional programmes, field programmes, projects, members and partners;
• Providing evidence based support and facilitating multi‐stakeholder dialogues on emerging issues and policy debates, as requested by and under the Delegation of Authority by the Regional Director;

 

B. Day to day operations

Accountable for overseeing the effective and efficient implementation within ESARO of contracted (“C”) projects/programmes, and the planning of the implementation of new projects during negotiation phases with donors. This includes:

• Providing technical advice, guidance and support to projects, country offices as well as other Technical Thematic Coordinators, delegating appropriately;
• Ensuring that project/programme strategies and workplans are developed and implemented according to plan and commitments to partners and donors (including assuring quality of performance & progress, timing and budget);
• Working closely with the Finance and Administration as well as Human Resource Departments to ensure that projects/programmes are financially viable and have the necessary human and other resources necessary for effective implementation; and
• Ensuring that contractual obligations and IUCN’s policies and procedures are efficiently adhered to.

 

C. Learning

Supporting learning processes and contributing to ensuring that ESARO utilizes lessons, experiences and new knowledge to adapt and strengthen practices and approaches over time. More specifically, this will involve:

• Establishing mechanisms and guidelines to enable lesson learning and sharing within the thematic area, where relevant;
• Identifying and using lessons to inform practice;
• Coherent and consistent communication of lessons learnt to key decision‐makers and other stakeholders within the region and globally as appropriate, including via the web, print and media; and
• Establishing and utilizing mechanisms to encourage innovation both within the Programme and the Organization

 

D. Monitoring and Evaluation

Supporting the development and implementation of monitoring and evaluation systems and processes at Programme and project level. More specifically, this will involve:

• Contributing to the development of the ESARO Intersessional Programme Monitoring and Evaluation Framework;
• Ensuring that all projects develop and effectively implement M&E frameworks and systems, in line with the overall Component M&E framework; and
• Contributing to developing capacity for M&E within the country office and projects within the country portfolio.

 

III. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

At least 10+ years of proven experience with:

• An advanced degree in natural science related to Water and Wetlands or related fields;
• Proven high level of knowledge about international and political issues in the region related to biodiversity and nature conservation and sustainable development;
• Familiarity with established and emerging relevant conservation and natural resource management approaches, methodologies and processes;
• An in‐depth understanding of the ESARO region, particularly in relation to Water and Wetlands;
• Demonstrated fundraising, budgeting and programme planning abilities and past performance, including experience of development and successful marketing of project proposals with donors, and subsequent delivery and reporting;
• Experience with result based portfolio and project cycle management, monitoring and evaluation methodologies and principles and facilitation skills;
• Strong interpersonal, management and supervisory skills and experience, with a minimum of 5 years experience in managing organizations and/or teams;
• Ability to manage complex situations and facilitate the establishment of networks and multi‐stakeholder participatory processes;
• Excellent verbal and communication skills in English is essential, with ability to communicate in Arabic, French and/or Portuguese as an added advantage;
• Computer literacy in relation to office applications (word processing, spreadsheets, powerpoint) use of internet and online communication tools; and
• Be willing to undertake frequent travel (approx 40% of their time) and interact with different stakeholders from diverse cultures.

 

APPLICATIONS

Applicants are asked to submit their CV in English and a supporting letter of motivation along with the names and contact details of three referees, one of whom should be a recent employer. 

Applications should be submitted by e-mail before 23^rd March, 2012 to: earohr@iucn.org

 

ONLY SHORTLISTED CANDIDATES WILL BE CONTACTED