Strategy Specialist at United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Job Description (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the world’s environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the environment. Duties and Responsibilities Based on the recommendations and suggested actions from the Sida Poverty Review on UNEP’s Contributions to Poverty Reduction conducted by the UNEP Evaluation Office in , the Consultant will undertake the following tasks and responsibilities in close collaboration and consultation with the Policy and Programme Division team and other UNEP divisions and offices. Furthermore, as the assignment should help to realize the aspirations of Sida and other UNEP donors for unleashing the developmental potentials of UNEP, the Consultant should closely collaborate with donor representatives and UNSDG during the work. Review the current - MTS and, based on it, develop strategic guidelines with an explicit focus on poverty and the Agenda principle of LNOB calling for a clear, coherent and high-level underlying framework and narrative that is both inspiring and operable across UNEP and that is scientifically but also politically robust to support UNEP providing solutions to tackling the triple planetary crises of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste with the understanding that the environment is about people, poverty eradication and equity. The strategic guidelines should include key parameters, principles, and components of a people-oriented integrated social, environmental, and economic development approach for implementing UNEP’s current - MTS and PoW and should be consistent with other international agreed frameworks, pparticularly to Agenda 21, the Agenda and recent climate change and biodiversity agreements. Furthermore, the strategic guidelines should contribute to preparing the ground for the development of the next UNEP MTS and PoW by: Developing an internal understanding and narrative of poverty and its relationships to the process of sustainable development and the interdependencies between the social, economic, and environmental aspects of sustainable development, consistent with UNEP’s approach to the relationship between social, economic, and environmental aspects as embodied in the concept of a poverty-environment nexus. Embedding UNEP’s approach to poverty in a human rights-based and gender-sensitive approach, using gender-responsive and gender-transformative perspectives. Drawing on the lessons learned from the Poverty-Environment Initiative/Action, including from work on integrating ENR-poverty linkages into multi-dimensional poverty assessments – and the strategies of other UN agencies, such as UNDP and ILO to inform strategic direction and approach. Proposing a way forward to include poverty-reduction under the drivers or assumptions of the PoW three Theories of Change. Developing a set of poverty reduction indicators that can be applied within UNEP projects (i.e., indicators that reflect the key elements of the poverty–environment nexus). In addition to quantitative indicators, use qualitative indicators, methods, and tools for results assessment, including in projects with a focus on policy engagement, and use methods that capture the voices and perspectives of beneficiaries. Facilitating progress in the integration of poverty and environment issues not solely at the technical level, but also in organizational culture showing how poverty integration gives UNEP real traction with e.g., ministries of finance and development planning and other UN agencies. Providing key strategic messages on poverty-environment and LNOB nexus that UNEP could use to, for example, contribute to UN Secretary-General led events, such as the SDG Summit in September and the Summit of the Future in September . Guidelines to fully articulate and communicate the contribution to poverty reduction made by the UNEP subprogrammes at global and regional levels within the - PoW theories of change narratives on UNEP’s three strategic objectives of climate stability, living in harmony with nature, and towards a pollution-free planet. The input should highlight ways in which subprogrammes engage with social development aspects and the reduction of poverty and identify three existing projects that have a positive effect on poverty alleviation but have not been so visible to date. Where appropriate, suggest amendments that would strengthen their contribution to poverty reduction. Develop a learning strategy to enable learning on poverty-related results and their relationship with environmental sustainability across the UNEP. This task would include: Reviewing program-related training developed by PPD, including the Project Management Training and relevant informational repositories such as handbooks and information kits, and formulate recommendations on how a people-oriented approach, including explicit social development aspects and poverty reduction objectives, can be incorporated into the training material, e.g., result frameworks and theory of change of projects. Strengthen and further elaborate UNEP’s poverty-related guiding principles and practice (e.g., human rights, LNOB, and safeguard standards) in the Environmental and Social Sustainability Framework into UNEP Programme Manual, the project template and related guidance materials and advise on the most effective way to disseminate the information across UNEP. To enhance learning within the organization, the Consultant should draw on the result frameworks and training material and resources (e.g., knowledge products, communities of practice, and capacity building initiatives) of 1) UNEP flagship initiatives, such as PEA and PAGE, 2) partners at the national level, e.g., Sweden, Denmark, and Norway and 3) partners within the UN system, e.g., WFP, UNICEF, and UNDP. The Strategic Planning Unit will request UNITAR to review and contribute to the instructional design, enabling ways to build on its in-progress course for UNEP, ‘Sustainable Development in practice’ Develop an outline roll-out strategy for 2-3 years to ensure the embedding of the new guidelines and tools (results 1-6) within UNEP or wider across the UN, taking the process of organizational change into account. The Consultant will report to the Senior Programme Management Officer and Head, Strategic Planning Unit, Policy and Programme Division. Requirements Qualifications/special skills An advanced degree in social, economic, and environmental science is required. A bachelor’s degree with an additional two years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced degree. Minimum 10 years of proven professional experience in strategic planning, programme/project planning, development, coordination, implementation, and evaluation is required. Proven expertise in providing strategic advice on multi-dimensional poverty assessment and reduction, inequality, social, economic, and environmental pillars of sustainable development, and policy analysis or related fields is required. Experience in providing strategic advice to international organizations on policy processes for sustainable development and the integration of the social dimension and development with environment-related work is desirable. Proven and extensive experience in supporting the implementation of sustainable development, using socio-economic development metrics and analytical tools; providing expert advice, carrying out policy analysis, and preparing research papers on the environment and socio-economic development nexus is desirable. Knowledge of UN programme planning and of UNEP institutional mandates, policies, guidelines is desirable. Experience within the UN system is desirable. Languages English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this position fluency in oral and written English is required. #J-18808-Ljbffr