Development Coordination Officer – Environment and Climate Change

The ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development requires bold changes across the United Nations. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is imperative for a safe and secure future of prosperity, opportunity, and human rights for all. SDGs are universal, interlinked, and indivisible and demand that the UN System reinvents itself to better serve the Member States and people.
The Resolution on the UN Development System Reform agreed by all 193 countries on 31 May 2018 (A/RES/72/279) provides the mandates required for the UN Secretary-General (SG) and the UN System and its Agencies, Funds and Programmes (AFPs) to take forward their collective responsibilities to make the UN fit for purpose to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The Resolution calls for a new generation of coherent and more integrated UNCTs to deliver shared and impactful policy advice, programmatic and operational support to sustainable development at the country level.
In line with the UN Development System Reform, this new generation of UNCTs is to rely on the repositioned and strengthened UN Resident Coordinator System, that ensures greater cooperation and collaboration across the resident and non-resident AFPs, as well as enhances joint/cross-cutting strategic planning, programme implementation, communications, and business operations, which are more accessible and more attuned to the needs on the ground.
UN Resident Coordinator’s Offices across the world act as the secretariat to the UN Resident Coordinators and UNCTs. Drawing on the expertise and experience of the entire UN System and its AFPs, UN RCOs provide organizational, advisory, and management support and promotes information exchange, cooperation, and collaboration.

The Lao PDR-UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2022-2026 (Cooperation Framework) is the overarching strategy bringing together the work of the 25 different UN agencies, fund, and programmes in the UN Country Team (UNCT) to support national development priorities and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Cooperation Framework includes four strategic priorities: People’s Wellbeing; Inclusive Prosperity; Governance and Rule of Law; and Environment, Climate Change, and Resilience.

This position will support work under the fourth strategic priority, Environment, Climate Change, and Resilience, which is coordinated through a dedicated Results Group co-chaired by FAO and UN-Habitat.

The Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO) serves as the secretariat to the Resident Coordinator (RC) and UN Country Team (UNCT), providing organisational, advisory and management support, and facilitating the UN System’s joint strategic planning. The RCO draws on the expertise and experience of the entire UN family, promoting and supporting information exchange, cooperation and collaboration amongst UN agencies, and facilitating joint initiatives, for instance on the localisation of the SDGs.

Embedded in the RCO, the UN Volunteer “Development Coordination Officer – Environment and Climate Change” is expected to support the UNRC and UNCT on environmental issues, in particular to support the work of the UNCT Results Group 4.

As a member of the UN family in Lao PDR, the UN Volunteer is expected to make contributions to the implementation of the Cooperation Framework 2022-2026, advancing the UN development system reform agenda, enhancing synergies and impacts of the UN agencies’ support to Lao PDR in addressing the Triple Planetary Crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. The UN Volunteer will work in partnership with UN colleagues to ensure successful programme coordination and implementation to achieve the UNSDCF results.

Under the direct supervision of the Senior Economist, UN Resident Coordinator’s Office, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

1. Provide support to the Resident Coordinator, Result Group Co-Chairs, and RCO on engagements related to climate change and environmental protection
• Act as technical focal point providing inputs to processes related to climate change and environmental protection;
• Support the RCO and Result Group Co-Chairs annual reporting and work planning processes relating to climate change and environmental issues;
• Support the UNRC and Result Group to further develop and maintain close strategic relationships with relevant ministries such as the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, amongst others;
• Support the UNRC and Result Group in maintaining effective strategic working relationships with other external stakeholders, in particular development partners, on climate change and environmental issues.

2. Provide support to the UNRC and UN country team’s activities under the UN Results Group on Environment, Climate Change and Resilience, and its outputs on Green Growth, on Resilience and on Natural Resource Management:
• Actively participate in the activities of the RG on Environment, Climate Change and Resilience and of other RGs and Thematic Groups, as necessary, to support and advise on the integration of climate change and environmental considerations into UN programmes and projects;
• Provide inputs to the inter-agency work of the UN in Lao PDR and promote the integration of climate change and environmental considerations in joint-UN planning and programming;
• Maintain close relationship and support FAO and UN-Habitat as agencies leading UNCT coordination on environmental issues in Lao PDR.