Project Officer

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was founded in 1496 in order to respond to the firm belief of nations, forged by two world wars, that political and economic agreements are not enough to build a lasting peace. Peace must be established based on humanity’s moral and intellectual solidarity. Headquartered in Paris, France, UNESCO which is a specialised agency of the United Nations, contributes to the building of peace, eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through international cooperation in education, the sciences, culture, and communication and information. UNESCO contributes to the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015. UNESCO’s five functions include being a laboratory of ideas, a standard setter, a capacity builder, leader in policy development and data analysis for decision making and finally a catalyst for international cooperation.

This UNV assignment is expected to be focusing mainly, but not only, on the UNESCO’s project Sustainably Unlocking the Economic Potential of Lake Turkana. This is a 10-year programme funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and led by UNESCO and WFP. Lake Turkana is the world largest desert lake. It is located in the north of Kenya, an area characterised by high level of food and water insecurity. The project focuses on the sustainable management of the Lake resources (water and fish), and on nutrition and sustainable livelihood, that have been heavily impacted by climate change. Lake Turkana National Park is in the List of the World Heritage Sites in Danger, and the project supports the implementation of the corrective measures to ensure the Desired State of Conservation.

UNESCO leads several activities and the UNV will support their implementation. A particular focus of the UNV will be the support of the UNESCO Climate Risk Informed Decision Analysis (CRIDA), which is a bottom up and participatory methodology to support decision making for natural resources management. The UNESCO team leading the project is the Natural Sciences team of UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa, situated in the UN compound in Nairobi. The newly established team consists of 20 colleagues, and the atmosphere is extremely collaborative and welcoming.

The UNESCO Nairobi office has more or less 80 staff members. The UN compound includes all the UN agencies and offers great opportunities to network and interact with many colleagues.

Under the direct supervision of the Head of Natural Sciences Sector and the Coordinator of the Division of Water Sciences, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

• Support the Lake Turkana project management and project rollout.
• Support logistics and planning of the project’s activities, including fieldwork and data collection.
• Support logistics, planning, and implementation of project workshops, dissemination events, and engagement activities with stakeholders and communities.
• Support activities within the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) Climate Risk Informed Decision Analysis (CRIDA), a bottom-up and participatory methodology to aid decision-making for natural resources management.
• Support the creation of content for social media, newsletters, and other communication channels to raise awareness about UNESCO’s work and achievements in the region.
• Regularly attend meetings of the project steering committee, support the preparation of minutes of meetings and action plans with clear responsibilities and timeframes.
• Support the preparation of reports on project progress.
• Support projects on other team topics, such as flood management and early warning systems.