Environmental Finance Associate

UNDP Biodiversity Finance Initiative – BIOFIN 

UNDP Biodiversity Finance Initiative – BIOFIN is a global programme implemented in 35 countries around the world to develop well-informed financing strategies for the conservation of biodiversity/nature. The approach is described in the 2016 BIOFIN Workbook . The global team is based in different locations with a core team operating out of UNDP’s Istanbul Regional Hub. Read more about BIOFIN on www.biodiversityfinance.net

Living Conditions:

The UN Volunteer will be based in Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey where everything is available including education, health services and entertainment. There is a lively and large group of international community. Istanbul airport has direct connections with most European and global cities. Istanbul is a Security level 2 (Low) duty station.

Description of tasks:

The UNV would be an integrated member of the global BIOFIN team. The UNV would support BIOFIN countries and the BIOFIN team to develop new knowledge products, analyse results to date, and assist with the implementation of the Monitoring and Evaluation Plan.

Under the direct supervision of the BIOFIN Manager, the national UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

Knowledge Management

• Update the BIOFIN knowledge management plan and develop new knowledge products;
• Assist the BIOFIN Team in developing guidance and training materials on financing solutions for biodiversity conservation for BIOFIN teams in different countries;
• Review international best practises to identify case studies that can serve as examples for BIOFIN work;
• Review country outputs and extract lessons learned;
• Write stories and news articles on BIOFIN activities;
• Support the BIOFIN Communication team by promoting and maintaining BIOFIN’s social media updated (e.g. Website / Twitter / Facebook page);
• Support the organization of BIOFIN Regional Workshops;
• Support the organization of webinars and regional calls;

Research

• Assist the Biofin Team in Research, collect, analyse of the work BIOFIN has been doing in its 30 core countries and present the results. Assure the replication of this task for other similar projects working in different regions of the world;
• Provide support for BIOFIN cross country analysis;

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Provide support to the BIOFIN team in monitoring and collecting the quarterly reports from the BIOFIN countries and assist in reporting the key results on finance solution implementation to the management;
• Monitor, analyse and synthesize the developments, press clippings and reports of BIOFIN, and maintain a database of BIOFIN news coverage and update regularly;

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to:

• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark IVD);
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
• Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities;
• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.;
• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers;
• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.

Results/Expected Output:

• Updated knowledge management strategy (jointly with BIOFIN Team)
• Develop at least 5 knowledge products capturing lessons learned from BIOFIN’s work;
• Produce 5 PowerPoint guidance series on specific finance solutions;
• Support the development and final report of the Biodiversity Expenditure Review (BER) cross country analysis;
• Support the semestrial donor reports through collection of Quarterly Reports from the BIOFIN countries and reporting on the finance solution implementation;
• Support the BIOFIN social media content by twitting at least 3 biodiversity finance tweets per week;
• Write 4 country stories;
• Produce 2 case studies for the next BIOFIN Workbook.

A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed.

• Have graduated with a university degree (Bachelor or Master) in Biology, Geography, Economics, Environmental Economics, Finance, Business Administration, Communication, ICT or other related field;
• Experience: Minimun 2 year of work experience;
• Previous related work experience in a national or an international entity would be an asset, but is not required.
• Experience in developing websites/programming or using social media channels is an asset
• Full proficiency in English is required and good command of Spanish, French, Portuguese or Russian is an asset;
• Analytical skills and ability to coordinate numerous ongoing initiatives is required;
• Familiarity to UN and UNV rules and procedures is an asset;
• Computer skills: Microsoft Office, Windows-based applications, integrated web-based management systems, spreadsheets and databases. Knowledge of Adobe CS programs are a great assest.

United Nations Volunteers is an equal opportunity programme which welcomes applications from qualified professionals. We are committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture.

United Nations Volunteers reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this opening for other openings with United Nations Volunteers with similar assignment description, experience and educational requirements.

Conditions of Service for national UN Volunteers

A contract of 12 months duration.; with subsequent contract extensions subject to availability of funding, operational necessity and satisfactory performance. However, there is no expectation of renewal of the assignment.

Travel to duty station (if applicable) and a Settling-In-Grant will be provided in the event duty station is not within commuting distance from the place of recruitment. A Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA) of approximately TRY 2,729 is provided monthly to cover housing, utilities and normal cost of living expenses. Life, health and permanent disability insurance are included (health insurance for up to 3 dependents), as well as final repatriation (if applicable) and resettlement allowance for satisfactory service.

Description of Assignment prepared by the hosting project/UN Agency:

In recent decades, biodiversity finance tools and solutions have demonstrated their importance for achieving biodiversity goals and broader sustainable development objectives. Improved choice, design and implementation of effective, well-tailored finance solutions will strengthen countries’ chances of achieving national and global biodiversity targets.

The Biodiversity Finance Initiative – BIOFIN – was developed to provide a comprehensive methodology for governments to: 1) review the existing policy context, 2) measure expenditure levels for biodiversity, 3) calculate future financial needs and 4) design strategic plans to deploy the right mix of finance solutions, tailored to the country context. The methodology has been conducted in 30 countries to date, with many now having reached the implementation stage.

BIOFIN’s first phase (2012-2018) enabled full assessments and initial implementation of finance plan elements in target countries. Based on lessons learned, a new and comprehensive version of the BIOFIN Methodology was developed. Significant scaling up of finance solutions is required in all countries to address the biodiversity finance challenge. BIOFIN’s second phase will mainly focus on the implementation of prioritised finance solutions while also allowing additional countries to undertake the initial assessments and create the finance plan. See www.biodiversityfinance.org for further information.

BIOFIN is part of UNDP’s Global Environmental Finance (UNDP-GEF), hosted by the Ecosystems and Biodiversity (EBD) cluster under UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS).

The BIOFIN team is based in Istanbul, at UNDP’s Regional Hub, which has over 100 staff.