By continuing to browse this site, you agree to our use of cookies. Read our privacy policy

National Consultant for HRBA, CSA for National Forest Monitoring (NC-HRBA)

Nay Pyi Taw

  • Organization: FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
  • Location: Nay Pyi Taw
  • Grade: All levels - NPP - National Project Personnel - Local Contractors Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Agriculture and Forestry
    • Monitoring and Evaluation
    • Children's rights (health and protection)
    • FAMYA
  • Closing Date: Closed

IMPORTANT NOTICE\: Please note that Closure Date and Time displayed above are based on date and time settings of your personal device

FAO seeks gender, geographical and linguistic diversity in order to best serve FAO Members in all regions.

Qualified female applicants are encouraged to apply.

People with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply.

All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality.


Organizational Setting

FAO in collaboration with the Government of Finland is aiming at supporting the government of Myanmar in the development and implementation of a two-phase project for a new national scale Forest Inventory System over the years 2020 - 2025. Phase 1 of the project covers activities of Readiness and Testing, and Phase 2 the full Implementation. A particular and innovative feature of this project is to develop a “globally relevant approach to National Forest Inventory (NFI) and National Forest Monitoring and Information Systems (NFMIS) explicitly within the framework of a Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) and conflict sensitivity”, and support the Government of Myanmar in its implementation in the national territory”. Thus, the project fills an important gap in (global) approaches to National Forest Inventory and Myanmar´s existing National Forest Monitoring System, with no national forest inventory having ever been fully conducted in the country. In addition, at present, no guidelines nor best practices are available in terms of how to implement inventories and other monitoring activities in areas with security and conflict issues or territories with mixed governance systems.

Myanmar is the country with the third highest deforestation rate in the world, after Brazil and Indonesia, and has significant potential for Climate Change mitigation through REDD as well as related multiple benefits. A functional NFI system is necessary not only for decision making in the national context but also an essential requirement for the fulfilment of conditions, which enable the country to participate in REDD including results-based payments. The latter is potentially a source of substantial development finance for the country after 2020 and communities where REDD actions are eventually implemented will directly or indirectly benefit from them.

The project will establish the capacity in Myanmar to develop updated reports on the state of the forests at national scale and the scale of states and regions as well as for several other sub-national user-defined reporting units. The results of the NFI are expected to contribute to evidence based strategy and policy planning in the forest sector and to reduce controversies among stakeholders and sectoral policy actors derived from different, sometimes opposing, views in forest policy discussions through updated data on the state and quality of forests.

Through the UN-REDD Programme a general design, sampling approach and initial elements of a data analysis and management system have already been established during 2017 - 2019. Testing of NFI field methodologies has been conducted in several land areas and forest types in central and North-western Myanmar as well as in Mangroves during 2019. The final NFI field methodology, data collection approaches and a draft estimation design have been developed too, in collaboration with the Myanmar Forest Department, FAO and the Finnish Natural Resources Institute, Luke, and is available as of end of 2019.

The project will be divided in two phases, namely\: (1) Phase I of Readiness and testing, and (2) Phase II of full implementation. Phase I will cover the development of a package of safeguard instruments aimed at guaranteeing that the project is implemented in the framework of a HRBA, and that conflict sensitivity and do-no-harm strategies are demonstrated throughout the project. These instruments will be established and institutionalized into country level actions through an open access based data sharing policy, development of a stakeholder engagement and communication plan that includes how to communicate grievances and approaches for their resolution, with linkage to the Myanmar REDD Safeguard Information System. During Phase I data collection and some initial reporting for areas not considered as conflict prone will also be developed. Phase II will involve the completion of data collection in the remaining areas. When data collection is complete for all areas, a full data analysis and national scale reports as well as results for other reporting units can be developed. Phase II will also develop full reports on the state of the forests and tree resources in Myanmar. During Phase II, the NFMIS will be completed with agreed data sharing protocols, web-based data and information retrieval tools for interactive and customized reporting, corresponding support services and the medium to long term institutional and operational arrangements supported for a permanent NFI and NFMIS in Myanmar including the corresponding capacity building for relevant Myanmar stakeholders.

For countries in conflict globally, there is a clear need to develop instruments to guarantee that a Human Rights Based Approach is followed in all elements of National Forest Monitoring (NFM). The global instruments developed in this project will have immediate application in Myanmar as a first country implementation, and can be applied across FAO’s NFM and NFI country support (active in over 50 countries) in conflict situations. The global activities such as the South-South collaboration and the development of global guidelines for conflict sensitivity and human rights based approaches in forest monitoring will be co-financed by FAO, to enable the scaling up of best practices to the global level for impact beyond Myanmar.

Reporting Lines

The NC-HRBA works under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Myanmar, the general supervision of the Assistant FAO Representative (Programme), and the direct supervision of the International HRBA-advisor of the NFI-NFMIS-HRBA project in coordination with the Chief Technical Advisor, National Project Coordinator and the National Project Director of the project.

Tasks and responsibilities\:
  • The consultant will form part of the project management unit (PMU) and will provide support to the development of all working areas in the project in order to ensure sensitivity to conflict, human rights and gender. In particular, the consultant will be responsible for obtaining broad stakeholder consultation and buy-in. The specific tasks will be\:
  • Organize broad stakeholder analysis and engagement during project implementation, particularly for activities under 2.1 of the project (development of safeguard instruments specific to the Myanmar context)
  • Organize capacity building in relation to human rights and equality
  • Support the implementation of the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) process
  • Assist and advise NFI working group on adaption of data collection approaches
  • Assist and advise on data sharing policy for transparency
  • Advise and assist with communication strategy to ensure widest audience
  • Support to external evaluation of the project at the end of Phase I by providing evidence for measurement of results.
  • Advise and collaborate on development of institutional arrangements
  • Support drafting of the final “Conflict Sensitivity”/”HRB approach to NFI” document and its dissemination as a globally relevant knowledge product
  • Support the training of field crews on participation, field security and conflict sensitive approach
  • Support and promote the recruitment and involvement of women and other marginalized groups in the decision-making, planning, data analysis and management and training aspects of the project.
CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING
Minimum Requirements
  • University-level degree in Political Sciences, Sociology, Gender Studies, Conflict Resolution or a related field.
  • At least 3 years of work experience in Myanmar in humanitarian or community development, conflict management or indigenous and ethnic peoples’ rights
  • Fluency in both English and Myanmar language, written and spoken
  • Myanmar Nationality
FAO Core Competencies
  • Strong inter-personal
  • Teamwork
  • Communication
  • Building Effective Relationships
  • Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional skills\:

  • Ability to share knowledge and experience
  • Active towards continuous personal learning
  • Strong analytical skills to master new subjects
  • Ability to manage priorities and meet deadlines
  • Ability to work towards results based management and reporting
  • Capacity for leadership and management
  • Commitment to FAO´s mission and values
  • Experience working in/with government, international organizations, NGOs and subnational/civil-society organizations in Myanmar
  • Experience in working with government agencies, UN-agencies or International NGOs
  • Proficiency in languages of major ethnic groups of Myanmar (e.g. Karen, Kachin, Chin, Shan) is an advantage
  • Experience and knowledge of the REDD process in Myanmar is an advantage
  • Basic knowledge of concepts of (National) Forest Monitoring is an advantage
  • Strong networks within Myanmar non-government organisations and Myanmar government agencies
  • Proficiency (user level) of computer applications (Word, Excel, PPT, etc.)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

  • FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing)
  • Incomplete applications will not be considered. If you need help please contact\: Careers@fao.org
  • Applications received after the closing date will not be accepted
  • Only language proficiency certificates from UN accredited external providers and/or FAO language official examinations (LPE, ILE, LRT) will be accepted as proof of the level of knowledge of languages indicated in the online applications
  • For additional employment opportunities visit the FAO employment website\: http\://www.fao.org/employment/home/en/

FAO seeks gender, geographical and linguistic diversity in its staff and international consultants in order to best serve FAO Members in all regions.
This vacancy is now closed.