Social Forestry and Climate Change Specialist – SB4

Organizational Setting

The UN-REDD Programme is the United Nations collaborative initiative on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD ) in developing countries. The Programme was launched in 2008 and builds on the convening role and technical expertise of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The UN-REDD Programme assists developing countries to prepare to implement REDD , including the development of National REDD Strategies, following guidance issued by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
As part of the Technical Assistance component of the UN-REDD Programme, and with specific support from the Swiss Government, a new initiative was launched for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, titled Climate change mitigation through social forestry actions in ASEAN countries. The technical assistance (TA) provided by FAO (lead agency) and UNEP aims for the generation of evidence and scaled up social forestry contribution to climate mitigation in/for a number of countries in the ASEAN region, building on ongoing programmes and lessons learnt from previous work. It will be implemented at the regional level with targeted interventions in three ASEAN countries, namely Cambodia, Indonesia and Lao PDR. The work will be closely coordinated with the ASEAN Working Group (AWG) on Social Forestry (AWG SF) and AWG Forest and Climate Change (AWG FCC) member states

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative (FAOR) for Cambodia, under the technical supervision of the responsible Forestry Officer, and project Lead Technical Officer at the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP), with guidance from Government of Cambodia focal points, and in coordination with the REDD regional advisors for UNEP in Asia-Pacific, the National Social Forestry and Climate Change expert will be responsible for the overall management and implementation of activities under the UN-REDD initiative Climate change mitigation through social forestry actions in ASEAN countries in Cambodia.

Technical Focus

The incumbent will plan and implement the project activities with a technical focus on delivering improved climate change outcomes from social forestry activities in Cambodia.

Tasks and responsibilities

The Social Forestry and Climate Change Specialist is responsible to support the implementation of activities in Cambodia under the UN-REDD Technical Assistance on Climate change mitigation through social forestry actions in ASEAN countries, as part of the UN-REDD Global Technical Assistance (TA) programme (UNJP/GLO/795/UNJ Baby 7) to the ASEAN Secretariat, including:
• Serve as a focal point for liaising with government and partners, in close collaboration with the UN-REDD Regional Asia-Pacific team;
• Draft inception work plan, combined annual and semi-annual work plans, reports against work plans in approved inter-agency format, and provide budget updates,
• Conduct a country-level comparative assessment of mitigation contribution of different social forestry models, including potential of community forestry, private social forest initiatives, and different forest management practices and tenure regimes;
• Facilitate participatory discussions to decide on methods and the integration of social forestry monitoring in National Forest Monitoring Systems (NFMS);
• Build system and human capacities of national government institutes to enable social forestry monitoring within the NFMS;
• Assist in identifying and including specific social forestry interventions as mitigation and adaptation actions in the implementation of NDCs and their future revision;
• Support identification of actors (social forestry programmes, incubators/accelerators, etc) at the country level and facilitate in-country activities pertaining to promoting and accelerating responsible private investments in social forestry;
• Organize, manage and report on national-level workshops and technical events planned under the initiative;
• Coordinate establishment of data-sharing agreements and in-country compilation of data and information as required under the work plan of the initiative;
• Undertake any other relevant tasks assigned by FAO and UNEP in the context of the UN-REDD Programme technical assistance.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

The incumbent will have the following minimum qualifications and experience:
• University degree in forestry, environment, natural resources management;
• More than five years of professional experience relating to forestry with experience in field forest practices;
• Working knowledge of English and Khmer;
• National of Cambodia.

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

The incumbent will have the following technical/functional skills:
• Experience in planning for and running workshops and meetings including with ASEAN Secretariat, government agency staff, planning agendas, drafting and sending invitations using MS Word and email;
• Experience in working with international organizations is an advantage;
• Good writing, presentation and communication skills;
• Self-motivated and able to work with minimal supervision;
• Experience in managing project activities with a government department being an advantage.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION