About Economic Commission for Africa

Economic Commission for Africais part of the United Nations system, working to promote international cooperation and address global challenges. As a UN entity, it contributes to the organization’s mission of maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, and promoting international cooperation in solving international problems and encouraging respect for human rights.

Job Summary

This technical leadership consultancy offers a unique opportunity to drive urban resilience initiatives across Latin America, focusing on climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction. As a Technical Leader in Urban Resilience with Economic Commission for Africa, you will spearhead innovative projects that help cities adapt to climate change, reduce vulnerability to natural disasters, and build sustainable urban systems. Your work will involve developing resilience frameworks, conducting vulnerability assessments, facilitating multi-stakeholder partnerships, and implementing cutting-edge solutions for climate-resilient urban development. This role is perfect for senior professionals with proven expertise in urban planning, climate adaptation, disaster risk management, or environmental engineering who want to make a significant impact on urban sustainability in the region.

Key Details

• Job Title:ECA/LATs/CFND Coordinator_DA-17_Accelerating Food Systems Transformation for Resilience to Climate Changepastoral Communities
• Grade:CON
• Location:Addis Ababa (Remote work possible)
• Department:Economic Commission for Africa
• Contract Type:Consultancy
• Salary Range:$50,000.0 – $120,000.0 USD annually

Qualifications

• Academic Qualifications: Proficiency in geospatial software (e.g., ArcGIS, QGIS, ENVI, or similar) and programming languages (Python, R) is required
• Academic Qualifications: Familiarity with African agricultural value chains, land tenure systems, and rural development challenges.
• Academic Qualifications: A strong commitment to ethical data collection and community engagement.

Skills

• Background Africa is off track to meet Sustainable Development Goal 2 on Zero Hunger by 2030 and the African 2063 goals related to food security.
• In 2023, over 298 million Africans, representing 40% of the global total, faced hunger, with COVID-19 pandemic exacerbating the situation.
• Despite holding 65% of arable land, Africas food systems are highly vulnerable to climatic shocks, disproportionately affecting pastoralists and other marginalized groups.
• There is, therefore, an urgent need to transform African food systems to make them more resilient and inclusive, reduce the impact of climate change, and ensure the inclusion of vulnerable populations, including pastoralists whose livelihoods depend on ecosystems that are extremely vulnerable to climatic shocks.
• The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is implementing a project on accelerating food system transformation for resilience to climate change in Africa.
• This project aims to strengthen the capacity of selected African countries to improve the resilience of food systems to climate change and variability, with focus on livestock agri-food systems.
• It will support countries to identify challenges and opportunities for policy reforms that facilitate harnessing of the livestock value chains; secure access to land and pasture, in environments where land and pasture is often managed under common property regimes, and where conflict over land, water and pasture is common; and enhance evidence-based decision to support land management, early warning and risk assessment for improved adaptation to climatic shocks.
• Working closely with our long-standing collaborators, including IGAD, AUC, RECs, UN entities, academia/research and non-state actors, the key interventions will include research, policy dialogues, sensitization, and capacity development of policymakers, legislators and technicians to develop supportive policies and regulatory frameworks aimed at enhancing the resilience of food systems, particularly livestock value chains The targeted countries for this project are Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda.
• This is partly because the agri-food systems in all countries have adopted minimal adaptation mechanisms to mitigate and address the effects of climate change.
• This is especially so for the livestock sector, which is dominated by pastoralists operating under extremely harsh climatic conditions.
• It is no wonder that all these countries are classified as developing lower-middle-income countries, LDCs, or LLDCs.
• Kenya, Somalia and Uganda face similar challenges yet are in different development stages of addressing the underlying challenges hindering agri-food systems transformation.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation package
• Professional development opportunities
• Comprehensive health and wellness benefits
• Inclusive and collaborative work environment

How to Apply