Sr Environmental Specialist (International Waters)

*** This is a 2-year coterminous Term appointment. Please note that an Open-Ended staff member, if selected, may retain his/her Open-Ended status so long as there is a re-entry guarantee from the releasing department. Otherwise, the appointment will be changed to coterminous upon transfer. Based on performance, at the end of the first term the coterminous appointment may be renewed for a 4-year period.

For your information, an appointment is coterminous if it is 100 percent funded from sources other than the Bank Group's administrative budget. After one year, the Bank Group may terminate a coterminous appointment if the funding source terminates or reduces the funding for the position. Coterminous service does not count toward the maximum length of a Term appointment.

The Global Environment Facility (GEF), a multilateral financial mechanism established in 1991. It provides grants to developing countries for projects and programs that protect the global environment. GEF grants support projects related to six focal areas: biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, and persistent organic pollutants.

Since its inception, the GEF has committed close to $7 billion in grants in more than 160 developing countries and transitional economies. Resources for the GEF Trust Fund, which finances the GEF’s programs and projects, are replenished every four years. Available funding for GEF activities in the period 2010-2014 is $4.25 billion (fifth replenishment period).

The GEF is open to universal membership, and currently 178 countries are members. It is governed by a Council comprising 32 Members appointed by constituencies of GEF member countries. An Assembly of all member countries meets every four years at the ministerial level.

Ten agencies are principally accountable for the execution of GEF projects: the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP), U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Bank (IBRD/IFC), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the U.N. Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

The Natural Resources team is responsible for GEF’s strategic and technical work in the areas of biodiversity, international waters and sustainable land management, in addition to those promoting sustainable forest management and preventing deforestation.
The present position in the Natural Resources (NR) Team of the GEF Secretariat will support the implementation of GEF’s objectives in the area of International Waters (IW), particularly by helping countries to work together in overcoming tensions related to natural resources use in large water systems. The International Waters focal area seeks to deliver positive results in the adequate management of transboundary surface water basins, groundwater basins, coastal and marine systems, and marine areas beyond national jurisdiction, and to enable countries to share their benefits.

The ultimate goal of the International Waters focal area is the promotion of collective management of transboundary water systems and subsequent implementation of the full range of policy, legal and institutional reforms and investments contributing to sustainable use and maintenance of ecosystem services.

• Review project and program proposals on International Waters submitted for Work Program Inclusion, as well as those returning for CEO endorsement, making sure that they are consistent with the GEF’s operational principles and requirements, and make recommendations to the Team Leader and CEO on the next steps.

• Support the development of the International Waters focal area strategy for submission to the next replenishment period of the GEF Trust Fund;

• As a member of the Natural Resources Team, support the implementation of GEF policies, strategies, and guidelines on International Waters; b) Participate in the management of the IW portfolio at the GEF Secretariat; and c) become part one of the regional NR team clusters responsible for managing and tracking projects across all NR focal areas.

• Support the relations between the GEF and existing joint legal and institutional frameworks on transboundary water bodies, or help with the establishment of new ones.

• Contribute strategic and operational advice to the GEF agencies on the development and design of eligible projects and programs on International Waters.

• Undertake analytical work on International Water issues, including issues of regional and global scales.

• Provide upstream guidance and advice to the GEF agencies on the development and design of project concepts and help to synthesize best practices for dissemination.

Sr Environmental Specialist (International Waters)