The Convention on Wetlands, also known as the “Ramsar Convention” from the name of the city in Iran where it was signed in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands and of wetland biodiversity and services. It was the first of the modern global multilateral environmental agreements and remains the only one devoted to a specific critical ecosystem.
The Ramsar Convention Secretariat has its headquarters in Gland, Switzerland, where the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) provides some administrative services to the Convention’s Contracting Parties for the operations and implementation of the Convention.
The Senior Regional Advisor for Africa provides the lead within the Ramsar Convention Secretariat for advising on and supporting the strategic development and effective implementation of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands for this region. The Senior Regional Advisor also serves as the coordinator of the Secretariat's global work in relation to specific thematic areas or relevant international policy processes.
The regional responsibility of the incumbent is to provide advice to and support Contracting Parties in the implementation of the Convention. As part of the Secretariat team he/she coordinates with senior staff responsible for leading on core functions of the Secretariat to engage with Contracting Parties in the region , including on support for governing and subsidiary bodies, policy, technical and scientific, issues, resource mobilization and outreach.
The responsibility regarding leadership for thematic areas of work of the Convention is to provide leading expert advice to support Contracting Parties in these areas at global level and across regions; and to serve as a focal point for relevant international policy processes within the Secretariat and coordinate its engagement strategies.
The Senior Regional Advisor must have a global and regional understanding of wetland-related issues and must develop, maintain and present a clear understanding of the Convention's operations and priorities, and of wetland-related issues and priorities..
This position requires competencies in biodiversity and ecosystem-based resource management, with a special focus on wetlands, and one or more of the following thematic areas as they relate to wetlands: ; climate change, including carbon-rich wetlands such as blue carbon ecosystems; agriculture; desertification; urban development. The position also requires management competencies including organizational and financial management, project preparation, resource mobilization and outreach, an...
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