CAR: Project Coordinator for Indigenous Peoples Support Project

Jan 10, 2021 | World Wide Fund for Nature
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In the Central African Republic, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is active in the complex of protected areas of Dzanga-Sangha (DSPA). The DPSA consisting of Dzanga-Ndoki National Park and surrounding buffer zones (including community hunting areas) includes an area of ​​tropical forest of 4,450 km2 around the Sangha River in the southwest corner of CAR. Together with the national parks and bordering buffer zones of Lobéké in Cameroon and Nouabale Ndoki in the Republic of Congo, it forms the TriNational Sangha Complex (TNS) - a landscape that was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012.

WWF and its partners have supported the Central African Ministry of Water, Forests, Hunting and Fishing (MEFCP) in the management of the DPSA for over 30 years. The main mission of the co-management partners is to protect the valuable biodiversity of the DPSA while promoting the sustainable use of its natural resources and improving the livelihoods of indigenous and local communities. This includes protected area management and monitoring programs (eg, participatory community management, anti-poaching programs) and the promotion of sustainable forestry, research and ecotourism. Using an inclusive conversation approach, WWF strives to

The “ Indigenous Peoples Support Project (PAPA) ” project, for which the coordinator will be responsible, will generally ensure that the natural resources development scheme put in place in the DSPA allows the sustainable improvement of the living environment of local communities, in particular the most vulnerable indigenous communities, and this in full accordance with their socio-cultural preferences.

In more detail, the project (funded by the European Union), will ensure that the DSPA management system promotes human rights and socio-political empowerment of indigenous communities, in order to effectively fight against discrimination from which they suffer. The project will also ensure that the involvement of indigenous peoples and local communities in the sustainable management of the DSPA's natural resources improves their living conditions.

Project activities will be implemented by WWFCAR and DPSA. Depending on the activity, additional stakeholders ranging from local to international level and intellectual property associations to policy makers, private sector and youth groups will be involved.

The coordinator will ensure the overall coordination of activities under this project and also ensure that CSOs or external service providers implement the activities according to the work plan. He / she will also oversee the project budget, monitor project progress and be globally responsible for the achievement of project objectives. The coordinator will cooperate closely with the WWF-Germany program backstopper, who is responsible for all communications with the EU donor.

The project coordinator:

  • Support the implementation of EU PAPA project activities;
  • Ensure compliance and produce technical deliverables for the donor contract;
  • Ensure respect for and contribute to the WWF Environmental and Social Safeguards Framework (ESSF);
  • Maintain a good partnership with the WWF network (in particular WWF-Germany);
  • Build an effective project team.

Main tasks and responsibilities:

Coordination of the overall project

  • Coordinate, direct and implement all project activities;
  • Coordinate and liaise with local and national partner organizations and ensure timely delivery and results of the project;
  • Coordinate the realization of a socio-economic study by the project partners and external service providers and ensure the establishment of long-term socio-economic monitoring;
  • Coordinate and facilitate exchanges between stakeholders to develop new mechanisms for community management and monitoring of natural resources (such as the community hunting zone or anti-poaching strategies) and ensure the active participation of local and indigenous communities concerned;
  • Commission studies and contract appropriate consultants.
  • Coordinate and ensure the functioning of the complaints mechanism in collaboration with the CSO in charge of the implementation; ensure its implementation in accordance with WWF social guarantees, keep WWF hierarchies informed and ensure the escalation of relevant HR issues to higher levels;
  • Liaise and communicate regularly with the back stopper of WWF-Germany;
  • Organize, commission and manage the internal mid-term evaluation as well as the final external evaluation;
  • Represent the project at local and national events;
  • Consolidate the technical and financial reports of the implementing partners before submitting them to the WWF RCA hierarchy and to the WWF-Germany back stopper;
  • Support the preparation of annual financial audits of the project;
  • CSO Implementation Guide on WWF Environmental and Social Safeguards;
  • Ensure that the program is implemented in a consultative, participatory, transparent, gender sensitive and rights-based community / indigenous way, with an emphasis on WWF standards;
  • Develop synergies between partners inside and outside the WWF network to strengthen experience sharing and lobby / advocacy capacities at local and national levels;
  • Manage WWF CAR project staff in accordance with WWF policies, ensuring they are received and supported.

Quality management

  • Monitor and evaluate project work to maintain and / or improve quality; integrate learning into the project and ensure that the desired impact is achieved;
  • Ensure that technical and financial reports to the EU are of high quality and submitted in a timely manner;
  • Ensure compliance with donor procedures (procurement, subcontracting, calls for tenders, etc.) in coordination with the administrative unit of WWF RCA and the back stopper WWF-Germany;
  • Maintain close communication with all CSOs implementing activities on the ground.

Ensure strategic communication (internal and external)

  • Ensure that the WWF network is aware of the progress of activities and of any adaptive management, outside the technical reporting cycles;
  • Maintain WWF network staff involved in the program;
  • Help CSOs highlight achievements related to this program through media at local, national and international levels;
  • Develop communication material and ensure visibility of project activities, in particular the grievance mechanism, at local, national and international levels, in coordination with DSPA staff and WWF-Germany back stopper.

Profile:

Qualifications required:

  • At least a Master or equivalent in an appropriate field: human rights / law / rural development / conservation / environment;
  • A minimum of 5 years of experience in project management and multi-stakeholder management in the fields of rural development and / or conservation for international development organizations;
  • Experience in Central Africa is highly desirable;
  • Experience with international donors, in particular the European Union, is desirable;
  • Proven experience in managing multidisciplinary teams in the context of developing countries.

Skills and competences required:

  • Knowledge of human rights, indigenous peoples' rights, grievance mechanisms and social guarantees;
  • Knowledge of the evolving challenges of the link between conservation and use of natural resources;
  • Knowledge of rural development;
  • Experience in the preparation and implementation of work plans;
  • Experience in project coordination;
  • Excellent oral and written communication skills in French and English;
  • Ability to work under difficult conditions in the context of complex issues and coordination of various partners;
  • Experience working with international agencies, in particular the European Union;
  • Share WWF values: courage, respect, integrity and collaboration.

Labor relations

Internal - He / She will coordinate the implementation of the different activities of this project. He / She will work in close collaboration with the Country Coordinator of the CAR and will be supervised by the Director of the DSPA and the back stopper of WWF-Germany. He / She will liaise with other members of the technical, administrative and logistical staff of WWF in the Central African Republic and the wider WWF network as well as with the CSOs implementing activities under this project.

External - Maintain a working relationship with key partners, such as national agencies involved in the management of the APSD, as well as with other stakeholders, such as external service providers implementing activities within the framework of this project.

How to apply

  • Interested candidates who meet the above conditions are invited to send a motivation letter and a
  • detailed CV to recruitment@wwfcar.org
  • The subject should read: Coordinator of the EU “PAPA” project.
  • Please note that only seriously considered candidates will be contacted for follow-up. If you
  • have not been contacted six (6) weeks after closing, consider your request as rejected.

Deadline for submitting applications: January 26, 2021.