Kenya: Provision of Editing Services for a Report on Climate Security in the HoA

Apr 25, 2023 | United Nations Volunteers
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The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s Regional Service Centre for Africa (RSCA) was inaugurated in May 2013, it is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and serves 45 Country Offices in sub-Saharan Africa. The UNDP RSCA develops high quality knowledge and policy, and is the organisation’s main interface with regional and continental bodies such as the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities. Its experts support UNDP Country Offices and manage a host of regional programmes and projects in different countries across the continent. The Center also implements a continent-wide Regional Programme supporting Africa’s transformation agenda.

Context

There is a growing and intense debate amongst policy makers and academia whether human security risks related to climate change might become the hard security threats of tomorrow. It is increasingly clear that climate change is materializing across Africa, exacerbating existing conflict potential and dynamics in various hot spots across the continent; and within communities and states, as it intensifies competition over limited natural resources while degrading ecosystems and landscapes.

Climate change is having increasingly clear negative impacts on occupational opportunities, settlement, and transhumance patterns, including access to pasture and arable land. While climate change impacts do not necessarily cause violent conflict directly, there is increasing evidence that it intensifies existing conflict dynamics between and within communities and states. The UN Security Council has acknowledged the increasing impact of climate change on stability through resolutions on different country and regional mandates, including the Lake Chad Basin, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic and Sudan. The Horn of Africa is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change and climate variability. The region is impacted by slow and sudden on-set disasters including frequent droughts, flooding events, desert locust invasion, salination along the coast, all of which have negative impacts on livelihoods, food and water security, and ecosystems.

Dependency on rainfed agriculture and livestock, further suggests a considerable degree of sensitivity to climate variability and change. Recurrent cycles of droughts remain one of the most critical development issues especially in the arid and semi-arid zones covering Eritrea, Djibouti, Sudan, Somalia, Northern and Eastern Ethiopia, as well as the Karamoja triangle between Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Uganda. UNDP is the largest implementer of climate action and prevention/peacebuilding within the UN system. UNDP’s climate security offer under the Global Programme on Conflict Prevention, Peacebuilding and Responsive Institutions as well as the RBA Governance and Peacebuilding Framework aims to climate-proof prevention and peacebuilding, ensure climate action is peace positive and promote integrated solutions to climate change and sustaining peace.

In the Horn of Africa, UNDP is implementing projects on nature, climate and energy, including with significant vertical fund resources from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and Green Climate Funds (GCF). UNDP is also long-standing strategic partner of the AU Commission and IGAD and other RECs in Africa. In Africa, UNDP has been supporting the AU and RECs, including IGAD, in developing the narrative and guidance on early warning. In addition, technical capacity building support is underway to support the integration of climate security indicators within the AU Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS). UNDP supports the OSESG-HOA-led implementation of the UN Horn of Africa Prevention Strategy and has long-standing development programmes with all governments in the region. The Nairobi-based UNDP Africa Resilience Hub offers interconnected services grounded squarely in climate change action, disaster risk reduction, human mobility, crisis conflict prevention and peacebuilding, restoring core government functions, strengthening local governance, and preventing violent extremism.

Task description

UNV is seeking One Online Volunteer to support with professional editing of a 50-page report undertook by UNDP and the CSO Life and Peace Institute on Mapping of Climate Security Adaptations at Community Level in the Horn of Africa, a 50-page report. The selected Online Volunteer will be provided with the document in English and will receive guidance on the target audience and its communications guidelines as well as other guidance as needed. Kindly note that the aim is to finalize this assignment within 1 -2 days.