Background

Ethiopia has underscored the significant role of forests in sustainable development through a range of policies and strategies. Initiatives such as the CRGE strategy, National Forest Sector Development Program (NFSDP), REDD+ Strategy, Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), and Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy (LT-LEDS) exemplify the country's commitment to leveraging the forest sector for economic growth while addressing environmental and climate challenges at national and global levels. Central to these efforts is the focus on combating deforestation and forest degradation of carbon and biodiversity rich forests, increasing forest cover through afforestation and reforestation, and restoring degraded areas mainly through Assisted Natural Regeneration techniques. The overarching goal is to enhance the forest sector's positive impact on community well-being, economic growth, and ecosystem functionality.

In July 2017, an agreement was inked between the Ethiopian Government and the Royal Norwegian Government to directly contribute to the above-mentioned policies, programs and strategies. This agreement is committed to a forest management program with a budget of 600 million NOK (approx. 75,000,000 USD). The programme overseen by the Ethiopian Forestry Development (EFD) along with the Ministry of Finance (MoF), enables regions in Ethiopia to tailor and implement forest conservation and management activities specific to their needs.

The RIP stands on three fundamental pillars/components:

A.         Community-based afforestation, reforestation, and restoration (AR/ANR).

B.         Halting deforestation and forest degradation (DD), specifically in the southwest forest region.

C.         The establishment and operation of the Forest Sector Transformation Unit (FSTU).

RIP has been successfully implemented from 2010 to 2015 EFY in 8 regions and more than 122 Woredas located across eight regional states in Ethiopia: Amhara, Central Ethiopia, Gambella, Oromia, Sidama, South Ethiopia, South West Peoples’ and Tigray. The primary objectives of the RIP were to develop 69,900 hectares of land through Afforestation/Reforestation (A/R), restore 861,500 hectares of degraded land through Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR), put 660,000 hectares of natural forest under a sustainable participatory forest management scheme and introduce alternative livelihood options and benefit 60,000 households.

Significant progress has been made in achieving these targets. Approximately 57,774.4 hectares of new community forest plantations have been established through afforestation/reforestation, which accounts for 83% of the overall target. Furthermore, 891,680 hectares of degraded areas have been successfully restored through Assisted Natural Regeneration, surpassing the planned target by 103%. More than 820,000 hectares of carbon and biodiversity-rich forests are put under a sustainable participatory forest management scheme. The program also benefited 56,914 households through the introduction of environmentally friendly alternative livelihood options.

As a result of significant achievements and the imperative to sustain these activities, the subsequent phase of the program, known as RIP II, was initiated. RIP II commenced in October 2016 EFY and is scheduled for a four-year implementation period. The program will maintain its focus on the same implementation regions and woredas. A noteworthy distinction of RIP II from its predecessor, RIP I, is the independent inclusion of a Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) component. This addition is set to establish a result-based payment system, marking a significant development for Ethiopia.

Evaluations of Ethiopia's current National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS) and the associated Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) capacities reveal substantial advancements in the development of these systems. This progress is particularly notable at the national level, where significant achievements have been made in enhancing the capacity for conducting National Forest Inventories (NFI), executing mapping activities, detecting changes in forest areas, and constructing Forest Reference Emission Levels (FRELs).

Nonetheless, despite these advancements, there remains a critical need to further strengthen the MRV capacity at all levels. This includes strengthening the technical skills required for effective MRV at all operational levels to ensure more accurate and reliable data collection, analysis, and reporting. Enhancing these skills is essential for improving the quality and transparency of forest data and for meeting international standards and donor expectations for REDD+ results-based payments.

Scope of Work

Therefore, the Ethiopian Forestry Development's RIP II program is actively seeking to recruit a highly skilled National Forest MRV Analyst (NFMRVA) who help to realize the targets set in the programme and focus on the National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS) and forest related MRV. The NFMRVA should have a comprehensive understanding of Ethiopia's forestry sector, coupled with substantial experience in NFMS and MRV activities, such as generating emission factors and activity data for afforestation/reforestation, deforestation, and forest degradation, as well as estimating anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks (related to greenhouse gas inventory for forests). Moreover, there is a strong need to strengthen georeferenced information system by establishing National Geodatabase/Atlas of physical activities of EFD to ease future verification.

The appointed Analyst will be entrusted with a range of responsibilities aimed at advancing the activities associated with result-based payment and MRV outcome contained in the programme document. The NFMRVA will also be responsible for developing geospatial standards to gather, analyze, and integrate both primary and secondary spatial and non-spatial data from the RIP programme and other projects of the EFD. These data will be collected through field observations, censuses, satellite imagery, aerial photographs, and existing maps. The NFMRVA will then determine the most effective ways to utilize this information in the decision-making processes related to the conservation, development, and utilization of forest resources.

Furthermore, as part of the knowledge management system of EFD, the NFMRVA will take the lead in managing the spatial data infrastructure on a day-to-day basis, under the supervision of the Forest Sector Transformation Unit (FSTU).

Duties and Responsibilities

1) Provide GIS & Remote Sensing Services

• Provide GIS services to respective components and lead capacity building using freely available satellite imagery and software;
• Organize and supervise RIP regional staff to compile a spatial database of project intervention sites using Remote Sensing and GIS;
• Produce maps of project woredas and kebeles to show project interventions;
• Provide mapping support to check the accuracy of project interventions;
• Establish a spatial monitoring system compatible with existing systems and enable online data submission/communication;
• Provide support to national RS experts in running IPCC-compliant forest-related LULC change detection analysis;
• Undertake QA & QC of forest and LULC change detection produced by national GIS & RS experts.

2) Ensure effective Data Management & Infrastructure

• Compile, document, and organize a database and library of spatial and non-spatial data for all project areas;
• Advise on compatibility of datasets and acquisition of additional data;
• Prepare metadata and documentation for each dataset stored in the database;
• Manage regional database infrastructure and synchronize with national demands.

3) Ensure Technical Guidance & Methodology Development 

• Develop SOPs for IPCC-compliant wall-to-wall mapping for activity data afforestation/reforestation, deforestation, forest degradation);
• Develop SOPs to produce emission factors for Ethiopia’s biomes;
• Provide technical guidance to MRV staff for generating emission factors and activity data;
• Assist in estimating anthropogenic emissions and removals for forest-related GHG inventory;
• Determine forest degradation mapping methodology using time series algorithms/software (e.g., CCDC, CODED);
• Assist in developing national allometric equations for biomass estimation;
• Assist in developing national growth models (MAI) for removal factors.

4) Facilitate Knowledge Management, Training & Capacity Building

• Undertake capacity needs assessment in mapping and GPS data collection for regional and woreda stakeholders;
• Develop guidelines and standard templates for field data collection using GPS, GIS, and Google Maps;
• Train national/sub-national teams in time-series analysis to detect gains from A/R and ANR interventions;
• Develop training materials on mapping forest cover and change using SEPAL and CEO;
• Deliver training on open-source tools (SEPAL, CEO, OpenForis) to build geospatial capacity in MRV units;
• Develop national and sub-national trainings/workshops on activity data creation and Planet NICFI data access.

5) Report & Coordinate project activities

• Prepare periodic progress and final reports;
• Liaise with government counterparts, academic/research partners, donors, and stakeholders;
• Provide regular updates to the FSTU director and RIP Component Coordinators.

The incumbent performs other duties as required by the EFD Director General and Deputy Director Generals.

Institutional Arrangement 

With the overall supervision of the EFD General Director, Analyst will report to FSTU Project Team and collaborate with the CRES Team Leader in the CO and Regional Office. The Analyst is expected to closely collaborate with the programme, operations, and project teams to ensure the successful implementation of the project. 

• Achieve Results: LEVEL 2: Scale up solutions and simplifies processes, balances speed and accuracy in doing work.
• Think Innovatively: LEVEL 2: Offer new ideas/open to new approaches, demonstrate systemic/integrated thinking.
• Learn Continuously: LEVEL 2: Go outside comfort zone, learn from others and support their learning.
• Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 2: Adapt processes/approaches to new situations, involve others in change process.
• Act with Determination: LEVEL 2: Able to persevere and deal with multiple sources of pressure simultaneously.
• Engage and Partner: LEVEL 2: Is facilitator/integrator, bring people together, build and/or /maintain coalitions/partnership.
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 2: Facilitate conversations to bridge differences, considers in decision making.

Functional/Technical competencies

Business Direction & Strategy: Portfolio Management

• Ability to select, prioritize and control the organization's programmes and projects in line with its strategic objectives and capacity Ability to balance the implementation of change initiatives with regular activities for optimal return on investment. 
• Knowledge and understanding of key principles of project, programme, and portfolio management. 

Business Direction & Strategy

• System Thinking: Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system. 

Business Development: Knowledge Facilitation

• Ability to animate individuals and groups, internally and externally, and to design and facilitate activities, to share and exchange knowledge, information and ideas.
• Knowledge of tools and approaches to stimulate active participation, contribution, and exchange. 

Business Management

• Project Management: Ability to plan, organize, prioritize, and control resources, procedures, and protocols to achieve specific goals. 

Business Management: Communication

Partnership management

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Forest Resources Assessment and Monitoring, Forest Biometrics and Modelling, or MRV related fields of study is required.
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the areas mentioned above, in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience, will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree. 

Experience:

• Minimum 2 years (with master’s degree) or 4 years (with bachelor’s degree) of progressively responsible relevant Forest Resources Assessment and Monitoring is required. 

Required  skills:

• Experience in the use of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and advance project management software as well as in handling of web-based management systems;
• Experience in applying and familiarity with a broad range of state-of-the-art forest monitoring tools such as SEPAL, CEO, GEE;
• Experience in delivery training in forest related MRV (activity data and emission factors). 

Desired additional skills:

• Experience in developing models in forest monitoring;
• Experience in MRV related multidisciplinary teams (Technical Working Groups);
• Experience participating in National Forest Inventory (NFI);
• Experience participating in the national scale forest cover and change mapping products;
• Experience with data analysis tools such as R-Statistical software, MS Excel, etc;
• Experience with the forestry sector governance at national and sub national level;
• Knowledge of REDD+ and climate change. 

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and Amharic is required.

Equal opportunity

As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination. 

UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.

Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority

UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles. 

Right to select multiple candidates

UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

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