Environmental and Social Safeguards Officer (ESSO)

Want to make a positive difference to the future of people and our one shared home, the Earth? Working with WWF could be your opportunity of a lifetime:

All around the world, people are waking up to the deepening crisis of nature loss. A growing realization that nature is our life-support system. And that nobody will be spared from the impacts of its loss. Here at WWF, we are helping to tackle this enormous global challenge.

Our people come from hugely diverse backgrounds and with a variety of expertise, ranging from HR and finance to advocacy and conservation science. We welcome applications from anyone who believes they can help us create a better future for people and wildlife.

What we do:

We are an independent conservation organization, striving to sustain the natural world for the benefit of people and wildlife. From individuals and communities to business and government, we are part of a growing coalition calling on world leaders to set nature on the path to recovery by 2030. Together, we seek to protect and restore natural habitats, stop the mass extinction of wildlife, and make the way we produce and consume sustainable.

For the Global Environment Facility (GEF) project in Cameroon, we are looking for a committed and engaged Environmental and Social Safeguards Officer (ESSO), for day-to-day coordination of certain project activities at the local level.

Reports to: Project Manager (PM)

Technical / Dotted Reporting Manager(s): WWF GEF Agency Safeguards Specialist
Supervises: N/A

Location: Yaounde

Duration: Two (02) years renewable based on performance

Mission of the Department:

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council approved the 6-year Congo Basin Sustainable Landscapes Impact Program (CBSL IP) which encompasses a regional component, managed by UNEP (United Nations Evironment Programme), and several national child projects in the countries of Congo Basin.

Cameroon child project is managed by WWF-US as the GEF Agency, executed by the Ministry of Environment Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development (MINEPDED) with WWF Cameroon as Financial Administrator. It addresses the drivers of forest loss and degradation through strategies aimed at strengthening the integrated management of Cameroon’s globally important forest landscapes in the Congo Basin, to secure its biological integrity and increase economic opportunities and livelihoods for forest dependent people.

Over the six-year project period, these strategies will be advanced through the implementation of five components:

• Mainstreaming integrated land use planning (LUP) and management;
• Improving management effectiveness and governance of high conservation value forests, and targeted interventions to protect their endangered species;
• Advancing sustainable forest management (SFM) through non-timber forest product (NTFP) and hardwood value chains;
• Increasing benefit generation from biodiversity through sustainable tourism development;
• Monitoring and evaluation (M&E), knowledge management (KM), and regional coordination.

The project targets key Cameroon trans-frontier forest landscape, which stretches from the Rio Campo seascape on the coast, across the Cameroon segments of the Tri-National Dja-Odzala-Minkebe (TRIDOM) and Sangha Tri-National (TNS) landscapes towards the east. The target areas for project interventions under each strategy are dependent on site-specific considerations, including the potential to achieve meaningful results in the six-year project period, baselines and available co-financing, and the ability to manage all environmental and social safeguard considerations. Several partners and sub-contractors will be involved or hired for the implementation of different project tasks. Their contribution will need to be coordinated and constantly monitored in relation to the environmental and social safeguards.

An Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF), as well as Stakeholder Engagement Plan (ESP)are associated to the project document. They will be implemented throughout the project life to avoid, attenuate or mitigate environmental and social safeguard risks, with technical support and constant follow up by a dynamic, talented and committed ESS Officer.

Major Functions:

The Environmental and Social Safeguards Officer (ESSO) will oversee daily implementation of the Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) including its Process Framework (PF) and Indigenous Planning Framework. He/she will be responsible for assuring environmental and social safeguards considerations are managed in line with the GoC, GEF and WWF requirements.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

He/she will be responsible, among others, for:

• Monitor the application of safeguards procedures in accordance with the project’s safeguards documents in the implementation of project activities;
• Advise on and support the implementation of mitigation plans and flag any issues or gaps with the sub-contracting partner to ensure that proposed mitigation measures are implemented according to an agreed upon ESS mitigation implementation plan;
• Support the adaptive development and implementation of the project’s Stakeholder Engagement Plan, for the project activities, in alignment with WWF GEF Agency’s guidelines for the Implementation of the Policy on Stakeholder Engagement;
• Ensure the regular re-screening of stakeholders in project sites and the updating of the project’s Stakeholder Engagement Plan as necessary;
• Support consultation of IP (Baka/Bagyéli) through the FPIC process according to the ESMP for the project and in compliance with the WWF GEF Agency Standard on Indigenous Peoples;
• Ensure an inclusive approach is used when engaging with project stakeholders, following the Stakeholder Engagement Plan, and working closely with the Gender and Social Inclusion Specialist, provide support for the implementation of project activities contributing to the sustainable development of local communities and indigenous peoples;
• Maintain the database where all risk screenings, mitigation plans, reports, and reviews are stored, and provides public disclosure of project safeguards actions;
• Assist the project manager in the development of AWP/B to ensure the inclusion of the requirements from the ESMP;
• Prepare biannual reports on the implementation of the project ESMP;
• Work closely with the project M&E specialist to ensure proper monitoring of the ESMP, using an adaptive management approach;
• Support and collaborate closely with the work of independent consultants who may be hired to elaborate specific mitigation plans needed to address additional risks identified during project implementation.

Profile:

Required Qualifications:

• A Master or diploma in an appropriate field: human rights / law / conservation / environment/ Social Sciences;
• A minimum of 5 years of experience in project/program environmental and social safeguards management and multi-stakeholder engagement in the fields of rural development and/or conservation for international development organizations;
• A track record of having worked directly with local communities in development, environment or education projects;
• Familiar with social dynamics, including as regards to indigenous peoples, in rural Cameroon is preferred;
• Experience in Central Africa is strongly desired.

Required Skills and Competencies:

• Knowledge of human rights, indigenous people’s rights, grievance mechanisms and social safeguards;
• Good understanding of legal and policy requirements related to human rights, resource access, land rights, forest rights and wildlife protection in Cameroon;
• Expertise in gender sensitive/responsive program development
• Knowledge of challenges evolving at the nexus of conservation and natural resource use
• Knowledge and proven experiences in rural development;
• Experience in the preparation and implementation of work plans;
• Strong facilitation and negotiation skills at all levels;
• Good knowledge of Ms Office suite;
• Excellent skills in oral and written communication in French and English.

Values & Behaviors:

• Aligns and identifies with the core values of the Government of Cameroon and the WWF organization: Courage, Integrity, Respect and Collaboration;
• Demonstrating behaviors: Strive for impact, listen deeply, collaborate openly and innovate fearlessly;
• Acts with highest integrity, accountability, and transparency.

Working Relationships:

Internal

Under the supervision of the Project Manager, the Project ESSO will work closely with the project Gender and Social Development Officer, and the WWF Cameroon Indigenous Peoples and Social Management Coordinator. He will collaborate with the Project Communication, M&E and Knowledge Management specialist, the Landscape Operational Assistants, the Finance Manager and the WWF CCPO senior staff working in different sites.

External

He/She will collaborate with focal points from technical departments at MINFOF, MINEPDED, MINEPAT, MINTOUL, MINAS, and other sub-contracting partners and consultants involved in the implementation of the projects.

This job description covers the main tasks and conveys the spirit of the sort of tasks that are anticipated proactively from staff. Other tasks may be assigned as necessary according to organizational needs.