OSCE Office in Yerevan: Aarhus Centre Co-ordinators in Ararat, Ijevan, Goris, Gyumri, Yeghegnadzor

ANNOUNCEMENT CODE:  VNARMC00234

TERM:  Full-time

START DATE/ TIME:  19 September 2016

DURATION:  3 months

JOB DESCRIPTION:  The Economic and Environmental Unit of the OSCE Office in Yerevan seeks Co-ordinators for the Aarhus Centres in Yeghegnadzor (2 posts) to continue the activities of the centres in accordance with the three pillars of the Aarhus Convention and in collaboration with the municipal bodies. The key outputs expected from this position are: a) the Aarhus Centres will enhance local capacity on environmental management issues; and b) the Municipality Annual Plan will be strengthened and implemented with strong participation of local civil society and non-governmental stakeholders. While the Aarhus Centre Co-ordinators will work under the direct supervision of OSCE Office in Yerevan they will work closely with the Municipality staff, the Ministry of Nature Protection, the Regional Administration and local civil society organizations. They will also collaborate with any Implementing Partners hired by the Office in Yerevan to facilitate the work of the Aarhus Centres.

The Economic and Environmental Unit of the OSCE Office in Yerevan therefore invites applications from highly qualified, energetic and experienced Armenian professionals for the temporary posts of an Aarhus Centre Co-ordinator.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:  The Aarhus Centre Co-ordinators will be required to:
- Advise the Municipality on the Aarhus Convention compliance issues in terms of access to information and public participation on environmental issues;
- Advocate for compliance with the Aarhus Convention in all aspects of environmental affairs in the Municipality;
- Review the Municipality Annual Plan of a city where an Aarhus Centre is located to identify the most critical local environmental issues;
- Propose improvement/ amendments to the Municipality Annual Plan and summarize the way in which the proposed activity is expected to resolve the issue, or solve or alleviate the problem, with the emphasis on sustainability;
- Describe the critical requirements for the proposed activity to be successful in the long-term, and identify the major risks and benefits involved;
- Summarise the basic problem being addressed by the proposed activity, i.e. environmental governance, air, water, soil pollution, flooding, drought, erosion, energy shortage, poor health, etc.;
- State clearly the objectives of the amendment and show clearly how the proposed amendment/s conforms with the overall development strategy and priorities of the city and the region;
- Characterise the issue or problem in its broader national context, building collaborative ownership of stakeholders on Environment Management – Municipality, Regional Administration, the RA Ministry of Nature Protection, the RA Ministry of Territorial Administration etc.;
- Provide comprehensive and detailed work plan that should ensure that the Municipality Annual Plan will be completed using a comprehensive public, and government consultation process that is open and transparent;
- Arrange meetings/ workshops, where requested to discuss the proposed amendment/s with large participation of stakeholders;
- Ensure that any Implementing Partner or expert hired by the OiY is given access to necessary documents and information to facilitate the work of the Aarhus Centres;
- Consult with the RA Ministry of Nature Protection and the RA Ministry of Territorial Administration on the finalization of the work plan;
- Post the final work plan on the www.aarhus.am website;
- Provide sufficient direction to ensure that the environmental impact assessment on a project concerning the region will provide an adequate level of detail to accurately assess the environmental effects, advantages and disadvantages of the undertaking;
- Advise the local stakeholders of the implementation of the rights granted by the RA Law on Environmental Impact Assessment;
- Provide access to materials – including, but not limited to legal documents, decrees, policies, international conventions and other documents – related to environmental affairs and specific importance for Armenia.

Deliverables:
- Three (3) progress reports; 1 each month starting October 2016;
- A final report by the end of December 2016.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- University degree in Law, Economic and Environmental related fields;
- At least 3 years of relevant professional experience in the field of environmental issues;
- Experience with legislative drafting is an asset;
- Good knowledge of relevant international and national environmental legislation;
- Working experience in the field of regional planning and environmental protection is an asset;
- Experience in the use of computer applications; advanced experience in using database or GIS is an asset;
- Fluency of Armenian and Russian languages; knowledge of English language is an asset.

REMUNERATION/ SALARY:  As full remuneration for services performed by the Expert under the terms stated in the Special Service Agreement, the OSCE shall pay the professional lump sum of 900 EUR (300 EUR per 1 (one) full-time month) for 3 (three) full-time months of service.

APPLICATION PROCEDURES:  All qualified applicants are strongly encouraged to apply online at:http://www.osce.org/employment. In case of technical difficulties with the online application, applicants may use the OSCE offline application form, which can be downloaded at http://www.osce.org/employment/45641 , and send it along with a Cover Letter to:[email protected] with the vacancy number (VNARMC00234) quoted in the subject. Please note that applications received after the deadline, submitted in different formats than the OSCE Application Form or in other languages than the English language will not be considered.
The OSCE retains the discretion to re-advertise the vacancy, to cancel the recruitment, or to offer an appointment with modified Terms of Reference or for a different duration. 
The OSCE is committed to achieving a better balance of women and men within the Organization. 
Please be aware that the OSCE does not request payment at any stage of the application and review process. 

OPENING DATE:  12 August 2016

APPLICATION DEADLINE:  01 September 2016

ABOUT:  Armenia is party to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention). The OSCE supports the realization of Armenia's commitments to the Aarhus Convention pursuant to guidance from participating States. 

The Aarhus Convention provides a unified legal framework safeguarding the right to live in a healthy environment. The Convention thus links good governance, sustainable development and human rights. To support the county to raise awareness on the Convention's provisions, the Office in partnership with the Government, founded a network of 15 (fifteen) Aarhus Centres. The Centres are operating based on the MoU and supported by the by the Office since 2002.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  The payment prescribed in this Clause shall be made as follows: on a monthly basis, in AMD at the applicable OSCE rate on the day of payment through bank transfer and upon receipt of the Consultancy Invoice and certification of the OSCE Programme Manager that the services have been satisfactorily performed.

Source: https://employment.osce.org/OA_HTML/OA.jsp?page=/oracle/apps/irc/candidateSelfService/webui/VisVacDispPG&akRegionApplicationId=821&transactionid=1287742585&retainAM=Y&addBreadCrumb=S&p_svid=150209&p_spid=5863748&oapc=8&oas=iiF3AKs1ZjzRT2YyXX_MAg