The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. Its mandate is to coordinate the development of environmental policy consensus by keeping the global environment under review and bringing emerging issues to the attention of governments and the international community for action.
UNEP’s Ecosystems Division engages with governments and other partners to develop and promote ecosystem-base solutions for sustainable development. This assignment is in the Nature and Health Unit (NAHU) of the Biodiversity and Land Branch, Ecosystems Division.
NAHU aims to strengthen the integration of environmental considerations in One Health approaches via two main vehicles: UNEP’s role as member of the Quadripartite Collaboration on One Health, and through UNEP’s role as Secretariat of the Nature4Health initiative. These initiatives encompass global, regional, and national interventions, with the aim of stimulating systemic One Health approaches that fully incorporate environmental dimensions.
Through these initiatives, NAHU contributes to the work of the Ecosystem Division by fostering cross-sectoral collaboration, enhancing UNEP’s capacity to reduce health risks emerging from ecosystem degradation. NAHU, together with the Nature Frameworks Support Unit of the Biodiversity and Land Branch, aims to support eligible countries in revising and updating their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPS) to enable effective implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at the national level. The purpose of this programme is to strengthen the capacity of countries to integrate biodiversity-health interlinkages into their NBSAPs in line with the Global Action Plan on Biodiversity.
This position is located in the Nature and Health Unit, Biodiversity and Land Branch of the Ecosystems Division. The assignment is intended to support the Nature and Health Unit. Duties and Responsibilities Under the supervision of the Head of the Nature and Health Unit, and in close coordination with the Nature Frameworks Support unit, the consultant will undertake the following assignments:
1. Conduct a review and analysis of the inclusion of Biodiversity and Health into submitted targets and NBSAPs to identify what elements of the GAP are being adopted by countries, to encourage future uptake of biodiversity and health considerations into national biodiversity planning, and to share experiences and lessons learned.
2. Support UNEP’s efforts, in collaboration with the CBD Secretariat, the Quadripartite and other partners, to contribute to the development and peer review of integrated science-based indicators, metrics and methodologies for assessing biodiversity and health considerations in national biodiversity planning and policy frameworks.
3. Strengthen national, regional, and global capacity to promote the uptake of the Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health and facilitate expert participation in workshops to foster knowledge on the interconnectedness of biodiversity loss and poor health, material development, and the dissemination of good practices and sharing of experiences on biodiversity and health.