International Mercury inventories specialist at United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Duties and Responsibilities
UN 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 UNEP’s 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.

The Minamata Convention on Mercury was adopted in January 2013 and will come into force once the required number of countries ratifies the Convention. The GEF project “Development of Minamata Convention on Mercury Initial Assessment in Africa (MIA)” is aimed at facilitating the ratification and early implementation of the Minamata Convention by providing key national stakeholders in participating countries with the scientific and technical knowledge and tools needed for that purpose. Participating countries will benefit from new and updated information about the mercury situation in the country and from increased capacity in managing the risks of mercury. The sharing of experiences and lessons learned throughout the project is also expected to be an important contribution to other similar countries.
UNEP’s Africa Office is the Executing Agency of the MIA regional project for Angola, Malawi, and Zimbabwe (MIA II).

An international consultant will be hired to carry out the activities under the project component 3 “Development of a mercury inventory using the UNEP mercury tool kit and strategies to identify and assess mercury contaminated sites” related to execution of the project in Angola

The requirements of the Job Opening will be carried out online thus home-based. The Consultant will provide operational support and will play a critical role in the implementation of UN Environment Programme related activities.

The Consultant shall work under the direct supervision of the Acting Regional Sub-programme Coordinator for Chemicals, Waste and Air Quality of UNEP Africa Office (UNEP ODED ROA).
Specific tasks and responsibilities of the consultant include the following:

• Conduct an inventory of mercury in Angola utilizing the most current Level II version of the UNEP Toolkit for Identification and Quantification of Mercury Releases, which is a comprehensive description of all mercury sources, as well as a quantitative analysis of mercury;
• Prepare a the Minamata Initial Assessment (MIA) for Angola following the most recent guidance;
• Coordinate all activities with the Ministry of Environment and the UNEP Regional Office for Africa;
• Provide an advanced draft of the inventory and MIA to the Global Mercury Partnership for final checks;
• Integrate the comments received from the Global Mercury Partnership;
• Draft, review, finalize and submit to UNEP the of MIA Report and inventory for Angola;

Qualifications/special skills

• Academic Qualifications: A Master’s degree in environmental protection or another field is required. A degree in Health and Environment Science will be an asset
• Experience: A minimum of 5 year of experience in the field of environment and health and/or other relevant disciplines, preferably in governmental institutions, NGOs or the United Nations, is required. Specific experience in mercury or other pollutant inventories is also required. Knowledge of the UNEP Mercury Inventory Toolkit is desirable. The candidate should have excellent analytical skills and attention to detail.
• Language: English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this post, fluency in written and oral English is required. Working knowledge of Portuguese is desirable

Closing Date 30 March 2022