In close coordination with UN-Habitat’s project manager, the consultant plays a supporting role in the implementation of this urban pathways project, in particular regarding work packages 1 – 4 of existing road safety policies in African countries.
Home-Based
3 months
UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable and resilient towns and cities. It is the focal point agency for all urbanization and human settlement matters within the UN system. UN-Habitat envisions well-planned, well-governed and efficient cities and towns, with adequate housing, infrastructure and universal access to employment and basic services such as mobility, water, energy, and sanitation.
The Federal Ministry Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), of the Federal Republic of Germany is supporting implementation of the project: “URBAN PATHWAYS: Supporting Low Carbon Plans for Urban Basic Services in the context of the New Urban Agenda“. Led by UN-Habitat, the project is being implemented by a consortium of partners that includes the Wuppertal Institute of Climate, Energy and Environment and UN Environment.
The Urban Pathways project helps delivering on the Paris Agreement and the NDCs in the context of the New Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. The project provides knowledge, capacity and technical assistance to local governments in Kenya, India, Vietnam and Brazil to develop feasible low carbon urban development plans. The plans include an assessment of the political, technological, socio-economic and financial viability. The local implementation concepts are being developed into bankable projects, focusing on the access to urban basic services to create a direct link between climate change mitigation and sustainable development goals. This process is being replicated regionally with policy development and implementation support and advice on stakeholder engagement and financing mechanisms.
The project is achieving its outcomes as follows (work packages):
Inform (WP1):
The first level of engagement aims to reach a large number of local and national policy makers, practitioners, stakeholders and NGOs to raise awareness of the mitigation potential of urban energy efficiency, mobility and waste management strategies and show how an integrated approach to urban development can deliver on the New Urban Agenda, the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Inspire (WP2):
This Work Package actively trains local and national policy makers, practitioners, stakeholders and NGOs and involves them in a structured capacity building program on the mitigation potential of sustainable urban basic services measures.
Initiate (WP3):
Building on the “Inform” and “Inspire” work packages, WP3 facilitates the preparation of policy proposals based on the NUA as well as commitments under the Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030. This WP also establishes twinning partnerships between cities.
Implement (WP4):
This Work Package focuses on developing feasibility studies and implementation plans for at-least four pilot cities. The aim is to ensure that bankable and implementation-ready projects that demonstrate alignment with the NUA, respective country NDCs and the SDGs are developed in the pilot and replication cities.
Responsibilities and Tasks
In close coordination with UN-Habitat’s project manager, the consultant plays a supporting role in the implementation of this project, in particular regarding supporting cities in their transition to sustainable road safety systems. Climate change and road accidents are both considered essential challenges for sustainable mobility in cities, and their relationship as well as opportunities to meet both challenges simultaneously needs to be further explored. Cities with high levels of road crashes are also often more likely to have inefficient and inequitable transport systems. Many of these cities are planned for vehicles, encouraging high speeds and the facilitation of high carbon infrastructure. However, by putting in place strategies for low carbon transport, we can simultaneously improve road safety, and vice versa. Multi-modal transport systems are of particular interest here due to their shared goals and benefits, not just for climate action but also for public health, the local economy and road safety. Road safety has been explicitly addressed by the SDGs through targeted actions to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries and to provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons. Overall responsibilities of the consultant consist of supporting National Policy Dialogue with a focus on safe and low carbon mobility, focusing on road safety management and its link to the discourse on climate sustainability whilst supporting city to city exchange.
Responsibilities include:
• Carrying out a review of existing road safety policies in selected African countries and propose a set of well proven policies, strategies and suggestions in terms of best practices with positive impacts on vulnerable road users in terms of road safety and climate change.
• Conduct analysis of road safety assessment methodologies and traffic management systems and contribute to the formulation of demonstration plans for improving road safety in selected African countries.
• Developing a Technical Guide on “How to promote Road Safety and Climate Friendly transport in African cities”.
• Reviewing post-crash care management policies and practices in selected African countries to identify gaps and challenges and recommend appropriate policy interventions to address the challenges.
• Coordinate stakeholder engagement activities including meetings, record keeping, data collection and other tasks as required for the smooth undertaking of the tasks above.
Reporting
The Consultant will prepare a proposed work schedule for the contract period. The consultant will work under the overall management of the Chief, Urban Basic Services Section, reporting to the Programme Management Officer in Urban Mobility - and all other Project team members.
Academic Qualifications: • Bachelor’s degree in Urban, Regional or Transport Planning, Economics, Sustainable Transport, Sustainable Development, Traffic/Road safety Engineering, Public Health, or related field is required.
Experience: 2 years of relevant experience in collecting and researching data across areas of policy analysis, transport and mobility, road safety, road user behaviour is required. Working experience in developing countries is an advantage;
Language: • English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the post advertised, excellent fluency in oral and written English is required. Knowledge of any other United Nations official languages is an asset.
THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.