World Bank Group Recruitment 2017

World Bank Group Recruitment 2017 | How to Apply

Established in 1944, the WBG is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge for development solutions. In fiscal year 2015, the WBG committed more than $65 billion in loans, grants, equity investments and guarantees to its members and private businesses, of which more than $20 billion was concessional finance to its poorest members. It is governed by 188 member countries and delivers services out of 120 offices with nearly 15,000 staff located globally.

The WBG consists of five specialized institutions: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). IBRD and IDA are commonly known as the World Bank, which is organized into six client-facing Regional Vice-Presidencies, several corporate functions, and fourteen Global Practices (GPs) as well as five Cross-Cutting Solution Areas (CCSAs) to bring best-in-class knowledge and solutions to regional and country clients.

GLOBAL PRACTICES & CROSS-CUTTING SOLUTIONS AREAS

The 14 GPs are: Agriculture; Education; Energy and Extractives; Environment and Natural Resources; Finance and Markets; Governance; Health, Nutrition and Population; Macroeconomics and Fiscal Management; Poverty; Social Protection and Labor; Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience; Trade and Competitiveness; Transport and Information, Communication and Technology (ICT); and Water. The 5 CCSAs are: Climate Change; Fragility, Conflict and Violence; Gender; Jobs; and Public-Private Partnerships. The new operating model is part of a broader internal reform aimed at delivering the best of the World Bank Group to our clients, so that together we can achieve the twin goals of (1) ending extreme poverty by 2030, and (2) promote shared prosperity for the bottom 40% of the population in every developing country.

ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES GLOBAL PRACTICE (GP)

Sustainable environment and natural resources management (ENRM) is at the heart of the WBG’s poverty agenda. Biodiversity and natural resources constitute the social safety net of the poor, representing a food bank and often their only source of livelihood. Sustainable ENRM promotes a green, clean, and resilient world where natural resources – from forests to fisheries, freshwater, oceans, coastal zones and ecosystems – are managed to support livelihoods and strong economies. Sustainable ENRM builds a world better prepared for shocks and global challenges, helping countries limit their exposure to resource scarcity, more-volatile weather patterns, and the long-term consequences of climate change.

The Environment & Natural Resources (ENR) Global Practice has been set-up to deliver on the opportunities, benefits and outcomes offered by enhanced management of the environment and natural resources. The ENR GP has close to 300 operations under management, representing close to $7 billion, and a growing pipeline of new investments under active development. The practice consists of some 275 staff across the world plus numerous other staff in other Practices and CCSAs that are professionally associated with it.

The Environment & Natural Resources Global Practice has three broad and distinct functions:

1. Provides clients with lending and non-lending services aimed to support the GP’s three core business lines, namely: (i) Forests, Watersheds and Sustainable Landscapes; (ii) Marine, Coastal and Aquatic Resources; and (iii) Pollution Management and Environmental Health. The GP’s activities also include a focus on Clean and Resilient Growth through its work on environmental economics and support to institutional development.

2. Supports effective environmental risk management and sustainability by managing risk at the project level and creating opportunities to advance sustainable development, in part through the implementation of the Bank’s environmental policies.

3. Works closely with other sectors, including by leveraging GEF grant financing, to mainstream environmental considerations into their policies, strategies, and operations.

Job Description

Job Title: Environmental Specialist

COUNTRY AND POSITION CONTEXT:

The Country Management Unit consists of three countries under the Country Director based in Accra Office, who is responsible for the Bank’s program in Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The specialist will be expected to be based in Accra and provide support to operations in Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone portfolio for effective application of Bank’s environmental safeguards policies.

This safeguards due diligence is very important and based on the requirement that the preparation and implementation of activities financed by the World Bank must comply with its ten safeguards policies. In addition to and consistent with these safeguards policies, attention has to be given to the disclosure requirements regarding the safeguards instruments prepared in the context of both projects preparation and implementation.

With respect to scope of environment work program, currently there are approximately 90 investment projects in Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone and several regional projects, which require environmental safeguard support. The portfolio covers several Global Practices including energy, transport, water, agriculture, health, education, urban, climate change and environment. Most of these infrastructure projects have been assigned environment assessment Category B but include about 15% high risks projects with Category A. These projects require regular safeguards support of environment specialists to the project teams through close engagement with the client counterparts to ensure the environmental risks are identified early during project preparation, as well as mitigated and supervised in accordance with the Bank’s safeguards policies. The specialists will also participate along with other GP colleagues in an active dialogue on regional issues, such as water, energy and climate change; improving governance of natural resources, pollution management, and wealth accounting and valuation of ecosystem services.

Note: If the selected candidate is a current Bank Group staff member with a Regular or Open-Ended appointment, s/he will retain his/her Regular or Open-Ended appointment. All others will be offered a 3 year term appointment.