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Fellow - Central African Fund Initiative
Better Than Cash
Geneva, Switzerland
Posted on May 5, 2026
Tiered Approach
In line with the commitment to safeguard capacity and support personnel already in the Organization, a majority of UNDP UNCDF/UNV vacancies are advertised using a tiered application process whereby:
- Tier 0: UNDP/UNCDF/UNV IP staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments, whose posts will be abolished, or contracts will be terminated or not renewed during 2026.
- Tier 1: Other UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments
- Tier 2: UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding temporary appointments (TA), personnel on regular PSA contracts, and Expert and Specialist UN Volunteers
- Tier 3 or no tier indicated: All other contract types from UNDP/UNCDF/UNV and other agencies, and other external candidates
Please make note of the Tier(s) indicated in the vacancy title, if any, and ensure that you satisfy the eligibility to apply.
Background
UNDP works in about 170 countries and territories, helping to eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities and exclusion, and build resilience so countries can sustain progress. As the UN’s development agency, UNDP plays a critical role in supporting countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
With the Central African rainforest disappearing at an alarming rate, the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) aims to establish an effective balance between the interests of the forest and of economic development. To this end, CAFI’s donors work together with its six Central African partner countries (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo) to recognize and preserve the value of the forests to mitigate the climate change and biodiversity crises and reduce poverty. This objective will be attained through the implementation of country-led, national scale REDD+ and Low Emissions Development (LED) investment frameworks that include policy reforms and measures to address the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation and promote sustainable development.
Lack of government capacity has been identified as a key challenge in the implementation of all CAFI’s investment plans, which impedes progress and slows cooperation. This capacity deficiency has also manifested in CAFI’s recruitment processes, where Central African applicants have been either lacking or underqualified.
CAFI’s Fellowship modality is based on UNDP’s Fellowship policy. It will contribute to increasing national expertise and capacity in CAFI’s six partner countries in the areas of sustainable development and climate change mitigation. Investing in young talents in the region will increase familiarity with donors and partners and expose them to a professional environment according to international standards and expectations. The overall objective is to promote a new generation of professionals committed to forest protection and poverty alleviation, equipped with the necessary skillsets to tackle these challenges when possibly returning to work for their national governments.
The Fellow will obtain valuable first-hand experience of the day-to-day work of the CAFI Secretariat in matters of evaluation and follow-up of CAFI-funded programmes, as well as communication and coordination with donors and Executing Agencies to advance policy dialogues and programme development.
Duties and Responsibilities
The fellow will report administratively to CAFI Secretariat`s Management Specialist, with matrix supervision to the designated lead staff member in charge of the thematic area where the Fellow will be located during his/her period within CAFI.
1. Portfolio management, results monitoring and support to portfolio analysis and reporting (35%)
- Support the consolidation, validation, structuring and analysis of portfolio data to strengthen monitoring, reporting and evidence-based decision-making across the CAFI portfolio
- Support the development and monitoring of the project pipeline, delivery chains, gender markers and other related portfolio analysis.
- Support the monitoring of CAFI-funded programmes against their annual workplans and help manage this information in CAFI’s management platform.
- Support data aggregation and preparation for CAFI portfolio-level reporting and analytical outputs
- Based on reports and information exchanges with governments and implementing agencies, help analyse, interpret and compile results at impact, outcome and output level ensuring consistency with CAFI monitoring and reporting frameworks.
- Contribute to the development and use of portfolio monitoring tools, including dashboards and data management systems.
- Track and maintain a list of past and planned evaluations.
- Extract lessons learned from the evaluations performed on CAFI-Funded projects.
- Support the delivery chain mapping exercise.
- Support the implementation of the CAFI Risk Management Strategy, including the Risk Dashboard.
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Support the gender marker analysis of the CAFI portfolio.Support the organisation of the MEL working group (invitations, attendance, note taking).
2. Programme Management support (35%)
- Contribute to preparation of analytical material related to programmes (performance assessment, technical content, etc).
- Support coordination of evaluation of programmes (contracting, reporting, etc).
- Contribute to the liaison and engagement of programme partners, and due diligence of their requests.
- Support the programme team in organizing field missions, with potential in-person participation.
- Facilitate the development of knowledge management products, lessons learned and innovation initiatives to support the programme management of the Fund.
3. Payments for Environmental Services (PES)
- Contribute to the preparation of the technical material for the PES scheme.
- Support the preparation, undertaking and follow-up of the various meetings, workshops, communication events and other events related to the PES process.
- Support the coordination between the monitoring processes specific to the PES and for the overall CAFI portfolio.
- Support the preparation of the training and communication material for the PES scheme.
- Contribute to the development of the PES GIS portal,
- Contribute to the development, maintenance and improvement of the PES remote sensing platform and support, when necessary, the transition process from ArcGIS to React.
- Explore options for and support the integration of artificial intelligence to enhance the performance and the coverage of the PES remote sensing platform
- Support the development of methodological documents on the analyses integrated into the PES remote sensing platform and the development of appropriate user manuals, communication documents and guidelines on the platform.
- Support the collection and integration of users feedbacks and the management and fixing of potential bugs.
- Build capacity of the various stakeholders on the PES remote sensing platform and its associated tools and documents.
- Contribute to the development of the PES GIS portal,
- Contribute to the development, maintenance and improvement of the PES remote sensing platform and support, when necessary, the transition process from ArcGIS to React.
- Explore options for and support the integration of artificial intelligence to enhance the performance and the coverage of the PES remote sensing platform
- Support the development of methodological documents on the analyses integrated into the PES remote sensing platform and the development of appropriate user manuals, communication documents and guidelines on the platform.
- Support the collection and integration of users feedbacks and the management and fixing of potential bugs.
- Build capacity of the various stakeholders on the PES remote sensing platform and its associated tools and documents.\
4. Other:
- Support the CAFI Secretariat in organizing Executive Board meetings and technical exchanges (note taking, preparation, summaries)
- Support other/ad hoc activities as seen relevant and needed.
Required Skills and Experience
The candidates must hold the nationalities of one of the 6 CAFI Partner countries: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon or the Republic of Congo.
The candidates must submit (a) letter(s) of recommendation signed by a Government representative of their country of nationality, and/or a national or international academic/research institution based in their country of nationality.
Education:
Candidates must meet one of the following educational requirements:
- Masters’ degree in environment, sustainable development, forestry, rural development, climate change or related field
Experience:
- At least one year of professional experience with their national governments, universities, research institutions etc. on topics related to CAFI’s mandate (sustainable development, forestry, agriculture, land-use planning, land tenure, energy, mining or demography).
- Experience in REDD+ and Payment for Environmental Services programmes is an advantage.
Language skills:
- Fluency in French is required.
- Good knowledge of English or Spanish (read and spoken) is an advantage.
Additional skills:
- Interest and motivation in working in an international organization.
- Good analytical skills in gathering and consolidating data and research for practical implementation.
- Outgoing and initiative-taking person with a goal-oriented mind-set.
- Communicates effectively when working in teams and independently.
- Meticulous in organizing and structuring various tasks and responsibilities.
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
- Responds positively to feedback and differing points of view.
- Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.
Equal opportunity
As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination.
UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.
Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority
UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles.
Right to select multiple candidates
UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.
Use of AI by candidates
Applicants are invited to read UNDP’s guidance for candidates on using AI responsibly in UNDP recruitment and selection
Scam alert
UNDP does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process. For further information, please see www.undp.org/scam-alert.
Duties and Responsibilities