Environmental and Social Safeguard Specialist, ZAM – Other cities
UNIDO
Job description
Requisition ID: 8058
Grade: ISA-NOD
Country: Zambia
Duty Station: ZAM – Other cities
Category: National Consultant
Type of Job Posting: Internal and External
Employment Type: NonStaff-When Act. Employed
Contract Duration: 35 days over a period of 3 months and 15 days
Application deadline: 28-Sep-2026 , 11:59 PM (Vienna, Austria time)
Vacancy Announcement
TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT OF PROJECT PERSONNEL
Only nationals or permanent residents of the country of the duty station are considered eligible.
Female candidates are encouraged to apply.
UNIDO welcomes applications from qualified persons with disabilities. Reasonable accommodation will be provided to applicants and employees with disabilities to support full participation in the recruitment process and in the performance of their duties.
ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is the specialized agency of the United Nations that promotes industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability. The mission UNIDO, as described in the Lima Declaration adopted at the fifteenth session of the UNIDO General Conference in 2013 as well as the Abu Dhabi Declaration adopted at the eighteenth session of UNIDO General Conference in 2019, is to promote and accelerate inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID) in Member States. The relevance of ISID as an integrated approach to all three pillars of sustainable development is recognized by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will frame United Nations and country efforts towards sustainable development. UNIDO’s mandate is fully recognized in SDG-9, which calls to “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation”. The relevance of ISID, however, applies to a greater or lesser extent to all SDGs.
The medium-term programme framework (MTPF) is UNIDO’s core strategic document. As the Organization moves from the 2022–2025 cycle to the 2026–2029 MTPF, it sets a renewed vision to support Member States shape their industries for development. The new priorities include renewable and clean energy, sustainable access and climate action, ending hunger through innovation and local value addition, and fair and sustainable global and regional supply chains. Cross-cutting priorities focus on industrial and economic policy advice, skills development, fostering digitalization and artificial intelligence, gender equality and the empowerment of women, supporting youth, promoting cleaner production and circular economy, and leveraging private sector investment and development finance.
Each of these programmatic fields of activity contains a number of individual programmes, which are implemented in a holistic manner to achieve effective outcomes and impacts through UNIDO’s four enabling functions: (i) technical cooperation; (ii) analytical and research functions and policy advisory services; (iii) normative functions and standards and quality-related activities; and (iv) convening and partnerships for knowledge transfer, networking and industrial cooperation. Such core functions are carried out in Divisions/Offices in its Headquarters, Sub-regional Offices and Country Offices.
DIRECTORATE OF SDG INNOVATION AND ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION (IET)
Under the overall direction of the Director General, and in close collaboration with all organizational entities within UNIDO, in particular the Office of Change Management (ODG/CHM), the Office of Legal Affairs and Compliance (ODG/LEG), the Strategic Planning and UN Engagement Division (ODG/SPU), and the Office of Evaluation and Internal Oversight (EIO), the Directorate of SDG Innovation and Economic Transformation (IET), headed by a Managing Director, is responsible for the development of innovative UNIDO services in the areas of agro-industry and agribusiness, sustainability standards and fair production, and climate-relevant or climate-improving technologies. It is also, in collaboration with ODG, responsible for developing innovative technical cooperation concepts, identifying new sources and means of finance and entering into new partnerships with a broad range of relevant stakeholders.
The Directorate houses the Divisions of Coordination and Integration Support (IET/CIS), Quality, Impact and Accountability (IET/QUA), Agribusiness and Infrastructure Development (IET/AGR), Innovative Finance and International Financial Institutions (IET/IFI), Fair Production, Sustainability Standards and Trade (IET/PST), Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), and Climate and Technology Partnerships (CTP). The Directorate also ensures close coordination and collaboration among the Divisions and relevant entities in the Directorate of Global Partnerships and External Relations (GLO) and the Directorate of Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Industrial Development (TCS).
Division of Fair Production, Sustainability Standards and Trade (IET/PST)
Under the overall guidance of the Director General, the direct supervision of the Managing Director, Directorate of SDG Innovation and Economic Transformation (IET), and in close coordination with other organizational entities within UNIDO, the Division of Fair Production, Sustainability Standards and Trade (IET/PST) develops and implements an innovative service package in response to UNIDO’s mandate for fair and responsible local industrial production and trade with a particular focus on building the required skills and capacities and foster a conducive business operating environment to ensure that such production and trade are as inclusive as possible, promoting – among others – the development of human capital through vocational training and industrial skills development. In collaboration with IET/IFI, IET/PPP, TCS/SME, TCS/CPA, and GLO/MSR, the Division will conceptualize and negotiate such services and raise funds from Member States, development partners, IFIs, and the private sector to coordinate their effective implementation and devise ways in which their implementation can be brought to scale. This will include cross-cutting and sector-specific initiatives for sustainable supply/value chain and skills development in industrial sectors where UNIDO has, over the years, accumulated expertise, such as agro-industries, fisheries, textiles, leather, light manufacturing, health, mining, automotive and pharma and others. It will do so through close engagement with Member States, private sector associations, industrial enterprises, international quality, standards and trade-related governing bodies, other UN Agencies (e.g. ILO), development partners, NGOs and consumer associations, as appropriate, ensuring solid and operational partnerships.
Skills Development, Entrepreneurship and Fair Production Unit (IET/PST/SEF)
The Skills Development, Entrepreneurship and Fair Production Unit supports Member States in integrating into the emerging global systems of fair and sustainable trade and supply chains. It aims 62 to increase employability, strengthen access to decent employment, augment job retention, and increase access to qualified workforce by the industry, through modern technical and vocational education and training (TVET), professional education and entrepreneurship systems essential for driving sustainable transition. Central to its mandate is the commitment to provide the skills required to enabling sustainable supply chain practices, ensuring resilience, particularly at the firm level, and addressing the challenges and opportunities arising from new due diligence regulations. To this end, it provides specialized and country-tailored assistance to Member States to skill, upskill, and/or reskill their labour force and enhance their entrepreneurship capacity, it implements demand driven educational approaches, leverages partnerships with the private sector and strengthens institutional and firm-level capacities that fortify sustainable supply chains, with emphasis on the most vulnerable. It places importance on mitigating unintended consequences stemming from due diligence regulations, ensuring that all actors, especially at firm-level, are equipped to navigate through these changes. The Unit promotes innovation in learning, concepts and norms to augment the quality, relevance, attractiveness and accessibility of TVET for sustainable industrial employment and self-employment for the most vulnerable. The Unit also deploys foresight and planning instruments to guide Member States in developing industrial skills of future employees and respond to re-skilling and up-skilling requirements tailored for sustainable supply chains.
PROJECT CONTEXT
The project “Skills for Decent Employment in Zambian Artisanal and Small-scale Mining in the Critical Mineral Value Chains” addresses the structural constraints facing Zambia’s artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector – informality, low productivity, unsafe working conditions, weak business organization, and limited access to finance, technical and entrepreneurial skills – which disproportionately affect women and youth.
The project pursues two outcomes. Outcome 1 strengthens Zambia’s institutional ecosystem for ASM skills development, supporting national authorities – the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development (MMMD), Ministry of Technology and Science (MoTS), TEVETA, and the newly established ASM Directorate and ASM Fund – to coordinate, plan and deliver demand-driven training. Outcome 2 equips ASM operators, including women, youth and other vulnerable groups, with improved technical skills and entrepreneurship and organizational capacities for increased access to decent employment along the value chain, through community outreach and awareness-raising, upgraded TVET training centres, and entrepreneurship training linked to markets and finance, including a matching-grant mechanism for ASM operators.
Project’s ESMP context:
The project has been screened under the UNIDO ESSPP and assigned Environmental and Social Category B, reflecting that while the project is primarily focused on technical assistance, institutional strengthening, training and capacity building, some activities may generate limited, site-specific environmental and social risks. These risks are principally associated with support provided to ASM operators, upgrading of training facilities, and the provision of grants and equipment intended to improve mining practices, productivity, occupational health and safety, and value addition within ASM value chains.
To ensure that these risks are appropriately identified, assessed and managed throughout implementation, UNIDO requires the preparation of an Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP). The ESMP will establish environmental and social risk management measures, monitoring requirements, institutional responsibilities, stakeholder engagement mechanisms, Grievance handling provisions, and capacity-building actions necessary to ensure that project activities are implemented in a manner consistent with national legislation, EU requirements and UNIDO’s ESSPP.
The ESMP must be developed during Project Formulation or Inception, focusing on the identification, mitigation and monitoring of environmental and social risks linked to five specific project activities: on-the-job training with mining operators (2.2.4), upgrading of training equipment and infrastructure (2.2.5), pilot delivery of ASM training programs (2.2.6), equipment and tools grants (2.3.4), and financial mechanisms and partnerships (2.3.5). The screening confirmed that Operational Safeguards OS 2 (Protection of Natural Habitats and Biodiversity), OS 8 (Labour and Working Conditions) and OS 9 (Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention) are relevant to these activities.
The purpose of the ESMP is to identify potential environmental and social risks and impacts associated with project implementation and define practical measures to avoid, minimize, mitigate, monitor and manage those risks throughout the project lifecycle. The ESMP will provide a framework for ensuring that project investments, training programmes, institutional support activities, grants and technical assistance provided to ASM operators are implemented in a socially inclusive, environmentally sustainable and safe manner.
Particular attention will be given to
- Occupational health and safety risks associated with ASM activities and training programmes;
- Environmental issues commonly associated with ASM, including land degradation, waste generation, water pollution, deforestation and mine rehabilitation;
- Risks related to child labour, unsafe working conditions and labour informality;
- Gender equality and social inclusion, including the participation of women, youth and persons with disabilities;
- Community health, safety and stakeholder relations;
- Environmental and social screening, due diligence and monitoring of grant-supported ASM operators and equipment beneficiaries; and
- Grievance redress and stakeholder engagement mechanisms.
Project activities will be implemented primarily in three provinces
- Copperbelt Province (focus on copper and gemstones);
- North-Western Province (focus on copper, gold and gemstones); and
- Luapula Province (focus on manganese).
The project consists of two mutually reinforcing outcomes
Outcome 1: Strengthened institutional capacities increase access of ASM operators to demand-driven skills and competency-based vocational and technical pathways
This component focuses on strengthening the institutional ecosystem supporting ASM skills development. Activities include:
- Market systems analysis of ASM value chains;
- Skills needs assessments;
- Development of ASM training frameworks and curricula;
- Institutional capacity assessments;
- Capacity building of government entities and training institutions;
- Development of ASM skills development strategies and financing mechanisms; and
- Selection and strengthening of partner TVET institutions.
These activities are primarily technical assistance and policy support interventions and are expected to generate minimal environmental and social risks.
Outcome 2: ASM operators are equipped with improved technical skills and entrepreneurship and organizational capacities for increased access to decent employment
This component focuses on supporting ASM communities and operators directly through
- Awareness-raising campaigns and outreach activities;
- Delivery of accredited ASM technical and vocational training programmes;
- Upgrading of selected training centres and workshops;
- Training-of-trainers programmes;
- Entrepreneurship and business management support;
- Technical assistance on formalization and environmental and social compliance;
- Strengthening linkages with markets and financial institutions; and
- Provision of grants, equipment and tools to selected ASM operators.
Some of these activities may generate environmental and social risks requiring management through the ESMP.
These activities include
- Refurbishment, upgrading or minor expansion of training facilities and workshops;
- Installation and operation of training equipment and machinery;
- Practical training sessions conducted at mining or mineral processing sites;
- Technical assistance provided directly to ASM operators;
- Provision of grants and equipment for mining, beneficiation and processing activities;
- Support for improved mining and mineral processing technologies; and
- Strengthening of ASM production and value-addition activities through business support programmes.
The project does not finance large-scale mining operations, significant civil works, physical displacement, or activities expected to result in major irreversible environmental or social impacts. However, because project-supported ASM operators may operate in environmentally sensitive areas or face existing occupational health, labour, social and environmental challenges, the ESMP will establish procedures for environmental and social screening, due diligence, monitoring and supervision of beneficiary activities.
FUNCTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Under the direct supervision of the Project Delivery Manager (PDM) and in coordination with the project team at UNIDO HQ and in the field, the ESSS will be responsible for to prepare an Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) for the project “Skills for Decent Employment in Zambian Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) in the Critical Mineral Value Chains” in accordance with UNIDO’s Environmental and Social Safeguards Policy and Procedures (ESSPP), relevant national legislation and international good practice. She/he will develop a detailed Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) for the project to suggest cost-effective measures to minimize, mitigate or eliminate adverse impacts of the project’s activities identified in the signed E&S Screening Template – specifically Activities 2.2.4, 2.2.5, 2.2.6, 2.3.4 and 2.3.5, addressing OS 2, OS 8 and OS 9. The ESMP shall ensure that environmental and social risks and impacts associated with project activities are adequately identified, assessed, managed, monitored and reported throughout project implementation.
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