Our mission: “To influence, encourage & assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity & diversity of nature & to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable & ecologically sustainable.”

IUCN is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It provides public, private and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together.

Created in 1948, IUCN is now the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network, harnessing the knowledge, resources and reach of more than 1,300 Member organisations and some 16,000 experts. It is a leading provider of conservation data, assessments and analysis. Its broad membership enables IUCN to fill the role of incubator and trusted repository of best practices, tools and international standards.

The Regional Office for West and Central Africa currently has over 100 staff members working in its offices in Cameroon Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, , and Congo DR. The IUCN Regional Office for West and Central Africa is located in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

The IUCN’s Regional Marine and Coastal Programme (MACO) for the Central and West Africa region is located in Dakar (Senegal) from where it provides the overall strategic and operational direction and management of the IUCN’s Marine and Coastal Programme for Central and West Africa region. MACO is in charge of development and delivery of the IUCN’s marine and coastal agenda in the region, with strong focus on biodiversity conservation, development and management of marine protected areas and their networks, fisheries management, marine spatial planning, integrated management and governance of coastal areas, environmental responsibility of economic actors, adaptation to climate change and disasters risks reduction.

The Regional Marine and Coastal Programme Coordinator reports directly to the Regional Programme Coordinator with technical supervision of the Global Marine and Polar Programme. His/her general role is to manage and further develop the Regional Marine and Coastal Programme by giving it a clear vision and leadership on marine and coastal issues in the West and Central Africa region. S/he will be responsible of and manage a large portfolio of multi million and multiple donors major and complex initiatives to deliver high level programmatic results and to demonstrate the contribution of IUCN to regional and global environmental and sustainable development agendas.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND SPECIFIC DUTIES

The Regional Marine and Coastal Coordinator will be responsible of the management a large portfolio of multi million and multiple-donors large initiatives to deliver high level programmatic results such as to drive and inspire regional marine conservation agenda and demonstrate the contribution of IUCN to regional and global environmental and sustainable development ambitions. S/he is expected to provide vision, inspiration and leadership to on marine and coastal conservation and management and influence and contribution to regional countries to transition to blue economies.

S/he will develop, resource, and manage IUCN’s Marine and coastal programme activities in the region in close collaboration with other relevant IUCN programmes, Members, Commissions and partners. S/he will will be responsible of the overall management of MACO programme and ensure its coherence and consistency with the IUCN’s “One Programme” approach, build on and align with IUCN’s Marine and coastal conservation framework, and add value to regionally and nationally defined priorities.

SPECIFIC DUTIES

Programme Planning and Monitoring

• Take a lead role in the development of the Regional Marine and Coastal Programme through providing vision and guidance in developing a well-defined strategic focus in the short, medium and long term, ensuring:

• effective and institutionally aligned programming and project implementation, o systematic monitoring and evaluation of on-going programmatic activities, and

• coherent and consistent communication of lessons learnt to key decision-makers within the region

• Provide technical advice, guidance and support on Marine and Coastal conservation to Country Offices and Thematic Programmes, and act as the UICN’s focal point on Marine and Coastal related issues, with Members, Commissions, partners and other IUCN component programmes as required;

• Coordinate the development, analysis and dissemination of Marine and Coastal policies relevant to the Region in the most effective way;

• Oversee the development and implementation of any relevant Marine and Coastal initiative in the region and provide, where needed, guidance and support to the development and implementation of other IUCN cross-cutting initiatives;

• Capitalize and disseminate lessons learnt from programmes and projects as well as those learnt from partners and colleagues;

Programme management and oversight

• Ensure the sound technical and financial management of the MACO Programme;

• Oversee the development and implementation of annual budgets and work plans and provide a timely progress report of the programme financial and technical activities in accordance with IUCN’s practices;

• Supervise staff and lead capacity development on issues related to Marine and Coasts in component programmes.

• Ensure the overall quality assurance of the MACO portfolio;

• Ensure implementation of and compliance with IUCN and donor policies, standards and procedures.

Partnerships and Programme Development

• Support Organisational Development related to Programmatic structures within the PACO.

• Develop and maintain strategic partnerships, synergies and appropriate collaboration with relevant stakeholders on marine and coastal-related issues and in particular ensure meaningful engagement of local IUCN Members in the implementation of the MACO.

• Lead fundraising for the Regional Marine Programme through development of proposals, maintaining good relationships with donor and funding agencies so as to ensure the financial viability of the Programme;

• Work closely with IUCN Commissions, Country offices, and thematic programmes to develop and maintain an appropriate project portfolio and funding for implementation of the Regional Marine and Coastal Programme;

• Work with colleagues in and beyond the region Marine and Coastal issues to ensure that the group functions as an integrated team, that there is coherence and consistency in the policy statements, and that a high quality of technical and policy advice is given to field programmes and projects;

• Ensure that IUCN is adequately represented in relevant regional, international fora and negotiations on Marine and Coastal conservation management in Central and West Africa; Facilitate discussions on relevant Marine and Coastal emerging issues to position IUCN as a reference in the region;