Deadline: 19 December 2019
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is currently seeking applications from the eligible applicants for the post of Legal Officer in Nairobi, Kenya. The duration of this post is 1 year.
UNEP’s mission is to provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.
Key Job Responsibilities
The Legal Officer will perform the following functions-
- Conduct extensive legal research and analysis and prepares studies, comparative studies, briefs, reports and correspondence on environmental law and governance including those related to legislative reform in the fields of environmental law and sustainable development as well as institutions support.
- Review national legislation (e.g., law and regulations) as part of technical assistance to strengthen national legal and institutional capacities concerning a specific area of environmental law to identify potential gaps and provide recommendations.
- Undertake basic or extensive review of legal documents, instruments, or other material; identifies important issues, similarities, and inconsistencies, etc.
- Prepare or assist in the preparation of drafts of background papers, studies, reports, legislative texts and commentaries on those texts, and teaching materials in the field of environmental law and sustainable development, in particular, as these relate to national environmental law and related institutions.
- Prepare or assist in the preparation of legal opinions/advice on a wide range of issues relating to environmental law and sustainable development, including, in particular, those that relate to supporting the development, strengthening, implementation and enforcement of national environmental law and related institutions.
- Prepare or assist in the preparation of agreements and contracts with governments, NGOs and other public and private entities.
- Service or assists senior colleagues in servicing diplomatic conferences, commissions, committees, task forces, expert groups and other bodies, including preparation of background materials, summaries of issues and views of delegations, meeting reports, etc. to raise awareness and build capacity on emerging issues of environmental law or on issues designated as important by countries.
- Administer programmes of legal technical assistance to countries in reviewing, developing or updating environmental legislation, drawing on recommendations from global legal reviews and utilizing legislative tools and knowledge products, developed by UNEP and its partners.
- Prepare or assist with the preparation of seminars and symposia on legal principles, techniques, policies, guidelines, etc. in the field of environmental law and sustainable development, in particular, as these relate to national environmental law and related institutions, lectures on various legal issues at such events.
- Provide guidance to more junior staff.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must have:
- Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in environmental law or a related field.
- First-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
- Minimum 5 years of progressively responsible experience in environmental law and governance, including legal analysis, research and writing is required.
- Experience in working with developing countries and in developing project proposals and/or managing projects is desirable.
- Experience in technical assistance in the development and strengthening of national environmental law and strengthening capacity to implement, comply with and enforce environmental laws and MEAs is desirable.
- English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat.
- Fluency in written and oral English is required.
- Working knowledge another UN languages is desirable.
How to Apply
Applicants must submit their applications through online process.
For more information, please visit UNEP.
