POSITION: Park Safeguards Manager

ORGANISATION: African Parks, Bangweulu Wetlands

LOCATION: Mpika -Nkondo

REPORTING TO: Park Manager

BACKGROUND:

African Parks is a non-profit conservation organization that takes on the complete responsibility for the rehabilitation and long-term management of national parks in partnership with governments and local communities. We currently manage 22 national parks and protected areas in 12 countries covering over 20 million hectares in: Angola, Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe and South Sudan.

Objectives

African Parks is committed to the full recognition and respect of the human rights of all persons and Environmental and Social Safeguards (ESS) norms in all its operations and protected areas it manages.  The In Park Safeguards Manager will lead AP’s efforts by guiding and supporting the implementation of APN’s human rights and ESS programs and policies in a specific park, including training and mentoring of park staff; ensuring implementation of monitoring mechanisms and human rights and ESS programming; reviewing and guiding park planning; leading internal inquiries or investigations; maintaining local and national human rights partnerships; guiding park-level Law Enforcement Managers, Community Managers as well as Information Analysis Managers as necessary on human rights related training and investigations.

Duties and responsibilities:

• Plan, organize and lead capacity building and training for human rights and ESS for all AP staff in Park, placing priority on human rights in conservation law enforcement and ESS/community relations;
• Establishing proactive monitoring systems, safeguards policy and processes – such as utilization of internal and/or external human rights experts, grievance mechanisms, audits, consultations, surveys, or field visits – designed to identify activities that may pose human rights and/or ESS risk, and design and implement mitigation strategies in coordination with Park Management;

• Embedding safeguards policy and processes – with specific goals to mainstream project risk assessments, and install a grievance mechanism in park;
• Ensure mainstreaming of human rights and ESS considerations into park-level planning and programming (e.g. 5-year Business Plans; community engagement plans; disciplinary codes; etc.), park-level performance monitoring and park-level evaluation;
• Ensure the establishment of a working Grievance Mechanism in each Park, with implementation of timely review of all grievances and development of appropriate mitigation and/or follow-up in coordination with the AP Grievance Officer, Park Management and the Regional Safeguards Manager;

• Ensure application of safeguards to key projects and complex initiatives – with a focus on ensuring compliance with Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) guidelines;
• Lead monitoring and evaluation of human rights and ESS compliance, and ensure professional standards in all human rights and ESS reporting;
• Support the parks in delivering agreed-upon action plans to meet ESS standards, and in implementing formal assessments including Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA);

• Maintain partnerships at a local and national level with human rights/ESS communities to identify emerging human rights and ESS concerns, to create and maintain a risk register, and provide periodic reports to Park and Regional management;
• Lead internal AP inquiries and/or investigations into well-founded allegations of activities that may constitute human rights abuse, and document and report findings;
• In coordination with Park FRM, prepare and/or contribute to reports, briefings, analysis or any other communications required by donors, partners or other AP departments relating to human rights and ESS;

• Assist Park Management to identify, train and supervise park-level human rights and ESS staff;
• Cultivate an environment of excellence, teamwork, integrity and professionalism in all human rights and ESS programming and operations;
• Develop APN’s next generation of leadership through positive example and mentorship; and
• Perform other duties, as assigned, that contribute to the success of AP operations and programming

Capabilities, competencies and experience

• Academic or professional experience, preferably legal, demonstrating a comprehensive knowledge of, and exposure to, a range of human rights and humanitarian issues, especially in security, conservation or development contexts
• Strong analytical, research, fact-finding, monitoring, reporting, verbal and written communication skills, with proven ability to identify and analyze complex social, legal and political issues
• Training experience, especially in multi-cultural environments
• Results-driven with a strong capacity to work autonomously
• Willingness to travel to and work in remote areas
• Strong personal integrity and dependability
• Commitment to Africa and to conservation
• Demonstrated discretion and ability to work with sensitive information
• Excellent inter-personal and communication skills
• Fluent in English