Strengthening integrated transboundary management of the Incomati and Maputo River Basins (INMACOM) Project
Financing Agency: Global Environment Facility (GEF)
GEF Implementing Agency: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
UNDP Executing Agency: Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWPSA)
Location: The Incomati and Maputo River Basins shared between Eswatini, Mozambique, and South Africa, as well as the Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA), predominantly located in these two river basins
Duty Station: Mbabane, Eswatini
Tenure: 36 Months, renewable
Date of Advert: 24 July 2025
BACKGROUND
The Incomati and Maputo Watercourse Commission (INMACOM) was established by the Kingdom of Eswatini, Republic of Mozambique, and Republic of South Africa through the Incomati and Maputo Watercourse Commission Establishment Agreement which entered into force on the 18th of November 2021. Establishment of the INMACOM followed decades of cooperation starting in 1983 with the Tripartite Permanent Technical Committee (TPTC) which was created by Mozambique, South-Africa and Eswatini (Swaziland) to advise the three governments on matters relating to the utilization, development and management of water resources of common interest, followed by the Tripartite Pigg’s Peak Agreement (1991) and, the Tripartite Interim Agreement for Co-operation on the Protection and Sustainable Utilization of the Incomati and the Maputo Watercourses (IIMA) in 2002″. The main responsibility of the Commission is to promote cooperation between the Parties to ensure the coordinated development, management and sustainable utilization of the water resources shared by the Member States.
The Global Water Partnership (GWP) is an intergovernmental organisation established in 1996 to support countries in their efforts to implement more equitable and sustainable management of their water resources. The network spans 13 regions with 2,400 institutional Partners in 158 countries. The global secretariat is in Stockholm, Sweden. The GWP Africa Coordination Unit is based is based at GWP Southern Africa in Pretoria, South Africa and coordinates GWP Africa programmes across Africa. GWPSA also hosts the GWP global theme on Climate resilience and is charged with providing global strategic leadership and coordination of the implementation of the GWP strategy on climate resilience.
STRENGTHENING INTEGRATED TRANSBOUNDARY MANAGEMENT OF THE INCOMATI AND MAPUTO RIVER BASINS “INMACOM PROJECT”
The INMACOM project will ensure the coordinated planning and management of terrestrial ecosystems with coastal and marine ecosystems of the Incomati and Maputo basins, including the Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA). Through building a scientific understanding of the system from source to sea, promoting a holistic planning approach that is based on an understanding of the impact of land-based activities on the ecosystem and demonstrating approaches that will address environmental problems in the two transboundary river basins and the Lubombo TFCA, the project will enhance water security, food security, energy security and environmental security. It will also contribute to reducing the impacts on the land-based activities on the Maputo Bay which is a critical ecosystem. Collaboration between the Incomati and Maputo River Basin Commission, Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation Area, Nairobi Convention Secretariat and relevant ministries and departments in the three participating countries will be strengthened to ensure interventions on water resources management are well linked with priorities for biodiversity conservation in the area to contribute to improved management of coastal areas and reduce pollution of marine ecosystems from land sources.
To achieve a situation of environmental security and sustainable inclusive livelihoods across the two basins and Lubombo TFCA, the project will undertake the following:
- Strengthening the regional governance (Component 1) through building the institutional capacity of the INMACOM, enhancing coordination and cooperation with TFCAs and coastal management institutions and enhancing capacity to address gender inequality.
- Building a scientific knowledge-base (Component 2) to support decision-making in developing robust plans which will guide management and development of the basins and development of key transboundary management instruments.
- Carrying out inclusive basin-wide and coastal management strategic planning (Component 3) and developing an investment strategy. A strategic plan that promotes a source-to-sea approach will ensure that investments are made to ensure environmental security.
- Implementing community-based gender-sensitive livelihood projects that address the key drivers of water, food, energy and environmental insecurity (Component 4) will showcase on the ground, albeit at a small-scale, how technical and managerial solutions can address the root and immediate causes of environmental issues. With scaling up and the support of an improved knowledge base and a basin-wide coordinated approach, this will be taken to implementation at the basin wide level.
- Through enhancing knowledge generation and communication (Component 5) stakeholder participation will be ensured through engaging widely in awareness and outreach activities to build a joint understanding of the shared basins informed by the substantial and solid knowledge-base developed under Component 2.
Implementation of an Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) across all the pilot projects sites will ensure that the applicable social and environmental policies and requirements will be met through screening, assessment, approval, mitigation, monitoring and reporting of social and environmental risks and impacts associated with the project activities.
PROJECT COORDINATOR
GWPSA seeks to hire a Project Coordinator (PC) for the aforementioned project, to be stationed at the Project Management Uniti (PMU) at INMACOM. The PC will be the technical lead of the project and provide technical guidance and project management on the key project outcomes. The PC will also be responsible for the regular monitoring of project outcomes and risks, including social and environmental risks, and the day-to-day management of the project. This includes the mobilization of project inputs, supervision over project staff, consultants, responsible partners and sub-contractors/service providers under the responsibility of the Implementing Partner; high-level interactions with the Project Board (“Project Steering Committee”) and its members, and the wider stakeholder community; as well as to lead technical advice and support, and coordinate and promote coherence and synergies.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Technical assistance
- Provide guidance / leadership and technical expertise to support the following specific project elements:
o Training and capacity development activities in the Member States
o Development of the Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis
o Implementation of the in-country demonstration projects
o Project knowledge management activities
o Project monitoring and evaluation activities, including monitoring events as determined in the project monitoring plan, and updating the plan as required - Provide technical leadership to ensure effective delivery of project outcomes, outputs and activities, including:
o Monitor project risks – including social and environmental risks – initially identified and submit new risks to the Project Board for consideration and decision on possible actions if required; update the status of these risks by maintaining the project risks log
o Monitor implementation plans including the gender action plan, stakeholder engagement plan, and any environmental and social management plans
o Monitor and track progress against the GEF Core indicators - Provide technical leadership to secure feedback as needed from project oversight and implementation partners to support adaptive management, including:
o Prepare narrative reports for submission to the donors as well as the Steering Committee - Lead project activities related to Safeguards, including:
o Oversee/develop/coordinate implementation of all safeguards related plans
o Ensure social and environmental grievances are managed effectively and transparently
o Review the SESP annually, and update and revise corresponding risk log; mitigation/management plans as necessary
o Ensure full disclosure with concerned stakeholders
o Ensure environmental and social risks are identified, avoided, mitigated and managed throughout project implementation
o Ensure reporting, monitoring and evaluation fully address the safeguard issues of the project
General Project Management: 20%
- Lead, delegate (part of) and oversee the planning of project activities, as well as the corresponding coordination, monitoring of and reporting on progress against the approved main Project Work Plan (budgets & timelines,…, risks), including the identification of plan deviations and the formulation and/or (pre-)approval of proposals to make course corrections when needed to achieve results, in alignment with Project Board decisions and/or within Project Board-agreed tolerances.
- Assess proposals for major and minor amendments to the main project, against their costs/budgetary implications versus expected benefits, and against the parameters set by UNDP-GEF, GWPSA and/or the Project Board
- Lead, delegate (part of) and oversee the preparation of revisions to the main Project’s multi-year workplan, as needed, as well as the corresponding annual and quarterly plans if required
- Lead, delegate (part of) and oversee the process(es) of regular (and extraordinary, when required) progress reporting to the Project Board as agreed with the Board and as per (and limited to) the responsibilities of the main Implementing Partner (IP), including measures to address challenges and opportunities
- Ensure sound stewardship of the main project’s human and financial resources, and other project assets; act as the main budget owner for the budget allocated to GWPSA as the IP
- Ensure resource efficiency, making sure there is adequate liaison between the project and other INMACOM initiatives (as well as other basin initiatives not managed from within LIMCOM) to ensure alignment of programs and avoid duplication of efforts
- Lead, delegate (part of) and oversee the monitoring of events, milestones and achievements as determined in the project monitoring plan, and the review and revision/updating (as required) of the plan
- Oversee the preparation of (quarterly) financial reports for UNDP
- Lead, delegate (part of) and oversee: (a) the management and monitoring of the main project’s risks
- Lead, delegate (part of) and oversee the capturing of lessons learned (relative to PM practices) during project implementation
- Oversee the preparation of the Project Board meeting reports
- Ensure that the indicators included in the project results framework are monitored annually in advance of the GEF PIR submission deadline so that corresponding progress can be reported in the GEF PIR; collect information produced by the other IPs for integrated reporting purposes as may be required
- Oversee and support the annual GEF PIR preparation
- Oversee the monitoring and tracking of progress against the GEF Core indicators; collect information produced by the other IPs for integrated reporting purposes as may be required
- Support the Mid-term review and Terminal Evaluation process
- Provide support for the completion of assessments required by UNDP, spot checks and audits.
- Manage personnel, goods and services, training and low-value grants, including drafting terms of reference and work specifications, and overseeing all contractors’ work
- Manage requests for the provision of UNDP financial resources through funding advances, direct payments or reimbursement using the FACE form
- Monitor financial resources and accounting to ensure the accuracy and reliability of financial reports
- Ensure that financial reports to UNDP are prepared and submitted on a quarterly basis
- Ensure coordination of reporting of the project progress and outcomes into GWPSA, INMACOM, and UNDP Programming structures.
REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
Education
- Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in environmental management, environmental sciences, natural resources management, Integrated Water Resources Management, or related field. A first-level university degree in combination with demonstrable experience in transboundary river basin management may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
Experience
- At least 10 years’ experience working on river basin management, environmental management, or water resources management issues
- Demonstrated understanding of sustainable development, including financial and institutional sustainability
- Experience in management and facilitation of transboundary water management planning processes
- Experience working with stakeholders to promote sustainability and environmental awareness
- Demonstrated experience in project management
- Excellent communication skills (oral and written)
- Demonstrated experience managing multi-disciplinary and/or cross-sector teams.
- Experience in implementing UN, GCF or GEF funded projects a distinctive advantage.
Language Requirements
- Proficiency in English is required (oral and written), with proficiency in Portuguese as an added advantage
Competencies
- Results Orientation: Ability to meet project goals and produce high-quality results and reports
- Planning and Execution: Capacity to translate strategic goals and priorities into realistic project deliverables.
- Leadership: Competent leadership abilities necessary for dynamic, diverse and complex projects.
- Building Coalitions: Ability to build relevant coalitions to achieve project goals.
- Strategic Thinking: Ability to formulate objectives, set priorities and implement plans consistent with project interests.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Candidates must be willing and able to travel as needed
APPLICATIONS
- Candidates should submit application package in English through the online application system and not via email, including a cover letter (with salary history and requirements), and a minimum of three references
- Submit application on Bamboo: https://gwpsanpc.bamboohr.com/careers/117
- Only short-listed candidates will be contacted within 4 weeks after the application deadline.
- Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
- Questions can be directed to mark.naidoo@gwpsaf.org
- Deadline: 24 August 2025 – 00:00 (midnight) Pretoria.
To view this vacancy in Portuguese, please click here.
