ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is a Specialized Agency of the United Nations. Its mandate is to promote and accelerate sustainable industrial development in developing countries and economies in transition, and is to work towards improving living conditions in the world's poorest countries by drawing on its combined global resources, international and national expertise. This assignment will be under the supervision of the Agro-Industries Technology Division (PTC/AGR/AIT) part of the Agribusiness Development Department (PTC/AGR). This Division is responsible for all technology aspects of the agro-based industries in textile, leather, wood and agricultural mechanization systems. Emphasis is placed on the design and implementation of programmes serving sustainable development requirements of the agri-businesses and related industries, including its environmental needs to be developed by Governments, industries, private sector agencies, and NGOs targeting poor communities to become more resilient. Furthermore, this Division also provides technical support to enhance demand-oriented vocational technical skills for employment creation and entrepreneurship for sustainable development.
PROJECT CONTEXT t
This project is inserted within the EU Action Fiche “Leather Initiative for Sustainable Employment Creation (LISEC) in Ethiopia”[1]. The overall objective of the action is to create greater economic and decent employment opportunities, especially for young men and women through the development of the Ethiopian leather industry and the Modjo leather industrial park. LISEC's intervention logic is to contribute to the reduction of irregular migration from Ethiopia by creating greater economic and decent employment opportunities for young men and women through the development of Modjo Leather City Industrial Park and Ethiopian leather industry value chain, one of the sectors identified in the Ethiopian's Growth and Transformation Plan II (GTP II) as having the potential to boost the growth of the economy. As such, this programme proposes a new vision towards inclusive and sustainable industrial development that protects the environment and supports social inclusion. In order to achieve the main programme goal, LISEC has been structured following a comprehensive approach with three main components aiming at:
(1) Advancing economic competitiveness by strengthening the leather value chain;
(2) Protecting the environment by facilitating financial investments towards the establishment of an eco-friendly leather industrial park in Modjo; and
(3) Strengthening social cohesion by supporting local economic and social development initiatives, especially for women and youth living in Modjo area; and enhancing industrial and labor relations in the MLC.
These three interlinked components will be coordinated and monitored closely by the EUD under a centralized management approach. UNIDO in close collaboration with the MoTI and the Leather Industry Development Institute (LIDI) will implement component 1. UNIDO has been selected to implement this component due to its large experience in supporting the Ethiopian leather and leather products industry, its knowledge of national and regional leather institutions and its successful results on the sector.
The specific objective of the project is to enhance the economic competitiveness by strengthening an inclusive and sustainable development of the Ethiopian leather value chain. In this context, concrete actions will be undertaken in order to achieve the following outputs:
Output 1:
Improve quality and quantity of hides and skins (H&S - including grading system, training, awareness raising) by supporting the leather value chain from slaughterhouses to tanneries;
Output 2:
Support tanneries (processing and producing finished leather) towards integration into the leather global value chain through competitiveness gains/environmental compliance, including the creation of a LIDI Regional center.
Output 3:
Promote investments in/around Modjo Leather City (including MSMEs clusters) for both domestic and foreign companies.
This project initiative is totally in line with the Ethiopian National Development Strategy and specifically with the GTP II supporting the transformation of the Ethiopian agriculture-based economy into an industrialized one, thus becoming a middle-income country by 2025. Furthermore, this project proposal has been articulated by in-taking some of the Valletta Action Plan (elaborated by EU in November 2015) priority areas, mainly:
i) Launch projects to enhance employment opportunities and revenue-generating activities in regions of origin and transit of migrants in East, North and West Africa to enhance the professional skills and employability of young people, including the AU/NEPAD skills initiative, access to digital technologies, support to micro, small- and medium-sized enterprises in the formal and informal sectors and increased access to finance.
ii) Facilitate responsible private investment in African agriculture, agri-business and agro-industries and boost intra-African trade and exports of agricultural products through agricultural finance initiatives and by working with like-minded organizations, with immediate effect, with a view to contributing to rural economic transformation, taking due note of the African Union's Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods.
In this case, several beneficiaries along the value chain are being embraced by the initiative. Evidently, slaughterhouses, especially municipal slaughterhouses, will directly benefit from this initiative through introducing good practices in slaughtering processes that can improve the quality and supply of raw H&S. Besides, it is anticipated to review or develop the regulatory framework of raw H&S marketing system, to review or design the institutional set up that enforces the regulatory framework and to review or amend the standards and price structure practices of the raw H&S. In the current competitive business of the leather sector, efficient marketing system and marketing regulation of raw H&S is a prerequisite. In light of these considerations, there is a need to review the marketing system and marketing regulations (norms or code of practices, procedures and mandatory standards applied) of the raw H&S, efficiency and effectiveness of enforcement) and voluntary standards set in and how quality is being remunerated through a rewarding price structure scheme.
In order to effectively conduct a rapid impact assessment UNIDO is seeking a Hide and Skin Expert. The Expert will be a locally recruited consultant with profound local experience and expertise required for the Project in terms of management and understanding of the hides and skins component of the leather value chain, with excellent knowledge of key institutional stakeholders involved in the project. He/she, as an impartial UNIDO Professional, will be expected to conduct a rapid impact survey or assessment on the latest practices of the raw H&S marketing regulation framework and its practices, efficiencies and challenges in a professional way is to get relevant factual and analytical inputs. These will be presented and validated at a consultative participatory workshop.
The Expert will be reporting to the National Hides and Skins Expert and the National Project Coordinator for the day-to-day activities relating to this assignment. Specifically he/she will be expected to:
Main Duties
Expected Output
Duration
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End of Contract (COB):
Main Duty Station and Location
Mission Ethiopia
[1]Action Fiche for the implementation of the Horn of Africa Window T05-EUTF-HOA-ET-42.The total amount drawn from the European Union emergency trust fund for stability and addressing the root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa is 15,000,000 EUR.
MINIMUM PROFESSIONAL REQUIREMENTS
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MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES (AS APPLICABLE):