Research Associate

Result of Service

The purpose of this consultancy is to deliver efficient, compliant, insights-driven programme operations that award and manage small grants; engage and mobilize private sector stakeholders; coordinate training materials and workshops for schools; produce high-quality research, communications and events—and ultimately catalyze greater investment and measurable, on-the-ground impact in land restoration.

Work Location

Home-based (Part-time)

Expected duration

168 days between July 2026 to March 2027

Duties and Responsibilities

Background note: Desertification, along with climate change and the loss of biodiversity were identified as the greatest challenges to sustainable development during the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. Established in 1994, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management. The Convention seeks to support countries to address Desertification, Land Degradation, and Drought (DLDD). (www.unccd.int) The G20 (or Group of Twenty) is the annual international forum for the governments of 19 industrialized countries, the European Union and the African Union. The G20 Leaders' Declaration, issued in November 2020, launched a "Global Initiative on Reducing Land Degradation and Enhancing Conservation of Terrestrial Habitats" (G20 Global Land Initiative or G20 GLI). Building on existing initiatives and on a voluntary basis, the G20 countries share the ambition to achieve a 50 percent reduction in the amount of degraded land by 2040. The G20 GLI, with oversight from UNCCD, will focus on capacity building, engaging the private sector and civil society and showcasing success. To scale impact, G20 GLI seeks a consultant to strengthen research, stakeholder mapping, event organization, and communications geared toward private sector actors and civil society organizations (CSOs) active in the land restoration economy. The consultant will support with the organization of activities and events for the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention (COP17). The consultant will also support with the coordination and monitoring of the Restoration Returns small grants programme, which provides funding to community-based and civil society organizations to scale on-the-ground land restoration projects with social and economic benefits to advance the G20 GLI’s mission. Additionally, the consultant will provide assistance in the organization of private sector forums working with land and ecosystem restoration industry actors, as well as in the coordination of the Land Restoration Labs project to develop land restoration and sustainable land use curricula in primary and secondary schools, in collaboration with the relevant implementation partners. The consultant will report directly to the Programme Officer – Stakeholder Engagement. Duties & Responsibilities: ...