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ย Description
Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile?ย The World Bank Group is one of the worldโs largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. Its five institutions share a commitment to reducing poverty, increasing shared prosperity, and promoting sustainable development. With 189 member countries, staff from more than 170 countries, and offices in over 130 locations, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org.
The โUrban, Resilience and Landโ (URL) Global Practice
URL covers diverse thematic areas including: (i) developing green, inclusive, and resilient cities; (ii) enhancing urban and rural development through supporting and managing the urban-rural transition, assisting local development through developing land tenure, management, and geospatial information systems; and (iii) assisting in disaster risk management (DRM).
Land administration and land management impact all aspects of human life and nature in urban and rural spaces. Land is crucial for social inclusiveness, gender equality, economic growth, disaster preparedness, resilience, climate change actions, sustainable urbanization, and own-source revenue generation. The World Bankโs land sector activities strive to secure land tenure for all, improve land management services and strengthened geospatial data systems.
Regional and Unit Context
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is an extremely diverse region, composed of low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high-income countries โ 22 of which are fragile or conflict-affected. Boasting rich natural resources and the worldโs largest free trade area and a 1.2-billion-person market, the continent has the potential to forge a new development path, harnessing the potential of its resources and people. However, the region faces several development challenges. According to the regionโs most recent economic update, growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to slow to 2.5% in 2023, from 3.6% in 2022. Rising conflict and violence across the region exerts a dampening effect on economic activity, with climate shocks poised to exacerbate this fragility. About 462 million people in the region are still living in extreme poverty in 2023.
With more than 80% of global GDP generated in cities, urbanization can contribute to sustainable growth through increased productivity and innovation if managed well. Today, some 42% of SSAโs population โ 513 million inhabitants โ live in cities and it is expected that more than half of all citizens in SSA will live in cities by 2050. There is a severe shortage of affordable housing across the continent and about 60% of Africaโs urban population is living in informal settlements. Own-source revenue generation is not up to par with current and future financing needs for livable and sustainable cities. Land and property solutions are at the core of unlocking efficient urban land use management, facilitating the rural to urban transition, upgrading informal settlements, improving revenues from land and property taxation, and enabling transparent land and property markets for affordable housing supply. Further, streamlining of land administration and management processes is key for the business environment and job generation in urban areas.
Land tenure and land administration are crucial in rural areas as well. Some 52% of SSAโs population is employed in Agriculture and forests make up 26% of SSAโs landmass, indicating the importance of land for agricultural productivity, forest management, and climate action. Large scale investors and smallholder farmers depend on secure land tenure but only about 14% of land in SSA is formally recorded. Women face significant challenges across the region to get access to land. The pressure on rural land is increasing: National Determined Contributions in the region will require significant land areas for reforestation, afforestation, and rehabilitation; the renewable energy transition will require access to large areas of land; and expansion of cities will transform land use changes across the region. Further, carbon credits will impact land uses as well and benefit-sharing will require clear land ownership and boundary information. Resolving land disputes and strengthening womenโs land rights are crucial to achieve secure tenure for stability and equality.
Despite the fundamental role of rural and urban land administration systems there is a gap between the status quo of land policy and law, institutional capacities, levels of digitalization, and the amount of land that is formally registered and/or covered by land use plans. West Africaโs land administration systems are characterized by dual land tenure systems in almost every country, including statutory as well as customary land laws and institutions with overlapping mandates. Recent policy and legal reforms in the region indicate governmentsโ readiness to invest more in secure tenure and efficient land administration and land use management systems. Several local governments are enhancing their capacities to value and tax land and/or property. However, the application of land management tools such as land readjustment, land swapping, land pooling, and land value capture remains underutilized due to the absence of functioning land administration systems.
To this end, the URL Units in Africa West and Central (AFW) bring together a wide range of important and interrelated development and financing instruments to support national and sub-national clients to: harness urbanization and enable effective land management in support of both growth and poverty reduction; foster social inclusion of marginalized groups and strengthen womenโs rights; support own-source revenue generation of local governments; strengthen resilient land use planning for disaster risk management related to natural disasters; reduce conflict and violence by tackling land disputes; support climate action, agriculture, and the business environment through secure tenure and efficient land administration systems. The team works closely with the Agriculture; Governance; Environment; and Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practices on the land agenda.
Position context
URLโs West Africa Unit SAWU1 is seeking a qualified and motivated Land Administration Specialist with ย relevant experience in the land agenda, specially land administration, and specific focus such as geospatial approaches to land issues, integration of rural and urban land issues, territorial development and resilience of land systems; and operational experience in supporting land administration operations.
The Land Administration Specialist will be based in Washington DC, USA and will report to the SAWU1 Practice Manager based in Washington DC, USA. He/She will work across the land, urban and disaster risk management program in the area of land administration, land development and/or geospatial information systems.
He/She will be expected to participate in task teams and then co-lead the preparation and implementation of lending operations, analytical and advisory activities, contribute to cross sectoral and multi sectoral land engagements and to the development of new business opportunities in the land agenda Given the multi-sectoral nature of the land agenda, the Land Specialist is expected to demonstrate the collaborative skills, working with colleagues across the range of technical areas within the unit and, equally importantly, from other Global Practices.ย
Roles and Responsibilities
The Land Administration Specialistโs responsibilities will include, but will not be limited to the following:
โข Participate in or co-lead investment, programmatic and development policy lending operation or components thereof through existing country programs (such as in Senegal, Benin, Cote dโIvoire, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde and Togo, amongst others).
โข Participate in or co-lead and lead analytical activities as part of the Urban, Land and DRM program in AFW and possibly regions, including contributing to other sector (Agriculture, environment, governance, private sectorโฆ) analytics, including development and implementation of cutting-edge analytical instruments and knowledge products.
โข Provide technical inputs to strategy and business development for the land and geospatial sector by supporting the identification of areas for engagement and by conceptualizing solutions for the nexus of land and urban development, geospatial information, climate change and land use, environment, and agriculture.
โข Contribute to policy dialogues and provide technical inputs from a land and/or geospatial perspective for the preparation of country strategy documents, Climate Change Development Report. and operational and strategic documents of CMUs.
โข As appropriate, provide support to just-in-time advisory work related to the establishment of municipal geospatial databases, city geoportals, geospatial and digital tools for specific sectors such as solid waste management, flood management, land management and related capacity building activities.
โข Develop proposals for trust funded activities to inform future engagement and support policy dialogue and capacity building in land administration and geospatial information; and lead the implementation of these activities.ย
โข Prepare Terms of Reference for these activities, review those submitted by clients, ensuring quality and relevance, and alignment with best practices; and provide comments on studies.ย
โข Participate in field missions in the areas of specialization, provide technical inputs and guidance to client counterparts and contribute to Aide memoire and operational reports.ย
โข Participate in professional development and knowledge sharing activities in the URL Practice, the Global Land and Geospatial GSG and the Land Thematic Group and contribute specific knowledge exchanges.
Selection Criteria
โข Advanced university degree (Masters) in a field relevant to land tenure and governance, such as land administration, land economics, surveying, geospatial and information technologies, property valuation, urban and land use planning, applied public policy or relevant related field.ย
โข At least five years of relevant experience on land matters (Land tenure, land administration, land governance, land management, geospatial approaches to land issues, integration of rural and urban land issues, and resilience of land systems), in donor-funded projects and/or project management.
โข Knowledge of land policy and law, land administration and governance institutions (titling, cadaster, registry, dispute resolution) land registration programs, land information systems, land use planning, land/property valuation and taxation from multiple countries with experience in Africa considered to be strong advantage.
โข Familiarity with geospatial tools, GIS, related technical subjects and recent technological developments is a plus.
โข Familiarity with the Bankโs priorities on land administration, and with international land conventions such as the Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests; Fit-For-Purpose Land Administration; and Framework and Guidelines for Land Policy in Africa.
โข Strong motivation to work in the URL fields and ability to work flexibly and independently on a range of assignments, adjusting to and prioritizing a variety of complex evolving tasks.
โข Excellent interpersonal skills and ability work with multi-disciplinary team.
โข Proven track record of delivery of high-quality outputs while working under pressure, in a multi-sector environment, and within tight deadlines,ย
โข Analytical, organizational and communication skills, and ability to write clearly and concisely.ย
โข Excellent and effective command of English and French in verbal and written forms required.
World Bank Group Core Competencies
The World Bank Group offers comprehensive benefits, including a retirement plan; medical, life and disability insurance; and paid leave, including parental leave, as well as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.
We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.
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