Kakum National Park: By Kobina Ebo via Wikimedia Commons
Call for Online Moderator:
Community of Practice on Challenges and Opportunities for African Youth in Forestry
(Western, Central and Northern Africa)
ABOUT OUR INSTITUTION
The African Forest Forum (AFF) is an association of individuals who share the pursuit and commitment to the sustainable management, wise use, and conservation of the forest and tree resources of Africa for the betterment of the socio-economic wellbeing of its people and for the stability and improvement of its environment. The purpose of AFF is to provide a platform and create an enabling environment for independent and objective analysis, advocacy, and advice on all relevant policy and technical issues pertaining to achieving sustainable management, wise use, and conservation of Africa’s Forest and tree resources as part of efforts to reduce poverty, protect the environment, and promote economic and social development.
INTRODUCTION
“AfricanYouth4Forests” represents a dynamic intersection between Africa’s verdant forests and its youth. It seeks to empower young Africans (aged 18–30) to transform their environmental aspirations into actionable realities. Marrying ancestral wisdom with contemporary tools, the project focuses on scientific knowledge, and empowerment, fostering a generation that is rooted in its heritage yet forward-thinking in its approach to sustainable forestry.
Forests are Africa’s green canvases, covering one-third of the continent, guarding against climate change, sheltering rich biodiversity, and anchoring countless livelihoods. Yet, their whispers grow fainter with each fallen tree, each patch cleared, and each fire that rages.
Even so, a vibrant force emerges Africa’s youth population, the guardians of both the past and the future. This group is four times larger than its European peers [1] and can drive innovation and sustainability on the continent. Equipped with passion, digital savviness, and respect for nature, the youth are charting a path where their understanding of the earth’s value, paired with a contemporary perspective, positions them as agents of change. While vulnerable due to deforestation and climate change, their potential needs to be captured to prevent misuse of human capital and mounting frustration.
This is why the AfricanYouth4Forests (AY4F) project aims to cultivate a space where young people (aged 18–30) can embrace scientific knowledge about Africa’s forests to understand their own role in shaping the future governance of forests, share their concerns with experts and society, and seize opportunities from an evolving bioeconomy. The project is jointly implemented by the African Forest Forum (AFF), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), through SLU-Global and the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI). It contributes to the African Agenda 2063 and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030).
RATIONALE
For its plan of work for 2025, AFF is recruiting one regional expert to moderate an online Community of Practice (CoP) on “Challenges and Opportunities for African Youth in Forestry” for the Western, Central and Northern Africa regions. The CoPs will provide an opportunity for young people-led associations, youth entrepreneurs, leaders from different educational backgrounds, and other interested youth, together with forest scientists to advance knowledge sharing about best practices for sustainable forestry.
The CoP will be hosted on a virtual web-based platform and will involve both webinar series and Chat interactions. The online moderator is expected to encourage / engage and guide interested stakeholders to attend the webinar series and the web-based discussions and share their knowledge, experiences and best practices on innovative solutions to forest-related challenges for African youth. At the end of each session, the moderator will synthesize views, lessons and recommendations to be posted on the CoP’s Howspace, easily accessible to all community members.
PURPOSE OF THE CONSULTANCY
The purpose of the Consultancy is for a regional forestry expert to moderate an online Community of Practice that aims to reflect on innovative solutions to forest-related challenges for African youth. The event will also provide a platform for sharing and validation of findings from a research study conducted in Western, Central and Northern Africa regions on the barriers against meaningful contribution of youth to sustainable forest use and opportunities for the youth to formulate their visions of forest conservation and management.
SPECIFIC TASKS
The key tasks of this assignment are as follows:
- In collaboration with project partners, develop a concept note and elaborate a programme for the CoP, including topics for the online discussion forum;
- Promote the CoP, identify a wide range of stakeholders and start engaging them on the “Howspace” platform at least one week before the webinar sessions;
- Work with project partners to tailor discussion topics in line with the thematic area of the CoP as well as the project outcomes.
- Identify and engage a broad range of stakeholders including relevant networks, individuals, and institutions with specific expertise and experiences on African youth involvement in forestry, then invite them to participate to enrich the online discussion;
- Identify guest speakers to develop daily presentations on the selected topics that will guide the online discussion;
- Actively guide the discussion to ensure it remains focused on the agenda, address all discussion questions and at the end of each session, draft and post a daily summary note.
- Daily tasks of the CoP’s moderator, to be done during the 2-hour webinar and Chat sessions starting from the 17 February – 4 March 2025 include:
- Welcome participants to the virtual discussion;
- Introduce the topic, prepare, and deliver presentations and/or facilitate their delivery by identified guest speakers and drive discussions to address any open/pending issues.
- Provide encouragement/energizer to drive the discussion when no contributions have been posted, by posing/fielding questions, contacting members directly through the platform, posting complementary content such as documents, websites, and text.
- Propose and discuss with the CoP members plausible approaches and a strategy to sustain interactions on the platform after the two-weeks’ Community of Practice.
- Document key issues raised, and actions proposed from the CoP members.
DELIVERABLES
This assignment aims to deliver the following:
- Useful resources for the e-discussion uploaded and shared regularly.
- Daily summaries of the e-discussions
- A strategy and action plan to sustain interactions and peer-to-peer learning among the community after the webinar sessions.
- Final report of the assignment to be submitted one week after the end of the virtual sessions.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS
The online discussion moderators must have the following qualifications and skills:
- At least a Master’s degree in forestry or natural resource management with experience in climate change and climate finance, a PhD will be an added advantage.
- At least five years’ working experience in sustainable forest management in the context of climate change;
- Proven experience in the issues youth and young professionals in forestry or in the issues of gender in natural resources management in general;
- Proven skills and experience in writing technical reports and the like, on topics related to
- sustainable forest management taking into account gender issues particularly youth participation;
- Excellent communication skills in French. Knowledge of English is an added advantage.
- Experience in moderating CoPs, multi-stakeholders’ participatory actions or events are desirable.
DURATION OF ASSIGNMENT
The work is expected to span a calendar month, distributed over a two-month period, commencing on 3 February 2025. The online regional facilitator will work from own location but be in close consultation with relevant staff at the AFF Secretariat while keeping to an agreed delivery schedule.
DEADLINES
- Applications must be received by the AFF Secretariat on or before 15 January 2025.
- Consultancy activities must begin no later than 3 February 2025.
HOW TO APPLY
Please email your application to AFF, attaching: (a) A cover letter stating how you meet the above qualifications and experience requirements; (b) An updated CV. Indicate the subject line: “Consultancy: Online facilitator for a Community of Practice on “Challenges and Opportunities for African Youth in Forestry (Western, Central and Northern Africa).” to d.gitonga@cifor-icraf.org with a copy to d.mutta@cifor-icraf.org, exec.sec@afforum.org.
Only successful applicants will be contacted.
For more information and to download the Concept Note, click on the links below: