Chair ,Global Water Partnership

Chair of the Global Water Partnership
Call for Nominations and Applications

Key global challenges today include food security, rapid urbanization, disaster mitigation, and climate change adaptation. These challenges all have one thing in common – water – which must be managed to grow crops and sustain healthy and growing populations, as well as to mitigate drought and floods. Addressing these global challenges successfully requires addressing another key global challenge – ensuring water secure communities and nations, for which a central strategy is the integrated management of water resources.

The Global Water Partnership – GWP. The GWP is a global action network, a partnership, and an intergovernmental organisation, supporting countries and regions in their vision of a water-secure world. The GWP mission is to support the sustainable development and management of water and related resources at all levels. Since 1996 when it was launched, GWP has grown into a network of over 2,500 Partner organisations, 13 Regional Water Partnerships and 80 Country Water Partnerships worldwide. This unique network has the potential to make a lasting contribution to sustainable socio-economic development in all countries through global advocacy and regional and local action, as ‘water is everybody’s business’.

The GWP seeks an outstanding and internationally recognized leader to serve as its Chair, guiding the global Network of water partners, and heading the GWP Organization. Given the scale of water-related challenges across the globe, the Chair has a unique opportunity to lead the GWP at an important time, as action now is essential for a water secure world.

The GWP Chair will be a dynamic, determined and visionary leader capable of heading a complex network and organization dealing with water management issues at the global, regional, and country levels. The person selected as GWP Chair is expected to have demonstrated:

a) global sustainable development and poverty reduction perspectives
b) substantive experience in translating development policy into practice
c) the ability to promote political consensus and action at the highest level;
d) the ability to inspire people at all levels;
e) the ability to provide vision, strategic direction and leadership;
f) experience with organizational governance and strategic management of senior staff;
g) experience with networks/partnerships at the national and international level; and
h) communication, advocacy, and fund-raising skills, including spoken and written fluency in English (proficiency in other languages will be an advantage).

The Chair is appointed for a period of up to three years, subject to renewal once. The GWP Chair is expected to devote approximately 100 days annually for this position. The Chair is not required to locate with the GWP Secretariat (which is in Stockholm, Sweden), but is expected to spend substantial time traveling on behalf of the GWP. The Chair receives an honorarium for services rendered to the GWP; is reimbursed for reasonable expenses; and receives administrative and substantive support from the GWP Secretariat and GWP Technical Committee as appropriate. The new GWP Chair is expected to be appointed by August 2012 and to be in position ideally no later than January 1, 2013. For further information about GWP, and the requirements and functions of the Chair, please visit www.gwp.org.

Nominations of, and applications by, qualified individuals are invited, with those from developing countries and of women particularly encouraged. All applications should include relevant details of qualifications, experience, and the contact details of three referees. Only candidates for whom there is further interest will be contacted. Nominations and applications should be submitted directly to the Search Consultant Paramjit Sachdeva: pssachdeva@aol.com. Strict confidentiality will be maintained at all times in the search process.

The deadline for submitting nominations or applications is 23 March 2012.