Key Documents of the Ramsar Convention

Diplomatic notification 2006/6: Vacancy for Ramsar Secretary General

Notification 2006/6

Secretary General of the Convention: Vacancy Announcement

The Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971) presents its compliments to the Permanent Mission of ... and has the honour to refer to the following:

Contracting Parties will be aware that the contract of the Secretary General of the Convention, Mr. Peter Bridgewater, expires on 31 July 2007. Dr Bridgewater has indicated that, as he wishes to pursue other activities, he will not be seeking a further contract. Attached to this diplomatic notification is the vacancy announcement including selection criteria and application instructions.

Contracting Parties are encouraged to identify suitable candidates for the post and invite them to apply. It should be noted that the procedure agreed by the Standing Committee does not require that candidates be submitted and/or formally endorsed by Contracting Parties. Any individual who considers that he or she meets the requirements for the post may apply. The deadline for applications is 12 January 2007. All applications will be received, acknowledged and processed by IUCN Human Resources Department in line with the established Secretariat staff recruitment procedures under the host service agreement between the Secretariat and IUCN.

The process agreed by the Standing Committee for the selection of the new Secretary General is as follows:

• The Standing Committee Chair and Vice-Chair, and the Chair of the Subgroup on Finance will meet on 9 February 2007 to review all applications and agree a "long" shortlist of candidates.

• Prior to Standing Committee 35, on 13 February 2007, members of the Management Working Group (MWG) established under COP9 Resolution IX.24 will meet to consider this "long" shortlist and to prepare a recommended shortlist of candidates. The current membership of the MWG is attached to this notification.

• The Standing Committee, at its 35th meeting from 14-16 February 2007, will act as the "first selection panel" under Standing Committee Decision SC26-45. This first selection panel will agree the short list of candidates to be invited for interview.

• SC35 will also appoint the "second selection panel" (SC26-45) to conduct the interview process and select the candidate to be appointed.

• The SC35 Agenda is being adjusted to permit sufficient time for these processes.

• Interviews will be carried out by the Second Selection Panel on 22-23 March 2007. The name and profile of the successful candidate will then be circulated to the Standing Committee members, with a deadline for approval of 30 March 2007.

• The decision of the Standing Committee should be communicated to the selected candidate in the week of 2 April 2007. All Contracting Parties will be informed by diplomatic notification as soon as the Secretariat has received written acceptance of the offer.
  

The Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands respectfully requests that the content of the present note be communicated to the competent national authorities and avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the Permanent Mission of ... the assurance of its highest consideration.

Gland, 30 November 2006

Encls: Vacancy announcement
Management Working Group composition

For further information about the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, please contact the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland (tel +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169, e-mail ).  Posted 21 December 2006, Dwight Peck, Ramsar.