Job description
The CODATU association
The CODATU association grew out of the world conference on urban transport held in Dakar, Senegal, in 1980. Its aim is to promote sustainable urban mobility in developing cities through international exchanges between the various players in the transport and urban mobility sector: public authorities, companies, research institutes and urban transport professionals.
CODATU provides technical assistance and training for decision-makers, organises conferences and publishes works on urban mobility in developing countries. These various activities are carried out in collaboration with its French partners (Agence Française de Développement, Ministry of Ecology, etc.) and international partners (World Bank, WCTRS, etc.).
Context
The Greater Abidjan conurbation, which has a population of 5.4 million (42% of the national urban population), is experiencing rapid and poorly controlled urbanisation, combined with twenty years of under-investment in public transport. Once a regional benchmark in this field, the public transport operator (bus and lagoon transport) – SOTRA – has seen its production facilities and market share deteriorate in favour of informal transport, which is of poorer quality in terms of reliability, commercial speeds, safety and comfort, and a vector of major negative externalities (accidents, pollution, congestion). A significant proportion of the city’s residents currently have no alternative to walking for their daily journeys. The deterioration in mobility conditions in Abidjan is also reflected in high levels of accidents and air pollution, with significant effects on the health of the population, particularly the most vulnerable, and on the environment.
Faced with this situation, in 2015 the authorities adopted a Master Plan for Urban Planning in Greater Abidjan (SDUGA) coupled with a Master Plan for Urban Transport, which promotes a radical improvement in the public transport offer by recommending in particular the construction of two complementary and interconnected major routes: a light metro project actively supported by France, and a BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) project around which the Abidjan Urban Mobility Project (PMUA) financed by the World Bank and AFD is structured. The timetables for bringing these two major projects into service are similar, which underlines the importance of an intermodal approach via a programme to support investment in multimodal interchange hubs currently being examined by AFD.
In order to organise and coordinate these structuring developments and ensure the professionalisation of small-scale transport, the Greater Abidjan Urban Mobility Authority (AMUGA) was created in 2019 with the task of structuring and regulating traffic and the public transport network for the Abidjan district. AMUGA is an Independent Administrative Authority (AAI) operating under the supervision of a Strategic Council (CS) made up of the various ministries concerned, one (1) representative of the district of Abidjan, who acts as vice-chairman of the CS, and six (6) representatives of the nineteen (19) communes of Greater Abidjan.
CODATU provided initial support to AMUGA between 2021 and 2023 as part of technical cooperation funded by the Agence Française de Développement. During these two years of cooperation, CODATU’s technical assistance has enabled AMUGA to develop its skills in a number of areas, including governance, intermodality, the integration of small-scale transport and contracting with contracted transport operators. This support is being extended through the establishment of a new 3-year technical cooperation agreement for the period 2024-2026, with a view in particular to looking more closely at issues relating to the governance of urban transport, intermodality and the integration of paratransit.
Tasks
Reporting to Solène Baffi, CODATU project manager, and working closely with the CODATU senior experts involved in technical cooperation, the volunteer will act as a cooperation officer to support the partner institutions’ initiatives. He or she will be responsible for coordinating technical assistance with the AMUGA team, seeking the necessary expertise from cooperation partners and interacting with AFD. He/she will work full-time with AMUGA, with remote supervision by CODATU.
The cooperation officer’s tasks will be as follows:
- Organising thematic workshops and technical visits abroad on the challenges of the institutional and technical organisation of transport, and the implementation of an integrated urban transport policy (fare integration, intermodality, system interoperability, integration of small-scale transport, use of data) in line with AMUGA’s strategic agenda;
- Capitalising on the actions carried out by drafting reports, notes and articles;
- Financial reporting on activities carried out under the agreement;
- Support for the drafting of terms of reference for studies, expert appraisals or technical assistance to be launched as part of the programme;
- Monitoring mobility projects and issues in Ivorian cities, particularly Abidjan, and in other countries in the region;
- Identifying, soliciting and sharing information with relevant French partners.
He/she will also be involved in CODATU’s thematic projects.
Desired profile
Level of studies: 5 years’ higher education
Training: Master 2 or engineering degree specialising in urban planning, transport, mobility, the environment, sustainable development, international relations, development, public policy or urban development and planning. Experience in the fields of mobility and/or urban development would be desirable.
Languages: French, English
IT: Proficiency in office software (Office suite), proficiency in urban transport mapping and modelling software appreciated.
Qualifications required:
- Good knowledge of urban mobility, urban planning and development issues.
- Ability to summarise, good analytical skills, good writing skills.
- Experience gained in a developing country (essential).
- Good interpersonal skills and ability to integrate into an international and African cultural context.
- Ability to adapt and coordinate a variety of players.
- Ability to organise work independently and work as part of a team.
Conditions
Status: Volunteer for International Solidarity (VSI)
Length of assignment: 24 months, renewable over 12 months. Participation in the “pre-departure” training organised by La Guilde (one open session per month), the volunteer-sending organisation, is compulsory.
Start of the assignment: January 2024, for a departure to Côte d’Ivoire following participation in La Guilde’s “pre-departure” training course and a 3-day in-house training course at CODATU headquarters.
Location: The position will be based in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), on the AMUGA premises.
Compensation: €2,200 per month. Social security is covered (MAI repatriation insurance and affiliation to the Caisse des Français à l’Etranger).
Application
Please send your application (CV and covering letter) to the attention of Solène BAFFI before 31 October 2023: contact@codatu.org, mentioning [VSI – Abidjan] in the title of the message.
Interviews will take place in November 2023 with a view to taking up the post at the beginning of 2024.
CODATU encourages qualified applications regardless of national or ethnic origin, opinions or beliefs, gender, sexual orientation, state of health or disability.
