TEST – Project Officer – Green Growth & Livelihoods

EU Delegation to Kenya, April 2025

Test Instructions
• You will have two hours to complete this test (120 minutes).
• This written test is for the role of Project Officer – Green Growth & Livelihoods, whose
Vacancy Announcement requested Knowledge of the following areas:
• This written test is designed to allow you to demonstrate:
o Part 1: Contract management skills (budget and narrative)
o Part 2: Specialised knowledge (relating to Green Growth & Livelihoods)
o In both parts, your ability to present concisely, clearly and persuasively in English
will be assessed, as well as your ability to understand and comply with instructions.
• There will be 4 Exercises (two under Part 1 and two under Part 2), each of which is
estimated to take approximately 25-30 minutes and will be graded out of 25 points, for a
total possible score of 100 points.
• Responses to questions are to be submitted in Microsoft Excel (Exercise 1) and Microsoft
Word (Exercises 2, 3, 4). All 3 answers to questions 2, 3, and 4 should be included and
submitted in one word document.
• Your responses will be evaluated anonymously, therefore, please ensure that you do not
include any information that would enable examiners to identify you. This includes names,
names of specific organizations, or reference to specific contexts.
• The candidates with the highest scores in this written assessment will be invited to an oral
interview at a later date. The oral interview may be held virtually or in person.
Approximately equal weighting will be given to the performances in the written test and
in the oral interview.

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Test
Candidates should note that their answers will be checked for AI generated content. Any candidate
found to have used AI generated content will automatically be excluded from recruitment process.
Part 1 – Contract management skills
Exercise 1 (in Excel)

As a programme manager, you receive the attached draft budget for a project (Annex I –
project budget).
The totals and subtotals contain errors while all the units and the unit costs are correct.
You are asked to correct the errors in the budget and calculate the total cost correctly.
You are not required to foresee any amount for contingencies, volunteer work, or taxes and
contributions in kind.

Exercise 2 (in Word)

The attached Financing Document (Annex II) titled Action Document for Green Deal
#TeamEuropeKenya – part II includes EU financing for a number of different projects.

Please prepare a one-page letter to the PS of State Department for Environment and Climate
Change summarising the key elements of the projects that fall under the Ministry’s docket.
The Action Document should not be attached to your letter.

Name; 13
Project Officer
EU Delegation to Kenya

Principal secretary
State Department for Environment and Climate Change
Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry

Subject: Project summary of Key Elements Under the EU Action Document- Green Deal
Team Europe Kenya Part ll

Dear Principal Secretary,

I am pleased to share with you a summary of the key components under the EU- funded Green
Deal Team Europe Kenya- Part ll, specifically those aligned with the mandate of the State
Department for Environment and Climate Change.

This Action contributed the MIP 2021-2027 under Priority Area 1: Green Transition-
Environmentally Sustainability and Resilience with a strong focus on supporting Kenya’s
Climate and Biodiversity objectives. The relevant areas of intervention include:
1. Sustainable Management of Natural Capital and Biodiversity
- Enhanced conservation sustainable use of natural resource.
- Improved resilience and preparedness of vulnerable communities in climate affected
areas
- Direct contribution to SDGs, 13,15, and 1

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 2. Green Economy and Climate -Resilient Growth
- Support to inclusive and climate- resilient economic practices
- Promotion of green investment and decent job creation (SDGs 8 and 12)

3. Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate adaptation

- Strengthening community and institutional capacities for climate adaptation
- Integration of disaster risk reduction measures into policy and programming

The EU contribution to this Action amounts to EUR 43 million (EUR 20 million from the 2023
EU budget and EUR 23 million from 2024) within a total envelope of EUR 258 million. The
programme benefits from join co-financing by KfW (EUR 170 million) and other international
financial institutions (EUR 45 million)

This Action is part of a broader Team Europe initiative, reflecting a coordinated and strategic
partnership to support Kenya’s green transition and environmental resilience.

We look forward to further engaging with your department on implementation and alignment
with national strategies.

Yours Sincerely
13
EU Programme Manager

Part 2 – Specialised knowledge

For exercises 3 and 4, there are no background documents provided, and you are expected
to rely on your pre-existing knowledge/experience.
Exercise 3 (in Word)
What do you consider the main challenges facing communities living in the borderland areas
of Northern Kenya and how can EU funded programmes support them address these
challenges? Please limit your answer to one page.

- The borderland regions of Northern Kenya are characterised by multidimensional and

linked vulnerabilities, including acute climate variability, limited access to essential
services, weak infrastructure, food insecurity and chronic investment. These challenges
are compounded by high levels of youth unemployment, gender disparities, fragile natural
resource governance, and competition over land and water- frequently intensified by
displacement and pressure on host-refugee relations.

- In line with the EU’s development priorities- anchored in the NDICI-Global Europe
instrument, the EU Green deal, Gender Action Plan lll, and the join communication on the
Horn of Africa- a comprehensive, inclusive, and conflict- sensitive approach is required,
Interventions must be right based, gender responsive, and aligned with the principles of
effectiveness and the leave No one Behind commitment. Through the programme cycle
identification and formulation to implementation and evaluation- EU action should add
value by promoting coherence, local ownership and sustainable partnerships.

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- EU- funded programme can meaningfully respond to structural drivers of fragility by
supporting climate-resilient livelihoods and promoting sustainable land governance. For
instance, climate-smart agricultural practices and integrated landscape management can
contributed to environmental regeneration and local economic revitalisation. In counties,
such as Turkana, and Marsabit, community- based rangeland and ecosystem restoration
initiatives, supported through devolved governance systems, can build local capacities
while reinforcing social cohesion.

- Besides, fostering green and decent employment opportunities- particularly for youth and
women- through public-private partnerships and improved access to inclusive finance,
including microcredit and digital banking, is central, sectors such as off-grind renewable
energy, ecotourism, and circular agriculture and green growth offer scalable models for
job creation. Cross- border peacebuilding and regional dialogue mechanisms-
implemented in alignment with the IGAD regional strategy and AU Border programme-
are essential to addressing shared resource governance and mobility challenges.

- Mainstreaming gender equality, youth empowerment, environmental sustainability and

human rights throughout programming enhances both impact and legitimacy of EU
support. The deployment of Result oriented monitoring and learning from best practices-
such as those emerging from the EU emergency trust fund for Africa (EUTF)- enable data
-driven decision making and adaptive programming, strengthening capacities of county
governments, community-based organisations, government line ministries, and civil
society ensures accountability, participation and long-term sustainability.

- EU engagement in Norther Kenya’s borderland should pursue and integrated, context

specific, and transformative agenda, leveraging strategic partnership with national
institutions, regional bodies and non-state actors to promote, green growth, resilience
and inclusive development across Kenya.

Exercise 4 (in Word)

You are tasked with preparing a new project to support “A livestock vaccination campaign in
Kenya’ One requirement is to involve private sector actors as much as possible and a project
financing structure that involves both grants and loans.
Please outline, in bullet points, the key elements of the project including the key stakeholders
in the project, their respective roles, as well as a proposed financing structure.

Key elements of the project:

- Objective- improve livestock health, pastoralist livelihoods and resilience climate

related shocks, through an integrated and conflict- sensitive livestock vaccination
- Geographic- Turkana, Marsabit, Wajir and Mandera, with cross-border linkage aligned
with EU and IGAD frameworks.
- Cross cutting themes- gender and youth empowerment, environment, biodiversity
protection, and conflict sensitivity

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Alignment with EU priorities:

- NDICI- Global Europe instrument

- EU Green Deal
- Strategic dialogue with Kenya under the Multiannual Indicative Programme (MIP)
2021-207

Key stakeholders and Roles

Stakeholder Role
County Governments Identification of target pastoral communities, provision
of veterinary extension
Private sector (pharmaceutical, Agri- SMEs, Vaccine supply, cold chain management,
Cold-Chain Providers
Loan financial institutions & MFIs Blended finance coordination and concessional loans
EU delegation to Kenya Programme oversight, coordination with EIB and other
IFIs, and policy dialogue,
IEB/Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) Provision of low interest rates, technical support for
SMEs
Ministry of Livestock and Rangeland Social mobilisation, vaccine awareness, campaigns
FAO, AU-IBAR, IGAD Technical expertise, regional harmonisation of livestock
health standards, One Health strategy

END