Background
Communities Programme (CP) is a multi-year initiative of UNDP in Tajikistan that builds on the previous achievements of UNDP from 1996 and supports working toward the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the implementation of Tajikistan’s Living Standards Improvement Strategy for 2013-2015 (LSIS). The Programme operates at the local level through its five area offices in Sughd and Khatlon regions, and Rasht Valley.
Duties and Responsibilities
The Technical Advisor will provide technical advisory support for the Poverty-Environment Initiative in implementing PEI Phase II.
The Technical Advisor will work under the direct supervision of PEI Coordinator with overall supervision from the CP Manager and oversight of UNDP CO Programme Analyst. This position will provide direct advisory support to CP Senior Local Governance Officer on PEI Phase II implementation, as needed.
- All key documents are reviewed - this, among others, includes the National Development Strategy, Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper-4, District Development Plans (DDP)guidelines, finalized DDPs, project documents of those initiatives with which close collaboration is expected, monitoring frameworks at the national, sector and sub national levels;
- The aim of the secondary review will be to examine how national commitment to environmental protection is prioritized within the planning and budget allocation process;
- Based on the review, the report is produced with gaps identified in relation to what is required for environmental mainstreaming as per PEI objective and “where we are” (current institutional and policy set up for sustainable use of natural resources) in fulfilling those;
- Terms of references are developed for key local and international consultants, especially focusing on Output 3 of PEI Phase II.
- United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF);
- UNDP Country Programme Document (CPD);
- UNDP Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP).
Baseline gender analysis report on P-E issues with focus on identifying gender gaps in access to economic, climate risks and natural resources management, decision making with policy recommendations developed to address gender gaps in formulating gender indicators relevant for P-E mainstreaming into long-term development planning at the national level. The findings of this baseline analysis will feed into follow up project activities on capacity development, strategic documents development and scaling up support.
Trainings are conducted for national, province and district policymakers on integrated, gender responsive and cross-sectoral strategic planning and follow-up supervision by the team of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (MEDT).
A national workshop is organized involving international and national experts to support the MEDT and other related state agencies and CSOs on the integration of P-E issues and opportunities into the new long-term National Development Strategy for the period 2016-2030.
A method is elaborated for the preparation of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) and training(s) are provided to decision-makers in order to improve their capacity to effectively assess economic, social and environmental impacts of national development policy and resulting investments, or, more generally, economic activities. The method is expected to build on best practices and lessons learnt from other countries, in particular EU member states, which highlighted the benefits of SEA in increasing transparency, mainstreaming environmental issues into national policies, and strengthening collaboration among different authorities. A variety of demo pilot SEAs on upcoming projects is initiated in year 2 (2015) to showcase the relevance of the SEA methodology to P-E mainstreaming objectives. Pilot SEAs will be possibly conducted in areas affected by specific poverty and environment concerns.
Continuous support and advice is provided to the national PEI Coordinator in all technical aspects of project implementation.
PEI Phase II exit strategy is developed to ensure sustainability of results achieved within the framework of this initiative.
Competencies
- Professionalism;
- Communication;
- Teamwork;
- Planning &Organization;
- Accountability.
- Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
- Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
- Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
- Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.
Required Skills and Experience
- A post-graduate university degree, masters or above, in any of the following disciplines, Environmental Sciences, Environment Management, Environmental Policy, Natural Resources Management, etc.
- Experience of at least (3) three years of working with ministries of planning and/or environment is highly desirable, especially knowledge of leading policy frameworks and new directions;
- Extensive expertise, knowledge, and experience of not less than ten (10) years in development programming and related issues in various developing country contexts, including thorough understanding of participatory approaches and their application in several countries;
- Well conversant with Strategic Environmental Assessment and extensive experience in related fields such as national development policies and strategies, poverty reduction strategies, policies, monitoring and evaluation and strategic planning, including considerable experience dealing with policy makers at senior level;
- Excellent understanding of the socio-economic policy, development issues and the environment of Tajikistan and the Central Asian region, or relevant related experience in a similar context;
- Experience of working in Central Asia would be an added advantage;
- Knowledge and understanding of international and country-level implementation of small and large development projects and their relation to environment preservation and poverty reduction;
- Extensive experience in scenario development and analysis, including gender equality considerations;
- Extensive experience in developing training modules and facilitating training events;
- Thorough knowledge on development processes, green economy and green accounting concepts, environmental conservation, results-based management and logical framework analysis;
- Experience in institutional coordination and harmonization;
- Relevant experience in skills transfer and building local capacity;
- Excellent presentation and report writing skills.
- Excellent command of spoken and written English;
- Knowledge of Russian or any other local languages is an asset.