Background

Candidates who previously applied need not apply again.

Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) is an expected international mechanism to reward developing countries for reducing their rates of deforestation and forest degradation, and for conserving, sustainably managing and enhancing forest carbon stocks.

The UN-REDD Programme is the United Nations collaborative initiative on REDD+, launched in 2008 and builds on the convening role and technical expertise of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to provide assistance to developing countries in building necessary capacities to engage in REDD+.

As a signatory to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Sri Lanka is committed to addressing the threat of human-induced climate change in all sectors, both by increasing the resilience of its people and environment through measures to decrease and adaptation to the effects of climate change. 

Sri Lanka’s forests can make a significant contribution to this effect through reducing and sequestering carbon emissions and restoring and maintaining key ecological functions such as regulation and provision of water and non-timber forest products to people in both rural and urban areas. This will require sustainable management of forests by all relevant sectors and actors, including the private sector.   The Government, under the leadership of the Ministry of Environment and Renewable Energy (MoERE), seeks to maximize this contribution by developing a national strategy for REDD+. The UN-REDD National Programme (NP) in Sri Lanka was launched on 7 June 2013 to support this effort.

Sri Lanka recognises the critical role key stakeholders such as, but not limited to, indigenous peoples and forest dependent communities, can play in the long-term sustainability and effectiveness of REDD+. In order to build consensus and promote national ownership of the national REDD+ program, the government of Sri Lanka acknowledges the importance of establishing a multi-stakeholder platform that adheres to the principles of consultation, participation and consent. It aims to build institutions and mechanisms that will allow for these open and transparent consultations and participation.

This commitment is in line with the goal of supporting the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Cancun safeguards for REDD+ that require: “Respect for the knowledge and rights of indigenous peoples and members of local communities, by taking into account relevant international obligations, national circumstances and laws, as well as noting that the United Nations General Assembly has adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples [UNDRIP]” and “The full and effective participation of relevant stakeholders, in particular indigenous peoples and local communities.”

UNDP, as the lead agency within the UN-REDD Programme overseeing stakeholder engagement is seeking one (1) National Stakeholder Engagement Officer to advance the work in Sri Lanka. The National Officer will be supervised and guided by the UNDP Technical Advisor, with additional guidance from the UNDP Program Officer and UN-REDD Programme Regional Advisors.

Scope and Objectives

The purpose of this consultancy is to support implementation of stakeholder engagement activities in the UN-REDD National Programme in Sri Lanka. The Stakeholder Engagement Specialist will work with the multiple stakeholders including the Forest Department to achieve the tasks detailed under the Responsibilities section of the Terms of Reference. The position is of full time basis.

The Stakeholder Engagement Specialist will work under the direct guidance of UNDP Technical Advisor for UNREDD programme, with additional guidance from the UNDP Programme Officer and Regional Advisors of the UN-REDD Programme. The Consultant should initiate the activities based on the Terms of Reference and should provide monthly progress reports, not exceeding 4 pages.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Stakeholder Engagement Specialist is an expert in mobilizing multiple stakeholders to achieve a common  development goal in Sri Lanka and  with a good track record of working with the international organizations in a related area. Further s/he will ensure the quality and timely preparation of all reports and documentation related to the consultancy.

 The Stakeholder Engagement Specialist will carry out the following tasks:

 

Support implementation of minimum of 20 stakeholder engagement activities in the UN-REDD National Programme in Sri Lanka

  • Support development of strategies that are gender balanced and will enable the full and effective participation of key stakeholders such as government institutions, forest-dependent communities, indigenous peoples (IP), private sector;
  • Support, maintain and update information and tools that will facilitate effective stakeholder participation such as, but not limited to, stakeholder and network mapping and analysis;
  • Support the development and application of safeguard mechanisms, in particular social safeguards including, but not limited to, a national Free, Prior and Informed Consent guideline and application toolkit;
  • Support the development of an appropriate grievance mechanism for complaints and concerns arising from the NP; and
  • Support effective stakeholder engagement in other activities where necessary, such as, but not limited to, Community-Based REDD+, Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) and Measurement.

Provide support to minimum of 15 coordination processes  to national team, institutional partners and stakeholders

  • Support representation and organisation of key stakeholders such as, but not limited to, Civil Society Organisations (CSO) Platform, IP Forum, private sector;
  • Ensure CSO and IP representatives in the UN-REDD Programme Executive Board are regularly updated on stakeholder engagement related issues by coordinating effectively with their constituencies; and
  • Liaise with key stakeholders to ensure the needs and concerns are appropriately addressed in the work of the NP.

Support minimum of 10 national knowledge generation and sharing events on stakeholder engagement

  • Coordinate with the Communications Officer to ensure the availability and accessibility of information to enhance awareness and capacity among key stakeholders; and
  • Coordinate with the Communications Officer to synthesize lessons and encourage uptake of best practices and knowledge on stakeholder engagement.

Expected Outputs

The key outputs to be delivered by the Stakeholder Engagement Specialist are as follows:

  •  Support implementation of minimum of 20stakeholder engagement activities in the UN-REDD National Programme in Sri Lanka
  • Provide support to minimum of 15 coordination processes to national team, institutional partners and stakeholders
  •  Support minimum of 10 national knowledge generation and sharing events on stakeholder engagement.

Competencies

Technical work

  • Good knowledge of social forestry in Sri Lanka;
  • Specific understanding of the concept and practice of REDD+, and broad knowledge of climate change;
  • Capacity to work with multiple stakeholders across a wide range of disciplines
  • Demonstrated leadership, facilitation and coordination skills, ability to manage technical team and long term strategic partnership; and
  • Demonstrated networking, team-building and organizational skills
  • Excellent communication (both oral and written) and partnership building skills with multi-dimension partners, people skill for conflict resolution and negotiation;
  • Computer proficiency, especially related to professional office software packages (Microsoft Office);

Partnerships

  • Maturity and confidence in dealing with the staff of government institutions and private sector;
  • Ability to seek and apply knowledge, information and best practices from multiple sectors;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
  • Excellent written communication skills, with analytic capacity and ability to synthesize relevant collected data and findings for the preparation of case studies and progress reports;
  • Excellent coordination skills and result oriented collaboration with colleagues – especially for this case the private sector and UNREDD officials. 

Results

    • Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
    • Build strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and respond positively to feedback;
    • Good team player who has ability to maintain good relationships.

    Required Skills and Experience

    Education:

    • A Bachelor’s degree in development, environment, forestry, natural resource management, international development, or related field;

    Experience:

    • At least 5 years of professional and practical experience in social forestry, natural resources management, or development;
    •  Experience in participatory approaches and stakeholder engagement;
    • Working experience with international organizations will be an added advantage

    Languages:

    • English with Sinhala or Tamil.