UNDP Jobs - 50049- Advisor for REDD+ Community-related Programmes

Advisor for REDD+ Community-related Programmes

Location :

Jakarta, INDONESIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

23-Oct-2014

Application Deadline :

06-Oct-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

3 months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

3 months

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Context of the REDD+ initiative:

Indonesia is the third largest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2) and the world’s largest emitter from agriculture, forestry and other land use. Over the past five years, Indonesia’s annual deforestation rate has averaged around 1 million hectares, which contributes to an estimated 87 percent of Indonesia’s annual emissions. In response to this situation, in 2009, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, made a voluntary commitment to the world to reduce emissions as much as 26 percent under a business-as-usual scenario or up to 41 percent with international support by 2020.

According to the Second National Communication from Indonesia to the UNFCCC, Indonesia is expected to emit around 2.9 million metric tons (gigatons) by 2020 under the business-as-usual scenario. A commitment to reduce that amount by 26 percent would mean a reduction of 0.8 gigatons, while 41 percent would amount to a reduction of 1.2 gigatons. A reduction from an expected 2.9 to 1.7 gigatons by 2020 is a challenging commitment for a country aiming to maintain its 7 percent annual growth rate. Nevertheless, this commitment has been translated into a comprehensive National Action Plan known as RAN-GRK (PP 61/2011).

The National Action Plan for the Reduction of Green-house Gas Emissions (RAN-GRK) estimates that 87 percent of the emission-reduction target - approximately 1 gigaton - relates directly to the forestry and peat land sectors and, to address this, the government has adopted an incentive mechanism to improve management of the country’s vast forest resources while supporting climate-change mitigation. This mechanism, known as REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), has five primary objectives: (a) reduction of deforestation; (b) reduction of forest degradation; (c) conservation of carbon stocks; (d) sustainable forest management; and (e) enhancing carbon stocks.

On 26 May 2010 the Governments of Indonesia and Norway signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to establish a REDD+ Partnership. The first phase of this REDD+ Partnership (Phase 1) was to establish an agency with the capacity to implement and manage REDD+ projects initially in the pilot province Central Kalimantan and progressively in other priority provinces across Indonesia. A Task Force (Satuan Tugas, Satgas) was appointed to support this initial phase and in August 2013 a National REDD+ Agency (Badan Pengelolaan REDD+) was established to coordinate the implementation of REDD+ objectives in Indonesia.

With the establishment of the National REDD+ Agency and subsequent appointment of its deputies, Indonesia is now ready to enter Phase 2 of the REDD+ Partnership. The objective of this phase is to prepare Indonesia for a results-payment modality where contributions from the REDD+ Partnership will be made for verified-emissions reduction. As a part of the plan to achieve this objective, the REDD+ Agency aims to coordinate a broad range of community-based programmes in an effort to ensure the effective participation of local communities in addressing drivers of deforestation and forest and peat-land degradation.

Context of this TOR:

The objectives of the REDD+ modality is not limited to emissions reduction, rather they serves as a critical entry point for realising Indonesia’s aspirations to transition to sustainable development with equity. Environmental sustainability is seen as a means and an objective of equal importance to social equity and continued economic growth. Specifically, tenure clarity and security is a fundamental tenet for successful, equitable REDD+ implementation, as articulated within the National REDD+ Strategy. In addition, a wide body of research from around the world shows that communities with greater tenure security can be better incentivised to manage forest resources sustainably.

In May 2013, Indonesia’s Constitutional Court delivered Ruling No 35/2012 (MK35) on the recognition of the rights of masyarakat hukum adat (MHA, customary communities) to forest land. By reverting ownership of customary forests to adat communities, MK35 confirmed the on-going normative shift towards greater equity in forest management and land distribution in line with the 1945 constitution. MK35 has the potential to further strengthen on-going efforts to achieve democratisation and decentralisation since the end of the New Order regime.

As the second phase of the REDD+ Partnership is poised to start, the REDD+ Agency, together with the President’s Delivery Unit on Development Monitoring and Oversight (UKP-PPP) and the Coordinating Ministry of Social Welfare, has been engaged in facilitating a participatory effort to ensure the implementation of Constitutional Court Ruling 35/2012 (MK35) on the recognition of the rights of masyarakat hukum adat to customary forests. The Coordinating Ministry of Social Welfare, which is tasked with ensuring implementation of the Ruling, has requested the assistance of BP REDD+ to deliver a unified government position and working definition of adat, facilitate the creation of a roadmap agreed upon by all relevant ministries and agencies, and coordinate the implementation of MK35 in a transparent, timely, and effective manner.

More broadly, and in recognition of the potential of REDD+ as a key entry point to the achievement of greater equity and sustainability in natural resource management, in August 2014, nine key ministries signed the Declaration on the National Programme for the Recognition and Protection of Masyarakat Hukum Adat Through REDD+. The Declaration outlines the commitment of the Coordinating Ministry of Social Welfare, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Law & Human Rights, the Ministry of Forestry, the Ministry of the Environment, the National Land Agency, the National Geospatial Information Agency, the National Human Rights Commission, and BP REDD+ to take concrete steps to ensure national efforts, through REDD+, transform forest and natural resource management from being premised upon exploitation and centralisation towards sustainable development with equity.

Objectives of this TOR:

The objective of this assignment is to ensure the successful completion of specific activities towards the realisation of the legal recognition of community land rights to enable increased sustainable management practices of natural resources, as outlined within the Interim Phase agreement between the Government of Indonesia and Norway. Specifically, the objectives of this assignment will support timely progress to achieve the following:

Development of guidelines and draft legislation on the interpretation and implementation of Constitutional Court Ruling 35/2012, and disseminate to relevant stakeholders at the national and sub-national level;
Development of policy briefs on implementing regulations to support Constitutional Court Ruling 35/2012 and disseminate to relevant stakeholders at the national and sub-national level;
Agreement of a working definition of adat by relevant ministries and institutions, and acceleration of the issuance of the draft bill for the Law on the Recognition and Protection of adat community (UU PPMHA);
Development and dissemination of guidelines and draft legislation on procedures to claim and verify adat status, and ensure their adoption by relevant stakeholders at the national and sub-national level; and
Dissemination of information on the implementation and interpretation of Constitutional Court Ruling 35/2012 to international, national, sub-national and community stakeholders in accordance with agreed communication guidelines.

Travel Assignment Details:

The incumbent will be required to travel to eleven provinces to assist in achieving the above objectives. Those eleven provinces are as follows: Aceh, West Sumatera, South Sumatera, Riau, Jambi, East Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, Papua, West Papua, and Central Sulawesi. Duration of travel is three days in each province.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the National Project Manager of the REDD+ Interim Phase and under the leadership of the Deputy for Operations of the REDD+ Agency, the incumbent:

Leads the development of a Strategic and Operational Framework for the REDD+ Agency to support the advancement of the recognition and formalisation of land-area rights (hak wilayah) for indigenous/local communities (masyarakat adat/masyarakat lokal) which involves, among others, the following:

Scoping the specific requirements for the framework including, but not limited to: mapping; conflict resolution, registration and verification; legal certainty and law enforcement; institutional development; socialisation; and funding;
Ensuring the participation of key stakeholders in the development of the framework including, but not limited to, non-government and national and sub-national governments; and
Identifying critical success factors, risks and mitigations, and milestones that are based on local Indonesian circumstances and incorporate broader international experiences and lessons learnt.

Oversees the development of a Work Plan for the REDD+ Agency to implement projects/programmes based on the requirements identified in the above Strategic and Operational Framework as a part of the Indonesia-Norway Phase 2, which entails the following:

Describing specific projects/programmes, their outputs, indicators, baselines and targets;
Detailing timelines and identifying resources available for implementation including partner government and non-government institutions/organisations; and
Preparing an indicative budget for the Work Plan.

Develops a Policy Paper regarding the REDD+ Agency’s position in terms of land-area rights (hak wilayah adat) for indigenous/local communities in the context of REDD+ specifically and sustainable development generally, with the following points included:

The REDD+ Agency’s implementation strategy in the context of national and local jurisdictions and, importantly, its approach to Safeguards and Benefit Sharing;
Current progress and future planning for the advancement of land-area rights for indigenous/local communities and the expected impact on REDD+ implementation and sustainable development; and

The REDD+ Agency’s position with respect to international conventions/agreements, both binding and non-binding, as reflected in its various strategies related to safeguards, benefit sharing and land-area rights.

Deliverables:

Report on Strategic and Operational Framework concerning REDD+ Agency support for the advancement of the recognition and formalisation of land-area rights for indigenous/local communities.
Work Plan for the REDD+ Agency to implement projects/programmes based on the requirements identified in the above Strategic and Operational Framework report.
Policy Paper regarding the REDD+ Agency’s position in terms of land-area rights for indigenous/local communities in the context of REDD+ and sustainable development.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN's values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of the organization;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability; and
Treats all people fairly without favouritism.

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning:
Promotes knowledge management in the organization and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example; and
Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more practice Areas, acts on learning plans and applies newly acquired skills.

· Development and Operational Effectiveness

Ability to conceptualise issues and analyse data;
Ability to coordinate the work of others; and
Ability to implement new systems (business side), and affect staff behavioural/attitudinal change.

Management and Leadership

Builds strong relationships with stakeholders, focuses on impact and results for the stakeholder and responds positively to feedback;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
Leads teams effectively and shows mentoring as well as conflict resolution skills; and
Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
Ability and willingness to work at provincial through village levels and communicate with local government and other key stakeholders;
Ability to learn new material, multi-task, and manage time effectively in a dynamic and fast-paced working environment.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in Public Policy, Human Rights, Natural Resource Management or a closely related discipline;
A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

A minimum of five (5) years of work experience in issues related to minority rights and/or the environment sector;
Demonstrated knowledge of participatory development, minority rights, community-based natural resource management;
Detailed understanding of evolving REDD+ policies and readiness mechanisms, and demonstrated knowledge of the Indonesian REDD+ context.

Language:

Fluency in written and spoken English; and
A working knowledge in Bahasa Indonesia would be preferable but not essential.