UNDP Jobs - 50630- International Consultant for UNDP/GEF Midterm Eval

International Consultant for UNDP/GEF Midterm Evaluator

Location :

Baku, AZERBAIJAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

05-Nov-2014

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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

The project was designed to: reduce vulnerability of the communities of the Greater Caucasus region of Azerbaijan, especially the mountain communities, in case that they are at risk from climate induced flooding and water stress.

Azerbaijan belongs to the world’s water stress countries. With current deficit of water resources being about 5 km3, the additional pressures on water resources due to climate change will seriously affect the rural water supply. The region of Greater Caucasus has been identified as particularly vulnerable in this regard.

Water is unevenly distributed across the seasons and geographic areas in Azerbaijan. Despite an overall trend of rainfall reductions in the country, the mountainous regions of Greater Caucasus experience increasingly prolonged inundations and flash floods during the wet season and extended dry spells during the dry seasons. Variation of water flow may reach 30% between the dry and wet seasons. Paradoxically, most of the quality ground waters are formed in foothills of the Greater and Lesser Caucasus and constitute 24 million m3 (8.8.km3) per year. However, currently, only 20% of a total resource has been used. And as Azerbaijan's Second National Communication (SNC) suggests, with the view of increasing water deficit, the country will have to increase ground water extraction both for irrigation and fresh water supply needs.

The project aims to reduce vulnerability of the mountain communities of the Greater Caucasus region of Azerbaijan to climate change induced water stress and flood hazards by improved water and flood management through addressing the management framework at the legislative and policy level, strengthening institutional capacity by introducing new non- structural methods and providing training and empowering communities to actively participate in water and flood management.

Azerbaijan already has considerable experience of structural measures and therefore the proposed project focuses on non-structural measures. These measures mainly address institutional and management challenges, as well as improving public understanding of the problems and potential solutions, developing both organizational and community involvement in the process and pilot actions to improve micro-watershed management practices with a direct engagement of affected communities. The project proposes to sensitize water management policies and practices to the long-term risks of, and adaptation to, climate change. Other aspects of flood mitigation and reduction of water stress, such as improved land use management and flood zoning, also require the sensitization of both government and civil society and these tend to have become secondary considerations in water management.

Duties and Responsibilities

Review the problem addressed by the project and the underlying assumptions. Review the effect of any incorrect assumptions or changes to the context to achieving the project results as outlined in the Project Document;
Review the relevance of the project strategy and assess whether it provides the most effective route towards expected/intended results;
Review how the project addresses country priorities;
Review decision-making processes: were perspectives of those who would be affected by project decisions, those who could affect the outcomes, and those who could contribute information or other resources to the process, taken into account during project design processes.

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.

Functional competencies:

Ability to work in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams;
Ability to work under pressure against strict deadlines;
Ability to present complex issues persuasively and simply;
Ability to think strategically;
Computer literacy and good report writing skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

An academic degree in social sciences, project assessment, civil-engineering.

Experience:

Recent experience (minimum 5 years) with result-based management evaluation methodologies and applying SMART indicators, reconstructing or validating baseline scenarios;
Experience working with the GEF or GEF-evaluations;
Work experience in relevant technical areas for at least 10 years (sustainable management of natural resources and/or productive systems);

Language skills:

Full working knowledge of spoken and written English, including the ability to draft and edit project documents.