UNCDF Jobs - 60524- Consultant - Climate Change Adaptation Mainstreami

Consultant - Climate Change Adaptation Mainstreaming and Local Development Planning/Budgeting

Advertised on behalf of

UNCDF

Location :

Home-based with with Travel to Countries Where LoCAL Operates in Africa (Benin, Mali, Niger, Ghana, and 2-3 Additional Countries)

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

14-Oct-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

up to 50 days intermittent

Languages Required :

English French

Expected Duration of Assignment :

up to 15 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

UNCDF works with local and central government institutions to improve the capacity of local governance institutions in planning, public expenditure management, procurement and delivery management and other areas related to the application of development capital and other resources.

UNCDF is supporting an expanding portfolio of programmes in all regions that provide capital resources to local governance processes to enable them to meet the challenges of poverty reduction, the Millennium Development Goals and climate change. These programmes promote local level public financial management and decentralized governance responses to these challenges.

In Asia – Pacific and Africa, the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) aims to promote climate change resilient communities in economies by increasing financing for and investment in climate change adaptation at the local level in least developed countries, thereby contributing to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly the specific goals of poverty reduction (MDG1) and environmental sustainability (MDG7).

LoCAL focuses on the delivery of three outputs that will directly contribute to increasing local governments’ access to climate finance and building resilience to climate change:

Output 1 – Climate change adaptation is mainstreamed into local government’s planning and budgeting systems;
Output 2 – Increased awareness and support for the role of local government in climate change adaptation;
Output 3 – Increased amount of finance available to local governments and local economy for climate change adaptation and resilience.

The LoCAL approach entails into capacity building of local governments and operates through Performance Based Climate Resilience Grants (PBCRG).

LoCAL works in three phases.

Phase I: Following scoping, the first phase entails testing in a small number (2-3) of local governments. Phase I is usually financed directly with the LoCAL global project seed capital and has a budget of less than USD 250,000. It can include co-financing from government or other partners. Phase I introduces the Performance-Based Climate Resilient Grant (PBCRG) over one or two fiscal cycles; it tests the minimum conditions and performance measures of the PBCRG and the relevance of the menu of investments (eligible adaptation measures). It provides the necessary experience and lessons for the refinement of the approach and the design of phase II in conjunction with the appropriate national authorities and partners. Countries under phase I include Benin, Bangladesh, Mali, Mozambique, Lao PDR, Niger, Nepal, Solomon Islands and Ghana.

Phase II: Phase II takes place in around 5% to 10% of local governments (of the appropriate tier) in a country. Phase II is usually financed by UNCDF together with financing partners and has a budget of up to USD 5 million. Funding can come directly through the LoCAL project or through parallel financing if government or other development partners make resources available to the LoCAL methodology. The purpose of this phase is to demonstrate the effectiveness of LoCAL and create the conditions for a full national rollout of the approach. Countries under phase II include Bhutan and Cambodia.

Phase III: Phase III consist of a full national rollout of the PBCRG in the country based on the results and lessons of the previous phases. It is gradually extended to all local governments (of the appropriate tier). Phase III is expected to be financed by central government through a re-adjustment of the architecture of existing resources to enable financing of local adaptation, as well as through financing from international organizations, financing institutions and funds such as the Green Climate Fund.

The portfolio of national LoCAL initiatives in Africa and the in-country teams require technical advice and support in the field of climate change adaptation mainstreaming into local development planning and budgeting.

Support in these areas is required for a number of projects in the region (Bénin, Mali, Niger, Ghana, and 2-3 additional countries) and for global, regional and thematic activities related to these.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of the Assignment:

The objective of this consultancy is to support the LoCAL portfolio of programmes in Africa to integrate climate change adaptation into local development planning and budgeting by providing high level professional and technical assistance to beneficiary countries in respect to:

Supporting the implementation of phase I in selected countries, at the various stages of the process (i.e. assessments and planning; financing and budgeting; implementation of adaptation measures; performance assessments and reporting);
Supporting the design of phase II in selected countries taking into account experience and lessons learned in the countries and by LoCAL more broadly;
Scoping candidate countries, assessing the conditions to successfully launch and implement a LoCAL project in the countries.

Scope of Work:

Working under the direct supervision of the LoCAL Project Manager (Africa) in close collaboration with the governments and UNCDF country teams, the consultant will be responsible for providing a high level of professional and technical support to programmes as required.

Supporting the implementation of LoCAL phase I in selected countries, at the various stages of the process (i.e. assessments and planning; financing and budgeting; implementation of adaptation measures; performance assessments and reporting) including:

Identifying needs and (technical and management) capacities of local and national stakeholders involved in LoCAL;
Reviewing available local climate change information and vulnerability and adaptation assessments and highlighting gaps in terms of information, systems or guidance;
Contributing to the development of climate change adaptation plans and programmes;
Supporting and delivering technical and management inputs on the integration of climate change adaptation in local development plans, investments plans and projects and budgets;
Contributing technical advice and supporting the selection and costing of adaptation measures in line with the LoCAL investment menu and their inclusion in the local investments plans and budgets;
Supporting the strengthening of public financial management systems for climate change. This includes for example creation of budget codes, development or revision of guidelines and manuals, integration of climate change in tendering and procurement processes, reporting practices, etc.;
Developing performance assessment manuals for performance-based climate resilient grants (PBCRGs) with a view to inform and/or be integrated in the national inter-governmental fiscal transfer systems;
Promoting participatory approaches at all steps of the process;
Documenting experiences, lessons learned and best practice, thereby contributing to the development of knowledge and communication products.

Supporting the design of phase II in selected countries taking into account experience and lessons learned in the countries and by LoCAL more broadly by:

Collecting, reviewing, and documenting LoCAL experiences and lessons learned;
Reviewing and making recommendations to revise as appropriate the key elements of the LoCAL approach (minimum conditions, performance measures, triggers for fund transfers, investment menu, roles of partners and stakeholders, financial circuit used for the LoCAL grant transfer);
Carrying out scoping missions to selected countries assessing the conditions to successfully launch and implement a LoCAL project in the countries, with a focus on analyzing/understanding/assessing;
Ecosystems’ and populations’ vulnerabilities;
Decentralization strategies and inter-governmental fiscal transfer systems;
Climate related institutions and strategies;
Local governments awareness and capacities for climate change adaptation planning and mainstreaming into local development planning and budgeting;
The potential for technical and financial partnerships; and
The commitment of local government and central agencies to LoCAL;
Carrying out other relevant tasks as assigned by the LoCAL Project Manager (Africa).

In performing the tasks, the incumbent will, inter alia, undertake, organize or facilitate consultations, training and planning workshops, and on-the-job learning.

Duty Station and expected places of travel:

Home based with extensive travel to countries where LoCAL operates (Bénin, Mali, Niger, Ghana, and 2-3 additional countries);
The schedule of travel will be agreed on with the incumbent according to the requirements of each programme country;
A set of clear deliverables, budget and timelines will be prepared and agreed prior to each mission within the terms of this ToR.

Final Products:

A descriptive and analytical back to the office report following each assignment that provides full details of the mission schedule, copies of substantive inputs produced and recommendations for follow up action;
Substantive reports and other inputs as requested by the LoCAL Project Manager based on the ToR of the specific assignment.

Monitoring and Progress Controls:

A schedule of days worked, outputs produced and costs incurred will be monitored by the LoCAL Project Manager (Africa) in close consultation with the Country Technical Advisor/Programme Officer in the country office.

Payments will be authorized by the LoCAL Project manager based on satisfactory of deliverables received.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty;
Strong communication and interpersonal skills;
Sensitivity to diverse opinions and difficulties arising from differing social and cultural perception.

Functional Competencies:

Strong analytical skills;
Strong writing skills and track record in producing relevant reports and other communications and knowledge materials.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Postgraduate degree in Environmental Science or Management, Climate Change, International Development, Public Management, Economics or other related fields.

Experience:

At least 10 years of professional experience in the fields of local development, decentralization and/or environment and climate change adaptation with a specific emphasis on local or climate governance, adaptation and development planning, public financial management/budgeting, climate finance, and/or climate change mainstreaming;
Experience in capacity development and institutional strengthening in developing countries, ideally in the context of decentralization processes and/or climate change adaptation;
Experience in organizing and facilitating consultations and workshops;
Experience with performance-based grants and similar tools like budget support, ideally for climate change adaptation;
Work experience in Africa, ideally working with a number of the LoCAL countries.

Languages:

Fluency in French and English is required;
Knowledge of Portuguese is an asset.

Evaluation Scoring:

Technical evaluation based on competencies, experience and education (70%);
Financial evaluation based on daily fee quoted by applicant (30%).

Total score: 100%.

Evaluation criteria with scoring:

Postgraduate degree in Environmental Science or Management, Climate Change, International Development, Public Management, Economics or other related fields – 20;
At least 10 years of professional experience in the fields of local development, decentralization and/or environment and climate change adaptation with a specific emphasis on local or climate governance, adaptation and development planning, public financial management/budgeting, climate finance, and/or climate change mainstreaming –20;
Experience in capacity development and institutional strengthening in developing countries, ideally in the context of decentralization processes and/or climate change adaptation –20;
Experience with performance-based grants and similar tools like budget support, ideally for climate change adaptation –15;
Work experience in Africa, ideally working with a number of the LoCAL countries –10;
Strong analytical and writing skills and track record in producing relevant reports and other communications and knowledge materials -5;
Strong communication and interpersonal skills and experience in organizing and facilitating consultations and workshops – 5;
Fluency in French and English is required. Knowledge of Portuguese is an asset –5.

Applicants obtaining 70% of the combined total technical points will be considered for financial evaluation. Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal of those technically qualified.

Please submit: Updated UN Personal History form (P11) and CV: http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/corporate/Careers/P11_Personal_history_form.doc.