UNDP Jobs - 71995- National consultant for the design of an inter-ins

National consultant for the design of an inter-institutional mechanism for the coordination of the environmental agenda

Location :

Maputo, MOZAMBIQUE

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

10-May-2017

Application Deadline :

08-May-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

45 working days

Languages Required :

English Portuguese

Expected Duration of Assignment :

45 working days

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 welfare of the population of Mozambique, economic growth and its development, including poverty reduction objective, largely depend on the sustainable management of natural resources, ecosystem services and environmental protection. At the same time, Mozambique is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, being a greater treat for its sustainable development.

Human actions, from one way or another, have an impact into the environment; when those are negative, compromise economic performance of the sectors or even third parties’ economic performance that rely on ecosystem services for their survival.

For this reason, along the last years, The Government of Mozambique and its different productive sectors have acknowledged the need to answer these environmental challenges that the country is facing and have increased the attention to management of natural resources, integrating environmental sustainability and adaptation to climate change.

Since PARPA II (2006-2009), environment and climate change have been recognized as cross-cutting issues that play a significant role to reduce poverty; in the current 5 years, governmental programme PQG 2015-2019, transparent and sustainable management of natural resources is presented as one of the five priorities for the Government, reaffirming its commitment with the key component for sustainable development. This commitment has also been manifested trough ratification of several Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), assuming national and international commitments in the environmental arena.

Being the Ministry of Land, Environment and Rural Development (MITADER) the institution with mandate to coordinate the environmental sector, ensure its integration in different productive sectors, ensuring fulfilment of international commitments, acknowledging the cross-cutting nature. hence, to facilitate a better intersectoral coordination, MITADER has elaborated a set of strategic documents and it has coordinated some working groups with involvement of several sectors.

Despite all these efforts, interinstitutional coordination still requires to be strengthened, as the structure is not well defined neither in terms of procedures, information flows between MITADER (coordinating entity) and other sectors, nor in terms of sectorial roles and involvement. These coordination weaknesses make evident the need to improve the join work among institutions, harmonizing plans, sharing responsibilities in a clear and well defined way, to jointly be able to answer the challenges described above.

The MITADER, with technical and financial support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through the “Sustainable management of natural resources for resilient and equitable growth and development project in Mozambique” (SUNRED), aims to analyze current interinstitutional working lines between MITADER and other sectors in order to propose an interinstitutional coordination structure to answer current needs and national and international commitments.

To this, the present Terms of Reference has been designed to hire a national consultant to conduct the below consultancy.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective

The general objective of this consultancy is to design an interinstitutional coordination mechanism, based on institutional mandates and sectorial structures, to properly answer the environmental national and international agenda of the country.

Expected Results

Elaborated a proposal for a functional institutional coordination mechanism, based on institutional mandates and sectorial structure, to be able to answer national and international environmental agenda;
Designed a flow-graph for relevant environmental information sharing between the MITADER and sectorial ministries. The graph should show the current situation (including duplications and gaps), and a new proposal to be included into the institutional coordination mechanisms described above;
Produced an institutional mapping, analyzing institutional mandates and sectorial structures, with the view to answer national and international environmental agenda;
Produced a capacity assessment of technical and institutional sectorial capacities to properly answer to the national and international environmental commitments.

Methodology

To better support and follow up on this consultancy, a technical working group will be established: National Directorate of Environment (DINAB); Directorate of Planning and Cooperation (DPC) and SUNRED technical team.
The DPC will coordinate this process and it will be the liaison between the consultant and other related institutions involved.

Consultant’s tasks

Main tasks:

Identify, in close coordination with the technical working group described above, main sectors to be involved in the consultative process and to be potentially part of the interinstitutional coordination mechanism (taking into consideration, among other criteria, relevance for the implementation of key MEAs already ratified by Mozambique, national and sectorial programmes and strategies and the relevance for environmental integration into the targeted sector). The level of identification should be done in detail, indicating National Directorates or Departments to be involved and based on its mandates and internal regulatory framework.
Analyze institutional mandate of institutions to be involved, structure and potential contribution into the national and international environmental agenda.
Interview main sectors to better understand: i) responsible department/focal point for environmental issues (indicating level within the sectorial structure); ii) internal information flows related to environmental issues; iii) needs of technical orientation related to environmental issues (related to the implementation of any component of the MEAs, related to programmatic integration of environment/climate into sectorial programs/strategies; related to monitoring and reporting, etc.); iv) individual, organizational and institutional capacity needs to better contribute to the national and international environmental agenda;
Interview National Directorates from MITADER, including MEAs focal points, to better understand: i) current working relations with different sectors/institutions; ii) information needed and linkages with different sectors/institutions; iii) current coordination structures (including sectors, issues discussed, etc.)
Based on information gathered, prepare an institutional mapping and a flow graph of current institutional relationships, identifying overlaps and gaps, and produce a proposal of informational flows to answer real needs of information sharing.
Elaborate a report including the results of the technical needs assessment (as described above)
Elaborate a diagnosis of the current situation related to institutional coordination in relation of environmental issues and design a functional interinstitutional coordination mechanism, based on the above analysis.

Deliverables

Language: draft products should be submitted in Portuguese; final documents should be submitted in both languages, English and Portuguese.

Deliverables:

First draft report, including: institutional mapping, flow graph, capacity assessment; diagnosis of the current coordination status; proposal of the new interinstitutional coordination mechanism;
Second draft report, upon integration of feedback from the technical working group;
Presentation of second draft report in different spaces requested by MITADER;
Final report, upon integration of final feedback from the technical working group.

Calendar

The consultancy will cover 45 working days upon signature of the contract.

Consultant’s responsibilities

Submit to the DPC, all deliverables in accordance with the above calendar;
Present the results in all fora created by MITADER for this purpose;
Submit all deliverables in hardcopy (2 copies) and softcopy;
Meet and regularly update the technical working group on progress and as requested by the technical working group;
Keep confidentiality on any aspect of the consultancy. Reproduction or divulgation of total or partial information related to this consultancy is forbidden.

MITADER’s responsibilities (DPC)

Ensure general coordination for this consultancy;
Provide all available information to the consultant to facilitate as much as possible his/her work (information related to MEAs, current situation, etc.)
Facilitate communication between the consultant and National Directorates from MITADER as well as other Ministries/institutions to be consulted;
Organize meetings/events for the presentation of results;
Provide required feedback to draft submitted within 5 working days upon submission.

Application Submission Process:

The application submission is in 2 steps:

Step 1: Interested individual consultants must include the following documents when submitting the applications in UNDP job shop (Please note that only 1 (one) file can be uploaded therefore please include all docs in one file):

Personal History Form (P11), indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the candidate and at least three (3) professional references (the template can be downloaded from this link: http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc).
Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable candidate for the assignment and a methodology on how s/he will approach and complete the assignment.

Step 2: Submission of Financial Proposal

Applicants are instructed to submit their financial proposals, a lump sum, in US Dollars for this consultancy to http://jobs-admin.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?job_id=71995. The proposals should be uploaded as one document with the following subject heading: “Consultant for the design of an inter-institutional mechanism for the coordination of the environmental agenda " by the deadline for this vacancy. Proposals received after the deadline will not be considered. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal should be all-inclusive and include a breakdown. The term ‘all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel related expenses, communications, utilities, consumables, insurance, visa, cost of living in duty station, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Consultant are already factored into the financial proposal.

Competencies

Core

Sound knowledge of results-based management systems, and monitoring and evaluation methodologies;
Strong communication and reporting skills;

Functional

Team management, process management and facilitation skills.

Technical

Excellent reporting and communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Background

Minimum level of master in Social Sciences, Biodiversity, Management of Natural Resources, Environment, Climate Change, or similar areas.

Experience

10 years of proven experience:
Experience in planning, referable in the framework of the public institutions in Mozambique; experience in decentralized planning will be an add-value;
Experience in the Environment, Biodiversity, Climate Change and/or Disaster Risk Reduction and Rural Development;
Experience in elaborating strategies/policies/national plans in the above areas;
Experience in working with the Environment Sector in Mozambique will be an add value;
Experience in facilitation of workshops, training, education, etc. in related areas.

Language

Excellent oral and written skills in Portuguese and English.