UNDP Jobs - 80951- Senior Environmental Legal Expert

Senior Environmental Legal Expert

Location :

Mogadishu with possible travel to the regions, SOMALIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

22-Oct-2018

Application Deadline :

20-Sep-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

4 Months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

4 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

Somalia’s environment was severely degraded during the decades long civil strife due to the absence of governance and enforcement. In the absence of an effective government, many traditional forms of natural resource management and enforcement mechanisms have been abandoned or are currently ignored. Unsustainable exploitation and loss of natural resources and biodiversity is prevalent. Huge areas that were once tree-covered rangelands have been reduced to treeless plains; the result has been disappearing wildlife and soil erosion. Scarcity of fresh water, severe erosion such as gullying, land degradation for charcoal production and siltation of water bodies are also major issues. The adverse impacts of climate change have also exacerbated the rate of environmental degradation in Somalia.

Environmental degradation and mismanagement of natural resources are severely jeopardizing Somalia´s economy. Approximately 70% of Somalis are dependent on climate-sensitive agriculture and pastoralism. As floods and droughts become more severe and frequent in Somalia, there is a need to find approaches that can reduce the sensitivity of farmers and pastoralists to increasing rainfall variability. With natural resource degradation also rampant throughout Somalia, most notably for the production of charcoal, Somalia is becoming increasingly vulnerable to conflicts over scarce resources. Climate change and resource scarcity are aggravated by the absence of policies and regulatory frameworks on environmental management, land-use and disaster risk management that incorporate impacts of climate change and build resilience across Somalia to better cope with these impacts. At local levels, communities lack the financial, technical and informational resources needed to build their resilience to climate change as well as the knowledge of how to prepare for extreme weather impacts.

To address these issues, Global Environment Facility-Least Developed Countries Climate Fund (GEF-LDCF) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is financing a national project on “Enhancing Climate Resilience of Vulnerable Communities and Ecosystems in Somalia”. The main objective of the Project is to enhance resilience and improve adaptive capacity of vulnerable Somali communities in pilot areas, and the ecosystems on which they depend, to the adverse impacts of climate change. This objective is to be realised by working on set of activities under two main components:

Component 1: Enhancing policies, institutional frameworks and government capacities with focus on review, revision, development and adoption of policies, plans and tools to mainstream and enhance adaptive capacity and mitigate the risks of climate change on vulnerable communities and critical ecosystems.

Component 2: Piloting Ecosystem Based Adaptation strategies with focus on development and implementation of models of community and ecosystem resilience in pilot areas in collaboration with the government and community stakeholders.

Duties and Responsibilities

The scope of the current assignment is to develop National Environment Policy and environmental management bill for Somalia, taking into account the sectoral vulnerabilities, gender dimensions of climate change, impacts and costs for adaptation. As such, this assignment falls under Component 1 of the Project. The national environment policy and the subsequent environmental management act are aimed at addressing the pressing environmental challenges by improving the coordination and integration on the implementation of environment related policies, legislation, and sectoral strategies and plans so as to promote conservation, protection and sustainable management of the country’s environment in line with National Development Plan (NDP).

The consultant will draft the National Environment Policy and National Environmental management bill that is cognizant of the context and challenges in Somalia. The National Environment policy will include but not be limited to situation analysis, goal objectives and guiding principles, sustainable management and use of natural resources, environmental stewardship, environmental and health, environmental governance, Research, Education and M&E and implementation strategy. Specific tasks as grouped under components would include:

1) National Environment Policy

Undertake a desk study reviewing existing policies, laws and other instruments related to environment and natural resources management and draft sections of the policy related to the literature review;
Preparation of a semi-structured questionnaire to collect firsthand information from the key government functionaries dealing with national planning, natural resources management, disaster management, law enforcement, youth, women affairs, human rights, internally displaced persons, external affairs, etc.;
Prepare presentations, facilitation guidelines and other tools for conducting workshops with the key civil society organizations, academia, research organizations, representatives of agriculture communities, representatives of pastoral communities, organisations working on gender issues and media to collect the evidence on the extent of sensitisation about environment and natural resource management and the general understanding of the cross section of Somali society on the possible alternatives for environmental and natural resource management;
Carry out consultations and prepare a draft report incorporating comments and feedback from colleagues and stakeholders;
Prepare draft policy document containing all the relevant sections including but not limited to situation analysis, goal objectives and guiding principles, sustainable management and use of natural resources, environmental stewardship, environmental and health, environmental governance, Research, Education and M&E and implementation strategy;
Validation of National Environmental Policy: Provide support for the validation of the draft National Environmental Policy with the representation of high officials from the key ministries of the Government; and
Approval and Adoption of the National Environmental Policy: Support Office of the Prime Minister in presenting the National Climate Change Policy to the Federal Cabinet and announce its adoption after following the due process.

1.1 Draft National Environmental Management bill – in consultation with the Committee for Natural Resources and Environment of the Federal parliament of Somalia

Review the existing National and state level environment and Conservation related strategies, policies and action plans with the aim of establishing its inclusiveness and or exclusiveness in addressing environmental emerging issues;
Review of environmental related legal instruments with the view of determining their relationship with the envisaged Environmental Management Bill;
Consider existing Environmental Management Bill drafts in developing the inception report;
Undertake consultations with all relevant stakeholders (federal and state level institutions, private sector, NGO/CSO and other stakeholders) through meetings, workshops and other appropriate forums as agreed, on the relationship between their related environmental instruments with Environmental Management Bill and gather and incorporate their views on the draft Environmental Management Bill with particular focus on institutional reforms, harmonization, coordination and environmental governance;
Draft the Environmental Management Bill;
Make presentations on the deliverables to the UNDP Somalia and Office of the Prime Minister; and
Provide an Implementation Plan for the Environment Management Bill.

Institutional arrangements

The Environmental Legal expert will report to the following:

Portfolio Manager, Resilience and Climate Change, UNDP, Somalia Office; and
Office of the Prime Minister, Federal Government of Somalia and will submit monthly updates to the above officials during the course of assignment.

NB: The draft Policy documents will be articulated in line with GEF/LDCF/UNDP procedures. The draft Policy documents will be reviewed by the Regional Technical Advisor for quality assurance. A validation workshop will be organised under the auspices of the National Committee on Environment and natural resources for Somalia chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister for environment to present, discuss and endorse the final draft of the

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates commitment to UNDP´s mission, vision and values;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Highest standards of of integrity, discretion and loyalty.

Functional Competencies:

Familiarity with the Somalia context;
Excellent communication and presentation skills;
Experience in formulating multi-dimensional projects in line with UNDP/GEF/LDCF procedures;
Experience of effective interaction with policy makers, UN agencies, donors, communities, civil society organisations, private sector;
Excellent usage of computers and office software packages;
Possesses proven ability to analyze from a global perspective, with the ability to offer practical policy advice on economic issues based on local realities; and
Possesses ability to analyse the root causes of the issues and come up with an implementable set of interventions in the context of environmental issues in Somalia;

Required Skills and Experience

Education

The Environmental legal expert should have Advanced university degree in law, environmental law, international law and policy, and natural resources management (land, water, forestry, biodiversity etc.).

Experience

10 years’ experience in development of legal and policy documents in the environment sector;
Knowledge of the environmental challenges in Somalia;
Experience in drafting and/or reviewing national legislation;
Specialization in policy formulation, implementation and institutional capacities development with good comprehension about the main areas of project focus, i.e., environmental challenges, latest discussions and global agreements on sustainable development and climate adaptation and mitigation in the context of Least Developed Countries or fragile States;
Excellent english language communication skills (written and spoken) as well as computer literacy. Ability to communicate in Somali will be of added advantage; and
Past experience of working with multi-sectoral teams;

Language Requirements:

Fluency in the English Language (both written and spoken).

The selection of consultant will be aimed at maximizing the overall qualities in the following areas:

Criteria A: Advanced university degree in law, environmental law, international law and policy, and natural resources management (land, water, forestry, biodiversity etc.). -maximum points 10;
Criteria B:Professional experience and knowledge of the environmental challenges in Somalia as well as experience in drafting and/or reviewing national legislation– max points: 15;
Criteria C: Specialization in policy formulation, implementation and institutional capacities development with good comprehension about the main areas of project focus, i.e., environmental challenges, latest discussions and global agreements on sustainable development and climate adaptation and mitigation in the context of Least Developed Countries or fragile States– max points: 20;
Criteria D: Experience in formulating multi-dimensional projects in line with UNDP/GEF/LDCF procedures- max points: 20;
Criteria E: Experience of effective interaction with policy makers, UN agencies, donors, communities, civil society organisations, private sector – max points: 20;
Criteria F: Excellent english language communication skills (written and spoken) as well as computer literacy. Ability to communicate in Somali will be of added advantage- max points: 10; and
Criteria G: Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages – max points: 5;

Application process
Recommended Presentation of Proposal:

Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template on this link provided by UNDP; http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=45780
CV and or Personal History Form on this linkprovided by UNDP; http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=146298 ;
Brief description of approach to work/technical proposal of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a proposed methodology on how they will approach and complete the assignment;
Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price and all other travel related costs (such as flight ticket, if applicable, per diem, etc), supported by a breakdown of costs.

Criteria for Evaluation of Proposal: Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated. Offers will be evaluated according to the Combined Scoring method – where the educational background and experience on similar assignments will be weighted at 70% out of the total passing score of 100 points and the price proposal will weigh 30% of the total of 30 points. The applicant receiving the Highest Combined Score that has also accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions will be awarded the contract.