Turkmenistan is a water stressed country and has one of the harshest climates in the Central Asian region.   Climate change modeling indicates significant increases in temperature and reduction in rainfall. Temperatures are expected to increase by 2°C by 2040, with precipitation declining across all agro-ecological zones by 8-17 percent between 2040 and 2100, which coupled with increase in temperature, will lead to a decrease in total volume of water availability that is likely to have a profound impact on agricultural production systems and local farmers.  The long-term solution envisaged by the Government of Turkmenistan is to mainstream climate change adaptation at the community, district, provincial and national levels in order to secure climate resilient livelihoods in agricultural communities.  To help the Government meet these outcomes, the project will support three inter-related components, namely:

1. Improving climate related socio-economic outcomes in targeted agricultural communities in Lebap and Dashoguz velayats through the implementation of community-based adaptation solutions;
2. Mainstreaming climate adaptation measures in agricultural and water sector development strategy and policy; and
3. Strengthening national capacity for iterative climate change adaptation planning, implementation and monitoring in the country.

The project ‘Supporting climate resilient livelihoods in agricultural communities in drought-prone areas of Turkmenistan’ (SCRL project) will directly strengthen the adaptive capacity and reduce the vulnerability of around 40,000 to 50,000 persons (of which around 51.2% would be women) in the Lebap and Dashoguz velayats by helping them improve the productivity of farm operations, be better prepared for increasing water scarcity and by introducing alternative income sources.  Improved water efficiency and crop production systems will bring approximately 20,000 ha of agricultural and 500,000 ha of pastoral lands under climate resilient technologies resulting in a real net household income increase of at least 15% for participating households (including at least 20% of women-headed households).  The replication potential of successful efficient water management and climate resilient practices and of new climate-friendly sectoral planning, legislative and capacity development measures would indirectly benefit around 500,000 people in Turkmenistan, of which around 50% would be women).

The project will work in two etraps (districts) of the two different velayats (provinces) of Turkmenistan.  These are the Gorogly etrap of Dashoguz velayat and Danev etrap of Lepab velayat. The etraps were identified at the recommendation of the Government. The project has selected three pilot daikhan associations and a livestock farm in the two velayats and will start working with these daikhan associations and farms, including individual farmers/households and private farms, in the initial phase of the project to demonstrate adaptation options for various types of agricultural activities (crop production, horticulture and livestock). The pilots are the Yagtylyk, Abadanlyk and Balysh Ovezov daikhan associations and Garagum livestock (cattle ranch) farm in the Gorogly etrap of Dashoguz velayat and the Vatan, Parakhat and Babadayhan daikhan associations in the Danev etrap and Serdar livestock farm of Chardzew etrap of Lebap velayat.

For more detailed information about this project as well as other UNDP Turkmenistan environmental projects please visit: www.tm.undp.org .

Turkmenistan is a country with a favorable climate for the implementation of gender-sensitive planning and gender-oriented budgeting. As an active participant in the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, adopted in 2015, Turkmenistan is among the first UN member states to officially adopt all 17 points of the SDGs and the 148 targets arising from them, as well as 193 indicators for their practical implementation. In November 2017, a working group was established to implement the SDGs, including SDG 5 (Gender Equality).

The legislation of Turkmenistan actively integrates the gender equality approach and the human rights approach into the regulatory legal documents:

• The Law of Turkmenistan "On State Guarantees for Ensuring Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities for Women and Men" (adopted in 2015);
• National Action Plan for Gender Equality in Turkmenistan for 2020-2024 (adopted in December 2020);
• The new edition of the Constitution of Turkmenistan, which spelled out an article on equality between women and men (2016, Articles 29, 40);
• Law of Turkmenistan "On employment of the population" (2016, article 6 State guarantees in the field of employment);
• Law of Turkmenistan "On the Ombudsman" (2016);
• Adopted and being implemented: "National Action Plan for Human Rights in Turkmenistan for 2021-2025" (adopted in April 2021), "National Action Plan for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings in Turkmenistan for 2020-2022" (adopted in December 2019).

Along with the development of legislation in the field of equal rights and opportunities, Turkmenistan is actively involved in the work of global structures to promote gender rights:

• In 2015, Turkmenistan was elected to the Executive Council of the UN structure for gender equality and the empowerment of women for 2016-2018;
• In 2017, at the UN ECOSOC meeting, Turkmenistan was elected to the Commission on the Status of Women for 2018-2022.

Agriculture is one of the main sectors of the economy to ensure the country's food security. Livestock, wheat and cotton are the main economic activities. Approximately 48% of the population of Turkmenistan lives in rural areas and depends on agriculture for their livelihoods. In addition, a significant proportion of the rural population is particularly vulnerable to socio-economic factors and the impacts of climate change. Since agriculture is one of the most climate-sensitive sectors, climate change is most likely to affect the most vulnerable rural populations and will have a negative impact on economic growth and their livelihoods.

The SCRL project has adopted the approach to involve communities in creating plans to provide local support for effective management of land and water resources in drought-prone areas. Community engagement raises the issue of gender participation. The project integrates and involves women in all project activities, and promotes the participation and role of women in the decision-making processes through several activities:

• Identify specific vulnerabilities and impacts of climate change on women, as part of vulnerability and adaptation assessment in selected communities to identify priority adaptation solutions (completed);
• Develop gender-sensitive local adaptation plans to tackle climate risks (completed);
• Support innovative activities providing alternative income and promoting climate resilient economic life of local communities, taking gender needs and opportunities into account (ongoing);
• Conduct a needs assessment and build institutional capacity and awareness in the agricultural and water sectors to strengthen gender-responsive adaptation planning, including specific training programs;
• Develop protocols for the collection, processing, analysis, use and storage of gender-disaggregated data to promote gender equality in climate change adaptation and resilience activities (completed);
• Strengthen gender-sensitive approaches for mainstreaming climate change adaptation in planning and budgeting within sectoral ministries and departments responsible for water and agriculture management, by providing guidance on conducting assessments of women's needs and the use of sex-disaggregated data in sectoral planning and budgeting, taking into account adaptation issues (current assignment);
• Development and implementation of a Communication and Outreach Strategy to support medium and long term adaptation planning (ongoing).

The ability to measure changes in vulnerability due to ongoing adaptation integration and investment projects, as well as to measure other benefits from sustainable development, requires the establishment of a system of indicators and protocols for data collection and storage, processing, use and verification. In particular, it is necessary: (i) to develop a set of indicators to assess the degree of vulnerability to adaptation measures and resilience to climate change; (ii) establishment of procedures for data collection, data analysis, reporting of results, submission of reports and archiving; (iii) establishing and operationalizing an measurement, review and verification process; (iv) defining coordination procedures for information management between sectoral and administrative organizations; (v) establishing procedures for quality assurance and control; and (vi) establishing a process for ongoing feedback, evaluation and improvement.

As part of project component 2.4, the project will promote the wider adoption of gender-responsive methods in the water and agriculture sectors to:

• (i) achieve greater, more effective, sustainable, and equitable climate change results, outcomes and impacts;
• (ii) build equally women and men’s resilience to, and ability to address climate change, and to ensure that women and men will equally contribute to, and benefit from activities that address climate change;
• (iii) to address and mitigate against assessed potential risks for women and men associated with adaptation activities; and
• (iv) contribute to reducing the gender gap of climate change-exacerbated social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities.

This gender-sensitive approach is necessary because climate change affects women and men differently, and existing gender inequalities are likely to increase in the face of climate change. The project supports the shift of the established system towards the use of adaptation to climate change in the water and agricultural sectors through the development of guidelines and tools (protocols, instructions, etc.) for tackling climate change in the relevant sectors.

The International Consultant to develop conceptual methodological guidelines on the use of gender-disaggregated data (hereinafter referred to as “IC”) will be responsible for providing guidance to water and agriculture sector ministries on identifying and addressing gender specific vulnerabilities and needs, and how to best include these in agriculture sector adaptation planning and budgeting processes.

The IC will work under the direct supervision of the UNDP Project Manager. The SCRL Project Specialist for Land Management, being a member of UNDP Turkmenistan Gender Equality Focus Group, will be responsible for providing guidance during the implementation of the Terms of Reference, in accordance with the tasks and objectives of the project.

The services of the IC will be provided during two phases, each of which contains an identified set of activities:

Activity 1:

• Conduct a rapid analysis of planning and budgeting approaches in the water and agricultural sector in Turkmenistan, with specific focus on gender aspects, based on available documentation provided by the SCRL project and stakeholder consultations, to assess current understanding and capacities for gender-inclusive planning and budgeting;
• Summarize international experiences in gender mainstreaming in climate change adaptation planning and budgeting in the water and agricultural sectors, summarize general considerations and approaches and present a set of best practice case studies;
• Formulate (draft) entry points for strengthening gender considerations in climate change adaptation planning and budgeting in the water and agricultural sectors;
• Present the results of analytical work during a workshop organized by the SCRL project;

Activity 2:

• Develop conceptual methodological guidelines on the use of gender-disaggregated data in sectoral adaptation planning and budgeting for water and agriculture ministries.

Results and Timing:

Activity 1:

• Rapid analysis of planning and budgeting approaches in the water and agricultural sector in Turkmenistan (2 days);
• Review of an international experiences in gender mainstreaming in climate change adaptation planning and budgeting in the water and agricultural sectors (1 day);
• Agenda of the workshop with related materials, presentations, and handouts (2 days);
• A one-day workshop (1 day);
• Progress report, including minutes of the workshop and draft entry points for strengthening gender considerations in climate change adaptation planning and budgeting in the water and agricultural sector (2 days).

Activity 2:

• Final report including conceptual methodological guidelines (4 days).

Location: Home-based. Number of days: 12 days, November-December 2021.

Payment Conditions:

This is a lump sum contract that should include all costs required to produce the above deliverables. The payment shall be released via a bank transfer in one installment. 100% upon submission and UNDP formal acceptance of the deliverable mentioned above.

Corporate Competencies:

• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, age sensitivity/adaptability;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP.

Technical Competencies:

• Experience on gender issues and climate change adaptation planning process;
• Good understanding of climate change issues and climate change adaptation measures;
• Outstanding time-management, organizational and interpersonal skills;

Functional competencies:

• Strong communication and analytical skills;
• Excellent ability to communicate in English both written and spoken
• Good writing skills and computer literacy;
• Ability to meet deadlines;
• Excellent organizational, communicative, time-management and teamwork skills;

Personal Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;
• Positive, constructive attitude to work.

Education:                

• Graduate Degree in the field of social sciences, gender studies, international development, or other related field.

Experience:              

• At least 10 years of practical experience in the development of gender documents, writing analytical reports and training methodology;
• A minimum of 5 years of professional experience in inclusive and sustainable development, including knowledge of gender equality and women's empowerment, as well as substantive participation in multiple assessment processes;
• Working experience in developing countries and CIS countries is an asset. Experience of work in Turkmenistan will be a plus.

Additional requirements:     

• Proficiency in English, knowledge of Russian is a distinct advantage;
• Good analytical and presentation skills.

Submission of applications:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. Cover letter explaining why they are the most suitable candidate for the assignment;
2. A brief description of approach to work/technical proposal on how they will approach and complete the assignment (maximum 1 page);
3. Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability that represents a Financial Proposal with the references to (1) the daily rate for the assignment and within the timing scale indicated in the present TOR, and (2) any other expenses (including transportation costs, accommodation costs, the possibility of vaccination and etc.). Template of the form can be found at: https://www.tm.undp.org/content/turkmenistan/en/home/procurement.html  The UNDP will enter into an Individual Contract based on a lump sum amounts. The financial proposal shall represent a detailed, justified and “all inclusive” amount. In order to assist UNDP in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount, including: a daily fee for the tasks and an estimated duration as specified in this announcement, travel (to and from the missions), per diems, any other possible costs (including vaccinations, dwelling, communication etc.). If an applicant is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the applicant must indicate at this point, that they wish to be contracted in accordance with the Reimbursable Loan Agreement modality;
4. Personal CV Form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees.

Note (Conflict of Interest): Any individual who participated in the project preparation, formulation, and/or implementation (including the writing of the Project Document) is ineligible to participate in this bidding.

Evaluation of proposals:

Individual Consultants will be evaluated based on the combined scoring methodology. When using this method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant and
• Having received the highest score – out of 100 points

Out of the maximum score, the score for technical criteria equals 70% - maximum 70 points, and for financial criteria 30%.

The technical evaluation will take into account the following as per the scoring provided:

Technical criteria-70%, which includes:

• Education in the field of social sciences, gender studies, international development or similar related filed -20 points;
• Professional experience (including climate change adaptation planning)- 20 points;
• Demonstrated experience in in inclusive and sustainable development including gender equality and women's empowerment practices-10 points;
• Working experience in developing countries and CIS countries is an asset- 20 points;
• Methodology – 20 points;
• Additional skills (languages, etc.) – 10 points;

Financial proposal – 30% of total evaluation.

Additional requirements for recommended contractor:

Recommended contractors aged 65 and older, and if the travel is required, shall undergo a full medical examination including x-ray, and obtain medical clearance from the UN-approved doctor prior to taking up their assignment. The medical examination is to be cleared by the UN physicians, and shall be paid by the consultant.