Background
Climate change has emerged as one of the most significant challenges that economies and societies are facing globally. Although Cambodia is a very small emitter of greenhouse gases, it is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change impacts. For this reason, Cambodia has engaged actively in multilateral efforts to combat climate change and advocated for ambitious action and adequate financing and technology transfers to developing countries. At the same time, the Cambodian Government has gradually increased its own spending on climate-relevant actions, and climate public expenditure represented 2.2% of GDP in 2020. The trend towards a green economy is also an opportunity for Cambodia to seize, to insert the country into new value chains around low carbon technologies.
Members of Parliament and Parliamentary staff have an important role to play in the climate change response, including liaising with their constituency on their needs, disseminating key messages, incorporating climate change concerns in legislation and budgetary decisions, and assessing effectiveness of climate change measures in their constituencies.
Recent interactions between Ministry of Environment and MPs on climate change, such as the recent workshop with the 3rd Commission of the National Assembly on climate change and protected areas on 10 March 2022, have confirmed interest from MPs for the development of a handbook for parliamentarians on climate change, and related trainings.
In this context, the regional UNDP-Sweden project on the Governance of Climate Change Finance is looking for a qualified national consultant to deliver the planned support to the National Assembly, in cooperation with UNDP and the Ministry of Environment.
Duties and Responsibilities
The main objective of the assignment is to develop the capacity of MPs and National Assembly staff to play their role in the climate change response in line with their mandate, through training and development of a climate change handbook for parliamentarians.
The national consultant is expected to take roles and responsibilities as follows:
Initial analysis, consultations and work planning
- Map the roles of MPs in Cambodia, at the various stages of the legislative and budget process (interaction with their constituents, role in policy dialogue and proposing legislation, role in reviewing and approving legislation including national budget, role in monitoring), and identify entry points for them to incorporate climate change in their work;
- Review evidence from the Third Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices study and other relevant research on capacity development needs for parliamentarians on climate change;
- Consult closely with designated National Assembly focal points and Department of Climate Change (DCC) staff to gather their views on potential entry points and capacity development needs of parliamentarians and their staff in relation to climate change;
- Based on this initial analysis and consultations, as well as guidance received from the UNDP regional expert, propose a detailed work plan for the assignment, together with a draft outline for the handbook.
Drafting of the handbook for parliamentarians
- In line with the agreed outline and with guidance from the UNDP regional expert, draft a user-friendly and visually appealing handbook in Khmer;
- The handbook shall include at a minimum:
- Basics of climate change (science, international agreements), and how it affects Cambodia;
- Concrete “How to” guidance for Parliamentarians for each of the entry points identified under (1) above, with simple tools that they can use as needed.
- Consult with designated National Assembly focal points and Department of Climate Change to ensure that the contents of the draft handbook are in line with their expectations and needs;
- Review translation of the handbook in English (to be done separately by a translator) to ensure consistency with the original Khmer version.
Delivery of training on the handbook
- Lead the design of a one-day consultation and training workshop to concerned MPs and their staff, combined with a one-day field visit to climate change related activities, with MOE/DCC staff contributing as additional resource persons, as needed;
- Lead the delivery of the workshop and field visit, which should also include discussions with MPs and staff on next steps they intend to take in 2022 to implement the handbook’s guidance.
Debriefing session with parliamentarians and staff
- In the final quarter of 2022, design and lead a half-day debriefing session with concerned parliamentarians and staff on their implementation of the handbook’s guidance;
- Present key lessons learned and recommendations for next steps in a short report to MoE and UNDP.
Interested offeror must read the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice, which can be viewed at https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=92036 for more detail information about term of reference, instructions to offeror, and to download the documents to be submitted in the offer through online.
Competencies
- Strong interpersonal skills, communication and diplomatic skills.
- Ability to interact with senior government officials;
- Openness to change and ability to receive and integrate feedback.
- Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities.
- Excellent speaking and presentation skills.
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
- Master’s degree in public policy, development studies, political science, climate change or closely related subjects.
Experience:
- Minimum 5 years of experience in public administration, parliamentary affairs, planning and budgeting processes;
- Experience on climate change and/or environmental issues in Cambodia preferred;
- Experience drafting guidance documents, manuals or handbooks for public servants or development practitioners, and delivering related trainings;
Language Requirement
- Fluency in spoken and written English and Khmer required
Please be informed that we don’t accept application submitted via email.
Interested individual offeror must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:
1. Proposal: Letter of explaining why they are most suitable for the work
2. Financial proposal (Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP)
3. Personal CV including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references
Interested Offerors are required to submit application via UNDP jobsite system as the application screening and evaluation will be done through UNDP jobsite system. Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file. Your on-line applications submission will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an e-mail acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary. Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.
Any request for clarification/additional information on this procurement notice shall be communicated in writing to UNDP office or send to email chanpisey.ky@undp.org and cc procurement.kh@undp.org . While the Procurement Unit would endeavor to provide information expeditiously, only requests receiving at least 5 working days prior to the submission deadline will be entertained. Any delay in providing such information will not be considered as a reason for extending the submission deadline. The UNDP's response (including an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of inquiry) will be posted in Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice page as provided above. Therefore, all prospective Offerors are advised to visit the page regularly to make obtain update related to this Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice