Background

The Government of Mongolia has committed to a green development pathway, notably through the preparation and approval of the Green Development Policy, Forest Law and commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals in Mongolia. REDD+ has the potential to contribute to green development by protecting and sustainably managing Mongolia’s forests and associated ecosystem services, while reversing land degradation, promoting the improvement of rural livelihoods and aiding adaptation to climate change.        

To support this effort, the UN-REDD Mongolia National Programme was established to provide technical capacity development assistance to the Government of Mongolia. It will focus on designing and implementing the National REDD+ Strategy and in meeting the international requirements under the Warsaw Framework for REDD+ in-order to receive results-based finance. 

One of the key components of the REDD+ readiness process is to identify public policy approaches and interventions. These include incentive mechanisms to effectively address key drivers and causes of deforestation and forest degradation (D&D). Such policy approaches and interventions are called REDD+ policies and measures (hereafter referred to as PAMs).  Clear understanding of the current legal, policy and institutional framework, existing and planned activities of the public and private sectors in relation to the key drivers and causes of D&D is required in order to identify PAMs, and an initial analysis has been undertaken. PAMs are set of specific adjustments to be made in the existing framework and actions to be taken on the ground. To ensure long lasting results, these need to be fully aligned with Mongolia’s key national development strategies.

In this study, PAMs are to be identified and prioritised, as a set of principles of action adopted by the Government, and specific plans of action in order to implement them.  As such, the identification and prioritisation of PAMs is a cornerstone of the national REDD+ strategy.  The UN-REDD Mongolia National Programme (NP) seeks an international consultant on REDD+ policies and measures to provide conceptual leadership to guide the work of national experts and Project Management Unit (PMU) to deliver below described expected results based on international best practices.  The work will also be supported by UN-REDD Mongolia National Programme PMU and one National Consultant. The National Consultant will lead the organisation and facilitation of workshops to be conducted and assume leadership for discussions with key stakeholders. The National Consultant will contribute to the final report and collate / analyse documents and policies from Mongolian Government that are of relevance. It is expected that the International Consultant will work directly with the National Consultant to ensure that the deliverables are completed.

Duties and Responsibilities

The International consultant will generate information partly through this study and drawn from other work. For instance, tentative information on policy implications of PAM’s and identification of drivers of deforestation and degradation is available in an ongoing study on drivers of forest change. The ongoing institutional and stakeholder assessment will provide information on feasibility of implementing the policies and measures.  The International consultant will lead the process of identification and prioritisation a set candidate PAMs. He/she will lead a multi-stakeholder consultation process using a strategic process using criteria for prioritisation at the national and sub-national levels. The International consultant will provide key conceptual guidance on the process. The International consultant will lead the preparation of written deliverables, including final report, and assume ultimate responsibility of the overall study.        

The International consultant will be expected to do the following: 

• To undertake a rapid analysis of the existing policy, legal and regulatory framework to ascertain strength / weaknesses and opportunities of existing policies or measures in addressing direct or indirect drivers of deforestation / forest degradation;
• To generate an initial set of candidate PAMs to address those identified deforestation and forest degradation drivers and barriers to forest enhancement based on consultation and relevant sources of information; 
• To prioritize the identified PAMs by criteria, importance and financing sources, including monitoring and re-prioritisation mechanism;
• To assess the feasibility of candidate PAM’s and provide information on cost implications, carbon and non-carbon benefits;
• Develop recommendations for follow up planning for prioritising PAMs into the Government’s regular programme development and budgeting processes (with an aim to set a stage for a follow up study on REDD+ financial planning and fund management);  
• Facilitate discussions among key stakeholders on assessment results to derive a set of prioritised PAMs through at least two consultation workshops.  

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

The contracted team of international and national consultants will deliver the following items; all items will be validated through a consultation and review process, and with final approval from PMU technical staff, in particular the Chief Technical Advisor.    

Institutional Arrangement  

• The international consultant will work closely with and under the overall guidance of the Governance Coordinator and Chief Technical Advisor of the UN-REDD Mongolia National Programme, Environmental Team Leader, UNDP CO and Regional Technical Advisor, UN-REDD Programme;    
• All deliverables will be approved by Chief Technical Advisor, UN-REDD Mongolia National Programme and Environmental Team Leader, UNDP CO.  
• The International consultant will coordinate the work and provide technical guidance to the national consultant to deliver above described outputs.    
• Logistical support such as translation and organization of meetings will be provided by UN-REDD Mongolia National Programme management unit.

Duration   

• The work is expected to start in August 2016 and be concluded by November, 2016.
• This work will require approximately 60 working days over 4 months.   

Duty Station and Travel

The international consultant will be home-based and carry out two missions to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.  It is expected that the two trips will be conducted (in August and October) and will not count for more than 20 days in total.       

Travel:

• Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries;
• Consultants are required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under https://dss.un.org/dssweb.

Application and Recommended Presentation of Offer  

Qualified and interested candidates are requested to apply on-line using this site www.jobs.undp.org

Due to limitation in uploading several documents, applicants are advised to compile all documents into a single attachment and upload the attachment while applying on line.

Technical proposal:

• Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;  
• Personal CV or 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;
• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology on how the Candidate will approach and complete the assignment. Applicant shall also submit a draft work plan;   

Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided (downloadable from UNDP Mongolia website).  The term “all inclusive” implies all cost (professional fees, travel costs, living allowances etc.). If an Offeror 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 Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.  

While preparing your proposal, kindly note that the standard for all travel authorized by UNDP for individual subscribers is economy class and the UN’s Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) rates USD197 for Ulaanbaatar and USD72 for the country side in the project target sites, which should provide indication of the cost of living in a duty station/destination. Individuals on this contract are not UN staff and are therefore not entitled to DSAs.  All living allowances required to perform the demands of the ToR must be incorporated in the financial proposal.

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

Criteria for selection of the best offer will be based on Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a maximum of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a maximum of 30%.     

Payment schedule

The UNDP standard method of payment is the output-based lump-sum scheme and the payment will be made in the installments upon successful submission of the deliverables shown in the table under Outputs and Deliverables.  

Annexes to the TOR (downloadable from UNDP Mongolia Website)

Annex one includes brief information about PAMs and methodologies samples.    

Annex two includes Technical criteria for International Consultant on REDD+ Policies and Measures. 

Competencies

Functional competencies:

• Good facilitation and communication skills;
• Ability to plan, prioritize and deliver a variety of tasks on time;
• Be a team player and be able to work with national consultants and counterparts;
• Ability to provide constructive coaching and feedback for others;
• Ability to liaise with a variety of stakeholders and partners, including government, civil society, international organizations and partner organizations;
• Ability to work in culturally diverse environments and handle sensitive issues with diplomacy and tact;
• Ability to plan for and produce quality results in meeting established goals.

Corporate Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• An advanced degree  in a relevant subject area, PhD degree would be an asset;

Experience:

• At least 12 years of experience in climate change mitigation, REDD+, forest and natural resources management policy, environmental economics, climate finance;
• Excellent understanding of the UNFCCC’s climate negotiations, especially relating to REDD+;
• Hands-on experience in national REDD+ strategy development is highly preferable;
• Experience in working with the United Nations or/and a similar international development institutions would be an asset;
• Proven ability to manage and be part of a team of experts;
• Excellent drafting skills and capacity to synthesize;
• Prior experience in Mongolia would be an asset.

Language:

• Fluency in English.