UNDP Jobs - 67109- International Consultant on REDD+ Specialist

International Consultant on REDD+ Specialist

Location :

Home based with field visits, BANGLADESH

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

11-Jul-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

40 Days spread over in 3 months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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

Bangladesh is a signatory to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC has taken a number of decisions in recent years to encourage developing country Parties to take climate change mitigation actions in forestry sector. The role of forests and reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries (REDD+) have been fully recognised and enshrined in the Paris Agreements.

As part of the country’s long-term strategy to reduce GHG emissions, largely described in its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC), the Government of Bangladesh has taken initial steps to contribute to this global effort to address climate change, and one of such steps is to develop its capacity to implement REDD+. The Government of Bangladesh prepared and endorsed its REDD+ Readiness Roadmap in 2012.

To support this effort, the UN-REDD Bangladesh National Programme was established to provide technical capacity development assistance to the Government of Bangladesh in designing and implementing its National REDD+ Strategy and in meeting the international requirements under the UNFCCC Warsaw Framework to receive REDD+ results-based finance.

One of the key components of the REDD+ readiness process is to identify public policy approaches and interventions, including incentive mechanisms to effectively address key drivers and causes of deforestation and forest degradation (D&D). In order to identify such approaches, a clear understanding of drivers and causes of D&D in Bangladesh must first be developed.

To develop such an understanding, UNDP Bangladesh is seeking to recruit an international consultant to lead and coordinate the work of a team of national experts to deliver the following objectives.

The objective of the assignment is to develop a detailed understanding of key drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, as well as for sustainable forest management and forest enhancement in Bangladesh (from here onwards referred to as ‘drivers of forest cover change’) based on which to then identify REDD+ Policies and Measures (PAMs). In so far as possible, drivers of forest cover change shall be analysed with respect to historical, current and future timescales and with reference to their spatial extent. It is important to assess relations between drivers of forest cover change together with their interactions with underlying causes

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

The international expert is expected to take conceptual leadership in close coordination and consultation with the team of national experts, Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF), Forest Department and REDD+ Governance Activity Coordinator, who will liaise with the Project Manager (PM) of NP, UNDP Bangladesh Country Office and UN-REDD Regional Technical Advisor. In particular, this includes work plan preparation and methodological leadership. The international expert will focus on the overall design and completeness of the analysis of political economy of forest cover change, and meaningful incorporation of emissions data and spatial aspects into the overall analysis. The international expert will also provide his support to review and finalize the key written deliverables.

General Methodology

The methodology of the study consists of the following main components of investigation. This work will build on the rudimentary analysis of drivers of deforestation and forest degradation provided in the National REDD+ Readiness Roadmap. It will provide the necessary foundation for identifying and prioritizing potential policies and measures (PAMs), which will then be built on the results of this work, to address those critical drivers.

Take stock of forest cover and forest cover change:

A basic analysis of land-cover and land-cover change will be conducted. The analysis will deliver an overview of types of forest cover, next to the pathways of change. Pathways of change organise observed changes into different spatial and temporal scales to provide historical, present and future narratives of forest cover change in Bangladesh. The data from the assessment of land use change, if available, and other existing relevant physical data will be used for this analysis, and it will be complemented with secondary data from publications, media sources, national forest inventory, land use change assessment, and census data.

Identify drivers of forest cover change and describe their political economy:

Using observed pathways of forest cover change as a point of departure, drivers that are creating those pathways, and underlying causes of those drivers will be identified.To identify underlying causes will require detailed analysis of forest governance (including policy, legal, regulatory, institutional, socio-political, economic, cultural and biophysical factors). This may rely on analysing individual pathways of forest cover change under a profile of barriers and incentives to change. This analysis will lead up to identifying a set of drivers of forest cover change. Most importantly, information will be collected through interviews and focus group discussions.

Assess drivers according to their impacts on forests:

In so far as possible, the biophysical impacts on forests will be assessed, chiefly the areas affected and the GHG emissions or removals. Data will be drawn from publications, national forest inventory, land use change assessment, and census data.The drivers will be placed in order of priority according to their extent of their impact.

Identify agents of forest cover change:

By analysing the pathways of forest cover change, key agents of change will be identified.The agents are those individual actors or groups of actors whose behaviours and actions directly drive forest cover change. Identifying such agents is a crucial part of this study as they are as much part of a complex web of factors of forest cover change as part of solutions that can enable PAMs to effectively address the drivers.Information on agents will be collected through interviews and focus group discussions.

Assess drivers according to the government interface:

The understanding of drivers and causes of forest cover change as well as critical agents of change involved such processes put in the context of Bangladesh’s current policy, legal and institutional framework in order to identify key issues, challenges and opportunities faced by the Government in addressing the drivers.Those issues, challenges and opportunities will provide important considerations during the next stage of identifying and prioritising potential PAM.

Tasks to be Performed

The international expert is expected to lead the national team of experts in undertaking the following activities in order to achieve the stated objectives above.

To achieve the stated objectives above, the following indicative activities are anticipated under close coordination and collaboration with the international expert;

Conduct a desk review to take stock of any existing information and data on forest cover and drivers of forest cover change in relation to major change pathways;
Identify their causes, agents of change and their inter-relationships, as well as key issues, challenges and opportunities to be considered during the identification of potential PAMs to address the drivers;
Provide guidance to the national experts to consult with key stakeholders on their perception of drivers of forest cover change, including their causes, agents of change and their inter-relationships, as well as key issues, challenges and opportunities from the governance perspective;
Provide necessary guidance with inputs to prepare a draft report that details the above findings;
Guide the national experts to participate in a national (and sub-national if deemed necessary) validation meeting(s) organized by the NP to ensure stakeholders’ buy-in and actions on findings, policy options and recommendations; and
Review and finalize the report addressing the inputs by stakeholders from the national validation meetings.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

The international expert will guide the work of the team of national experts through conceptual and analytical leadership to deliver the following outputs.

A detailed work plan (inception report) shortly after inception describing specific methodologies, work flow, structure of deliverables (e.g., an outline of final report), output delivery timeline, consultation plans, specific roles and responsibilities of experts (both national and international), and any other items as appropriate; and
A final report that contains the results of all analysis, including the identified drivers of forest cover change and narratives explaining their underlying causes together with a set of identified REDD+ PAMs in a spatiotemporally organized manner. The final report should also include minutes and participants lists from all stakeholder consultation meetings carried throughout the process.
- The Deliverable 1[Inception Report including detailed Work Plan and Methodology] will be due after 7 working days of contract commencement;
- Deliverable 2[First Draft Report on ‘Understanding drivers and causes of deforestation and forest degradation in Bangladesh’)] will be due after 27 working days and
- Deliverable 3[Final Report on ‘Understanding drivers and causes of deforestation and forest degradation in Bangladesh’]will be due after37 working days, with an additional 3 days for final revisions and other activities.

The international expert is responsible for coordinating the preparation of the detailed work plan with the national experts. The international expert is also responsible for collating and packaging individual sections produced by the national experts to produce the final report on drivers of forest cover change, and for addressing comments, suggestions, and recommendations from stakeholders together with the national experts.

Institutional Arrangement

The consultant will report directly to the Project Manager, UN-REDD Bangladesh National Programme and Assistant Country Director, UNDP (CCED Cluster). The Individual Consultant will work closely with the PMU, in particular the Governance Coordinator, with technical assistance from the UN-REDD Regional Technical Advisor.

The consultant will be a member of the study team. The study team includes experts in the following areas-

Environmental and forest governance;
Natural resource /sustainable forest management;
Environmental/natural resources economics; and
GIS and remote sensing.

The consultant (International Consultant) is expected to lead the team of experts in undertaking the activities mentioned in the TOR in order to achieve the stated objectives above and complete the study.

Duration of the Work

July – November 2016 for 40 person days spread over 4 months.

Duty Station

Home-based with two visits to Bangladesh. First 10 days during inception period and last 10 days for finalizing the report including report validation workshop. The consultant may require to visit field (outside Dhaka).

Competencies

Strong interpersonal and communication skills;
Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities skills;
Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
Ability to plan, organize, implement and report on work;
Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines;
Comprehensiveness knowledge of UN REDD programme, global development concerns and climate change discourse;
Excellent understanding of the key UNFCCC decisions on REDD+;
Proficiency in the use of office IT applications and internet in conducting research;
Ability to communicate effectively and to facilitate discussions with government officials and non-state actors at the senior level;
Excellent presentation and facilitation skills.
Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;
Positive, constructive attitude to work;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Required Skills and Experience

Educational Qualifications:

At least Master’s degree in forest governance, natural resources management, or related field.

Experience

Minimum 10 years of experience in climate change mitigation, forestry, and natural resources management.
Hands on experience on Drives of Deforestation and Degradation Study and National REDD+ Strategy development is highly preferable.
Experience in working with United Nations or other international organizations or donor funded project.

Language requirements

Fluency of English language is required;
Knowledge of Bengali would be an asset

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Lump Sum Amount. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below percentages:

Deliverable 1: Inception Report including detailed Work Plan and Methodology: 20 % of total contract amount
Deliverable 2:First Draft Report on ‘Understanding drivers and causes of deforestation and forest degradation in Bangladesh’: 40 % of total contract amount
Deliverable 3: Final Report on ‘Understanding drivers and causes of deforestation and forest degradation in Bangladesh’: 40 % of total contract amount (upon acceptance of UNDP contract administrator).

In general, UNDP shall not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. DSA will be provided for consultant’s travelling outside Dhaka as per rules of UNDP.

Evaluation Method and Criteria

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology-

Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70%). and financial criteria (30%). Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 70 points)

Criteria 1 Relevance of Education – 10 points
Criteria 2 Submitted methodology and ToC – 20 points
Criteria 3 Specific experience in the provision with similar service- 20 Points
Criteria 4 Experience & working with Govt. & United Nations or other international organizations or donor funded project- 15 points
Criteria 5 Prior experience in South Asia or South East Asia – 5 points

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Documentation required

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document:

Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided in Annex II.
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.
Technical proposal, including a) a brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment; b) a brief methodology, on how you will approach and complete the assignment, including a tentative table of contents for the final report; and c) a list of similar assignment with topic/name of the assignment, duration, role of consultant and organization/project.
Financial proposal, as per template provided in Annex II.

Incomplete proposals may not be considered.

Annexes