Background

UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan. BPPS’s staff provides technical advice to Country Offices; advocates for UNDP corporate messages, represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora including public-private dialogues, government and civil society dialogues, south-south and triangular cooperation initiatives, and engages in UN interagency coordination in specific thematic areas. The Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction Team (CDT) is one of the professions under the BPPS’s structure,  working to integrate issues of climate, disaster risk and energy at country level, and focusing on building resilience and ensuring that development remains risk-informed and sustainable through four main areas i. Climate Change; ii. Disaster Risk Reduction; iii. Resilient Recovery, and iv. Sustainable Energy.

As part of its work on disaster and climate risk governance, the CDT supports UNDP programme countries with the integration of disaster and climate risk considerations into the development planning and budgeting process. One such programme is UNDP’s Strategic Initiative to Address Climate Change in Least Developed Countries (“Boots on the Ground”) established in 2010. The programme provides technical and policy support to 26 countries to strengthen national capacities to respond to, and plan for the impacts of climate change. A network of  National Climate Change Policy Advisors and Regional Experts support a number of LDCs in Africa, Arab States, Asia-Pacific and Latin America by:

  • Providing capacity building and policy support on specific climate change areas relevant to national context;
  • Ensuring climate change considerations are fully integrated into development planning strategies at national, sector or sub-national levels, such as Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers and UN programming instruments;
  • Supporting and strengthening capacity to implement relevant climate change programming at the national level;
  • Promoting mainstreaming and integration climate change in other development sectors including on poverty reduction, disaster risk reduction, energy, governance, capacity development, finance and gender;
  • The programme has been operational for five years and has helped countries to facilitate national level climate change action;
  • Engage in the international climate processes and access and implement funding to support long-term low emission and climate resilient development strategies.  Over the course of 2016, in light of Agenda 2030, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Sendai Framework on DRR, there is opportunity to develop and strengthen the role of Boots on the Ground to support country level action for an integrated approach to climate, energy and DRR.

Duties and Responsibilities

In order, to showcase results from the past five years of the Boots on the Ground programme for external use, UNDP would like to commission a research report that highlights the results and impact that Boots on the Ground has had at national level and in contributing to broader global objectives on climate change. Similarly, UNDP would like to gather successes, lessons learned and examples of how the programme can be strengthened, through a short internal facing recommendations paper. Both pieces will be used to engage with external partners and identify how to strengthen the programme to support integrated climate change and DRR action to deliver on the SDGs, Paris Agreement and Sendai Framework for Action. 

Under the guidance and supervision of the Global Coordinator for Boots on the Ground, the consultant will:

  • Consult and work with national focal points to identify key results achieved from each Boots on the Ground country over a five year period;
  • Document and analyze these results, experiences and lessons learned from the Boots on the Ground Programme
  • Identify and determine the major “thematic” areas of successes from the Boots on the Ground across the programme to profile global level results;
  • Consult with national and regional focal points in UNDP’s regional hubs and Country Offices to identify key lessons learned from the programme and potential recommendations for strengthening the programme to deliver improved support to national governments in the post-2015 development context;
  • In light of the above, establish linkages to on-going global agendas and identify potential opportunities and entry points for the programme on the implementation at national level of the Sustainable Development Goals, the Sendai Framework for Action, and Paris Agreement;
  • Based on the above analysis and consultations, draft and develop a five year results report of the Boots on the Ground programme for external audiences and dissemination by UNDP;
  • Further to the above, develop a short paper for internal use by UNDP on recommendations for strengthening the programme management and operations of Boots on the Ground based on key results, successes and areas for improvement over the last 5 years.

Key Deliverables (40 working days over a period of 2 months):

  • Work plan detailing timeline and approach to the above steps;
  • Written Country case studies (based on discussions with national and regional Boots focal points) that document key results including good practices and challenges;
  • An annotated outline for five year results report of the Boots on the Ground programme for external audiences and dissemination by UNDP;
  • Draft five year results report of the Boots on the Ground programme for internal review by UNDP;
  • Revised five year results report, based on feedback, of the Boots on the Ground programme for external audiences and dissemination by UNDP;
  • Short paper for internal use by UNDP on recommendations for strengthening the programme management and operations of Boots on the Ground based on key results, successes and areas for improvement over the last 5 years;
  • Powerpoint presentation highlighting key results and outcomes from 5 year programme;
  • Powerpoint presentation highlighting recommendations for programme strengthening based on findings.

Competencies

Integrity and fairness:

  • Embodies UN values and promote the well-being of all individuals regardless of gender, religion, race, nationality, or age.

Ethics and Values:

  • Cultural sensitivity and adaptability: communicate effectively with and relate to multi-cultural teams with an ability to see issues from different perspectives.

  • Demonstrate and promote highest standards of integrity, impartiality, fairness and incorruptibility in all matters affecting his/her work and status.

  • Ensure that programs and projects are consistent with UN/UNDP values.

  • Identify conflicts of interest between stakeholder groups and work to keep UN/UNDP from inappropriate involvement in such situations.

Technical:

  • Knowledge of the international disaster reduction frameworks e.g. Sendai Framework for DRR

  • Sound understanding of disaster and climate risk context including global processes related to DRR, CC, SDGs etc. and their inter-linkages

  • Knowledge of UNDP’s roles and functions in climate change and disaster risk reduction

  • Ability to build strong relationships, strategic partnerships and establish effective working relations in a multicultural team environment.

  • Excellent oral and written communication skills.

  • Ability to develop innovative solutions – encourage and contribute creative solutions to address challenging situations.

  • Anticipate constraints in the delivery of services and identify solutions or alternatives.

  • Make effective use of UNDP’s resources and comparative advantages to strengthen partnerships and linkages with international and regional organizations.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

  • Minimum of a Master’s degree or equivalent in development/environmental studies, disaster risk management, public policy and administration, or a discipline relevant to governance and institutional and policy analysis and development in disaster and climate risk management.

Experience

  • Minimum 7 years of professional experience in policy, research and programming in climate change and disaster risk reduction

  • Excellent writing and drafting skills, especially for publications for external audiences

  • Track record of drafting and researching external facing publications on climate change and sustainable development

  • Sound understanding of the relationship of disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, development planning, governance etc.

  • Knowledge and experience of UN system policies and programs and the role of UNDP at country and global level.

  • Broad knowledge of recent institutional and policy developments in the global DRR and climate change community, both within and outside of the UN.

  • Sound understanding of and familiarity with global processes related to CC, DRR, sustainable development, in particular the Paris Climate Change Agreement, Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development Skills

Languages

  • Fluency in English, both oral and written is required.

  • Working knowledge of other official UN languages (preferably French or Spanish) is an asset.

Required Presentation of Offer:

The application is a two-step process. Failing to comply with the submission process will result in disqualifying the applications.

Step 1:

Please note that only 1 (one) file can be uploaded; therefore please include all documents in one file. Interested applicants must include the following documents when submitting the applications in UNDP Job Shop:

  • CV or Personal History Form (P11), indicating all relevant experience, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the candidate and at least three (3) professional references (the P11 template can be downloaded from this link: http://sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc). A completed P11 Form will be required at the time a selected applicant signs an Individual Contract (IC) or his/her employer, if employed, signs a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA) for work associated with this assignment.
  • Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, including links to similar type communications/visibility products or strategies.

Step 2:

Applicants must submit their financial proposals in US Dollars for this consultancy to cpu.bids@undp.org, by the deadline for this vacancy. Proposals received after the deadline will be rejected.

The price offer should indicate an ‘all-inclusive’ lump-sum amount. The daily rate should also be included in the breakdown. The term ‘all-inclusive’ implies that all costs (professional fees, non-mission travel related expenses, communications, utilities, consumables, insurance, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the financial proposal.

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer:

Candidates will be compared using a combined scoring method with the qualifications weighted at 70% and the price offer weighted at 30%.  Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 (70%) points on the technical qualifications part will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Criteria for evaluation of qualifications (70 points maximum):

  • Relevance of education to the position (Max: 10 points)
  • Number of years of professional experience in the field of disaster risk reduction, geography, climate change, international development or other related field (Max: 10 points);
  • Proven expertise in researching and drafting policy and results reports for external audiences in the field of climate change (Max: 20 points);
  • Proven expertise in policy processes on climate change, disaster risk reduction, sustainable development, including recently negotiated global frameworks such as Paris Agreement (10 points)
  • Demonstrated experience of the UN system (Max: 10 points);
  • Experience working with developing countries, particularly in the environment and/or international development fields, is a strong asset (5 points).
  • Knowledge of French or Spanish is a strong asset (Max: 5 points).

Criteria for financial evaluation (30 points maximum):

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal: p = y (µ/z),

  • Where p=points for the financial proposal being evaluated;
  • y=maximum number of points for the financial proposal
  • µ=price of the lowest priced proposal
  • z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Interviews and/or written test may also be conducted.

Management Arrangements

The assignment will be implemented under a short-term Consultancy arrangement with clearly identified work plan, tasks, responsibilities and deliverables. The consultant will work under the guidance and direct supervision of the Global Coordinator for Boots on the Ground.

S/he will work closely with the climate change and disaster risk teams. S/he will also liaise with UNDP country office counterparts in partner countries; and be given access to relevant information and contact necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment.

The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own laptop and office space. Payments will be made monthly upon submission of a detailed time sheet and Certification of Payment form approved by the consultant’s supervisor. The payments will be linked to deliverables. The contract price is fixed regardless of changes in the cost of components.

Travel

It is expected that this will be a home based assignment only. However in case of any need to travel for the purpose of this assignment, travel would be paid for separately and should not be included in the consultant’s fees.

Contract Award

The candidate obtaining the highest combined scores in the combined score of Technical and Financial evaluation will be considered technically qualified and will be offered to enter into contract with UNDP

ANNEXES

ANNEX 1 – COMPLETE TERMS OF REFERENCE

ANNEX 2 - UNDP P-11 Form for ICs

ANNEX 3 - IC Contract Template

ANNEX 4 – IC GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

ANNEX 5 – REIMBURSABLE LOAN AGREEMENT TEMPLATE

ANNEX 6 – TEMPLATE FOR CONFIRMATION OF INTEREST AND FINANCIAL PROPOSAL

These templates and forms can be found on the procurement notice at the following link:

Procurement Notice 31780

Any request for clarification must be sent by email to cpu.bids@undp.org.  

The UNDP Central Procurement Unit will respond by email and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.