UN WOMEN Jobs - 75623- National Consultant for Climate Smart agriculture.

National Consultant for Climate Smart agriculture.

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Kampala, UGANDA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

24-Nov-2017

Application Deadline :

13-Nov-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

45 days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

45 days

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

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

UN Women’s office in Uganda works to advance implementation of the agency’s normative, operational and coordination mandate, in close partnership with the Government of Uganda, the United Nations Country Team and civil society organizations.

The UN Women Uganda Country Office is committed to supporting the government’s priority of improving women’s economic empowerment as one of its core programmatic areas of focus. In that regard, UN Women’s effort to enhance women’s economic empowerment in the recent past has considered its support to women entrepreneurs by providing Business Development Services for both market women and other women entrepreneurs, advocating for a gender sensitive land tenure system as well as putting in place the preference and reservation schemes in public procurement. Further support has been directed towards the women’s economic empowerment for women in refugee settlements and host communities in the districts of Adjumani and Yumbe.

Under the UN Women Global Strategic Plan for 2018-2012, Climate Smart Agriculture has been identified as one of the key drivers to achieve the priority area three i.e. Women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy. It is in line with the above that UN Women Country Office in Uganda would like to develop a flagship on Climate Smart Agriculture because climate projections show that agriculture systems will most likely be negatively affected by the change in climate thus, threatening production systems and food security respectively. The livelihoods of millions of people, especially women who depend on agriculture for food production for their families will also be negatively challenged. According to Uganda Climate Smart Agricultural Programme, climate change is likely to increase average temperatures in Uganda by 1.5 ºC within the next 15 years and by up to 3.5 ºC by the 2080s, although some climate models project temperature increases as high as 5.8 ºC. Such rates of increase are unprecedented. Increased temperatures will lead to greater rates of evaporation and transpiration, which can cause greater moisture stress and rainfall deficits causing lots of discomfort and production shortage. Most recently in 2010 -2011 damages and losses from rainfall deficits in the agricultural sector were valued at USD 907 million accounting for 77% of the total damages and losses across all economic sectors.

It is against that background that UN Women would like to engage a national consultant to support the development of the Climate Smart Agriculture flagship. This is in line with UN Women Uganda Country Office Strategic Note Result Area 2 i.e. Women, especially the poorest and most excluded, are economically empowered and benefit from development. The consultant shall map out the initiatives being undertaken in this area as well as develop a draft programme document. The consultant will work under the direction of the Deputy Country Representative/Head of Programmes, with day-to-day reporting to the Programme Specialist Women’s Economic Empowerment, She/he will draw on the technical support of the UN Women Regional Adviser Climate Change Smart agriculture, and will be expected to work in close coordination with programme staff of UN Women Country Office working on other thematic areas. The consultant will from the beginning bring on board close partners that will pray a role in the design and implementation of this FPI including UNDP, ILO and FAO, relevant government MDAs, development partners, the private sector and civil society partner.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

Undertake a desk review and mapping of ongoing initiatives on Climate Smart Agriculture in in Uganda, with a focus on challenges facing women’s participation;
Analyze and assess gender gaps and opportunities in ongoing initiatives at the national level for women and male farmers engaged in agricultural activities;
Conduct field visits and a thorough analysis and research of the social and economic situation in the country related to women and climate smart agriculture; (adaptation coping mechanisms, mitigation measures etc.);
Perform a mapping of access to finance instruments available to male and female farmers finance agriculture (guarantee funds, credit lines, agri-insurance, agriculture development bank, micro finance, leasing of agriculture equipment);
Analyze opportunities for building synergies with ongoing programme initiatives to expand women’s role in the agricultural sector;
Undertake consultations with partners institutions and agencies working on similar initiatives;
Identify best practices and lessons learned to inform UN Women program development on Climate Smart agriculture; (Highlight policy and programmatic entry points);
Draft a project proposal document in line with UN Women guidelines for flagship program development, with targeting of three districts within the UNDAF priority districts;
Coordinate the process of validation, revision and finalization of the draft documents;
Elaborate key entry points for fostering and developing private sector partnerships to enhance programs on women and Climate Smart Agriculture.

Key Deliverables:

A full-fledged Project Document(PRODOC) on Women and Climate Resilient Agriculture in Uganda, with an accompanying detailed budget;
A mapping of access to finance instruments available to finance agriculture (guarantee funds, credit lines, agri-insurance, agriculture development bank, microfinance, leasing of agriculture equipment);
A mapping of key initiatives and partners engaged in supporting women in agriculture in Uganda;
A partnership framework, outlining potential partners on support for funding and for implementation of both flagship programs.

Competencies

CORE VALUES / GUIDING PRINCIPLES:

Integrity:

Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity:

Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

CORE COMPETENCIES:

Ethics and Values:

Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity

Organizational Awareness:

Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment

Development and Innovation:

Take charge of self-development and take initiative

Work in teams:

Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Communicating and Information Sharing:

Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication

Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:

Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others

Conflict Management:

Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

Excellent programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills;
Ability to lead formulation of strategies and their implementation Strong networking skills;
Excellent knowledge of the women’s economic empowerment thematic area;
Ability to negotiate and interact with donors, identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fundraising;
Ability to build strong relationships and focus on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Excellent oral and written communication skills;
Focuses on impact and result for the partners and responds positively to feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree in Economics, International Development, Gender, Applied Anthropology, Agricultural Economics, Statistics or in other related Social Sciences.

Experience:

Minimum 10 years relevant experience at the national or international level in designing project proposals and programs. Experience working in the field of women’s economic empowerment is required;
Prior experience with the UN System and in East Africa will be an asset.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English is required.