UNDP Jobs - 76116- Consultant for Poverty-Environment Initiative and

Consultant for Poverty-Environment Initiative and Sustainable Development in ECIS

Location :

Istanbul, TURKEY

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

12-Dec-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

estimated 03 January – 30 June 2018

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

approximately 115 working 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

Poverty-Environment Initiative (PEI)
Poor people depend on the environment for their livelihoods and well-being. Improved management of the environment and natural resources contributes directly to poverty reduction, more sustainable livelihoods and pro-poor growth. To fight poverty, to promote security and to preserve the ecosystems that poor people rely on for their livelihoods, we must place pro-poor economic growth and environmental sustainability at the heart of our economic policies, planning systems and institutions.

To tackle this challenge, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) have joined hands and launched the Poverty-Environment Initiative (PEI), which is a global programme that supports country-led efforts to mainstream poverty and environment (PE) linkages into national development policy, planning and budgeting processes. PE mainstreaming involves establishing the links between environment and poverty, and then identifying which policies, planning and budgeting processes can bring about better pro-poor environmental management in order to help to achieve development goals, such as MDGs and future SDGs. Since 2013, PEI is supporting 26 countries in four regions, including Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States Region (ECIS).

PEI ECIS was launched in 2009 that supports country programmes in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. PEI Phase I resulted in the integration of PE linkages into key strategic documents of these countries both at national and sub-national levels, and in the implementation of number of pilot projects that led to direct economic, social and environmental improvements. Following this, PEI Phase II was launched in the region in 2014 and the main approach to adopt for Phase II will be twofold: (a) to work on upstream policy and planning as well as on downstream feedback institutions and wider stakeholders affected by those policies; (b) to seek partnership with bigger programmes both within UNDP and UN Environment as well as other agencies and donors. The Global programme will be operationally closed by September 2018. In this regard, PEI ECIS country and regional activities will be implemented by March 2018 and June 2018 respectively, with a view to addressing remaining poverty and transiting to greener and inclusive growth.

The scope of the work is provision of technical support and inputs in the rolling out of the implementation of remaining activities and functional support for a successful operational closure of the programme.

Duties and Responsibilities

Providing technical support to the PEI Regional Programme and Sustainable Development Team (SD Team) and contributing policy advisory support, technical and functional assistance and inputs into reviews and policy documents, and prepare final project review reports for a successful operational closure of the PEI ECIS in the region.

The consultant will be based within the Sustainable Development Team of the Istanbul Regional Hub. The consultancy is intended to support finalization of the Poverty-Environment Initiative; thus the consultant needs to be in regular contact with the supervisor and other colleagues in Sustainable Development Team in IRH in order to be able to liaise with them and support delivery of tasks in timely manner.

More specifically:

Task 1: Facilitate communications with the Country Offices (COs) and conduct minimum two verification missions (dates and duration to be confirmed) to the programme countries (Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan) in order to collect and filter information pertinent to PEI ECIS programme closure reporting requirements. This includes: Finalization of PEI annual progress report and data sheet with indicator/target level achievements; Collect and compile 2013-2018 Progress, Results and Challenges for the country and regional components and finalization of the report; Collect and compile lessons learnt for the country and regional components and finalize 2013-2018 Lessons Learnt Report.
Task 2: As part of PEI sustainability strategy, support sub-regional programme document development with a focus on green economy and green technology, including private sector interests and relevant PEI developed methods and tools, in the context of environmental SDGs for countries in the Central Asia.
Task 3: Support to knowledge management for PEI ECIS also to SD thematic area work, and update the regional programme inventory with all PEI ECIS related existing documents and knowledge products in hard copy (where available) and soft copy formats. This includes: Updating and structuring the Knowledge Management Gateway and PEI inventory and other material information pertinent to SD thematic areas in ECIS, as necessary, and disseminating material through the site; Improve the design of current knowledge material structures;
Tasks 4: Provide technical support to the organization of PEI Final Project Board Meetings (the place, dates and duration to be confirmed), and support to communication and preparation of outcome documents of the meeting.

Deliverables and Reporting

Deliverable 1:

Report on progress, achievements and lessons learned based on at least two missions conducted to the PEI programme countries (Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan) to verify progress against country level indicators and targets
Final PEI 2017/18 annual progress reports and data sheets with indicator/target level achievements.

Deliverable 2:

PEI ECIS green economy toolkit to disseminate PEI tools and products in other countries of the Central Asia as part of the PEI sustainability strategy;
Data collection on sustainable development, green economy and tools with a focus on environmental SDGs and integration into the sub-regional programme document to be developed for Central Asia;
Inputs provided into the development of PEI extended sub-regional programme document for Central Asia.

Deliverable 3:

2013-2018 (Phase II) Progress, Results and Challenges report;
2013-2018 (Phase II) Specific Lessons Learnt Report.

Deliverable 4:

PEI ECIS inventory updated and finalized with the most updated documents of the PEI Phase II products for archiving;
UNDP corporate knowledge platforms updated with latest tools and with the reports produced during the workshops and meetings.

Deliverable 5:

Materials collected and inputs provided into PEI Final Project Board Meetings with regard to progress, achievements, lessons learned and remaining interventions of the Phase II;
PEI Final Project Board Meeting outcome reports prepared and submitted to the PEI Global level;
Completion of all tasks and deliverables if any of the abovementioned deliverables delayed or suspended due to programmatic or operational reasons.

The place, the dates, and the duration of the events and missions are not yet identified but at least two travels are envisaged, the mission costs will not have to be in the financial proposal and will be covered separately as per UNDP rules and regulations.

The consultant will report to the Team Leader for Sustainable Development Cluster. Draft versions of the written deliverables and progress reports shall be submitted for comments to UNDP. These draft versions of written deliverables and progress reports should be submitted at least one week in advance of the date upon which final version is expected to be delivered.

Payment Schedule

Installment 1 - 20% of the contract amount upon confirmation by the Certifying Officer of satisfactory delivery Deliverable 1, indicative date: 1,5 months after start of the contract;
Installment 2 – 20% of the contract amount upon confirmation by the Certifying Officer of satisfactory delivery of Deliverable 2, indicative date: 3 months after start of the contract;
Installment 3 – 20% of the contract amount upon confirmation by the Certifying Officer of satisfactory delivery of Deliverable 3, indicative date: 4 months after start of the contract;
Installment 4 - 20% of the contract amount upon confirmation by the Certifying Officer of satisfactory delivery of Deliverable 4, indicative date: 5 months after start of the contract;
Installment 5 – 20% of the contract amount upon confirmation by the Certifying Officer of satisfactory delivery of Deliverable 5, indicative date June 2018.

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling 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;

Functional competencies:

Ability to work in a team and to motivate other team members and counterparts;
Ability to plan and organize his/her work, efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results;
Good research skills, reporting and writing abilities;
Excellent coordination skills, with ability to work under pressure and handle multiple activities and projects concurrently;
Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications/Education:

Master’s degree in Environmental or Energy Engineering, Sustainable Development, Environmental Policy, Green economy, natural or social studies, economics or business administration

Experience:

Minimum 3 years of work experience in the development or environment area is required, working experience in the ECIS region will be an advantage;
Experience in UN or international development organizations will be an advantage:
Research experience in the ECIS region, preferably papers/reports published in academic journals or internally acknowledged publications, will be an advantage;
Experience on Sustainable Development Goals in national or international development organizations will be an advantage;

Language skills:

Fluency in English;
Knowledge of regional languages, preferably Turkish and Russian is an asset.

Evaluation of Applicants

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.
The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical (P11 desk reviews) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only candidates who will obtain at least 70% of points in desk review will be considered for financial evaluation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 35 points:

Criteria A (relevance of the education) – max points: 5;
Criteria B (relevance of professional working experience in the development or environment area) – max points: 5;
Criteria C (professional working experience in the ECIS Region) – max points: 5;
Criteria D (experience in UN or international development organizations) – max points: 5;
Criteria E (research experience in the ECIS Region) – max. points: 5;
Criteria F (experience on Sustainable Development Goals in national or international development organizations) – max. points: 5;
Criteria G (Knowledge of regional languages, preferably Turkish and Russian) – max. points: 5;

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 15 points.

Application procedures

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain:

Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application.
Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank form can be downloaded from http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc ); please upload the P11 instead of your CV.
Financial Proposal* - specifying a) total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this announcement, b) travel to join duty station/repatriation travel.
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials

*Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination, personal security needs and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services...). Travel costs to join duty station/repatriation travel must be included in the financial proposal.

Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.

Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org

General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://on.undp.org/t7fJs.Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.
Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.