Background

Thailand has submitted ambitious Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets for reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20 percent compared to business-as-usual (BAU) levels by 2030, and up to 25 percent emission reductions by 2030 subject to adequate and enhanced access to technology development and transfer, and financial resources and capacity building support through the global agreement under the UNFCCC.

Along with the opportunity and momentum created by the Paris Agreement comes the important challenge of transforming Thailand’s NDC into tangible actions that lead to long term, zero-carbon and climate-resilient development. As evident in its NDC submission, Thailand will need sustained financial, capacity building, and technical support in order to regularly prepare, implement, and report on national actions under the Paris Agreement, and more specifically against NDC targets, for reducing greenhouse gases.

Building on UNDP’s extensive foundational work supporting low-emission development and climate change finance, the NDC Support Project will assist the Thai Government to achieve transformational change by using NDC implementation as a mechanism to scale up investments in inclusive, gender-responsive climate actions that help achieve NDC targets and, through this, deliver on the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Under the framework of UNDP’s Asia-Pacific regional programme on Strengthening the Governance of Climate Change Finance to Enhance Gender Equality, the NDC Support Project will focus on providing necessary interventions to assist the Thai Government in undertaking public budget reforms that enable a more integrated approach to public investments that enhance NDC implementation and can incorporate multiple dimensions of the Sustainable Development Agenda – in particular climate change, gender equality and poverty. Based on the on-going Climate Public Expenditure and Institutional Review (CPEIR) and Climate Change Benefit Analysis (CCBA) initiatives and results, and through working closely with relevant Thai governmental agencies and concerned stakeholders, the Project will improve on and operationalize CCBA to be gender-responsive and poverty-focused (Output 1.1). An inclusive and gender-responsive CCBA will assist the government in minimizing climate change impacts on sustainable development by improving the country’s budgetary systems and prioritize climate actions identified in the NDC as well as in existing and future development policies and strategic plans.

Thailand’s NDC Support activities will promote effective political engagement and advocacy in the country’s public-sector climate budget reforms and capacity development. Under this Project, policy briefs, high level symposiums and workshops will be developed and supported to ensure that political momentum is maintained for the adoption of the inclusive, gender-responsive CCBA, particularly facilitating effective NDC implementation (Output 1.2). The work in Thailand will assist concerned government and CSOs entities in tracking the differential impact of existing climate change related public investment on gender, poverty, and Human Rights. Thailand’s access to international climate funds, including the Green Climate Fund (GCF), through GCF readiness initiatives in the country, will be further supported to strengthen domestic budgeting systems.

To ensure sustainability of the Project’s initiatives and to maximize potential for going to scale, a national institution with high potential to yield new knowledge and that will lead to more inclusive climate action and gender-responsive budgeting for Thailand will be identified and actively engaged.

Under the framework of UNDP’s global NDC Support Programme, the NDC Support Project will further enhance national capacity to scale up investments on climate change mitigation in priority areas of the NDC, focusing on the energy and transport sectors.

The NDC Support Project will assist a joint public-private approach for energy efficiency investment and finance in Thailand (Output 2.1) to create an environment of trust, openness and informational symmetry and help the Government to address regulatory and legislative hurdles that are impeding energy efficiency investments. Efforts to advance the findings from analyses on private sector investments in the renewable energy sector (undertaken through the LECB project) may also be explored, potentially through engagement with other development partners. To create conditions for competitive, market-based solutions to climate change that also deliver sustainable development dividends, this Output will also support national systems platforms and partnerships through which the public and private sectors can work, in a collaborative manner, to advance NDC implementation and, through this, deliver on the Paris Agreement and SDGs.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective and Scope of Work

The objectives of the assignment are to:

• Strengthen the capacity of key government officials to incorporate gender-responsive Climate Change Benefits Analysis (CCBA) in budget formulation processes within line ministries, prioritizing the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC) and the Ministry of Transport (MoT); and
• Develop knowledge products derived from collaborative and participatory actions and research, and develop new tools to strengthen accountability for the impact of public investments on vulnerable groups, including the poor.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

The consultant is expected to deliver the followings:

Institutional Arrangement

The Technical Gender Advisor (Consultant) will work under the supervision of the Project Manager and in close consultation and collaboration with the Gender Specialist and with other team members of UNDP Thailand and GCCF-BRH.

Duration of the Assignment

This assignment is anticipated to take place between 15 June 2018 and 31 December 2020 (for 120 working days)

Duty Station

This assignment will be home-based with travel within Thailand.

Competencies

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.

Technical Competencies:

• Analytic capacity and demonstrated ability to process, analyse and synthesise complex, technical information;
• Proven ability to support the development of high quality knowledge and training materials, and to train technical teams;
• Proven experience in the developing country context and working in different cultural settings.

Communication:

• Communicate effectively in writing to a varied and broad audience in a simple and concise manner.

Professionalism:

• Capable of working in a high pressure environment with sharp and frequent deadlines, managing many tasks simultaneously;
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills.

Teamwork:

• Projects a positive image and is ready to take on a wide range of tasks;
• Focuses on results for the client;
• Welcomes constructive feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

The following are minimum required qualifications:

Education:

• Master’s Degree in Gender studies, Development studies, Social Science, Economics or another related field.

Working Experience:

• At least 7 years of proven experience in gender mainstreaming or gender equality or climate change finance or other related development issues with a good understanding of developing country context;
• Sound knowledge of the gender and climate change nexus is essential (e.g., gender-responsive approaches to climate change adaptation, mitigation, disaster management, natural resource management, and infrastructure programs and projects);
• Strong track-record of gender mainstreaming capacity development for governmental institutions such as finance and economic planning ministries at institutional and operational levels is preferable;
• Experience in conducting gender-related country assessment is a distinct advantage;
• Strong knowledge of social protection programs and poverty targeting schemes is a strong asset (e.g., inclusive-disability approaches);
• Demonstrated track record of relevant experience and expertise (publications, reports, project proposals) is highly desirable;
• Excellent analytical and writing skills;
• Excellent organizational and communication skills;
• Experience working in Asia-Pacific Region is an asset;
• Experience working with UNDP or other UN family or an international organization is an asset;
• Ability to work as a part of a team, sharing information and coordinating efforts within the team; and
• Full computer literacy in internet searching and Microsoft Office programmes, i.e., MS-Word, MS-Excel and MS-Power Point. Website management experience is an asset.

Functional competencies:

• Strong interpersonal skills, communication, coordination and diplomatic skills;
• Openness to change and ability to receive and integrate feedback;
• Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities; and
• Excellent speaking and presentation skills.

Language requirements:

• Excellent spoken and written English language skills required; and
• Knowledge of languages of the program countries is an asset, but not required.

Payment terms for the contract.

The method of payment is output-based lump-sum scheme. The payments shall be released upon UNDP’s satisfaction of the consultant’s submission of each deliverable by or before the due dates as agreed with the UNDP Thailand team.

Payment Schedule:

Payment will be made after satisfactory acceptance and certification of the deliverables and in accordance with UNDP procedures:

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.

Travel costs shall be reimbursed at actual but not exceeding the quotation from UNDP approved travel agent.  The provided living allowance will not be exceeding UNDP DSA rates. Repatriation travel cost from home to duty station in Bangkok and return shall not be covered by UNDP

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

The criteria which shall serve as the basis for evaluating offers is as follows:

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 100%)

• Criteria 1: Educational background - Max 15%
• Criteria 2: Years of relevant experience in gender mainstreaming or gender equality or climate change finance, or social protection programs - Max 20%
• Criteria 3: Knowledge of social protection programs and poverty targeting schemes – Max 20%
• Criteria 4: Experience working with UNDP or other UN family or an international organization – Max 10%
• Criteria 5: Availability - Max 20%
• Criteria 6: Others/special skills/language, etc. - Max 15%

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

Shortlisted candidates shall be called for an interview which will be used to confirm and/or adjust the technical scores awarded based on documentation submitted.

Documents to be Included When Submitting the Proposals:

Interested candidates must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualification. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as follows:

• Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as contact details (email and telephone) of the Candidate, and at least three (3) professional references;
• Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability and a Financial Proposal that indicates the daily rate/fee of the candidate, in US dollars.

Incomplete proposals may not be considered. The short listed candidates may be contacted and the successful candidate will be notified.

Annexes

Annex I - TOR_ Technical Gender Advisor (Consultant)Annex II- General Condition of Contract

Annex III - Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual IC, including Financial Proposal Template

All documents can be downloaded at : http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=46415