Background

Haryana is a land locked state in northern India that lies between 27°39 N and 30°35 N and between 74°28 E and 77°36 E. The altitude of Haryana varies between 700 ft and 3,600 ft above sea level. At 44,212 sq km, Haryana covers 1.34% of India's geographical area and is home to 2.53 crore people that is, 48.58 lakh households (30.44 lakh rural plus 18.14 lakh urban) comprising 2.9% of India's population. The population density of the state is 573 persons per sq km with a sex ratio of 879 females per 1,000 males. Though Haryana has witnessed gradual urbanization since 2001, as per the Census of 2011, 65.1% of its population (1.65 crore persons) still lives in rural areas, a drop of 6 percentage points from 71.1% recorded in the Census of 2001. Haryana is divided into six administrative divisions and has 22 districts constituted by 140 blocks, 154 towns and 6,841 villages.

Haryana has felt the impact of climate change in numerous ways. The state has witnessed an increase of about 1 degree Celsius to 1.2 degrees Celsius, in maximum and minimum temperatures. Mean annual rainfall is projected to decrease 3% by mid-century and increase 17% by end of the century. Currently, Haryana emits 2% of national greenhouse gases (GHGs). These variations in temperature, erratic rainfall and the emission of GHGs have already had an impact on crop production, ground water and the health of   people. Haryana comprises 1.4% of India's geographical area, of which 88% is arable. Hence most of the land is under the plough and environmental sustainability has to be ensured within this framework.

The Government of Haryana has a very robust and forward-looking vision document, in line with the mandate of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (http://esaharyana.gov.in/Portals/0/undp-2030.pdf). To take forward the SDG agenda pertaining to issues related to environment, the Department of Environment and Climate Change, Government of Haryana intends to draft the State of Environment Report (SoER) as per new data, new realities and the current state of environment in the state. SoER is the mandate of the Environmental Information System (ENVIS) project of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), GOI, and should provide a coherent sustained and systematic plan of action for improving the quality of life in Haryana and highlight environment specific planning and policy issues.

In consonance with the State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) and SDGs, Haryana strives to increase the resilience, awareness and adaptive capacity of people, particularly within extra-vulnerable segments of the population. This is dependent on having the correct status of environment related issues prevailing currently.

In view of the above, UNDP is hiring a research-cum-administrative assistant to assist the two technical leads who will be working on the SAPCC and SoER to take forward the agenda for implementing SDGs 13 ,14 and 15.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of SoER & SAPCC

Objectives of SoER

  • To increase awareness and understanding of environmental trends and conditions, and their causes and consequences among all stakeholders
  • To provide a foundation for improved decision making at all levels of the government
  • To facilitate the measurement of progress towards sustainability
  • To provide recommendations and action plans to identify program gaps, prioritize and design new projects, re-orient and adapt existing developmental programs and align the report to SDG objectives
  • To facilitate policy dialogues between the partners (state and national governments, funding bodies and implementers, including citizens) and improve the participation of all stakeholders in this process

Objectives of SAPCC

  • To focus on promoting an understanding of climate change, adaptation and mitigation, energy efficiency and natural resource conservation
  • To outline a strategy that aims to enable the state of Haryana to adapt to climate change and enhance its ecological sustainability
  • To provide recommendations and action plans to identify program gaps, prioritize and design new projects and re-orient and adapt existing developmental programs
  • To facilitate policy dialogues between the partners (state and national governments, funding bodies and implementers, including citizens) and improve the participation of all stakeholders in this process

Deliverables:

  1. Assist the Technical experts in liaising with departments and provide overall support for preparation of SoER and SAPCC
  2. Conduct secondary research and contact nodal officers from concerned departments for data collection, including requisite travel in the field as per requirement
  3. Collate data and prepare charts, graphs and tables
  4. Facilitate workshops/ meetings and prepare proceeding documents
  5. Under the guidance of the Experts and UNDP, synthesize recommendations and facilitate stakeholder meetings
  6. Coordinate with the Design agency to ensure that 2 high quality reports are produced
  7. Provide typing assistance to the expert, as and when required

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

  • Effective organizational and problem-solving skills and ability to manage a large volume of work in an efficient and timely manner
  • Ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate and monitor (own) work
  • Ability to work under pressure, with conflicting deadlines, and to handle multiple concurrent projects/activities
  • Good spoken and written communication skills, including ability to prepare clear and concise reports
  • Sound coordination skills and knowledge of IT-based platforms
  • Ensures compliance of rules and procedures of Government and UNDP 
  • Documents innovative strategies and new approaches 
  • Demonstrates ability to identify problems and proposes solutions

Core Competencies:

  • Promotes and enforces ethics and integrity and creates precedence in good practice
  • Demonstrates corporate knowledge and sound judgment
  • Self-development, ability to take initiative, adopt a corporate approach to complex situations
  • Creates and promotes an enabling environment for open communication

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree in environment sciences/related field

Experience:

  • 2-3 years of experience in Environment and Climate change related work
  • Should have sound research background preferably in the environment/climate change domain

Language Requirements: Fluency in written and oral English and Hindi.

Travel: Occasional travel within the state of Haryana may be required

Payment Schedule:

  • Total consultancy fee (INR 5,40,000/-) would be bifurcated into 12 equal installments that will be paid every month on submission of a progress report to the Head of State Office, UNDP , Haryana

Management Arrangement:

  • The Consultant will be located in Chandigarh / Panchkula and will report to the two technical experts (Enviroenmnt) and Head of State Office, UNDP, Haryana
  • S/he will proactively engage with all stakeholders to keep the project on track
  • The Consultant will need to be self-sufficient in the use of information and communication technologies. Costs related to communication equipment, phone, laptop etc.  will have to borne by the consultant
  • Miscellaneous charges like relocation charges, local travel etc. would not be reimbursed separately

 

Submission of Proposal:

Documents to be submitted by Consultants
1. Cover letter expressing interest and availability
2. Updated CV

Evaluation Criteria of proposal:

  • Qualification -30 points
  • Experience-30 points
  • Interview-40 points

For any clarifications, please write to ic.india@undp.org