Background

Mitigating key sector pressures on marine and coastal biodiversity and further strengthening the national system of marine protected areas in Djibouti is a Global Environment Facility funded project. This GEF project aims to “Enhance the resilience of Djibouti’s marine biodiversity through increasing institutional capacity, enhancing financial sustainability and management effectiveness of the MPA system, and mainstreaming marine biodiversity into key maritime sectors”.  The project Objective will be achieved through implementation of four components that address the key barriers identified for effective MPA and marine ecosystem services management. Component 1 Strengthening the effectiveness of Djibouti’s MPA system through enhanced capacity of all stakeholders, including dialogue to mainstream biodiversity into maritime sectors; Component 2 Expanding the national MPA network and strengthening MPA management at site level; Component 3 Sustainable financing mechanism for marine biodiversity and the national protected areas system; and Component 4 Gender Mainstreaming, Knowledge Management and M&E.

UNDP in collaboration with Government of Djibouti is implementing interventions at the national scale as well as focused ones at certain MPAs. While the interventions at the national scale are expected to target Djibouti’s entire maritime space, and also benefit the national PA system more widely, the MPA-specific interventions will focus on the three already gazetted MPAs, one MPA whose gazettement is prepared, and three additional new MPA sites.

Within this overall background, UNDP is seeking a Gender and Community Engagement Expert to ensure that the project has well-articulated gender components which build the gender-responsive adaptation measures, outlines a detailed gender-responsive results based management and plan to communicate the gender goals and results adequately.

Duties and Responsibilities

Reporting lines and working team arrangement

UNDP in collaboration with Govt. of Djibouti plans to recruit a National Gender Specialist Consultant - to support the process of identifying the gender opportunities and positioning of female community members to play active roles and benefit from natural resources will specifically be considered.  The Consultant will perform under the overall guidance and supervision of National Project Director and Climate Change Portfolio Expert and closely work with Project Manager.

The overall reporting and draft finalization will be done in close coordination with the Department of Environment and UNDP.

Overall Functions

The International Gender and Community Engagement Expert (refer to Output 4.3 of the Project) will be responsible for conducting gender analysis to identify the community based natural resource management (CBNRM) options to support their livelihood, build the capacity of the DEDD on gender responsive planning and supporting the DEDD staff on site for the community projects. For the long-term this expert will train DEDD and other relevant Government staff in implementing participatory and systematic community-based livelihood and CBNRM activities.

The International Gender and Community Engagement Specialist will lead the gender engagement team by guiding the overall gender analysis and livelihood option exploration as listed below to ensure Gender and Social Inclusion aspects are incorporated.

1. Carry out a participatory gender analysis to fully consider the different needs, roles, benefits, impacts, risks and access to/control over resources of women and men (including considerations of intersecting categories of identity such as age, social status, ethnicity, marital status, etc.) given a project’s context, and appropriate measures taken to address these and promote gender equality; collect gender responsive baseline data relevant to project planning and monitoring; identify the share of female and male direct beneficiaries. 
    
2. Assist in organizing and carrying out gender responsive stakeholder consultation sessions to solicit inputs and ensure both male and female stakeholder involvement and buy-in to the project.
   Provide written guidance notes and training on the application of these to the project implementation team particularly in using participatory techniques that involve both women and men in project activities that involve assessments and discussions.

• Ensure that key project activities are gender responsive: work with the project team to elaborate the project activities and ensure that all applicable activities are disaggregated by sex and other relevant, intersecting forms of identity; ensure that gender considerations are integrated into project activities.
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• Assess the project gender co-benefits for all activities as an integral part of outlining project sustainable development aspects and provide a summary section on Gender Co-benefits in the Feasibility Report.
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• Prepare an outline of the potential locally-suitable biodiversity-friendly / MPA-compatible sustainable livelihood options that could be supported through Micro Capital Grant approach as defined under Output 2.7

Objectives of the assignment

During the project preparation phase, a detailed gender assessment was conducted and recommended that a gender mainstreaming strategy be prepared for this project. The gender analysis highlighted the inequalities between men and women in terms of living conditions, status in the family and in society, capacity and participation in development. Hence, a systematic gender mainstreaming is needed to ensure that the gender responsive actions and interventions are integrated into the institutions and also the livelihood options being discussed.

Previous assessments undertaken to understand the gender roles and the differential impact of environmental shocks have underscored the established notion that women, children and elderly are more vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change.

In this regard, the International Gender and Community Engagement Specialist will be hired to develop Gender Mainstreaming Strategy to ensure that the recommendations of the Gender Assessment undertaken during the project preparation phase are revised to the current context and implemented systematically contributing to gender responsive biodiversity friendly livelihood options.

Key Results Expected

The key results expected from the Gender and Community Engagement Specialist remain as below.

Review Gender Analysis to validate Baseline for the Project and develop a Situational Report: The baseline development in the context of this proposed project can be divided into the following categories:

• Women’s representation in the marine biodiversity based economic activities and decision-making processes:
  • women’s participation in sub-national development planning process (as a community member), specifically women’s role and level of participation in formulating local/ regional/ national level gender responsive livelihood plans municipal plans catering to the adaptation needs;
  • women’s participation in livelihood activities (as an economic agent within the household or society); women specific livelihood activities (e.g. aquaculture, handicrafts, tourism);
  • women’s participation and role in marine biodiversity related decision making process and in relation to this women’s participation and role in stewarding natural resources, specifically marine ecosystem protection and management;
  • gender-responsive participatory methods and communities’ willingness to participate and actively engage in the marine biodiversity protection and conservation activities
  • Existing benefit sharing process and mechanisms at the community level
  • Status of the decision-making authority and participation of women, particularly the indigenous women, who are living in the proposed project intervention areas
• Policy provisions and Financial Mechanisms for gender responsive marine biodiversity based livelihood programming:
  • Women specific adaptation needs and linkages between upstream risk reduction approaches and downstream impacts. All of these aspects of gender should be verified and substantiated by field visits and consultations with relevant stakeholders.
  • Existing Policies on gender mainstreaming into development, particularly climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation and environmental risk management
  • Existing level of usage of gender responsive budgeting provisions to ensure that gender responsive climate change activities are planned and implemented
• Institutional capacity and mechanisms to address the issue of gender responsive climate change adaptation programmes:
  • Assessment of the existing ToR of the Gender Focal Points at different levels of governments
  • Capacity of the dedicated institutions to design and implement the marine biodiversity conservation programmes in a gender responsive manner
  • Capacity of the institutions to coordinate the marine biodiversity activities ensuring that gender issues are addressed adequately
  • Capacity of the institutions at national, regional and local level to ensure that the communities at risk from sea level rise, pollution and other environmental and climate risks facing marine natural resources depletion get information related to gender-responsive strategy.

• Gender Issues in relation to the recent or imminent livelihood options
• Gender disaggregated role in addressing the gender equality and financing opportunity issues
• Socio-economic, cultural and institutional barriers that deterred women’s and men’s equal participation and their ability to equally benefit from its activities
• Assess women’s access to the five livelihood dimensions:
  • Social capital: Create and strengthen local women’s networks and groups, as well as representation in local institutions
  • Financial capital: Promote women’s access to finance through targeted small-loan and credit facilities, financial inclusions such as saving and bank accounts
  • Human capital: promote formal and non-formal education measures targeted to increase the employability of women, both self-employment and salaried employment.
  • Physical capital: promote safe communication and transportation for women and equal access to information
  • Natural capital: Promote women’s access to land and property ownership

Facilitate discussions among the project development team and with government partners as to what specific activities can be undertaken in the project to minimize differentiated inequalities and access to livelihood opportunities

Prepare gender responsive Results Based Management and Monitoring Framework:

• A clear gender vision and a clear gender objective for the project
• Gender sensitive result framework with clearly defined gender-sensitive outcomes, impacts and goals and gender specific indicators
• Communication mechanisms to ensure that the project’s gender-sensitive goals been communicated to all stakeholders (and embed the mechanism to do so before and during implementation)
• Requirement to develop operational procedures, manuals, guidelines and training in the use of M&E methods and tools for gathering gender-disaggregated data.
• Mechanisms to collect and incorporate both quantitative and qualitative data during implementation and in the long-term
•  Mechanisms to adjust the project activities and implement corrective measures (adaptive management),  if project impact is found to be unequal between men and women during implementation, to ensure equal benefits to both women and men by project end and beyond
• Participatory monitoring methods that enable separate group discussions for women and men, and/or that optimize opportunities for equal participation (e.g. consultations undertaken to fit the schedules of both genders)
• Gender-sensitive surveys methods for M&E
• Review the GEF’s Gender Policy and Action Plan 2018-2020 as well as UNDP Environmental and Social Screening Process guideline and identify specific ways to ensure that women’s views and concerns are addressed and reflected in project activities.
• Draft Gender Strategy and the Action Plan and contribute inputs with regards to specific activities that have gender-focus;
• Ensure that the activities under Component 4 of the project are gender targeted and at least gender responsive if not gender transformative.
• Develop the Capacity Development Plan

Competencies

• Ability to communicate effectively to varied audiences;
• Ability to work under tight schedules;
• Ability to coordinate and collate information obtained from various sources;
• Ability to guide team members to achieve better results in timely manner;
• Proven strong analytical abilities;
• Ability to work under pressure with several tasks and various deadlines;
• Actively generates creative, practical approaches and solutions to overcome challenging situations;
• A pro-active approach to problem-solving.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Master’s Degree in gender and development, livelihood, law, political sciences, or related social sciences, or other closely related field.

Experience and Requirements

• Experience of working on gender and social inclusion, gender and equity, justice and capacity development for at-least 15 years;
• Proven work experience in gender specific community-based livelihood and natural resource management and initiatives;
• Background in partnership building is preferred;
• Experience in working with government, donors or the UN previously is an asset;
• Good knowledge and understanding of the global debate on gender, social inclusion and livelihood and experience in multilateral dialogues and processes;
• Proven experience and knowledge of country’s institutional framework and policies of gender and social inclusion is an asset; and
• Demonstrated understanding of issues related to gender and community-based livelihood and financing mechanisms; experience in gender sensitive evaluation and analysis.

Language Requirements

• Proficiency in written and spoken English and French.

Payment and Deliverables:

Deliverables:

• Payment to be made on a deliverable basis
• Total working days = 35 spread between December 2019 and May 2020

Deliverables/Outputs will be monitored by UNDP and DE team as below.

(All deliverables will only be accepted if they meet highest quality standards. In country mission and meetings must be well prepared and executed professionally. Documents, including drafts, have to be well structured and written. Data collection, analysis and presentation are expected to meet highest standards. All final documents have to be proofread and professionally edited before submission.)

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

Lump Sum Amount – the financial proposal must be expressed in the form of an “all-inclusive” lump sum amount supported by a detailed breakdown of costs as per the template provided (to download the template and attached it in one file with CV, please visit this link:

http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=61996

Under the lump sum approach, the contract price is fixed regardless of changes in the cost components or duration of the assignment.

NOTE:  DSA and Travel will be arranged by UNDP for the field visits as needed.

Reporting and coordination line:

• The International consultant (hired under UNDP’s Individual Contract modality) will report directly to UNDP, with direct supervision by Portfolio Manager in the UNDP Country Office (CO).
• S/he is also expected to work closely with the CTA and other colleagues working on Marine Biodiversity Project and Climate Change and Environment portfolio at the CO.
• S/he will coordinate and communicate with the National Project Director as needed with support from the Project Coordinator.
• The International Consultant will need to work closely with the CTA, UNDP CO, other National and International consultants for all the technical requirements towards developing and finalizing the Gender Strategy and in close coordination with BPPS/UNDP-GEF Regional Technical Advisor;
• The International Consultant will lead and coordinate the national team including the national gender and community engagement expert, micro grant recipients and other team members to work with government and non-government counterparts and UNDP during the consultation and formulation process.

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer:

Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a max. of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a max of 30%.  Only candidates scoring 70% (i.e. 49 points) in the technical evaluation will be considered for financial proposal evaluation.

Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a max. of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a max of 30%.  Only candidates scoring 70% (i.e. 49 points) in the technical evaluation will be considered for financial proposal evaluation.