Background

The Arab region is particularly susceptible to climate change, with temperatures rising faster than the global average. Moreover, it is also the most-water scarce and food-import dependent region in the world. These vulnerabilities have contributed to various forms of social unrest, exacerbated conflicts, and driven the displacement of large numbers of people.

The Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction have stressed that for development to be sustainable and resilient to shocks, it must integrate climate change and disaster into short-term responses, and long-term planning. Likewise, the Secretary General’s Strategy and Roadmap for financing Agenda 2030 calls on stakeholders to scale  up climate finance, and enhance sustainable financing strategies and investments at all levels, and across the different, but interlinked spheres of work.

Against this background, the League of Arab States (LAS), the Arab Water Council (AWC) and multiple UN agencies (UNDP, UNEP-FI, WFP, UN-Habitat, UNDRR) have launched a regional project with the title “SDG- Climate Facility Project: Climate Action for Human Security” (2019-2022) that aims to enhance the capacity of regional and national institutions to address climate change in a way that brings benefits across multiple goals, while also reducing the impacts of conflict and crises.

With attention to addressing overall challenges of climate change, poverty and human insecurity in the Arab States,  the   project  will   have  particular  focus   on  generating  results   in   crisis   affected areas. The interconnectedness between climate and security has become an increasingly important agenda for policy makers in the Arab region and beyond. Understanding the interface between the two, and their impact on critical challenges such as increasing displacement and migration induced by resources scarcity are necessary for effective responses, and enabling resilient and sustainable development. Yet, there is limited knowledge attention by international and regional partners. Through both regional activities and local country level initiatives, the project will help identify pilot solutions that bring together climate actions with crisis prevention/recovery goals, with particular benefits for communities in areas affected by protracted crisis, which are often hotspots of both climate risks and conflicts. These activities will generate important tangible benefits for local communities, as well as models intended for possible replication and upscaling through the regional platforms and activities supporting the project, in particular the planned SDG-Climate Facility.

The Arab Water Council has taken the lead in a number of climate-security related activities, which requires a coordinated approach among the activities, as well as with other partners of the project, in particular LAS, UNDP, and WFP, necessitating some dedicated support to ensure coherence and synergies.

Duties and Responsibilities

The objective of this assignment is to engage the services of a highly qualified individual to support AWC’s capacity in the Climate-Security Agenda. The individual will support the coordination and implementation of AWC’s climate-security activities, strengthen linkages and synergies with relevant partners, and ensure a clear link between research and policy-making.

In achieving the objectives of this assignment, the individual will particularly focus on:

1. Providing technical assistance and backstopping to the AWC Project Management Unit (PMU) for quality assurance of the studies produced on climate-security related activities;
2. Enhancing cross-linkages and synergies among various activities, including AWC- led activities and  studies, as well as between AWC-led activities and activities led by other project partners;
3. Contributing to the conceptualization of specific climate-security related policy dialogues and engagement;
4. Strengthening the practical applicability of relevant studies by providing substantive inputs on the  scope of studies, knowledge products etc.;
5. Providing general support for planning, capacity building and implementation of activities, as needed; and
6. Providing input to the progress reports, project overall plan and Project Completion Report.

Expected Outputs:

1. Policy briefs;
2. Substantive reports from policy dialogues and research studies; and
3. Input to progress reports and project completion report.

EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND DELIVERABLES

Competencies

Key Competencies:

Corporate

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness, by modeling the UN/UNDP’s values and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional

• Time management and organizational skills, with the ability to undertake multiple tasks and deliver under pressure;
• Strong analytical and synthesis skills;
• Ability to work independently and achieve quality results with limited supervision and within tight schedules;
• Experience in reports production;
• Ability to write in a clear and concise manner;
• Good teamwork and interpersonal skills;
• Flexibility and ability to handle multiple tasks and work under pressure;
• Excellent computer skills especially Word, Excel and Power Point

Leadership

• Demonstrated ability to think strategically and to provide credible leadership;
• Demonstrated flexibility in leadership by performing and/or overseeing the analysis/resolution of complex issues;
• Ability to conceptualize and convey strategic vision from the spectrum of development experience.

Managing Relationships

• Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain strategic partnerships;
• Demonstrated well developed people management and organizational management skills;
• Excellent negotiating and networking skills with strong partnerships in academia, technical organizations and as a recognized expert in the practice area.

Managing Complexity

• Ability to address global development issues;
• Demonstrated substantive leadership and ability to integrate knowledge with broader strategic, policy and operational objectives.

Knowledge Management and Learning

• Ability to strongly promote and build knowledge products;
• Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example;
• Seeks and applies knowledge, information and best practices from within and outside of UNDP;
• Demonstrates a strong capacity for innovation and creativity in providing strategic policy advice and direction.

Judgment/Decision-Making

• Mature judgment and initiative;
• Proven ability to provide strategic direction to the project implementation process;
• Independent judgment and discretion in advising on handling major policy issues and challenges, uses diplomacy and tact to achieve result.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree in Social Sciences, International Development, Crisis Studies, Environment, Migration Studies, Political Science, Climate Change, or other relevant fields.

Work experience:

• At least 5 years of relevant experience in international/regional organization(s) in areas related to sustainable development, climate change, conflict, refugee/migration;
• At least 2 years of professional working experience in, and ability to coordinate and engage professionally with partners in different sectors, including intergovernmental bodies, UN agencies, regional NGOs, and donors;
• Previous working experience in research and policy analysis in relevant areas;
• Solid knowledge of the Arab region and its development priorities and challenges, including in the context of ongoing crises;
• Experience working in/on fragile states is an advantage.

Language Requirements:

• Language proficiency in both written and oral English and Arabic is required. Knowledge of any other UN language, particularly French, is an asset

INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT

• The individual is required to exhibit his or her full-time commitment with UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab  States (RBAS);
• S/He shall perform tasks under the general guidance of the SDG Climate Facility Chief Technical Advisor and direct supervision of the Arab Water Council (AWC) Project Coordinator;
• The supervision will include approvals/acceptance of the outputs and deliverables as identified in the previous section;
• The individual is expected to liaise and collaborate in the  course of  performing the work with other  consultants, suppliers and UN colleagues;
• The individual is required to provide periodical progress reports on regular and needed basis throughout the assignment to monitor progress;
• The individual is required to maintain close communication with UNDP-RBAS on regular and needed basis at any period throughout the assignment in order to monitor progress. In the event of any delay, S/he will inform UNDP promptly so that decisions and remedial action may be taken accordingly;
• Should UNDP deem it necessary, it reserves the right to commission additional inputs, reviews or  revisions, as needed to ensure the quality and relevance of the work.

 DURATION OF THE WORK

The expected duration of the assignment is expected to be up to (180) working days over a period of (12) calendar months from the contract signature date.

DUTY STATION

Arab Water Council Office – Cairo, Egypt.

TRAVEL PLAN (OPTIONAL)

If any unforeseen travel outside the consultant home based city is requested by UNDP and not required by the Terms of References (ToR), such travel shall be covered by UNDP in line with applicable rules and regulations and upon prior written agreement. In such cases, the consultant shall receive living allowances not exceeding the United Nations (UN) Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) rate for such other location(s).

RECOMMENDED PRESENTATION OF OFFER

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Candidates that fail to submit the required information will not be considered.

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
2. Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
3. Brief Description of why you consider yourself as the most suitable candidate for this assignment;
4. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive Deliverables/Outputs based total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided. The terms “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel costs, living allowances, communications, consumables, etc.) that could possibly be incurred are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the proposal. If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expectshis/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.

All necessary information including: Complete Procurement Notice, the Selection Criteria, and Annexes are found on the following link under Procurement http://procurement-notices.undp.org/

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications to Job advertisement website (https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_jobs.cfm) and should submit their  proposal by e-mail to the following address: proc.contract.rscjo@undp.org not later than 6 September 2020.  Candidates that fail to submit the required information on or before the set deadline (6 September 2020) will not be considered.

Please do not submit financial proposal in this stage. Financial proposal shall be requested from Candidates who are considered technically responsive

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF THE BEST OFFERS

This selection criteria will follow the 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%; using the  following evaluation criteria

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:

Step I: Screening and desk review:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology.

Applications will be first screened and only candidates meeting the following minimum requirements will progress to the pool for shortlisting:

• Criteria A: Master’s degree in Social Sciences, International Development, Crisis Studies, Environment, Migration Studies, Political Science, Climate Change, or other relevant fields;
• Criteria B: at least 5 years of relevant experience in international/regional organization(s) in areas related to sustainable development, climate change, conflict, refugee/migration;
• Criteria G: Language proficiency in both written and oral English and Arabic is required;

Shortlisted candidates will be invited for virtual consultation, then assessed and scored against the following evaluation criteria:

Step II : Technical Review

Shortlisted candidates will undergo a technical evaluation which will include desk review and  interview for shortlisted candidates as per above criteria,

Interviews will be conducted by the technical evaluation committee remotely. Submission of a proposal to tackle the assignment will be shared with shortlisted candidates.

Technical evaluation Criteria max 100 points (Weighted 70):

Shortlisted candidates will be invited for virtual consultation, then assessed and scored against the following  evaluation criteria:

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation

For those offers considered in the financial evaluation, the lowest price offer will receive 30 points. The other offers will receive points in relation to the lowest offer, based on the following formula: (PI / Pn) * 30 where Pn is the financial offer being evaluated and Pl is the lowest financial offer received.

Step II: Final evaluation

The final evaluation will combine the scores of the desk review and the financial proposal with the following weights assigned to each:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis methodology (weighted scoring method), where the award of the contract will 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 technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Criteria weight: [70%] Financial Criteria weight: [30%]

Only Individual Consultants obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70%) on the Technical evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.