Background

UNCDF makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 47 least developed countries. With its capital mandate and instruments, UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development. UNCDF’s financing models work through two channels: financial inclusion that expands the opportunities for individuals, households, and small businesses to participate in the local economy, providing them with the tools they need to climb out of poverty and manage their financial lives; and by showing how localized investments — through fiscal decentralization, innovative municipal finance, and structured project finance — can drive public and private funding that underpins local economic expansion and sustainable development. By strengthening how finance works for poor people at the household, small enterprise, and local infrastructure levels, UNCDF contributes to SDG 1 on eradicating poverty and SDG 17 on the means of implementation. By identifying those market segments where innovative financing models can have transformational impact in helping to reach the last mile and address exclusion and inequalities of access, UNCDF contributes to a number of different SDGs.

UNCDF’s Local Climate Adaptive Living (LoCAL) facility was designed and launched in 2011 with the aim of promoting climate change–resilient communities and local economies by establishing a standard and internationally recognized country-based mechanism to channel climate finance to local government authorities in LDCs and to increase local resilience, thereby contributing to achievement of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly the goals of poverty eradication (SDG 1) and climate action (SDG 13). LoCAL increases awareness and capacities to respond to climate change at the local level, integrates climate change adaptation into local governments’ planning and budgeting systems in a participatory and gender-sensitive manner, and increases the amount of finance available to local governments for climate change adaptation. 

LoCAL combines performance-based climate resilience grants (PBCRGs) with technical and capacity-building support. PBCRGs ensure programming and verification of climate change expenditures at the local level and offer strong incentives for general performance improvements targeting areas of importance for enhanced resilience. The PBCRG can be seen as an earmarked cross-sectoral grant with conditions attached to the use of its funding for climate change adaptation beyond business as usual. Combined with regular grant allocations, PBCRGs enable 100 per-cent of the investments in climate-sensitive sectors to become climate resilient over time. They include a set of minimum conditions, performance measures and a menu of eligible investments.

LoCAL focuses on the delivery of four outputs that will directly contribute to increasing local governments’ access to climate finance and building resilience to climate change:

Output 1 – Awareness and capacities to respond to climate change adaptation at the local level are increased;

Output 2 – CCA is mainstreamed into government’s planning and budgeting systems and investments are implemented in line with the PBCRG mechanism;

Output 3 – The PBCRG system is effectively and sustainably established in participating countries and leads to an increased amount of CCA finance available to local government and local economy;

Output 4 – The role of local authorities and of the PBCRGS in addressing climate change are increasingly recognized at international level, through outreach, learning and quality assurance.

The mechanism operates in three distinct phases:

Phase I: Piloting, consists of an initial scoping analysis, followed by testing in two to four local governments. As of 2020, The Gambia, Lesotho, Mali, Tanzania and Tuvalu are in Phase I; Lao PDR and Nepal are preparing for phase II.

Phase II: Consolidating, takes place in 5–10 local governments in a country. It involves collecting lessons and demonstrating the mechanism’s effectiveness at a larger scale. As of 2020, Ghana, Niger, Bangladesh, Benin, Mozambique are in Phase II.

Phase III: Scaling-up, is full national roll-out of LoCAL based on the results of the previous phases and lessons learned. LoCAL is gradually extended to all local governments, with domestic or international climate finance, and becomes the national system for channeling adaptation finance to the local level. Bhutan is in Phase III, with budget support from the European Union; Cambodia has also entered Phase III.

LoCAL in Tuvalu

As one of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Tuvalu is highly vulnerable to climate change, and changing weather patterns affect communities in different ways, including loss in agricultural production and food security, water stress and insecurity, rising sea levels and exposure to climate disasters, changes to ecosystems and loss of biodiversity, and human health. There are reported incidents where islanders have been relocated because their islands are sinking, food gardens affected because of soil salinity and irregular weather patterns – these examples and other evidence are high priority concerns.

As a small archipelago country in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the impact of climate change depends on the geography and local specificities of individual islands, and their adaptation strategies should vary accordingly. The capacity of local governments to deal with the climate change issues at the provincial level is still very slow. This is despite the fact that they are on the front line to deliver services to the community, including building the community resilience to the climate change effects.

In line with the objective of the LoCAL Global Project mentioned above, the LoCAL project in Tuvalu aims to increase the climate change resilience by mainstreaming climate change adaptation activities into the local government planning and budgeting process through Performance Based Climate Change resilience Grant System (PBCRG). Considering the specific context of vulnerabilities in Tuvalu, the LoCAL Tuvalu will also address climate related disaster preparedness measures (e.g. cyclones, prolonged drought).

Tuvalu is the first country to implement LoCAL in the Pacific. A memorandum of understanding was signed between LoCAL and Tuvalu in December 2015. Subsequently, the LoCAL mechanism was adopted rapidly in Tuvalu and various strategic missions were held to prepare for implementation, which commenced in 2016. Through a participatory and inclusive process, a climate vulnerability and risk scan was undertaken for the first batch of climate adaptation and risk reduction investment activities to inform the requirements of the LoCAL planning process. The initial investment activities were successfully implemented by the three pilot falekaupules (local governments) under the first tranche of the PBCRG for FY 2016/17 and the 2nd tranche for FY 2017/18. The second annual performance assessment (APA) of the kaupules/falekaupules under the LoCAL programme was successfully completed in May 2017. The APA reviewed compliance on the part of the pilot kaupules with the minimum conditions for access to grants for the FY 2017/18. The APA report was reviewed by the LoCAL Secretariat and subsequently approved by the Kaupule Development Coordinating Committee, and signed by the secretary and consented to by the minister. The APA found LoCAL has good traction in the initial three LoCAL programme pilot local government authorities. Upon approval of the APA report and its recommendations, UNCDF released the 2nd tranche of the PBCRG to Tuvalu for allocation as per the determined formula so the kaupules can implement their FY 2017/18 activities. Implementation of these activities have commenced in the first half of 2018.

The third APA, conducted in 2018, verified that all three participating kaupules – Nukulaelae, Nukufetau and Namumea – have met the minimum conditions, and were thus qualified to receive the next PBCRG cycle. The assessment also noted that the performance of LoCAL kaupules had improved significantly, particularly in planning and budgeting, financial management and climate resilience investments, with an average 83 per cent improvement on performance measures noted from 2016 to 2018 The LoCAL team also worked in close coordination with UNDP and other key stakeholder both at regional and country levels to ensure the synergy of the LoCAL programme in Tuvalu with other existing programmes/projects in the climate change area. 

A concept note for scaling up the LoCAL mechanism was prepared jointly with the Government of Tuvalu in 2019. The objective is to increase the resilience of island communities across the country through predictable, systemic and verifiable climate finance in support of local climate responses, through increased kaupule access to climate finance to implement climate change adaptation investments in Tuvalu (outcome 1) and institutionalizing a standard and internationally recognized country-based mechanism of PBCRGs in Tuvalu, further attracting domestic and international climate finance (outcome 2). The initiative will support LoCAL-Tuvalu scale-up to all islands over a four-year period, with a focus on those islands more vulnerable to climate change and exposed to climate-related risks.

The Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project (TCAP)

The Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project assists Tuvalu by implementing measures that reduce exposure to coastal hazards in the three target islands, developing a long term coastal adaptation strategy, building capacity of national and local authorities to better implement adaptation actions, and investing in youth as future stewards of a resilient Tuvalu. Leveraging UNCDF experience in Tuvalu, and to ensure programmatic synergies and complementarities with UNCDF supported Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL), UNCDF will provide technical support to target Kaupules and communities in Tuvalu to plan and develop climate resilient investments, including technical assistance/support for the undertaking of Climate Risk Assessments (CRA) and for the development of Climate Adaptation and Risk Reduction plans (as part of the existing Kaupule planning process); support for capacity building assessments of target Kaupules, including criteria for assessment, timing of the assessment and provision of external assessors; technical support for the development and use of a resilience-building investment menu; and general technical assistance for awareness raising, capacity building and institutional strengthening. The work is expected to pave the way for the future deployment of LoCAL Tuvalu phase II, that will complement or follow through the TCAP in the target Kaupules.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective of the Assignment: Reporting directly to the LoCAL Facility Manager, and working closely with the UNCDF/LoCAL staff in the country, the consultant will provide technical and policy support to the Government of Tuvalu, particularly to the Ministry of Local Government and Agriculture, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Finance, as well to local stakeholders on the implementation of the PBCRGS; and effectively support coordination of the partnership with the Government of Tuvalu and other development partners in the countries on the expansion of LoCAL portfolio in Tuvalu, including programmatic synergies and linkages with the Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project (TCAP).  This includes, inter alia, facilitating consultations between UNCDF and national and in-country development partners, support the Facility Manager on resource mobilization efforts for Tuvalu, provide training to national and subnational government officials and support mainstreaming of climate change in local plans and budgets, under the LoCAL mechanism; development of background documents and reports and knowledge sharing activities to key government stakeholders and development partners. The consultant will also support the LoCAL Facility in providing relevant policy updates and local data and statistical information on climate change to the LoCAL Facility and will contribute to the LoCAL Tuvalu Annual report.

Scope of Work:

Task 1:  Policy and technical support: In close consultation with the LoCAL Facility Manager, the consultant will independently and effectively provide technical and policy support for the implementation and expansion of LoCAL Tuvalu activities. This includes, inter alia, identify and develop tools to support climate change adaptation mainstreaming into local plans and budgets, support undertaking of annual performance assessment, deliver training on LoCAL-Tuvalu PBCRG system and on climate change issues to both national and subnational stakeholders, policy support to national and subnational stakeholders with a view of institutionalizing the LoCAL mechanism.

Task 2:  Partnership building : In close consultation with the LoCAL Facility manager and coordination with the Government of Tuvalu, the consultant will provide support to the overall effort to build and strengthen the collaborative efforts and partnerships with the Government of Tuvalu and development partners.

Task 3:  Reporting and M&E: Provide support to implementation of the programme’s Reporting and M&E framework, as well as knowledge management activities.   

On possible travel: The schedule of travel will be agreed on with the incumbent according to the requirements of each programme country. Travel costs associated to the assignment will be paid following the UN rules and regulations which is Economy Ticket + UN Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) for specific countries. DSA rates are set on a monthly basis by the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), accessible from https://icsc.un.org/Home/DataDSA 

Expected Outputs and Deliverables: 

Policy and technical support (50%)

1. Assist the Government of Tuvalu to strengthen Institutional Arrangements in terms of the Implementing Agencies and Coordinating Bodies for the PBCRGS, considering nation-wide scaling-up goals
2. Successful delivery of PBCR Grants for fiscal year 2020/2021 as per agreed timeframe and budget.
3. Facilitate detailing of CARR Plans from target Kaupules and the CR Grant transfers to Kaupules after release from UNCDF/LoCAL, including development and implementation of tools that support mainstreaming of climate change adaptation into local plans and budgets
4. Support the implementation and preparation of the MC compliance report, the performance assessment report and the mission report, including performance-based CR Grant calculations and recommendations;
5. Support the PBCRGS/APA mission and the implementation and Quality assurance of PBCRGS Performance Assessment.
6. Contribution to the MC verification report and APA report
7. Provide technical and policy guidance to the Government of Tuvalu on a diverse range of issues relevant to the implementation and expansion of LoCAL Programme in Tuvalu including but not limit to providing technical and management capacities and needs of local and national stakeholders including local governments and ministries in charge of climate change, finance, planning, and local governments;
8. Provide trainings on PBCRGS and on climate change issues to national and subnational stakeholders.

Partnership building (40%)

1. Support engagement of key ministries and the Prime Minister office with the International Technical Team on any matters related to potential funding support from donors o the LoCAL scaling-up design;
2. Support collection of donor intelligence and explore technical and financial partnerships with bilateral agencies and donors, multilaterals organizations and financial institutions and (inter)national NGOs and facilitate contacts between the LoCAL Facility and key potential partners who could engage with the phase II of LoCAL programme in Tuvalu;
3. Support development of and provision of technical inputs to concept notes and funding proposals on LoCAL-Tuvalu. 

Reporting and M&E (10%)

1. Support the LoCAL Tuvalu initiative in preparing accurate and quality reports, e.g. quarterly and annual reports in a timely manner
2. Contribute to the LoCAL Global Annual Reports, provide local data and statistical information, update as necessary M&E plans and tools, participate and contribute to the development of /updates to M&E Framework for Tuvalu in line with the LoCAL “Assessing climate change adaptation framework”;
3. Contribute to knowledge management and awareness raising on LoCAL-Tuvalu, ensuring commitment of national and subnational stakeholders, including local governments and central ministries.

Narrative report(s) demonstrating successful completion of deliverables (from 1 to 14) shall be submitted as proof of completed deliverables. The amount to be paid for each deliverable will be calculated based % of time required to complete each deliverable and shall not exceed 140 days.

Institutional Arrangements

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the LoCAL Facility Manager who will communicate on the monthly basis and work closely with the consultant to ensure timely delivery of expected outputs.

The consultant will provide periodic progress report on the overall activities of the TOR to the LoCAL Facility Manager on a quarterly basis on all tasks (as per Sections 3 and 5).  The report will be accompanied by annexes of related documents as per expected deliverables.  

Payments will be made against proof of successful completion of deliverables (will be calculated based on % of time required to complete each deliverable and shall not exceed 140 days in total as noted above), upon verification of and approval by the Facility Manager of a submitted Time Sheet. In other words, payments under the awarded contract will be tied to the outlined deliverables.

A schedule of days worked, outputs produced, and costs incurred will be monitored by LoCAL Secretariat based in Bangkok Regional Office.

There will be a briefing and debriefing and regular discussions between the Consultant the UNCDF LoCAL programme manager, LoCAL secretariat team as well as in-country partners (government).

The Consultant is responsible for providing his/her own laptop during the course of his/her engagement with UNCDF.

Final payment shall require a signed performance evaluation of the consultant.

Competencies

Technical Competencies:

• Owns a comprehensive knowledge and experience working with programme support to development projects, particularly in Tuvalu and with international organizations;
• A strong understanding of PFM and climate change issues and best practice adaptation actions that can be implemented at subnational level;
• A proven ability to work in a collaborative manner with a diverse group of stakeholders in the design and development of proposals and delivery of high-quality products/outputs in the field of local adaptation/resilience

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications: 

• Minimum Master’s degree in Public Administration and Governance, Economics, International Relations, Environment, Development or other related fields.

Skills and Experience:

• 15 years of professional experience with at least 10 years in Pacific 
• At least 5 years of professional experience in the fields of local development, decentralization and/or environment and climate change adaptation with a specific emphasis on local or climate governance, adaptation and development planning, public financial management/budgeting, climate finance, and/or climate change mainstreaming
• Having at least 5 years of direct experience working with or related to Tuvalu Government Administration
• Proven track record of providing advisory service and coordination with the high level government official in the Pacific, especially in Tuvalu
• Experience in capacity development and institutional strengthening in Pacific, ideally in Tuvalu in the context of fiscal transfer, decentralization processes and/or climate change adaptation
• Proven track record of directly involving in performance-based grants and similar tools like budget support, ideally for climate change adaptation
• Sensitivity to diverse opinions and difficulties arising from differing social and cultural perceptions

Language: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of local language is an asset.

Application Procedure: 

Interested individuals must submit the documents mentioned below as proposals in order to demonstrate their qualifications.

All applications must contain the following information:

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability;

2. Personal profile including

• CV or P11, indicating all past experiences in similar projects as well as the contact details (e-mail and telephone number of the candidate);
• Name and contact details (e-mail addresses, telephone numbers) of 3 professional references

3. Signed Financial proposal for the assignment, outlining All-inclusive fee (including professional fees and other professional expenses, such as insurance, taxes, etc.), supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided.

• Daily professional fee should ideally be quoted in US Dollars.

If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNCDF 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 UNCDF. 

When applying for this consultancy position, the Offeror must apply with his/her official name as shown in the government issued identification document (e.g. passport and/or driver license). Contract award is subject to this verification. 

Failure to submit all the above mentioned documents may result in rejection of the application.

Applications will be rated on both technical and financial submissions. The following selection method will be used: Highest rated proposal using the combined scoring method, which assigns the weight distribution between the technical and financial proposals. The overall combined score will be 100 points, where weight distribution shall be 70% technical (desk review + interview) and 30% financial.

EVALUATION PROCESS

Step I: Screening/Longlisting:

Applications will be screened and only applicants meeting the following minimum criteria will progress to the pool for shortlisting:

• Being a Tuvalu national or being legally authorized to work in the country
•  Education as per required qualification
• A minimum 15 years of relevant professional experience in the required fields 

Step II: Shortlisting by Desk Review:

UNCDF will conduct a desk review to produce a shortlist of candidates by evaluating the following criteria with the corresponding points (100 points)

*Technical Criteria weight: 70%

• Total maximum obtainable score for Technical proposal = 100 points
• Only candidates obtaining a minimum score of 70% in the desk review (items 1-8 below) will be invited for a technical interview and further considered for the financial evaluation

Criteria