Background

The EU and UNDP value dynamic civil society environment, and recognize the important role of the civil society in achieving progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To support engagement of the civil society in the SDGs implementation, EU and UNDP have launched a new 3-year project “Developing innovation-driven and sustainable civil society in Azerbaijan”. The project is designed as a multi-dimensional response to accelerate the growth of the civil society sector in Azerbaijan through building capacities for policy influence and local development in the selected SDGs related areas including green growth and climate change.

Climate change has emerged as a priority topic for the project given Azerbaijan’s sensitivity to the adverse effects of the climate. Azerbaijan’s economy and communities are increasingly at  risk from higher temperatures, unpredictable rainfall, natural disasters and fluctuating sea level. The most vulnerable sectors include agriculture which is a major source of employment, water resources, tourism and coastal infrastructure. Sensitive communities must be aware of the negative impacts of the climate change on their livelihoods, and build resilience and adapt to climate change consequences.  Building community awareness and resilience begins with the education of the ‘managers’ of these communities, which are the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community-based organisations (CBOs).

For this purpose, the project held a series of interventions to raise awareness of the civil society organizations on climate change and its adverse effects in order to provide them with basic understanding of the basic science behind climate change, linkages between climate change and development and role of the CSOs in climate change response.

To further catalyse the engagement of the CSOs in climate action and empower them to become advocates of strong and decisive climate action, the project is expected to beef up the capacity of CSOs in Azerbaijan to integrate climate change considerations in their work, thus helping enhance the adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Conduct a rapid survey to assess CSOs interest on issues related to climate change, climate negotiations and the environment

• Establish a categorization of CSOs according to the level of knowledge, thematic areas and other criteria, as deemed appropriate by the consultant. The key target audience for the training are local non-governmental organizations working on a multitude of problems with diverse range of beneficiaries. The CSOs can be roughly grouped into the following categories:

• CSOs working with children, adolescents and youth
• CSOs working on gender equality and women empowerment
• CSOs working with people with special needs (people with disabilities, children
• CSOs working with a broad range of partners (entrepreneurs, media representatives, other CSOs, government, municipalities)
• Environmental CSOs

Based on the results of the assessment, design a training programme customized to the baseline knowledge and needs of the CSOs. Each training is expected to take place remotely and last appx/ 2 full days (in 4 half-day sessions) using a mix of learning techniques including lectures, power point presentations, guided discussions, group work, brainstorming sessions, case-study analysis and practical exercises. Final training contents, methodology and agenda should be designed and finalized in consultation with UNDP;

• Facilitate 4 face-to-face training sessions to CSOs. Training sessions shall be conducted within a normal business hours in Azerbaijan time zone. At the end of the training sessions the participants are expected:

• to have an improved understanding of climate change impacts in Azerbaijan and the need to mainstream climate change into national policies and projects;
• to be able to identify appropriate entry points to integrate climate change concerns into their community-based projects;
• Have better understanding of methodologies for integrating climate change adaptation into development of policies.

• Conduct pre and post work survey to assess the changes in the participants awareness of climate change and the proofing methodology.
• Conduct post training assessment survey with participants.

Prepare training report outlining the pre-& post-test assessment, general trainer's reflections on training workshops, overview of most common issues of concern, recommendations for improvements and statistical results of trainee feedback forms.

Competencies

FUNCTIONAL

• Strong analytical, writing and presentation skills;
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills;
• Proven capability to meet deadlines and work under pressure;
• Excellent organizational and management understanding with CSO and non-state actors;
• Excellent facilitation and capacity building skills.

CORPORATE

• Effectively adapts own approach to suit changing circumstances or requirements;
• Demonstrated ability to think critically and synthetically across fields and topics;
• Open to change and flexible in a fast-paced environment;
• Always pursues continuous improvements;
• Excellent interpersonal skills to interact effectively with all levels of staff and partners from diverse cultural backgrounds;

Strong ability to work independently and/or remotely, while maintaining productivity.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

University degree in environmental studies, climate change, energy, geography, economics or related discipline (10 points);

Experience:

• Minimum seven (7) years of experience in the field of climate change and environment including experience in climate proofing of policies and projects (15 points);
• Proven experience in building capacities of the civil society organizations to incorporate climate-related dimension into local actions (20 points);
• Previous work experience engaging civil society sector in Azerbaijan or other countries with similar contexts (15 points);
• Good understanding of the relevance of and entry points for climate change action by non-specialized CSOs and excellent ability to adapt the training programme to the CSOs areas of activity (15 points)
• Specific experience of the consultant relevant to the assignment (20 points)

Language skills:

• Excellent writing and communication skills in English; 5 points

Travel:

The assignment is home-based, the Consultant is expected to work remotely.

1.         APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Step 1:

• Click on the "Apply now" button

• Input your information in the appropriate Sections: personal information, language proficiency, education, resume and motivation; You can type in, or paste your short Resume into the last box;

• Upon completion of the first page, please hit "submit application" tab at the end of the page. On the next page, you will be asked to upload other required documents listed in the step 2;

Step 2: 

The system will allow only one attachment. Therefore, please upload all documents listed below as one file.

• CV of the Consultant or United Nations Personnel History form (P-11) evidencing the experience

• Offeror’s Letter to UNDP confirming Interest and Availability For The Individual Contractor (Ic)

Offeror’s Letter to UNDP confirming Interest And Availability For The Individual Contractor (Ic) Assignment can be downloaded here (please follow link below and scroll down to Hiring 

Consultants / Individual contract application forms section): https://www.az.undp.org/content/azerbaijan/en/home/procurement.html

Failing to submit any of the above listed documents will result in disqualifying the application.

Financial proposal:

Financial offer “all inclusive” – specifying a total lump sum in USD for the deliverables specified in the TOR. The financial offer shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (number of anticipated working days, professional fee, other expenses related to the assignment).

Note: Estimated number of working days is 12-14 days (home based) within a span of 2 months. The candidates are free to propose the time input they consider feasible for implementation of the assignment; however, they should note that the total price is one of the factors of evaluation.

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Combined Scoring Method

Combined Scoring Method principle considers a combination of the applicants’ qualification and financial proposal (70% technical and 30% financial offer). When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

a) Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and

b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Out of the maximum score of 100 points, the score for technical criteria equals 70% - maximum 70 points, and for financial criteria 30% - maximum 30 points.

Only the highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Technical evaluation:

Evaluation of technical criteria consists of two stages: desk review and interview.

Desk review stage:

I. Academic Qualifications:

• University degree in environmental studies, climate change, energy, geography, economics or related discipline (10 points);

II. Years of Experience:

• Minimum seven (7) years of experience in the field of climate change and environment including experience in climate proofing of policies and projects (15 points);
• Proven experience in building capacities of the civil society organizations to incorporate climate-related dimension into local actions (20 points);
• Previous work experience engaging civil society sector in Azerbaijan or other countries with similar contexts (15 points);

III. Language requirements

• Excellent writing and communication skills in English; (5 points)

Interview stage:

• Good understanding of the relevance of and entry points for climate change action by  non-specialized CSOs and excellent ability to adapt the training programme to the CSOs areas of activity (15 points)
• Specific experience of the consultant relevant to the assignment (20 points)

To qualify for the interview stage, the candidate shall score at least 46 at the desk review stage.  The interview will be conducted through Zoom.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70 points for technical criteria would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

The offer with the lowest price will receive the maximum of 30 points.

Other offers with higher prices will receive their respective scores according the following formula:

                Lowest Bid

               ------------------- x 100 x 30%

                Proposed Bid

The contract will be awarded to the candidate that will obtain the highest aggregate score based on the technical and financial evaluation:

Total Scores = Technical Scores x Technical Criteria weight (70%) + Financial Scores x Financial Criteria weight (30%)

Individual Consultants are required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org

Note: Maximum possible score is 100 points. To be eligible, the candidate has to score at least 70 points (70% of the maximum possible score)

KEY DELIVERABLES

1. A short report summarizing findings of the rapid survey, to be submitted within 14 days from the commencement of the assignment;
2. An annotated structure of the training programme and description of methodology/ approach to the assignment, to be submitted within 7 days from the completion of the survey;
3. Delivery of 4 training sessions;
4. Delivery of the training report.

Payment will be done in three installments upon completion of deliverables:

1st installment – 20% will be paid upon certification of the satisfactory completion of the tasks resulting in deliverable 1 and acceptance (not merely receipt) of the Deliverable 1 by authorised UNDP personnel

2nd installment – 20% will be paid upon certification of the satisfactory completion of the tasks resulting in deliverable 2 and acceptance (not merely receipt) of the Deliverable 2 by authorised UNDP personnel

3rd installment – 60% will be paid upon completion of the entire assignment and acceptance (not merely receipt) of the Deliverable 3 and Deliverable 4 by authorised UNDP personnel