UNDP Jobs - 76943- Conduction of the Biodiversity Finance Policy and

Conduction of the Biodiversity Finance Policy and Institutional of the BIOFIN (Biodiversity Finance Initiative) Project

Location :

Maputo, MOZAMBIQUE

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

19-Feb-2018

Application Deadline :

12-Feb-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

120 working days

Languages Required :

English Portuguese

Expected Duration of Assignment :

120 working days

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Biodiversity plays an important role in the balance of ecosystems and of the planet, and in the provision of good and services to communities and to the economy in general. Therefore, there is an increasing recognition of the contribution of biodiversity to the environmental, social and economic well-being; however, big challenges in conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity at global level still prevail. One of the challenges is related to resource mobilization to finance conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems and promote sustainable development of nations. For instance, available evidence indicates that significant gaps remain for biodiversity management for countries to scale up their efforts and achieve the 20 Aichi Targets defined in the CBD’s strategic plan for 2011-2020.
National governments have demonstrated clear commitment to fulfil their mandates for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use in ways compatible with national development goals, and to identify a diverse range of financing solutions for biodiversity management. In this context, UNDP in October 2012 launched the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN), a new global partnership seeking to address the biodiversity financing challenge in a comprehensive manner, to determine biodiversity finance needs and gaps with greater precision through detailed national level-assessments, to determine the challenges and opportunities for resource mobilization, and to build a sound business case for increased biodiversity investment.
The global BIOFIN project is managed by UNDP through its Biodiversity and Ecosystem program, and supported partnership with the European Union, the Governments of Germany, Switzerland, Norway and Flanders. The global Environmental Facility (GEF) is a further partner, financing in participating country-parallel projects. A total number of 31 countries around the world participate in BIOFIN, and Mozambique has formally adhered to the initiative in June 2016. In Mozambique BIOFIN will be implemented by a national team, and the Implementing Partners are the Ministry of Land, Environment and Rural Development (MITADER) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), supported by PNUD Mozambique.
Guided by a global steering committee representing the implementing partners and other relevant sectors, BIOFIN aims to develop a methodology for quantifying the biodiversity finance gap at national level, for improving cost-effectiveness through mainstreaming of biodiversity into national development and sectoral planning, and for developing comprehensive national finance plans. BIOFIN will thus provide a framework for undertaking “bottom-up” analyses and resource mobilization strategies, embedded in a transformative process led by national stakeholders, aimed at allowing the country to implement its NBSAP and achieve national biodiversity target, and provide a platform for integration into decision-making processes.
Running until December 2018, the main objective of BIOFIN in Mozambique is to develop and enhance transparent and equitable finance solutions for biodiversity and promote a sustainable development. This will be achieved through the execution of the following components:
(a)Analyse the policy and institutional framework context affecting biodiversity finance and elaborate a Policy and Institutional Review; (b) Quantify and assess past and current public and private biodiversity expenditures; (c) Assess the future biodiversity finance needs and estimate the finance gap; (d) Develop comprehensive national resource mobilization strategies to meet the biodiversity finance gap; and (e) Initiate implementation of the resource mobilization at national level.
Based on the above, UNDP Mozambique is seeking for a Biodiversity Finance Policy and Institution consultant, to conduct the Policy and Institutional Review (PIR) for BIOFIN project. These Terms of Reference provide information on the evaluation purpose and scope, the methodology and expected deliverables as well as on the profile of the team and the selection process.

Duties and Responsibilities

Responsabilities of policy and institutional review consultant

The Policy and Institutional National Expert will be responsible to deliver the Biodiversity Finance Policy and Institutional Review (PIR), following guidance provided through the current BIOFIN Workbook in collaboration from the national BIOFIN team, the government, key stakeholders, and the BIOFIN Global team. The PIR should include specific recommendations for improvements in the institutional framework, as well as identification of policy areas where BIOFIN can provide strategic inputs. He/she also provides horizontal inputs to all other national BIOFIN outputs, including the Biodiversity Expenditure Review, Finance Needs and Gap Assessment, and Biodiversity Finance Plan, as well as provides feedback on the methodological approach to BIOFIN. He/she will play a leading role in the preparation and write-up of the PIR under the BIOFIN process together with Government counterparts. Key duties and responsibilities will include:

Technical Expertise

Lead the development of the Biodiversity Finance Policy and Institutional Review, under supervision of the Project Team Leader following the current BIOFIN Workbook and associated guidance materials.
Carry out a desk review to map existing studies on biodiversity finance policies and institutions, including existing economic valuations undertaken in the country (in cooperation with the environment finance expert), the NBSAP and 5th National Biodiversity Report and existing studies on biodiversity finance.
Carry out a review of sectoral policies and practices concerning the both positive and negative impacts on conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
Carry out a stakeholder analysis identifying specific roles in biodiversity financing and the alignment of organizations with national biodiversity goals and objective.
Produce an outline, draft and final Biodiversity Finance Policy and Institutional Review in close collaboration with the Project Team Leader and Global BIOFIN team.
Coordinate the compilation of relevant data and liaise with relevant Ministries and partners as required and complete all information collection for the PIR.
Integrate sections on financing mechanism and subsidies developed by the Project Tea Leader into the PIR.
Develop the sections on the institutional framework for the Finance Strategy and support the development of the legal aspects of the feasibility studies for priority financing mechanisms.

Project Outreach and Communication

Preparation of workshops, meetings, networking and presentations as required, to complete parts the Policy and Institutional Review and engage stakeholders.
Provide comments and feedback on how to improve the BIOFIN methodology and project effectiveness.

Knowledge Management and Reporting

Document decisions and assumptions made while completing parts of Policy and Institutional Review.
Support report writing and document preparation, such as policy and information notes to communicate BIOFIN objectives and results to key stakeholders.
Document lessons learned from conducting the BIOFIN project ranging from institutional considerations to technical issues.
Support the preparation of reports and case studies, as required, for submission to global meetings (e.g. COP12) and donor reports.

The Policy and Institutional National Expert will report to the National Project Team Leader, and he/she will have the support of both National Project Team Leader and the Environmental Finance Expert, as well as the BIOFIN global team.

Key questions of policy and institutional review

The policy and institutional review for biodiversity finance initiative should seek to answer the following questions:

What are the most important things to do for biodiversity in the country?
What are the main current finance mechanisms funding these (including govt allocations)?
Who are the main players? What are the main laws?
What are the main pressures on biodiversity?
Are any of these caused by govt policies or subsidies?
Who are the main players? What are the main laws?
What relevant studies have been conducted in Mozambique that can be drawn on for the other components of BIOFIN?
Have biodiversity and ecosystem services been valued? What do those studies contain?
Is biodiversity in other policies? NDP, other sectors?
Is the NBSAP a legal document?
Is it comprehensive and sufficiently detailed?

Based on the above analysis, the consultant is expected to provide a strategic guidance to support the entire BIOFIN process in Mozambique, assisting in identifying leverage points for key intervention in for effective biodiversity finance solutions in Mozambique.

Deliverables

Component 1: Policy and Institutional Review (I) Outline and Desk Study (II) Draft Report, (III) Initial and Final Workshops and workshop reports, (IV) Revised Draft for submission (V) Final validated report.
Component 3: Biodiversity Finance Plan (I) inclusion of policy, legal, and institutional elements in Plan
Provisional and final feedback on the BIOFIN Workbook and methodology.
Contribution to overall process of BIOFIN.

The contract will be performance-based. Payments will be made against the following deliverables:

Policy and Institutional Review: completion and clearance of desk review and outline: 15% of total payment
Policy and Institutional Review: completion and clearance of draft report, targeted consultation meetings, BIOFIN PIR datasheets and first consultation workshop: 40% of total payment.
Policy and Institutional Review: completion and clearance of final report and validation workshop: 25% of total payment.
Contributions to other deliverables, Project Synthesis Report and Summary for Policy Makers: 20% of total payment.

The suggested table of contents of the Policy and Institutional Review is as follows (more guidance on the report template and other procedures may be found on BIOFIN Workbook 2016):

Title;
Table of contents;
Acronyms and abbreviations;
Executive Summary;
Introduction;
Biodiversity vision, strategies and trends;
Economic Drivers and Sectoral linkages;
The Biodiversity Finance Landscape;
Institutional Analysis;
Summary of key recommendations;
Technical appendices;
Glossary;
References.

Selection process

The selection of the evaluation team will be done following UNDP procurement rules and regulations. UNDP will assess the consultants’ profile, qualifications and skills to ensure high level consultants are recruited using the below evaluation criteria. Consultants are requested to submit a technical proposal Work Plan and Timetable
The duration of the contract will be 120 days for the consultant, including the preparation of the work-plan, collection of data, interviews, analysis, report drafting, feedback, editing and report finalisation.

Presentation of Offer

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Duly accomplished letter of confirmation of interest and availability
Personal CV or P11, indicating all experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology on how they will approach and complete the assignment.
Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs. 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 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.

Complete TORs can be foud here.

Competencies

Corporate competencies

Demonstrates integrity in accordance with the values and ethics of the United Nations;
Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UNDP;
Demonstrates sensitivity and adaptability to diversity of gender, race, religion and nationality;
Treats people fairly without favouritism;
Excellent analytical and organizational skills.

Functional Skills

Knowledge management and learning;
Promotes knowledge sharing and learning culture in the office;
Knowledge of UNDP program and operational issues;
Works actively to further the development of personal skills and learning in one or more practice areas, acts on learning plan and applies new knowledge in the exercise of its functions;
Has knowledge of policies and programs of UNDP / UN linked to environment, poverty, natural resources and climate change adaptation.

Development and operational effectiveness

Ability to lead and contribute to strategic planning, change processes, results-based management, planning and communication activities;
Ability to lead formulation, oversight of implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects;
Ability to apply theories of development according to the specific country context to identify creative and practical approaches to overcome the challenges that may arise;
Ability to build and maintain effective partnerships with UN agencies and other main constituents, advocate effectively and communicate sensitively with stakeholders.

Management and leadership

Focus on impact and results for recipients respond positively to requests;
Ability to establish effective working relationships in a multicultural team environment;
Excellent interpersonal skills;
Approaches consistent work, energy and positivity and constructive attitudes;
Demonstrate strong communication skills oral and written;
To build strong interpersonal relationships with internal and external customers;
Demonstrate effective communication skills, resource management, planning and organizing programs;
Demonstrate resourcefulness, initiative and maturity in the treatment of issues;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
Results driven, ability to work under pressure and to meet required deadlines;
Good understanding and actual practice of capacity development of institutions.

Communications and Networking:

Excellent oral communication skills and conflict resolution competency to manage inter-group dynamics and mediate conflicting interests of varied actors;
Excellent written communication skills, with analytical capacity and ability to synthesize project outputs and relevant findings for the preparation of quality reports;
Maturity and confidence in dealing with senior and high-ranking members of national and international institutions, parliament, government and non-government;
Excellent inter-personal skills and the ability to work in a multi-cultural, multinational, multi-stakeholder setting, and a demonstrable ability to motivate people and work in a team setting; and,
Substantial level of self-organization, being methodical, sets priorities, meets deadlines and pays attention to details.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Degree in law, political studies, political geography, or a closely related field, or a degree in economics/finance/environmental/natural resource management in combination with equivalent relevant work experience.

Experience:

At least 10 years of experience, preferably in policy and institutional issues at a senior level.
Experience in collaborating with international and national experts and institutions.
Exposure to environmental issues or biodiversity highly desirable, but not required.
Experience in carrying out similar studies and assessments is an asset;
Excellent knowledge of computer software in full Microsoft Office equipment and office technology.

Language:

Excellent oral and written communication skills in English and Portuguese are mandatory.