Background

Central Africa is home to the second largest tropical rainforest in the world. Forest loss is accelerating despite ongoing efforts, as government action alone has not been sufficient to establish an effective balance between the interests of the forest and economic development.

On this basis, a coalition of willing donors together with Central African partner countries – Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, and the Republic of Gabon – have decided to enter into a collaborative partnership to establish the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI). The objective of this initiative is to recognize and preserve the value of the forests in the region to mitigate climate change, reduce poverty, and contribute to sustainable development. This objective will be attained through the implementation of country-led, national scale REDD+ and Low Emissions Development (LED) investment frameworks that include policy reforms and measures to address the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation and promote sustainable development.

The CAFI Trust Fund is the principal means to implement the Central African Forest Initiative.

A growing number of CAFI EB members have signed and pledged in 2019 additional contributions to the CAFI trust fund, including Germany, who has taken over the CAFI Presidency in 2020 for the next two years.

One of the key priority countries is Cameroon, which signed the CAFI Declaration in 2015. Cameroon’s vision is to become a newly industrialized, emerging and middle-income country by 2035. The national development plan (SND) emphasizes the importance of the rural sector to diversify and develop the national economy. The SND also puts forward ambitious economic development goals in the industry and services sector (energy, agro-industry, forest-wood-industry, mining). In the context of the national greenhouse gas reduction target of 32% by 2035 (Nationally Determined Contribution), and with financial support through a CAFI preparatory grant, Cameroon has elaborated a draft National Investment Framework (NIF) to address drivers of deforestation, channel domestic and international donor finance to sustainable land-use and help coordinate interventions across policy sectors. However, policy goals from medium- and long-term economic development strategies are not yet aligned with Cameroon’s NDC and are likely to impact negatively on the country’s forest cover, unless a high-level and cross-sectoral policy dialogue is initiated and the different sectoral strategies harmonized with the draft national investment framework (NIF) elaborated under the CAFI preparatory grant.

A delegation from Cameroon’s Ministry of Environment participated in CAFI’s 12th executive board meeting held from 02 to 05 April 2019 in Bonn in Germany, where CAFI Board members reiterated the need for a high-level political dialogue between the ministries responsible for land use and land management in Cameroon, and underlined the importance of identifying a high-level ministerial task force under the lead of a cross-sectoral ministry or government body in charge of finance coordination and reforms to oversee the implementation of programs

Duties and Responsibilities

The objective of this consultancy is two-fold:

• The consultant will prepare ideas and guidance on possible communication channels and lines to the government that will help the CAFI Executive Board in its future policy dialogue with the government and the negotiation of framework conditions of a potential letter of intent with Cameroon (40% of workload). This also includes the identification of a cross-sectoral and operational government structure that could be capable of coordinating, on a day-to-day basis, the political dialogue with CAFI and the implementation of potential future programs (10% of workload).

• The consultant will provide technical support to the CAFI Executive Board by identifying the strategic axes for government commitments (such as non-conversion of certain types of forest as in other LOIs signed by CAFI; sustainable forest exploitation, zero-deforestation commodities etc.) that could form the basis of a future letter of intent in line with present and future drivers of forest loss identified in the national investment framework (50% of workload).

Reports and deliverables can be written at home. At least two missions to Cameroon (Yaoundé) are required where the consultant will work from the GIZ’s PROFE office . Airline tickets, DSA and terminals will be covered and processed by UNDP separately. The visa expenses will also be reimbursed by UNDP, upon submission of proofs/receipts.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies: 

• Demonstrates commitment to UNDP´s mission, vision and values;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.

Functional Competencies:

• Diplomacy and tact; 
• Ability to communicate and work closely with a variety of people within a multicultural environment;  
• Demonstrated ability to work within a multi-disciplinary and international framework with a wide range of partners;
• Strong work ethic and commitment;  
• Concise and analytical thinking; 
• Organized and resourceful.

Required Skills and Experience

Educational background: Master in land-use planning, agronomy, forestry, economic development, natural resources management or social sciences;

Professional experience:

• Demonstrated experience of at least 7 years in the fields of land-use planning, natural resource management and climate change in Central Africa;
• Strong and accurate knowledge of Cameroon and its strategic documents: its sectoral policies in the field of land use and land management, its institutions and line ministries with a demonstrated ability to liaise with them, the ongoing projects and programs in the field of land use, forestry, conservation, its financial and technical partners and their respective portfolio;
• Relevant and proven professional experience in conducting multi-sectoral policy dialogues and in conducting development planning processes;
• Strong knowledge of CAFI ToRs, results frameworks, programming modalities and pipeline of projects;
• Demonstrated experience in working with international institutions and governments;

Language requirement:  Fluency in English and French is required.

Duration & location

The consultancy is for 30 workdays. It will be home-based with at least two missions to Yaoundé, where the consultant will be based in GIZ’s PROFE Program. A detailed work plan will be discussed and agreed upon with the CAFI Secretariat.

Mission travel will be administered and processed separately in accordance with UNDP travel policies and procedures.

Reporting and Schedule of Payments

The consultant will report to the Head of the CAFI Secretariat and will work closely with other members of the CAFI Secretariat. The individual consultant will be compensated based on an all-inclusive daily fee, to be paid based upon submission of a time sheet with corresponding deliverables, to be reviewed and cleared by the CAFI head of Secretariat.

Presentation of Offer 

UNDP applies a fair and transparent selection process that would take into account both the technical qualification of Individual Consultants as well as their financial proposals. The contract will be awarded to the candidate whose offer:

• Is deemed technically responsive / compliant / acceptable (only technically responsive applications/ candidates will be considered for the financial evaluation)
• And has obtained the highest combined technical and financial scores.

The application submission is a two-step process. Failure to comply with the submission process may result in disqualification of the application:

Step 1:  Interested individual consultants must apply online and include the following documents when submitting the application in the UNDP job shop.

• Personal History Form (P11) or
• An updated curriculum vitae (CV)

Step 2: Submission of Financial Proposal

Technically qualified applicants will be instructed to submit their financial proposals using the UNDP IC Offeror’s letter template. Daily fee/rate must be expressed in US dollars. The offeror’s letter/financial proposal should be submitted separately by email to the panel/staff who will conclude the technical-financial evaluation.

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

The consultant’s offer will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

Combined Scoring method – where the technical qualifications will be weighted a maximum of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a max of 30%. Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70 points would be considered for the financial criteria.

• Technical Criteria – 70% of total evaluation based on qualifications as indicated above
• Financial Criteria – 30% of total evaluation (30 points for financial offer)