Antecedentes

UNCDF, the UN capital investment agency for the 48 least developed countries, provides technical assistance and seed capital to test new modalities and instruments of public and private financing for local development in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). These interventions are designed to leverage innovative financial flows from the private sector, national governments and development partners, for maximum impact towards localizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and achieving the objectives of the post-2015 agenda. UNCDF discreetly operates two inter-connecting practice areas of; (1) inclusive finance, and (2) local development finance (LDFP). The goals of UNCDFs local development finance practice is to assist municipal authorities develop productive infrastructures and provide inclusive access to sustainable services that contribute towards improving the quality of life of citizens.  This concept extends beyond local governance and decentralized provision of services to the spatial, institutional and economic linkages required for transformative, inclusive, and sustainable local development.  Additionally, LDFP addresses the spectrum of climate change adaptation, food security, education and health, infrastructure, resilient environments, citizen empowerment and representation, and fulfilling and rewarding inclusive economic activity.

With a sensitive climate and challenging adaptive capacity Mozambique is highly vulnerable to climate change.  Changing weather patterns affect communities in different ways, including drought, floods, loss of 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.

Mozambique’s geographical location in the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone makes it particularly susceptible to extreme climate phenomena such as El Nino and La Nina, which bring droughts, floods and cyclones on a regular basis.  Available data and climatic models indicate a steady increase in the severity and frequency of these events over the last 30 years with a similar forecast for the future. The adverse effects of climate change in Mozambique undermine government efforts to reduce poverty, improve food and nutritional security, expand infrastructure and services and reach the targets set out in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The contextual problem is compounded by the fact that government agencies in charge of local adaptation activities are faced by limited funding and, at the local level, capacities that should be reinforced to fulfill these roles. Provinces and district governments have the mandate for carrying out all rural development activities outlined in their Economic and Social Plan, including those linked to environment and climate change.  Yet, like other developing countries, financing for climate change adaptation is often undertaken through parallel, or off-budget, financing systems and with limited flexibility to address local specific needs. This precludes local bodies, with a mandate for climate change adaptation, from accessing these resources to improve climate resilience in its communities. 

The LoCAL project is designed to deliver solutions by providing access to climate finance for local governments in least developed countries. LoCAL understands that local bodies have the mandate to deal with many of the issues directly affected by climate change such as drainage and water management, land use planning, road maintenance and other issues which effect food security, especially in the LDCs. Yet much of the international development assistance for climate finance flows directly to central government agencies and often through parallel projects and programs. In this context, UNCDF will contribute to improved coordination of rural infrastructure and adaptation programs in Mozambique by proactively and transparently sharing information on LoCAL, and by requesting reference to capacity building plans and parallel funding streams when programming activities.

LoCAL’s development methodology channels funds directly to the local level while providing incentives for local governments to mainstream climate-adaptive thinking into everyday planning and investment, thereby encouraging systematic analysis of changing weather patterns and their impacts on local economies. 

The programmatic institutional anchor will take advantage of two ministries’ mandates, development methodologies and expertise at the national and local level. On one hand the Ministry of Land, Rural Development and Environment has the role and responsibility to support the mainstreaming of climate change adaption development interventions in locally-district led decision making processes for climate resilient development. On the other hand, the Ministry of Economy and Finances –through the National Directorate of Planning and Budgeting- has the role to further support an integrated approach to decentralized planning and budgeting, as well as to reinforce the associate variables of the PFM system to further promote an inclusive and sustainable government led local development. The implementation model is designed based on 20 years of successful UNCDF experience in public financial management, local investments and performance-based fiscal grants.

PFM reforms at the District Level.
In this context, there will be from July 2018 until last Q2 2023, two provinces embraced and supported by UNCDF in Gaza, Inhambane, with Sweden development support; the programmatic implementation shall be taking advantage of the existing human resources, processes and system of the government and to take into consideration the role of the Provincial Directorate of Land, Rural Development and Environment and the PD of Economy and Finances at the provincial level as an entry point to support local-district administration mandate to promote localized resilient development. 

Deberes y responsabilidades

Objective of the Assignment

The overall objective of this assignment is to integrate gender considerations into the overall programmatic design of LoCAL, taking into consideration initially, but not only, the government, donor and UNCDF considerations on the mentioned subject. 

The specific objective of this assignment is for the consultant to ensure that gender considerations are mainstreamed into the overall LoCAL programmatic design, taking into considerations international, regional and national best practices and the social, cultural and economic country based variables.

Scope of Work

The consultancy should look specifically into the following areas:

How well does the Programme approach meet a) Global best practice, b) Government of Mozambique gender policy, and c) Develop requirements for gender mainstreaming of gender issues into all relevant LoCAL Program documents and implementation arrangements. 

Suggest, as needed, minor refinements of -and the adjustments to- the LoCAL programme documentation that can be done throughout the implementation stage, based on the information currently available, to improve its gender responsiveness, for example; Gender related indicators and reporting, performance measures in the annual performance assessments, etc.

Suggest, as needed, activities-components-processes that can be built into the programme throughout the implementation stage to gradually improve its gender responsiveness over the programme period, ahead of future upscaling; For example: further studies and data-information gathering to inform deepened location specific gender analysis, capacity building initiatives, piloting of alternative approaches to empowerment of women, etc.

Take into consideration donor, government and development partners suggestions to mainstream gender into the overall programmatic design of the LoCAL initiative. 

Review, analyse and assess the current state of affairs vis-à-vis gender mainstreaming in PFM, local government planning and in relation to procedure to integrating the LoCAL Programme approach. This should result in a good overview of the main barriers and gaps to gender mainstreaming in local financing and climate adaptation planning, of the gaps in gender and energy expertise within the implementing institutions, and of the opportunities available.

Duties and Responsibilities

Working in close collaboration with UNCDF Mozambique Country Team, Mission Team Leader (the international Program consultant), and relevant local steak holders, the consultant will be responsible for enhancing the gender responsiveness of the LoCAL initiative, and further ensure to the Government and Donors supporting and reinforcing the mentioned initiative that gender mainstreaming considerations will enhance gender equality and women empowerment throughout the 2019-2023 implementation period.  

Key Results Expected

• Advise, suggest on how to improve the log frame and the RBM by introducing gender equality considerations; critically analysed development objective, milestone or outcome for gender equality in collaboration and guidance from with the International Program Consultant;
• Gender mainstreaming in LoCAL operations: Initiatives to strengthen 1) participation, representation and monitoring and evaluation, incl. sex-disaggregated data, 2) Access and control over resources: budget, decision-making, actions, production, and information. 3) Women’s Human Rights and Reality: addressing Stereotypes and norms, women´s triple roles and division of labour, practical and strategic needs and intersectionality;
• Advise on potential options for strengthening of the M&E system, with sex-disaggregated and computerized monitoring data system, with responsible personnel (women and men), for collection, survey, registering data and producing figures and tables for report writing;
• Advise on initiatives to promote that that gender equality competence exists within the institutions and organisations, from top management, gender experts to a general awareness of the staff involved in LoCAL operations at district, provincial and central level;
• Develop an implementation Strategy that will put the policy on gender mainstreaming and LoCAL Approach into practice. The implementation strategy will include the main activities under the policy’s strategic areas of intervention, the implementing actors, the time schedule, and core activities and overall budget; 
• Review of existing performance indicators, against which progress can be measured;
• Based on field studies of the realities, recommend possible refinements on gender sensitive performance measures in the performance assessment; 
• Develop a draft practical, easy-to-use guideline on gender mainstreaming in the LoCAL project cycle;

The following provides a brief outline of the mission and the expected deliverables:

• Inception report – within the first 5 days of the assignment which includes how the consultant will address the TOR and their detailed workplan and schedule;
• The gender consultant should revise and adjust from a gender perspective the overall programmatic document of the LoCAL initiative and its annexes, in collaboration with the International Program Consultant. The consultant should take into consideration the recommendations, observations and suggestions made by the government, UNCDF and the donor in matters related to gender equality and women empowerment;
• Implementation Strategy on gender mainstreaming with LoCAL Programme;
• Practical, easy-to-use guidelines on gender mainstreaming in the LoCAL Programme.

Sources of Information for the present Consultancy:

• LoCAL in Mozambique- Program Proposal
• LoCAL in Mozambique- Annexes
• UNCDF Technical Assistance
• Budget
• Performance-based climate resilient grant simulations
• LoCAL Gender Development Context
• LoCAL Gender Log frame
• Climate Change and Gender Action Plan of Mozambique
• OECD/DAC- Making climate finance work for women
• Result strategy for Sweden´s International Development Cooperation with Mozambique 2015-2020

Duration of Assignment, Duty Station and Expected Places of Travel
Duration: The assignment of the Gender national expert who will be responsible for all gender aspects of the assignments is for 35 working days covering period from September to December 2018. The 35 working days includes 10 days on travel to project sites and 25 days home-based work. 

Duty Station and expected places of travel:  Maputo with possible travel to Gaza province.

Travel costs associated to the assignment will be paid as reimbursable basis and following the UN rules and regulations which states that consultants shall only be paid the most direct and most economical ticket, as will be  quoted by thofficial UN travel agency.  Any amount in excess of the said quotation, such as class and airline preference of the consultant, shall be borne by the consultant.  

Deliverables

The consultant will deliver the following within the framework of the mission:

Payment TermsProvision of Monitoring and Progress Control
The primary responsibility for monitoring progress of the mission will be vested with Programme Specialist, UNCDF Mozambique under the overall guidance of LoCAL Global Programme Manager who will approve key outputs and deliverables.  

The following terms of payment based upon the above-mentioned deliverables will be applicable for this Terms of Reference and associated mission. The payment will only be made up on satisfactory completion,  submission, acceptance of the deliverables and authorization to disburse the payment by the staff/team who will review them.

1st payment: Upon submission and acceptance  of Inception report as per details indicated under Section VI.: 5 working days.

2nd payment: Upon submission and acceptance of  (1) Draft report with recommendations on how to mainstream gender in all program documents, (2) Draft Implementation Strategy and policy on gender mainstreaming with LoCAL Programme and (3) Draft Practical, easy-to-use guidelines on gender mainstreaming in the project: 20 working days

3rd payment: Upon submission and acceptance of (1) final report with recommendations on how to mainstream gender in all program documents,  (2) final Implementation Strategy and policy on gender mainstreaming with LoCAL Programme and (3) final Practical, easy-to-use guidelines on gender mainstreaming in the project: 10 working days

*** Total payment will include 35 working days plus travel cost costs associated to the assignment which will be paid as reimbursable basis as indicated in section  V of this vacancy announcement ***

Competencias

Functional Competencies: 

• Strong knowledge of planning and monitoring and related development policy and programming issues, including knowledge of results-based management, familiarity with log frames and understanding of baseline data collection and monitoring methodologies;
• Knowledge of women’s organizations and governmental agencies working on women’s empowerment and gender equality in the sub-region;
• Familiarity with Government procedures, particularly regarding project management and more specifically in relation to the development of work plans, budgets, monitoring and reporting plans, purchasing plans and the identification of indicators.
• Builds strong relationships with, and focuses on results for clients and partners, responds positively to feedback;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
• Experienced in working in a global multi-cultural setting respecting gender equality and an ability to contribute to team work and provide conceptual leadership;
• Ability to work under pressure and meet strict deadlines;
• Ability to use critical thinking, conceptualize ideas, and articulate relevant subject matter concisely

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

• Minimum of 5 years of relevant national-international working experience in international development, human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment issues;
• Knowledge and at least 5 experience in working on addressing issues related to national development strategies for gender equality;
• Working experience in gender issues and understanding of government systems and procedures in their respective zones;
• Having at least 4 proven track records in leading on gender issues and on the substantial issues in the assignments;
• Experience in monitoring and reporting on programs related to gender equality is required;
• At least 3 years of work experience in monitoring of grant programs is highly desirable;
• At least 3 years of work experience in knowledge management and communication – supporting collection and dissemination of lessons learned-best practices is highly desirable;
• At least 5 years of work experience working in the field of monitoring: developing plans, tracking results, reporting to different constituencies is an asset;
• At least 5 years of work experience in results-based management (RBM) is an asset;
• At least 3 years of work experience with databases and data management a plus;
• At least 5 years of work Experience in the United Nations, a governmental, other multilateral or civil society organization in a developed or developing country is highly desirable. 

Provided that the qualifications of the applicant is substantially responsive, UNCDF reserves the right to waive any non-conformities that, in the opinion of UNCDFP, does not constitute a material deviation to the above requirements.

Education

• Advanced University degree or equivalent in Political Science, International Development Studies, Gender/Women’s Studies or another relevant field.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Language

• Fluent in written and spoken English and Portuguese.

Evaluation Process

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the combined scoring method.

The formula for the rating of the Proposals will be as follows:

1. Rating the Technical Proposal (TP): 70%

     TP Rating = (Total Score Obtained by the Offer / Max. Obtainable Score for TP) x 100

2.  Rating the Financial Proposal (FP): 30%

     FP Rating = (Lowest Priced Offer / Price of the Offer Being Reviewed) x 100

3.  Total Combined Score: 

    (TP Rating) x (Weight of TP, e.g. 70%)+ (FP Rating) x (Weight of FP, e.g., 30%)

Total maximum obtainable score for Technical proposal = 100 points. Only candidates obtaining a minimum score of 70 points under Technical evaluation will be considered for the Financial evaluation.

Application guidelines:

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

Interested candidate should submit the following information as part of the application package:

• Detailed updated CV including past experience in similar projects 
• One page of cover letter describing why the candidate is the most suitable for the assignment;
• Financial Proposal (Download from https://www.un.cv/anuncios/Section%207-%20Financial%20Proposal%20Form.docx 
• Confirmation of availability to take up assignments for the whole period;
• Name and contact details of 3 references. 

Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into one single file.

Contract Award Criteria

The contract shall be awarded to the best/top highest scored applicant, whose offer have been evaluated and determined as: Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and having received the highest combined weight.

The consultant is expected to own and use his/her own equipment during and after the assignment.