Background

Climate model predictions indicate that the Horn of Africa will experience increased higher temperatures, rainfall variability and extreme events such as flooding and drought that will threaten the population residing in the region and lead to the destruction of hydraulic infrastructure, roads and property in rural areas including agro-pastoral lands. This is particularly visible in Djibouti where highly variable precipitation events and dry periods are predicted to be less prolonged but more frequent than those that have marked Djibouti over the past decade. Without adequate and rapid interventions to reduce the vulnerability of the country to climate change, the water resources and agriculture sectors will be exposed to substantial adverse biophysical and socio-economic impacts.
Climate change is therefore expected to significantly contribute to increasing food insecurity in the country. Djibouti’s rural population, which includes a large pastoralist population, is particularly at risk from increasing aridification and water shortages as they mainly reside in deserts or marginal lands, often with highly erodible soil and limited water supply. In remote areas in the northwest and central parts of the country, increasingly recurrent droughts in the winter season have already led to reduced pasture areas, while flooding damages rural properties, agricultural land and infrastructure.
In response to a government request for assistance, and in line with Djibouti’s priorities outlined in the INDC, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is supporting the Government of Djibouti in the formulation of an integrated programme titled GREENING Djibouti: Climate Resilience and Livelihoods Programme, expected to be financed through multiple sources including, Global Environment Facility (GEF), Green Climate Fund (GCF), bilateral donors, International Finance Institutions (IFIs), philanthropic organisations and private sector investment. The programme aims to build the country’s resilience to the impacts of climate change targeting key thematic areas: Energy and Water. Addressing both climate change impacts, and gender equality and women’s empowerment is a key aspect of the programme’s approach to achieving its core vision. Climate resilience, a zero-carbon future and gender equality and women’s empowerment are seen as goals and are also central to the achievement of UNDP’s development mandate in Djibouti.
One critical component of the GREENING Djibouti Programme is the development of a US$25 million project entitled “Strengthening the Climatic Resilience of Djibouti's Agro-pastoral Sector through Integrated Water Resources Management” to be funded by the GCF. This proposed project aims to support the Government of Djibouti to use a catchment-based integrated water management approach
to: i) strengthen capacities of key stakeholders at national, regional, and local levels to manage future crises and disasters better resulting from the projected impacts of climate change; ii) improve access of agro-pastoralists to water supplies that are resilient to increasingly intense floods and dry periods to achieve climate-resilient livelihoods; and iii) reduce the downstream impacts of floods through improved disasters management.
A Concept Note for this the proposed GCF-funded project has been developed and UNDP is currently supporting the development of a full-scale proposal, comprising a Funding Proposal, Feasibility Study and accompanying annexes, including those related to environmental and social safeguards.
In line with UNDP and GCF guidelines, the services of a suitably qualified national consultant are being sought to assist in stakeholder engagement, site visits and information or data collection towards the development of the project proposal.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant(s) will be responsible for the following activities:
• Assist the project development team in the collection of baseline information and data from sources within Djibouti such as government ministries and departments, NGOs and academia.
• Prepare synopses of the relevant documents, particularly those in French
• Facilitate the meetings during the field missions.
• Assist with organising and participation in engagements with relevant stakeholders in Djibouti, including government ministries and departments, NGOs, private sector actors and community members.
• Assist the Lead International Consultant in providing Djiboutian context, including the gender context to the overall formulation process and documents
• Assist with logistical aspects project formulation phase, including assisting with tasks such as: i) organising workshops and meetings; and ii) travel and accommodation arrangement when visiting project sites.
Expected Outputs and Deliverables
The consultant will deliver the following final products, as relevant and agreed to prior to the commencement of any task:
• A mission report including details on stakeholder engagements
• Inception report
• Bibliography of all relevant documents in the field
• Stakeholder Analysis Report (including the national, regional and local stakeholders)
• Minutes of the Inception workshop
• Minutes of the Validation workshop
• Input to the Funding Proposal and overall project proposal package, where relevant
Timelines:
The expected timeframe of the Consultancy is 40 days spread between June and December 31, 2023 including at least one field mission of two weeks between June and July, other field missions might be organized based on remaining information gaps.
The tentative timeline for deliverables will be as follows:

WORKING ARRANGEMENTS

Institutional Arrangement
The consultant will report primarily to the Team Lead of the Environment Team of the UNDP Country Office of Djibouti, the Regional Technical Specialist, as well as other members of the Project Preparation Team, as appropriate.

Duty Station
The tasks associated with this Terms of Reference are expected to be completed through a combination of (a) home-based preparatory work; (b) participating in country level missions (together with UNDP staff); (c) remote technical assistance to Project development team.

Competencies

? Demonstrated work experience with various stakeholders in the government as well as development partners on water resource management and disaster risk reduction;
? Proven experience in conducting similar nature assignments in past, preferably for UN organisations;
? Good interpersonal communication skills, flexibility;
? Knowledge in the area of resilience and disaster risk management;
? Excellent report writing and speaking skills in French and in English; and
? Proven capability to meet deadlines and work under pressure.

Required Skills and Experience

Qualification
• Minimum Master’s degree in environmental sciences or social sciences

Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years’ experience working in the environmental and natural resources sector in Djibouti — experience in climate change and adaptation will be beneficial;
• Proven expertise, experience and in-depth knowledge of climate change and adaptation policies and practices in Djibouti;
• An understanding of the institutional context regarding climate change and adaptation in Djibouti
• Knowledge of and experience working with government ministries and departments, as well as NGOs and development agencies in Djibouti;
• Ability to communicate with various stakeholders in politically sensitive situations with diplomacy and tact; and
• Familiarity with the UN system, in particular UNDP is an advantage

Language requirements:
• Proficiency in both written and oral in French
• Fluency in English with both excellent oral and written communication skills

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Daily Fee. Consultant shall quote an all-inclusive Daily Fee for the contract period. The term “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, consumables, mission cost, etc.) that could be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment are already factored into the daily fee submitted in the proposal. Refer to Annex II - Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual IC, including Financial Proposal Template

Payment Schedule
Payments shall be based on actual days worked, upon verification of completion of deliverables and approval by the IC’s supervisor of a Time Sheet indicating the days worked in the period.
The international consultant shall receive payment in one installments from UNDP as follows:

Evaluation Method and Criteria
Cumulative analysis
The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70%). and financial criteria (30%). Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.
Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 70 points)
• Master’s degree in environmental sciences, social sciences, or other closely related field; (20 points)
• Relevant experience related to climate change adaptation; institutional context, and other related sustainable human development issues; experience in Least Developed Countries is an advantage. (20 points)
• Demonstrated experience of working in the climate, environment, watershed mangement or agropastoral interventions in Djibouti (20 points)
• Fluency in English and Proficiency in French (10 points)
Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:
1) Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP (Annex I).
2) Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (4) professional references.
3) Financial proposal that indicates daily fees supported by a breakdown of costs per deliverable, as per template provided (Annex II)
Annexes
• Annex I – Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual IC, including Financial Proposal Template
• Annex II - Individual IC General Terms and Conditions
For any clarification regarding this assignment please write to Queries in regard to this consultancy should be sent to Abdoulkader Said on abdoulkader.said@undp.org . All proposals shall be sent through the platform where the candidate applies.
Incomplete proposals and proposals sent to the wrong mailing address may not be accepted.