UNDP Jobs - 80668- Re-advertisement - Consultant

Re-advertisement - Consultant - Long Term Financing Mechanism for the Forest Sector

Location :

Windhoek, NAMIBIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

24-Jan-19 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

13 Weeks

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

13 Weeks

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

The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF) in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is implementing the Sustainable Management of Namibia’s Forested Lands (NAFOLA) Project, with funding from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). The project aims to reduce pressure on forest resources by facilitating the gazettement of community forests, and increasing the capacity for the uptake of improved agriculture, livestock and forestry management practices in the community forest areas.

The project is supporting gazetting of nine Community Forests and post gazettement activities in four gazetted ones, in line with Namibia’s Community Based Natural Resources Management Programme (CBNRM). The premise of CBNRM is that resource management should be the responsibility of those living with and using the resources. The rationale behind this approach is that communities have a direct interest in the sustainability of the resources upon which they depend. One of the principles of CBNRM is that effective management of natural resources is best achieved by giving the resource a focused value. Community Forestry empowers local communities through transferring rights to manage forest resources and for communities to benefit from related income and employment opportunities.

Due to rising current threats (deforestation, land clearing, energy demands) towards forested lands, the demand to manage forests more sustainably that in the past is paramount. However, progress is hindered by a lack of suitable financing and Namibia is not an exception. Many countries currently take an ad-hoc approach to financing, using a small number of mechanisms such as grants and subsidies that often cover only a few initiatives. Furthermore, reliance on government budgets and overseas development assistance as funding sources remains high. A review of the current status and recent trends suggests that although there is widespread commitment by Namibia to allocate funds to conservation existing, financing falls far short of the amount required managing these areas (Aribeb et al., 2016[1]). Insufficient funding for forest conservation results in many area systems having inadequate staff, equipment, and other management necessities. An infrastructure deficit to ensure optimal service delivery within forest systems also presents itself due to inadequate funding.

To address this challenge, it is necessary to examine how to expand and diversify financing mechanisms and sources of finance. At the same time, the contributions of forests to economic development, human well-being and the environment are increasingly recognised as important. This opportunity has been seized by some countries that are now experimenting with innovative financing mechanisms. These mechanisms may generate new sources of revenue and help to make investments in sustainable forest management more attractive and feasible.

[1] Karl Aribeb, M. Humavindu & J. Nghishidi. 2016. Sustainable Financing Strategies for Namibia’s National Parks. Ministry of Environment and Tourism. Windhoek.

Duties and Responsibilities

The objectives of theis consultancy is: Identify existing and prospective sustainable financing mechanisms in order to fund critical support services provided to community forest streamlined within the realm of CBNRM approach; Analyse the potential of these financing mechanisms; Recommend priorities for developing pilot sustainable financing mechanisms.

To achieve the expected outputs, the consultant will carry out the following tasks:

Kick-off meeting: The consultant is expected to meet the NAFOLA Project/Directorate of Forestry to discuss a work plan and agree on workplan;
Individual kick-off meetings with the individual staff members to identify the specific issues for incorporation;
A consultative workshop to identify potential financing instruments for further analysis;
A validation workshop to endorse the report
Final report which clearly document methodology, results and recommendations.

Competencies

Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
Diplomacy and tact.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Masters Degree in Economics or similar.

Experiences:

At least 10 years of proven experience in developing financing instruments for the environmental sector;
Proven experience of providing technical expertise of the above nature to government, NGOs, private sector and community-based/ support organisations (CBOs/ CSOs);
Experience with the UN system will be an added advantage.

Language Requirements:

Proficiency in English, both written and oral, is a must;
Fluency in one or several other UN working languages (s) would be an added advantage

How to apply:

To apply please access UNDP Jobs site http://jobs.undp.org.

Recommended Presentation of Offer;

Completed Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
Personal CV or a P11 Personal History form, indicating all past 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 approach to work/technical proposal of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a proposed methodology on how they will approach and complete the assignment (max 1 page).

Financial proposal:

Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided (based on the number of working days mentioned ToR.

Note:

Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows uploading maximum one document.
Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply;
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.

Incomplete applications will be excluded from further consideration.

To view the full Terms of Reference (TOR) please access the UNDP Procurement Notice site on the below link;

http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=49115.