Background

Project Title

Nationally Determined Contributions Support Programme

Project Description 

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s Global Development Network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. UNDP is on the ground in over 170 countries, employing participatory approaches to developing local solutions to national and global development challenges. UNDP’s focus is to respond to three sets of development issues: (1) Eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, (2) Accelerating structural transformation for sustainable development, and (3) Building resilience to shocks and crises.

Addressing gender equality and women’s empowerment is a key aspect of UNDP’s approach to achieving its core Vision. Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment are goals in their own right but are also central to the achievement of UNDP’s development mandate. UNDP works towards gender equality in all of the outcomes and key outputs set out in the UNDP Strategic Plan 2018-2021.

As part of its Strategic Plan Climate Change efforts UNDP has developed the Nationally Determined Contributions Support Programme which works with countries to advance the implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. To better integrate gender equality and women’s empowerment into national Climate Change actions, UNDP is currently assisting 10 countries (Bhutan, Philippines, Ghana, Kenya, Zambia, Uganda, Lebanon, Colombia, Chile and Ecuador) to mainstream gender equality into their Intended NDC (INDC) planning and implementation processes. More than 65 countries have now integrated gender equality into their national priorities either within their adaptation or mitigation areas of focus. Following COP-21 (2015/Paris), attention turned from developing and submitting INDCs to preparing for effective implementation of the national Contributions. UNDP plays a central role in building countries’ capacity to implement their NDCs, given its experience and technical expertise in this area.

UNDP's Strengthening Governance of Cllimate Change Finance Programme, which began in 2012, focuses on generating knowledge and a shared understanding on how to integrate a response to Climate Change within national budget process. Currently, the Programme is targeting Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Pakistan and Nepal. The second phase of the Programme (since 2017) will continue to support governments to implement budget reforms that enable the delivery of gender-responsive Climate Change-related investments but with a specific focus on poverty and human rights and with the aim to achieve the following objectives:

1)    National budget processes increasingly formulate and identify Climate Change-related investments that are gender-responsive and with positive impacts on poverty and human rights,

2)    National accountability for gender-responsive Climate Change-related investments that have impacts on poverty and human rights is enhanced,

3)    Subnational institutions increasingly play a role in integrated approaches to gender-responsive Climate Change budgeting with impacts on poverty and human rights,

4)    International policy processes give increasing priority to strengthening domestic budget systems that enable the delivery of gender-responsive Climate Change investments that have positive impacts on poverty and human rights.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

The purpose of the envisioned Background/Issue Paper is to inform national Climate Change Finance Frameworks[1] and raise awareness among stakeholders - both government officials and other actors - of the different ways in which Climate Change financing coming from both multilateral mechanisms and domestic flows if well designed, prioritized and effectively managed and tracked, can have positive impacts on gender equality and poverty reduction in the context of NDC processes. Climate change finance frameworks which integrate gender considerations will have co-benefits and lead to more rapid progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The Paper should also identify and discuss bottlenecks limiting Climate Change finance’s current contributions to a more holistic response. The background paper will identify and explore optimal entry points to systematically ensure more gender and poverty-responsive Climate Change financing and provide actionable recommendations for the way forward. The Background/Issue Paper findings will contribute to informing revision of the Climate Change Finance Framework at the country level with a strong focus on how Climate Change budgets are formulated, and public investments are designed and appraised in climate-related sectors. The background paper will also support the formulation of a strategy on the creation of the Community of Practice on Gender and Climate Change Financing under the Governance of Climate Change Finance Programme in collaboration with the Gender Component of the NDC Support Programme. Finally, the exercise will inform the dialogue of the Standing Committee on Finance of the UNFCCC (for 2019) on “the implementation of its commitment to integrate gender considerations into its work, emphasizing the relevance of gender-responsive access to finance in the implementation of climate action” and other strategic discussions around the intersections of Climate Change, gender equality and poverty reduction.

Given this scope the consultancy’s key deliverable will be a policy action-oriented paper, within the context of NDC, that will address:

1. a review of climate finance architecture (multilateral, bilateral, regional and national) i.e., their governance structures, modalities and objectives as well as responsiveness to gender equality and poverty reduction
2. a review of how international mechanisms integrate gender equality and poverty reduction in the design of their investments, how well that is understood and managed by those involved and how that is reflected into implementation of actions and policies and leads to real transformative impacts
3. a review of domestic financing (i.e., budgets) in 2-3 countries that are well designed to integrate Climate Change adaptive and/or mitigative strategies, and address bottlenecks, to contribute to advancing gender equality and poverty reduction
4. identification of the main complementarities and interfaces between international/multilateral Climate Change funding (GCF & GEF) and Domestic Climate Change Funding/Investment in the context of achieving gender-responsive Climate Change action. For instance:
5. How can Climate Change public investment help upscale the effects of project-based international Climate Change funding? And to what extent are gender equality and women’s empowerment programmes climate response compatible?
6. Review of a few key Green Climate Fund projects, along with GEF and Adaptation Fund projects, to analyze how they have integrated/built into the design of the project an interface with the public investment elements and have included gender considerations as well. What are the opportunities to replicate good experiences of international finance as a catalyst within domestic funds to support gender equality integration/mainstreaming?
7. a review of good practices which have involved gender/women’s machineries in climate-related decision making, resource allocation and tracking of climate financing, and based on the good practices, provide entry points for the role gender/women’s machineries can play in this regard
8. entry points and actionable recommendations to incorporate gender equality and poverty reduction in Climate Change budget formulation and public investment design and appraisal in climate-related sectors. This can include recommendations based on lessons learned from gender-responsive budgeting to inform climate budgeting.
9. a mapping of key and most relevant existing tools which were developed by the UN, MDBs, ICFs or CSOs to systematically integrate gender equality and/or poverty reduction into Climate Change financing policy and planning processes of both national and international financial mechanisms.

Length of policy action-oriented paper

Suggested maximum length – 30 pages (plus tables/panels)

[1] Climate Change Finance Frameworks are whole-of-government frameworks that broadly engage all stakeholders to better mobilise, manage and target domestic and international climate change finance. CCFF’s can include: a costing of planned climate change responses; measurement of available resources for climate responses; identification of ways to bring domestic and international sources of climate finance into national budgets; outlining methods to increase accountability over the use of climate finances (to guarantee they reach those who need them most)

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

Institutional Arrangement

• The consultant will work off-site under the guidance and direct supervision of the Governance of Climate Change Finance Team for Asia-Pacific in Bangkok and UNDP Global Support Unit in New York, and will report via email and Skype and be responsible for the fulfillment of the deliverables as specified above;
• The consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment;
• The consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own work station (i.e., laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, etc.) and must have access to reliable internet connection;
• The consultant is expected to be available for consultations and be in reliable email contact for a set number of hours that align with UNDP business hours;
• The consultant will be expected to travel on at least one field mission, which will involve a discussion with key stakeholders on capacity needs to ensure national governments prioritize relevant planning, budgeting and expenditures to have a positive impact on gender and poverty reduction. The costs for these travels will be covered by UNDP and should not be included/ factored in the candidate’s financial proposal.

Duration of the Work

              Up to Maximum of 37 working days during 12 working weeks: 26 November 2018 – 8 March 2019

Duty Station

              Home Based with expected travel to at least one field mission globally, location to be confirmed.

Competencies

Corporate 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 favouritism.

 Technical Competencies:

• Analytic capacity and demonstrated ability to process, analyse and synthesise complex, technical information;
• Proven ability to support the development of high quality knowledge and training materials, and to train technical teams;
• Proven experience in the developing country context and working in different cultural settings.

 Communication:

• Communicate effectively in writing to a varied and broad audience in a simple and concise manner.

 Professionalism:

• Capable of working in a high pressure environment with sharp and frequent deadlines, managing many tasks simultaneously;
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills.

 Teamwork:

• Projects a positive image and is ready to take on a wide range of tasks;
• Focuses on results for the client;
• Welcomes constructive feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree in International Development, Environmental Studies, Political Science, International Relations, Gender Studies, Human Rights or a related field.

Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of working experience in the areas of Climate Change Finance, Public Financial Management, Gender Responsive Budgeting and Climate Change, and Environment;
• Demonstrated experience working on policy and programmatic issues with national and local governments and civil society organizations in the field of gender and Climate Change, environment and climate finance;
• Prior experience working with governments and international organizations/international institutions is a plus;
• Excellent research, analytical and writing skills in the domain of gender equality and at least one other related theme, including Climate Change mitigation and/or adaptation, climate finance, NDCs, or environment;
• Demonstrated ability to work independently.

Languages:

• Fluency in spoken and written English is a must
• Knowledge of another UN Language is a plus.

Financial Proposal

The method of payment is output-based scheme. Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Lump Sum Amount excluded travel cost. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee and other related cost (exclude travel cost) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. The payments shall be released upon submitting the required deliverables with satisfactory by or before the due dates agreed with the Governance of Climate Change Finance team as per below percentages:

In general, UNDP shall not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Travel costs will be reimbursed at actual cost but not exceeding the quotation from UNDP certified travel agency. The provided living allowance will not be exceeding UNDP DSA rates. Repatriation travel cost from home to duty station in Bangkok and return shall not be covered by UNDP

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

Cumulative analysis

Only those candidates that meet the minimum level of education and relevant years of experience requirements will be considered for the Technical Evaluation. The Technical Evaluation will include a desk review to select the shortlisted candidates. The Technical Evaluation may also include interviews with shortlisted candidate(s).

The selection of the offer, from the shortlisted candidates, will be based on a Combined Scoring method where the technical evaluation (desk review and interview where applicable) will be weighted a maximum of 70 points and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a maximum of 30 points. The 70-point rating shall be based on how well the Offer meets the minimum qualifications/competencies described above.

Technical Evaluation will be based on the following criteria with the corresponding points (out of a total 70 points):

• Criteria 1 - Education - Advanced university degree in Public Finance Management, Climate Change, International Development, Environmental Studies, Political Science, International Relations, Gender Studies, Human Rights or a related field- (10 points);
• Criteria 2 - A minimum of 10 years of work experience in the areas of environment, Climate Change, gender equality, climate finance and related themes (25 points);
• Criteria 3- Demonstrated experience working on policy and programmatic issues with national and local governments and civil society organizations in the field of gender and Climate Change/environment and climate finance (20 points)
• Criteria 4- Demonstrated excellent research, analytical and writing skills in gender equality and at least one other related theme, including Climate Change mitigation and/or adaptation, climate finance, NDCs, or environment (15 points)

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70%) on the Technical Evaluation will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Financial evaluation (maximum 30 points):

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document:

1. Offerors Letter to UNDP - confirming Interest and Availability as well as final all-inclusive price quotes in United States Dollars (USD) with breakdown cost as per template in Annex IV.
2. 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.

INCOMPLETE PROPOSALS MAY NOT BE CONSIDERED.

The short -listed candidates may be contacted and the successful candidate will be notified

ANNEXES

Annex I – TOR_Gender Equality and Climate-related Public Investments Consultant

Annex II – Individual IC General Terms and Conditions

Annex III – P11 for ICs (optional)

Annex IV - Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual IC, including Financial Proposal Template

Annex V – Procurement notice

All documents can be downloaded at :  http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=51175