Background

With an in-country presence before, during and after a conflict, UNDP is increasingly expected to assume a substantive role in providing rule of law, justice, security and human rights assistance to countries threatened or affected by crisis and fragility. In order to meet these demands, UNDP’s Crisis Bureau has bolstered its capacity to provide support to the field and articulated a Global Programme for Strengthening the Rule of Law and Human Rights for Sustaining Peace and Fostering Development. The RoLSHR programme and team directly provide support to over 40 countries and leads and supports policy development and guidance in rule of law, security and human rights related areas, including in the context of the SDG and Sustaining Peace agendas.

UNDP’s Climate Promise is a response to the challenges facing our planet and threatening ecosystems, livelihoods, stability and peace. The Climate Promise draws upon UNDP’s extensive portfolio of expertise across priorities such as energy, forests, water, resilience, agriculture, health, youth, finance, governance, gender equality and green jobs. It also builds upon UNDP’s established track record in supporting governments to discuss, design and deliver climate action under Paris Agreement.

The nexus between the Climate Promise and SDG 16 has not yet been well articulated. However, there is a direct and important link between justice, climate insecurity, the degradation, scarcity of or equitable access to natural resources and human rights. UNDP Country Offices are increasingly providing support to government partners to achieve their climate pledges by incorporating climate action as a priority in their national development plans and constitutions. The Rule of Law and justice sector has a key role to play in achieving a country’s goals. One clear area is in legislative and regulatory reform.

Currently the ROLSHR programme is undergoing a midterm evaluation for its Global Program, drafting of Phase 4 of this Global Programme as well as the development of a Justice Strategy including a new e-justice strategy. Climate or “green” justice is a relatively new area for the ROLSHR programme and connects with initiatives across the Justice, Human Rights and Security workstreams.  While a few Country Offices have initiated activities on climate justice, the impact and range of interventions is not clearly understood. One of the challenges facing the programme is that green justice lies somewhere between SDG goals.

Sustainability, biodiversity, healthy ecosystems and climate change are cross-cutting dimensions of Agenda 2030: SDG 15 life on land, SDG14 life below water, SDG 6 clean water and sanitation, and SDG13 climate action. Similarly, human rights are a both a crosscutting dimension of Agenda 2030, and specifically recognized in SDG 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions.

Moreover, working towards responsible and sustainable production and consumption patterns (SDG 12) and strong partnerships (SDG 17) are enabling factors for advancing sustainability and human rights. However, the text of SDG 16 does not specify social-ecological dimensions. Similarly, and more broadly the dependency on nature for preventing and mitigation climate change and for human wellbeing remain unrecognized and undermined in global efforts and strategies aiming to achieve prosperity for people and societies, such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement.

There is a need to elevate nature issues by understanding the linkages between People and Planet and how they continue to evolve. This can help identify and/or accelerate urgent need for action to ensure a healthy planet and a safe climate, including by ensuring that both human rights and environmental issues are integrated into legal and policy frameworks through to enforcement and implementation. It also includes assessing where reform is required and how justice and human rights can play a role in creating fair and decent situations for people so that this interlinkage with nature is integrated at international and national levels and human rights are assured for all.

The impact of the climate crisis, nature and environment on indigenous peoples, migrants, minorities, youth, women and children are essential elements for the green justice agenda. There is a clear interdependence between communities - especially rural ones - the economy and the environment. The traditional sexual division of labor and gender roles establish care and domestic tasks for women, as well as obtaining and managing natural resources. This makes interdependence more critical for women due to their often direct relationship and dependence on natural resources to feed the family, to have access to water suitable for human consumption, for economic sustenance and for energy. Women are also more vulnerable to the effects of climate change, as they spend more time and energy on activities related to their environment. Another relevant factor is the relationship between poverty and the production and consumption of goods and services, since generating added value in the various stages of the value chain is linked to the promotion of jobs and income in the communities.

Therefore, it is important to analyze the challenges so that women can participate meaningfully in the decision-making processes on access, use and control of natural resources, as well as in the equitable distribution of the resulting benefits to successfully face the challenges of change. climate and environmental.

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ANALYTICAL WORK

Under the overall supervision of the RoLSHR Team Leader and in close coordination with the ROLSHR Team and Regional Hubs, the Consultant will:

• Complete a desk review, submit a desk review report of existing materials including documents generated by ROLSHR, particularly the Green Justice Options Paper (2020), Nature, Climate and Environment teams; the desk review report should also include a light mapping of current green justice interventions by region;
• Consultations with ROLSHR team members, regional and country office colleagues to identify past or ongoing green justice activities, potential entry points, challenges, risks and opportunities;
• Consultations and engagement with UNDP Environment, Nature and Climate colleagues on identifying areas for collaboration, potential entry points at the Country Office or field levels and guidance on the development of an overall Green Justice Strategy for the ROLSHR programme;
• Consultations with the UNDP Gender team to fully reflect and incorporate the gender perspective into the subsequent webinar, strategy and pilot interventions;
• Consultations with the Governance, Core Government Functions/Local Governance teams to identify areas for collaboration and previous work/interventions related to climate, environment and nature;
• Consultations with relevant experts, academia, think tanks, NGOs and any other relevant partners that may contribute to the development of a Green Justice Strategy and/or design of pilot interventions at the country level;
• Work closely with the consultant on board for the development of the ROLSHR Justice Strategy and integrated offers in the team including on human rights and security more broadly; and
• Coordinate with colleagues of the Business and Human Rights initiative focusing on the responsibility of companies towards the environment.
• Other deliverables determined by Team Leader as needed.

The Consultant’s expected outputs and deliverables will be as follows:

1. Submission of the Desk Review Report with light mapping of ongoing interventions by region;
2. Organize and facilitate a webinar on green justice, human rights and climate change with expert panel members;
3. After consultation with the ROLSHR team, Regional Bureau focal points for ROLSHR, the Environment, Nature and Climate teams, the Gender Team and relevant counterparts, draft a Green/Climate Justice Strategy  (first and final drafts) for the ROLSHR programme;
4. Produce 1 policy piece to articulate UNDP ROLSHR position on Climate Justice as it relates to the Climate Promise and the UNDP Strategic Plan (2022-2025); and
5. After consulting with regional and country office colleagues, the consultant will develop a technical offer for activities that could be supported by the Global Programme pipeline. The technical offer would be used by Country Offices in the development of pilot interventions to either kickstart or build upon green justice initiatives.

Competencies

Functional

• Excellent writing and editing skills;
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills;

• Excellent analytical skills;

• Ability to work under minimum supervision and tight deadlines.

Professional Skills:

• Demonstrates strong ability to manage, facilitate, and engage in discussions with multiple stakeholders in a formal setting, seeking to encourage participation in an open and collegial environment;
• Proactive in problem-solving and recommendation for conflict prevention and resolution;
• Strong ability in managing confidential and politically sensitive issues, in a responsible way, and in accordance with protocols.
• Demonstrated experience working collaboratively in a team structure in a multicultural environment
• Demonstrated ability to deliver results in high-pressure environment.

Interpersonal and communication skills:

• Strong communication skills and proven ability to collaborate between different actors and high level of internal and external relationship management;
• Uses tact and sensitivity when delivering sensitive information or resolving delicate issues;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
• Remains calm, in control and good humoured even under pressure.

Corporate

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness by modeling the UN / UNDP's values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of the UN / UNDP; and
• Displays sensitivity and adaptability when working with a diverse array of cultures, genders, religions, races, nationalities and ages.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic qualifications

• A minimum of  Master’s  degree in Environmental Studies, Climate, Natural Resource management, climate justice, sustainability, environmental policy, climate science  or related field is required. A Master’s in Development Studies, Law and/or Human Rights would be an asset.

Experience

• Minimum 5 years combined relevant experience on topics related to climate change, environment studies, nature conservation, natural resource management, rule of law, security, and human rights is required;
• Proven track record of producing high quality research and analysis reports is desirable;
• Demonstrated strategic thinking and strong understanding of global developments in environment, climate change, climate security, rule of law, security and/or human rights issues and recent policy developments and programming at country level; desirable
• Experience in design of gender responsive rule of law, security and/or human rights programmes’  desirable.
• Experience planning and facilitating events is required.
• UN experience with sound understanding of the UN systems and of UNDP mandates and role in crises context. is an asset.

Language

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required; and
• Working knowledge of another UN language would be an asset

Application Procedure

The application package containing the following (to be uploaded as one file):

• A personal statement with a brief description of availability and why the Offeror considers her/himself the most suitable for the assignment;
• Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects and specifying the relevant assignment period (from/to), as well as the email and telephone contacts of at least three (3) professional references;
• A writing sample that has not been edited by others, no longer than 10 pages in length. Required

Note: The above documents need to be scanned in one file and uploaded to the online application as one document.

Shortlisted candidates (ONLY) will be requested to submit a Financial Proposal.

• The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around the specific and measurable deliverables of the TOR. Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR, and deliverables accepted and certified by the technical manager. 
• The financial proposal must be all-inclusive and take into account various expenses that will be incurred during the contract, including: the daily professional fee; (excluding mission travel); living allowances at the duty station; communications, utilities and consumables; life, health and any other insurance; risks and inconveniences related to work under hardship and hazardous conditions (e.g., personal security needs, etc.), when applicable; and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services under the contract.
• This consultancy is a home-based assignment, therefore, there is no envisaged travel cost to join duty station/repatriation travel. 
• In the case of unforeseeable travel requested by UNDP, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. In general, UNDP should 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.
• If the Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.

The Financial Proposal is to be emailed as per the instruction in the separate email that will be sent to shortlisted candidates.

Evaluation process

Applicants are reviewed based on Required Skills and Experience stated above and based on the technical evaluation criteria outlined below.  Applicants will be evaluated based on cumulative scoring.  When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Being responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation where technical criteria weighs 70% and Financial criteria/ Proposal weighs 30%.

Technical evaluation - Total 70% (70 points):

• Criteria 1. Relevance of the combined experience on topics related to climate change, environment studies, nature conservation, natural resource management, rule of law, security, and human rights, Weight = 20%; Maximum Points: 20

• Criteria 2. Quality of the written sample, Weight = 20 %; Maximum Points: 20;

• Criteria 3. Relevance of experience in  planning and facilitating events; Weight = 20 %; Maximum Points: 20;  

• Criteria 4: UN experience with sound understanding of the UN systems and of UNDP mandates and role in crises context. Weight = 10 %; Maximum Points: 10;

Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (70 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

Financial evaluation - Total 30% (30 points)

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

p = y (µ/z), where

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Contract Award

Candidate obtaining the highest combined scores in the combined score of Technical and Financial evaluation will be considered technically qualified and will be offered to enter into contract with UNDP.

Institutional arrangement

The consultant will work under the guidance and direct supervision of the Rule of Law, Security, and Human Rights Team Leader and will be responsible for the fulfilment of the deliverables as specified above.

The Consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment

Contract duration:

The period of the assignment will cover maximum 50 working days between 24 May 2021 – 13 July 2021.

Payment modality

Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified above and deliverables accepted and upon certification of satisfactory completion by the manager. 

Annexes (click on the hyperlink to access the documents):

Annex 1 - UNDP P-11 Form for ICs

Annex 2 - IC Contract Template

Annex 3 – IC General Terms and Conditions

Annex 4 – RLA Template

Any request for clarification must be sent by email to cpu.bids@undp.org 

The UNDP Central Procurement Unit will respond by email and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.