Background

The frequent occurrence of drought, an overall trend of aridification and projected drying of Uzbekistan’s poorest region, Karakalpakstan, places serious strains on water availability, causes a decline in land productivity and in turn in the ability of rural population to withstand the current and future impacts of climate change. Adaptation measures are increasing and becoming more integrated within wider policy frameworks. Integration, while it remains a challenge, streamlines the adaptation planning and decision-making process and embeds climate sensitive thinking in existing and new institutions and organizations. This helps avoid mismatches with the objectives of development planning, facilitates the blending of multiple funding streams and reduces the possibility of maladaptive actions.

The overall project objective is to develop climate resilience of farming and pastoral communities in the drought prone parts of Uzbekistan, specifically Karakalpakstan to address adaptation needs arising when the anticipated risks or experienced impacts of climate change require action to ensure the safety of population and the security of assets.

With a view to achieving this objective, the following interconnected outcomes will be achieved:

1. The institutional and technical capacity for drought management and early warning developed
2. Climate resilient farming practices established on subsistence dekhkan farms
3. Landscape level adaptation measures for soil conservation and moisture retention improves climate resilience of over 1,000,000 ha of land
4. Knowledge of climate resilient agricultural and pastoral production systems in arid lands generated and widely available

The project offices are located in Tashkent, Uzbekistan within the national partner agency, i.e. the Center of Hydrometeorological Services under the cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Uzhydromet); and in Nukus, Karakalpakstan, as the pilot region. Project implements its adaptation activities in the six pilot districts - Kegeili, Kanlikul, Chimbay, Takhtakupir, Muynak and Bozatau – as the most vulnerable to climate change impacts in Karakalpakstan.

The project duration is 6 years (May 2014 – November May 2021) with the total budget of USD5,190,878 (USD4,990,878 of Adaptation Fund and USD200,000 of UNDP).

The project helps the central, regional and local governments and vulnerable farmers and pastoralists to withstand the current and future impacts of climate change: aridification and projected drying of this region that places serious strains on water availability resulting in a decline in land productivity. Considering the key messages of the recent online Climate Adaptation Summit (25-26 January, 2021), the focus of this decade will be on delivering adaptation action agenda.

COVID-19 related note:

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly slowed or contracted economic growth for most countries globally and halted, or in some cases significantly reversed, progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Uzbekistan’s GDP growth in 2020 was suboptimal and poverty levels increased for the first time in two decades as a result of impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

The project beneficiaries are rural communities living in Karakalpakstan, which is located in the Aral Sea region. They are the most vulnerable to climate change impacts combined with environmental disaster of Aral Sea drying and currently aggravated by COVID-19 outbreak in Uzbekistan. COVID-19 lockdown impacts their agricultural and livestock income generation activities due to the strict requirements aimed to mitigation of the pandemic impacts. As it is already recognized by the Government, COVID19 impacts result in increased unemployment and poverty, decrease of economy development paces and increased demand for social protection needs as well as health protection and urgent pandemic response measures. In this regard, it is obvious that adaptation activities implemented by the project become even much relevant and important to mitigate the COVID19 adverse impacts through reducing/avoiding climate change related losses/damages (through use of best adaptation practices) and will contribute to environment benefits (rehabilitation of pastures and degraded lands) as well as will be instrumental for the post-COVID19 recovery period of the Aral Sea region.

On March 14, 111 new coronavirus cases were recorded in Uzbekistan – unexpectedly high in recent months. In 6 April 2021, the cases of the confirmed coronavirus cases demonstrated increase and surpass 84,322 ths in Uzbekistan with the confirmed death reached 634 (see at https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/uzbekistan/ ). Tashkent (capital) still leads in the number of infected people but cases are identified again in all regions in Uzbekistan. The vaccination under the national program has started since 3 April but only 1.25% of the total of over 20 mln of population to be vaccinated per the national programme as of 15 April 2021. In Uzbekistan, citizens are obliged to wear medical masks and take other precautions (social distance, disinfection). Starting March 25, 2021 foreigners entering the republic should present a PCR test certificate issued exclusively by laboratories recognized by the Sanitary and Epidemiological Service of Uzbekistan.

Having approached to the closing phase, the project is herewith planning to hire an International Consultant/Evaluator for Terminal Evaluation of the current project. 

Duties and Responsibilities

For detailed information on description and responsibilities, please refer to Annex 1 – Terms of Reference that can be downloaded using the link below: 

http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=78074

Competencies

• Good understanding of climate science (adaptation), environment protection, natural resources management or other closely related field;
• Excellent analytical and interpersonal skills including oral and written communication;
• Demonstrated programme management skills including; results-based orientation, preparation of work plans, monitoring and evaluation and leading cross-cultural teams;
• Previous experience in performing a similar role in UNDP would be an advantage;

Required Skills and Experience

I. Academic Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in climate science (adaptation), environment protection, natural resources management or other closely related field;

II. Years of experience:

• Relevant experience with results-based management evaluation methodologies;
• Experience applying SMART indicators and reconstructing or validating baseline scenarios;
• Competence in adaptive management, as applied to climate change adaptation;
• Experience in evaluating projects;
• Experience working in Central Asian countries;
• Experience in relevant technical areas for at least 10 years;
• Demonstrated understanding of issues related to gender and climate change adaptation; experience in gender responsive evaluation and analysis;
• Excellent communication skills;
• Demonstrable analytical skills;
• Project evaluation/review experience within United Nations system will be considered an asset;
• Experience with implementing evaluations remotely will be considered an asset.

III. Language requirements:

• Fluency in written and spoken English.
• Knowledge of Russian and Uzbek will be considered an asset;

Application Process:

Interested candidates need to apply online at www.jobs.undp.org and upload requested documents in Part 4 of Procurement Notice no later than 14 May, 2021 (New York time). Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document. Your on-line applications submission will be acknowledged to your email address provided in application. If you do not receive an e-mail acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary.

Link to application at the UNDP Job Site – https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=98786 (cut and paste into browser address bar if the link does not work).

You can review detailed Procurement Notice, Terms of Reference and download templates from the UNDP Procurement Notices Site following the link http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=78074 (cut and paste into browser address bar if the link does not work).

Application submitted via email, incomplete applications or received after the closing date (14 May, 2021) will not be given consideration.

UNDP is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified female candidates, people with disabilities, and minorities are highly encouraged to apply. UNDP Gender Balance in Management Policy promotes achievement of gender balance among its staff at all levels.