Result of Service

The ultimate objective of the work is the design of interventions to promote integrated urban planning and development.

Work Location

Home-based

Expected duration

7 months

Duties and Responsibilities

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. The overall objective of UNEP's Climate Change Division (CCD) is to deliver effective strategic guidance and high-impact action in support of the transition towards climate stability. Its work is guided by ambition, innovation, credible science, and alignment to global climate goals and needs of individual countries. The Climate Change Division works with Members States and Partners to accelerate and support a just transition by addressing climate change mitigation and adaptation through enhancing implementation capacity, provision of data information and knowledge, access to finance and technology, and building resilience. It promotes sustainable development and effective policies for climate stability; support action so that countries progress on decarbonization, dematerialization, and resilience pathways in line with their climate commitments, aspirations, and needs; and foster transparency in reporting. UNEP, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Environment, Government of Sri Lanka, is currently implementing a Project Preparatory Grant (PPG) – for the design of the GEF 11290 “Climate Smart Sustainable Cities” project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The key objective of the project is to build upon the ongoing efforts of the Government of Sri Lanka to maintain Greater Colombo Area as a Wetland city and demonstrate integrated approach to planning and investments that ensure economic development with national and global environmental benefits in the Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte (SJK) Municipal Council area (the legislative capital of Sri Lanka). Further, the project will integrate the NMT mobility with wetland protection borders created as public spaces. The NMT infrastructure around wetlands will also provide access to the public transport routes in SJK MC. With the GEF project’s support, an e-bus pilot will be implemented in one of the routes transiting by SJK MC. The SL country project is part of the GEF Sustainable Cities Integrated Program (SCIP). The global SCIP platform will support the twenty country projects of Algeria, Belize, Benin, Chile, China, Congo, Cuba, Gabon, Guatemala, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mali, Mongolia, Peru, the Philippines, Serbia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe which were approved in the June 2024 GEF Council. This is in addition to the seventeen (17) countries / fifty-one (51) cities which were covered under the GEF-7 and GEF-6 cycle. Building upon the experiences from the GEF-6 and GEF-7 cycle of SCIP, the GEF-8 global SCIP (https://www.thegef.org/projects-operations/projects/11287) project aims to support cities and local governments to undertake integrated urban planning, implement policies and invest in nature-positive, climate-resilient, and carbon-neutral urban development. It will target the five levers of urban transformation: policy integration and coherence, financing and investment, urban innovation, partnerships and expanding knowledge to increase capacity. With this background, UNEP GEF Climate Change Mitigation Unit is planning to engage a suitable International Urban Development Specialist to support the preparation of necessary inputs that would support development of a detailed Full Scale Project document (CEO Endorsement document) as per GEF format, together with supporting documents (Environmental and Social Management Plan, Gender Analysis Report and Stakeholder Engagement Plan) for submission to the GEF. For clarity purposes, it may be noted that the writing the proposal as per the GEF format would be carried out separately by another consultant engaged separately by UNEP in addition to the expert for e-mobility part. The preparation requires considerable consultations with various stakeholders, i.e. the target beneficiaries (mainly government departments), CSOs, development partners and private sector, and it is expected that the documents will be developed in close consultations with national counterparts and UNEP. The International Urban Development Specialist will liaise with various stakeholders and other experts as required for this work, including the provider(s) for the target interventions. Lead Government entity, the Climate Change Secretariat of the Ministry of Environment will facilitate meetings with key stakeholders. The project design will be based on the existing baseline situation, assessment of gaps in strategies, policies, regulations and laws, identification of priority actions to initiate the transformation, identification of potential pilots for showcasing solutions, and assessment and activities for priority capacity building and awareness raising. The work should also map out the key stakeholders, who shall be consulted in the project of designing project activities, a plan for engagement of these stakeholders in implementing the project activities, costing of the deliverables to achieve the project outputs, as well as the required conditions for enabling successful implementation of the project. The International Urban Development Specialist will work under the overall guidance and supervision of the Task Manager Asia Pacific (TM AP) who is responsible for the implementation of the PPG. The consultant will work closely with the focal point appointed by the Climate Change Secretariat (CCS), Ministry of Environment. Specific tasks and responsibilities: The consultant will undertake the following duties: • Desk based review of available project documents and secondary research • Coordination and necessary guidance to other experts engaged for the purposes of project design • Mission(s) • Analysis of the findings / reports shared by the national experts • Synthesis reports based on collected data/information and analysis in the form of various reports and project design • PowerPoint presentation for discussion with Task Manager and wider group of stakeholders • Sharing of draft report(s) to Task Manager and wider group of stakeholders • Preparation and completion of the final report(s) The lead government entity, CCS, MoE will facilitate meetings with key stakeholders. A web-based inception meeting will be organized. However, the consultant shall establish coordination with the national experts and lead government entitty to ensure that adequate consultations are held with appropriate stakeholders.

Qualifications/special skills

ACADEMIC • A master’s degree in architecture, Urban Planning, environment or similar through experience or related area is required • A first level degree with an additional two years of qualifying experience maybe accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree. • A minimum of at least 7 years of working experience in the field of urban planning is required • Demonstrable experience of undertaking situational analysis of urban development is required • Experience in designing interventions for addressing the barriers and root causes to urban planning and development is required •• Good understanding of technical, financial and managerial aspects of implementation of urban development projects is required • Experience in drafting project proposals and assessing project documents, including concepts, progress reports, work plans, and financial documents (budgets and expenditure reports) is required. • Experience/knowledge on Environmental Science is desirable • Sustainable financing expertise with specific experience relevant to financing of sustainable urban development is desirable • Experience of working on similar assignments on sectoral assessment and recommending interventions in projects especially in South Asia is desirable • Good communication skills to manage/interact with government representatives and people inside and outside of the project team is desirable. • Experience working with GEF or UNEP projects is a desirable.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this consultancy, fluency in oral and written English is a requirement.

Additional Information

Not available.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.