Climate Change Adaptation Knowledge Management Consultant

Background

For UNDP, adaptation to climate change means climate-resilient economic development and sustainable livelihoods, especially for vulnerable populations – the poor, women, and indigenous peoples. UNDP supports these goals by assisting countries integrate current and future climate risks and uncertainties into national and sub-national development efforts. UNDP works with governments, the private sector, communities, and other partners to build responsive state institutions and public policies; strengthen public and private sector capacities to manage climate change risks and uncertainties; and formulate, finance and implement climate-resilient initiatives.

Together with partners, UNDP supports climate change risk management in the context of agriculture and food security, water resources, coastal zone development, public health, and climate change-related disaster risks. To finance this work at the national, sub-national and community levels, UNDP helps countries secure climate change adaptation finance that is available through vertical funds such as the Adaptation Fund, the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund (both of which are managed by the Global Environment Facility, GEF), Green Climate Fund, as well as other multilateral and bilateral sources. Countries are supported to optimize the use of these public funds by also leveraging and catalyzing private finance for adaptation. 

At the 17th COP in 2011, parties invited all United Nations organizations, as well as bilateral and multilateral agencies, to support the National Adaptation Plans process which aims to (1) reduce vulnerability and (2) integrate climate change adaptation into medium to long term development planning. In response, the joint UNDP/UN Environment National Adaptation Plan Global Support Programme (NAP-GSP) was launched in June 2013, initially financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF). The NAP-GSP and programme partners are assisting countries who request support to identify technical, institutional and financial needs to integrate climate change adaptation into ongoing medium and long-term national planning.

In addition, UNDP has been selected as Delivery Partner by over 40 countries across all regions to support the access to GCF-funding to formulate and/or implement their national adaptation plans. Finally, in Africa, in response to the African Ministerial Conference on Environment’s (AMCEN) mandate to enhance assistance on climate adaptation and loss and damage, UNDP is also supporting the Africa Adaptation Initiative (AAI) to galvanize the support needed to significantly scale-up adaptation and actions to address loss and damage in Africa across four pillars: (1) enhancing climate information services to support decision-making; (2) strengthening policies and institutions; (3) enhancing on-the-ground action; and (4) mobilizing climate investment. All these different projects, programmes and initiatives are managed by UNDP as a single portfolio.

The NAP portfolio contributes to the overall climate change work of UNDP which constitutes a significant part of the Strategic Plan’s Signature solution 3 on “Enhancing national prevention and recovery capacities for resilient societies”.  

OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The UNDP NAP portfolio requires a knowledge management consultant to shape knowledge exchange between countries on experiences and lessons learned on adaptation planning and use the technical insights from on the groundwork in countries by the project to prepare and package of knowledge generated in user-friendly formats. This consultancy will enable increase outreach for knowledge and lessons learned for UNDP’s and its partners’ support to countries on National Adaptation Planning and the contribution to the achievement of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

 

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK

Under the guidance and supervision of the Lead Technical Specialist, and in close collaboration with the Regional Technical Advisors supporting the NAP portfolio and the communications team, the consultant will contribute to specific deliverables outlined in the project documents and workplans of the various projects/programmes/initiatives, including: 

Main responsibilities

• Coordinate the KM plan delivery for the NAP portfolio with regular oversight and updating of the plans and tracking of milestones;
• Liaison with knowledge product developers/writers to achieve milestones within set timelines;
• Review, finalization and publication of NAP portfolio knowledge products;
• Development of interactive content around best practices/lessons learned for the AAI Project, NAP-GSP and country-level NAP activities;
• Organization and facilitation of a series of webinars and peer-to-peer exchanges;
• Liaison with communication officers to disseminate knowledge products;
• Provide support to knowledge management on adaptation-related activities under UNDP upon request – including by developing communications materials e.g. press releases, PPTs, speaking notes;
• Any other related work/task assigned by supervisor(s).

DURATION OF ASSIGNMENT, DUTY STATION AND EXPECTED PLACES OF TRAVEL

Duration: September 2020 – 31st August 2021 (Up to 200 days)   

Duty station: Home based with possible travels.

Expected places of travel: To be decided in coordination with the requesting government, with the NAPGSP coordinator assigned to that particular country. The expected travel schedule will be defined in consultation with the countries. The consultant is required to arrange for his/her own travel. The travel cost shall be reimbursed at actual but not exceeding the amount quoted by UNDP travel agent. Kindly note not to include any travel costs and or other related costs associated with any travels at this stage.

The Consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for the execution of the tasks under this assignment. The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own working station (i.e. laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, specific software, etc.) and must have access to a reliable internet connection. Payments will be made upon submission of a certification of payment form and acceptance and confirmation by the NAP Lead Technical Specialist, or her/his delegate, on the days worked and the outputs delivered.

FINAL PRODUCTS

Based on the aforementioned criterion of the tasks associated with this Terms of Reference (Expected Deliverables following UNDP guidelines on communications), the consultant will be responsible for:

 

Expected Deliverables	Number of Working Days
Overall coordination of KM for the NAP portfolio	24
Support to 4 regional or global events	12
Provision of substantive feedback and coordinating process to review, edit, peer review, proof-read, design and publish Mainstreaming Publication for NAP-GSP and up to 3 other reports, and 6 country briefs	38
Development of knowledge content for online trainings/webinars (up to 4), policy briefs (at least 4), press releases and blogs (at least 4) and PPTs (at least 8) based on best practices and lessons learned in the areas of (i) climate risk and vulnerability; (ii) climate risk transfer; (iii) adaptation planning;	46
Organization, conduction and moderation of webinars, in collaboration with partners, ensuring the development and collection of follow-up documentation after the webinars are completed	10
Identifying best practices and drafting up to 6 thematic and country briefs on NAP GCF project implementation	40
Preparation of PPT, technical notes and any other material to document and report on NAP portfolio as requested by the supervisor	30
Total	200 days

PROVISION OF MONITORING AND PROGRESS CONTROLS

The consultant will be supervised by Lead Technical Specialist on National Adaptation Plans throughout the consultancy. He/she will work closely with the Communications consultants, and Technical Advisors and other staff involved in the NAP-GSP and project counterparts as appropriate.

PAYMENT TERMS

Payment will be made based on daily fee rates, approved by the supervisor against the satisfactory completion of deliverables in section (5) as per an agreed work plan at the beginning of the consultancy and submission of deliverables over the duration of the consultancy. Monthly payments will be made based on a summary report provided 5 days in advance of each months’ end, with deliverables and a narrative about progress.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

The following documents will be requested:

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by

UNDP;

2. Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experiences from similar projects, as well as the contact details

(email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;

3. Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment;  

4. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed daily rate as per template provided (Annex 2).  If an 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 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. Kindly indicate the costs related to the 4 aforementioned missions under a separate heading. 

Kindly ensure all above documents (1-4) are combined in to one PDF document and uploaded accordingly as a single document file. The system will only permit one document upload.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF THE BEST OFFER

The following criteria will serve as basis for evaluating offers:

• Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated;
• The technical criteria (education, experience, language) will be worth a maximum 100 points. Only the top 3 candidates that have achieved a minimum of 70 points (70%) from the review of the education, experience, and language will be invited for an interview;
• Technical criteria for evaluation (Max100 points);
  1. Criteria 1: Relevance in education background – Max 10 points;
  2. Criteria 2: Relevant experience – Max 30 points;
  3. Criteria 3: Demonstrable communication products and editing, developmental editing, proofreading and copyediting from past assignments that showcase experience in producing large projects – Max 30 points;
  4. Criteria 4: Experience in working with UNDP and familiarity with UNDP editorial guidelines and templates – Max 10 points;
  5. Criteria 5: Experience with the UN/UNDP web environment – Max 10 points;
  6. Criteria 6: Language proficiency– Max10 points;
• The interview will be given a maximum of 100 points (30%). When combined with the technical review of 100 points (70%), only candidates who pass 70% of technical and interview evaluation will be evaluated further;
• For those passing technical and interview evaluation above, offers will be evaluated per the Combined Scoring method:
  1. Technical and Interview (70%) 
  2. Financial Evaluation (30%)
• The financial proposal shall specify an all-inclusive1 daily fee (including number of anticipated working days and all foreseeable expenses to carry out the assignment);
• Applicant receiving the Highest Combined Score and has accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions will be awarded the contract. 

 

Competencies

Corporate:

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness, by modeling the UN/UNDP’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.

Functional/Technical:

• Knowledge, skills and experience in working with UN Agencies, NGOs/CSOs or other organizations in the development sector;
• Demonstrable creative flair and lateral problem-solving skills
• Excellent communication skills in English
• Ability to upload files to online sites;
• Ability to work remotely in a team and consolidate discussions into action

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in Environmental Studies, Public Administration, Political Sciences, or other closely related fields

Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in climate change, environment and development research and technical drafting

• Demonstrated experience in knowledge management and production of technical documents and materials, including policy briefs;
• Sound understanding of sustainable human development, environmental management issues, adaptation, vulnerability and impacts of climate change and other related sustainable human development issues demonstrated through work experience;
• Experience or strong familiarity with the work of UNDP and/or other multilateral, bilateral and civil society development partners.

Language:

• Excellent English communication skills 
• Fluency in another UN Language (especially French) would be an advantage