International Consultant - Climate and Environment Specialist - UNHABITAT

Contract

This is a International Consultant contract. More about International Consultant contracts.

Background

UN-Habitat is the coordinating agency within the United Nations System for human settlement activities and in collaboration with governments is responsible for promoting and consolidating collaboration with all partners, including local authorities, private and non-governmental organizations in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular, Goal 11 of “Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”, as well as the task manager of the human settlements chapter of Agenda 21 and focal point for the monitoring, evaluation and implementation of the New Urban Agenda adopted during the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), in Quito, Ecuador 2016. The UN-Habitat Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) was established in August 1997 in Fukuoka. The Office serves countries in the Asia and Pacific region to implement UN-Habitat’s mandate. Part of ROAP’s strategic role is to foster international understanding and cooperation and to foster regional, national, city, and local capacity and cooperation to enable sustainable local solutions and constructive partnerships within and between various stakeholder networks. Technical cooperation projects coordinated by the UN-Habitat ROAP are geographically spread in the Asia and Pacific region, and span the entire spectrum of urbanisation and shelter development issues. For most parts, UN-Habitat ROAP implements country projects through its country offices. UN-Habitat has been actively supporting the Government of Lao PDR with technical assistance on issues related to urbanization, disaster mitigation, climate change, and WASH infrastructure. The International Consultant will directly engage in two highly relevant projects being implemented in Lao PDR, linked to enhancing climate change resilience. The consultant’s engagement will be in a phased manner. In the first phase, the consultant will be engaged with Urban LEDS II project and on successful delivery of relevant outputs, the consultant will be engaged in delivery of the second set of outputs under GCF Readiness project.

Urban-LEDS II in Lao PDR: UN-Habitat and ICLEI are accelerating urban low emission development and climate resilience in more than 60 cities worldwide in the Urban-LEDS II project, using a multilevel governance approach to urban climate action. Lao PDR is one of the participating countries in the international project: Accelerating climate action through the promotion of Urban Low Emission Development Strategies (short title: Urban-LEDS II) with funding support from the European Union. In this country, the project will provide capacity-building and technical assistance to local governments, to help selected model cities develop Urban Low Emission Development Strategies and Action Plans, with a climate resilience focus embedded and guiding integrated climate action. Satellite cities will benefit from capacity development opportunities and peer exchange, also with the model cities. At the national level, the project explores and supports synergies and enhanced multilevel governance/ vertical integration between different levels of government on tackling climate change. In particular, the project explores and supports vertical integration by helping local governments set climate action targets, assisting local reporting on achievements of these targets, but also defining how these relate to the NDC of the country and related policy domains.

GCF Readiness Project in Lao PDR: The “Urban Climate Change Resilience in Cities Along the Greater Mekong Subregion East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) in Lao PDR” project has started implementation in June 2020. The project focuses on strengthening the local and institutional capacity for stimulating climate change-resilient investment flows along the EWEC in Laos. With increased capacity and financing, the EWEC in Laos offers considerable potential for climate resilient economic growth and sustainable development. The five target towns of Phine, Dansavanh, Sayphouthong, Sethamouak and Atsapantong are characterised by high poverty levels, impacts from climate related hazards and social characteristics that include high numbers of indigenous people and lower levels of female literacy. The project is implemented by UN-Habitat and the Department of Climate Change (DCC), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE).

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective & Scope of Work

Under the direct supervision of the UN-Habitat Head of Office in Lao PDR, the International Consultant will liaise with the Government, UN Agencies, other development partners and colleagues to support the implementation of the ongoing projects and other relevant activities. The tasks to be developed by the International Consultant entail research; preparation of technical documents; support to the organization of workshops and consultations; and monitoring and reporting, in addition to any other assignment(s) requested by the Country Programme Manager. Some of the key actions to be developed by the International Consultant are:

Phase 1 i. (U-LEDS II) Developing a Subnational Green Growth Strategy for identifying integrated green growth opportunities and gaps with green growth criteria aligned with key programs under the national SEDP and the city development plan. The SGGS also aims to strengthen urban management and institutional frameworks which deal with infrastructure, the private sectors, and natural resource management; prioritised strategic initiatives and pilot project ideas are aimed to identify, as well as potential mechanisms to mobilize necessary resources with relevant multi-sectoral partners. Phase 2 ii. (GCF) Drafting a proposal for low emission & climate change resilient policy for the EWEC in Laos incorporating all the information gathered and produced during project implementation.

Competencies

• Skilled usage of MS Office package • Ability to use latest design software such as Adobe Creative Suite will be an added advantage • Professionalism: Demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject areas. Good research, analytical and problem-solving skills. Conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results. • Communication: Excellent and effective written and oral skills. Ability to convince people through constructive argumentation and to present information in a concise and accurate manner. Negotiating skills and ability to enable good communication and understanding between different interest groups, organizations etc. • Teamwork: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the post advertised, fluency in oral and written English is required. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is an advantage.

Required Skills and Experience

• Advanced university degree (MSc degree and above) in social sciences, urban or regional planning, environmental science, management, engineering, economics, international development or related field. Particularly with an emphasis on environmental management, green growth and climate change resilience.

• At least three years of relevant professional experience • Proven track record of working on projects in collaboration with government and international development partners • Experience working in environmental-related issues is an asset • Knowledge of UN agency, GCF Readiness, URBAN LEDs or similar internationally funded projects is an asset

More detail information on the Deliverables and the Payment Schedules, please find on the TOR

Requirements for submission of proposals:

All interested and qualified International or National Independent Consultant should apply on-line using the following links:

UNDP Lao PDR Country Office website at https://www.la.undp.org/content/lao_pdr/en/home/jobs.html or

In order to make your submission, please read the relevant documents available on the link below

1. TOR (Annex I)
2. IC General Terms and Conditions _ Annex II;
3. OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP CONFIRMING INTEREST AND AVAILABILITY _ Annex III
4. P11 Form

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. Technical Proposal

   (i) Explaining why you are the most suitable for the work;

   (ii) Providing a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work including the work

   schedule for the delivery of outputs/deliverable;

2. P11 Form Education and work experience, including past experience in similar projects and contact references of at least 3 references for whom you have rendered preferably the similar services;

3. Financial proposal: Detailed financial proposal: Lump sum offer with clear cost breakdown against each deliverable. Please use this template OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP CONFIRMING INTEREST AND AVAILABILITY _ Annex III

Instructions for on-line submissions:

1. Step 1: Please prepare all required documents electronically;
2. Step 2: Combine all documents in ONE SINGLE FILE (preferably in PDF however Word format can be also accepted) and upload to the UNDP Jobs using the links above;

3. Step 3: After that you will receive an auto reply from the UNDP jobs if your offer is received successfully.

   Incomplete proposals or proposals received after the deadline will be rejected.

Note: Any request for clarification must be sent in writing to the following e-mail: surith.sengsavang@undp.org with CC to vilaysouk.ounvongsai@un.org