Jobs at UNDP in Uganda- National Consultant

Job Title: NATIONAL CONSULTANT (UGANDAN NATIONAL): DOCUMENTATION OF LESSONS LEARNT AND BEST PRACTICES UNDER SLM-INTEGRATED DRYLANDS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
Location :     Kampala, UGANDA
Application Deadline :    19-Sep-12
Additional Category    Environment and Energy
Type of Contract :    Individual Contract
Post Level :    National Consultant
Languages Required :
    English 
Starting Date :
(date when the selected candidate is expected to start)    01-Oct-2012
Duration of Initial Contract :    25 working days (Spread over a period of 1 month)
Expected Duration of Assignment :    25 working days

Background

Background:

The Drylands Development Centre (DDC) is one of the three UNDP Thematic Centre’s around the world.  The DDC specializes in assisting countries to fight poverty and encourage development in the drier parts of the world. DDC is supporting affected countries in Africa, the Arab States and West Asia to implement the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) through the Integrated Drylands Development Programme (IDDP). This support is provided through the UNDP country offices.

The IDDP combines three approaches to drylands development into one programme and  blends  policy analysis with institutional capacity building and concrete programme interventions on the ground based on the following three outcomes:

    Mainstreaming drylands issues, climate change adaptation and mitigation into national policies, planning and development frameworks and contributing to the effective implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD);
    Reducing vulnerability of drylands communities to environmental, economic and socio-cultural challenges (such as climate risks, drought, land degradation, poor markets and migration) and building adaptation/mitigation capacity; and;
    Improving local governance, management and utilization of natural resources.

The IDDP supports countries in:

    Effectively implementing the UNCCD as a means to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in the drylands;
    Integrating the needs of drylands populations and other development related issues articulated in the UNCCD National Action Programmes into national planning processes and economic development frameworks including National Poverty Reduction Strategies;
    Developing and strengthening national and local capacities for planning, developing, implementing and monitoring of drylands programmes;
    Promoting learning, knowledge management and exchange of experiences and bringing these to bear upon and inform policy and programme formulation and implementation;
    Establishing effective networks and partnerships for drylands development at global, regional, national and local levels.

The key results of IDDP are:

    Mainstreamed drylands issues into development frameworks at national and local levels;
    Improved  community capacity for livelihood enhancement and diversification;
    Built community resilience to climatic and shocks and corresponding socio-economic stresses;
    Enhanced decentralized governance of natural resources;
    Promoted  policy advocacy on land governance issues and developed national and sub-regional capacity in land and agrarian reform processes;
    Facilitated  learning and knowledge sharing through south-south cooperation; and
     Undertaken  global advocacy and outreach on the challenges and opportunities for drylands development and built partnerships and mobilized  catalytic funding.

The last two are cross-cutting functions to support programme activities in the other areas identified at global, regional, national and local levels.

The IDDP was launched in 2002, and is currently in its second phase of  implementation in 17 countries in Africa, the Arab States and West Asia.   Similarly to IDDPI,   IDDP II has three outcomes that are designed to achieve the overall goal of reducing poverty through sustainable development of drylands leading to reduced vulnerability and improved livelihoods.  By improving the understanding of the relationship between the environment in drylands and the livelihood conditions of their populations, and emphasizing the productive potential of drylands, it is expected that better decision making will create the correct policy, legal and institutional frameworks for the sustainable development of drylands.

The IDDP II framework programme is based on a 10 year planning cycle (2009 – 2018), and a five-year funding cycle, with the first cycle lasting from 2010 to 2014.  This way, the framework programme will be much more flexible, and hence, allow for more effective resource mobilization and programme implementation.

Learning is a key component of the IDDP.  The aim is to create an active platform to identify, collate, synthesize and document lessons learnt; experiences, best practices and/or successful interventions, to be shared between groups, communities, countries and regions. The ultimate objective is to use the knowledge generated within the IDDP to learn from each other, transfer and adapt best practices and technologies that are working, provide inputs to inform policy processes and/or decision making processes on budgetary allocations to drylands areas; as well as to create tools for policy advocacy and others such as guidelines to support effective programming and implementation.

In the last 8 years  lessons learnt and experiences in the implementation of on the ground activities have been accumulated; similarly best practices have been identified but not fully documented to date. Even though some have been shared through presentations in workshops, conferences, south-south cooperation study tours, etc., it is essential to document and share these as most have remained largely localized, undocumented and unavailable to other practitioners. It is for this reason that the Drylands Development Centre is commissioning case studies to contribute and feed into IDDP's learning agenda.

The finalized product, lessons learnt and best practices document will be useful to other practitioners and partners working or supporting drylands development, UNDP Country Offices and other stakeholders. It will also serve as a tool for creating awareness on the opportunities and challenges in the drylands.

Objective of Assignment:

The objective of this exercise is to review,  identify, collate, analyze, synthesize and document lessons learnt, experiences and  best practices in the implementation of  IDDP on the ground in Uganda. It is important to note that even though programme activities vary from country to country, these are all linked to the 3 IDDP themes and outcomes. In some of the countries   the programme addresses all the three themes, in others two and in others one, based on the country's needs and priorities identified. 

Scope of Assignment:

The National Consultant will undertake consultations at country level with implementing,  contributing partners and other pertinent stakeholders, UNDP country offices, and beneficiaries to identify, collate, analyze, synthesize  and document lessons learnt, experiences and best practices in the implementation of the IDDP.  These lessons will later be distilled and synthesized to form part of a broader IDDP lessons learnt and best practices document to be made available through electronic formats and hard copy in 2012. 

Duties and Responsibilities

Specific Tasks:

The National Consultant will among others undertake the following tasks to achieve the  objectives of this assignment:

    Consult and interview National IDDP Coordinators and UNDP Country Office focal points on the programme in their country. Consult other important sources of information,  including annual work plans, project documents, progress reports,  mid-term review and final evaluation reports and other documentation;
    Undertake a desk study and provide a brief and analytical overview of the socio-economic and ecological situation, the political climate, institutional structures of decision making in the country (including country basic data, population size, total area land area, percentage of  drylands, key economic activities and main development issues, political system including decentralization structure, poverty index, per capita GDP, etc.,)  to be used for the background section of final report/document;
    Consult with policy/decision makers  and pertinent stakeholders and develop  a short section on the relevant processes and policies and national development frameworks the country has put in place for drylands development and the implementation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD),  poverty reduction, and achievement of the MDGs, with a particular focus to the drylands;  
    Identify based on consultations above, groups of stakeholders involved in programme implementation and their level of involvement  (including implementing partners, extension service providers, technical service providers, stakeholders/community leaders and  beneficiaries (farmers/ household, women's groups, individuals, etc.,) as available and use structured/semi structured interviews to collect the required data/information. Additionally  interview current and/or former project/programme manager/coordinator if these have moved on to new assignments to collect data/information relating to lessons learnt,  experiences and best practices;
    Based on data/information collated, undertake a critical review and analysis of national programme (provide a brief overview of the programme under implementation, problems it addresses,  key activities, beneficiaries, implementation partners and achievements to date), identifying and documenting succinctly lessons learnt, experiences and best practices in IDDP implementation in the given country;
    Draft lessons learnt, experiences and best practices document;
    Provide sources of information as part of bibliography, persons interviewed, titles  and their contact, areas or vicinity visited, copies of photos taken and captions (where, what, etc.);
    Present the draft document in soft copy (Microsoft Word) to the UNDP Country Office, IDDP national coordinator and UNDP Drylands Development Centre for review and feedback;
    Finalize the draft document incorporating feedback from UNDP Country Office, IDDP national coordinator and the UNDP Drylands Development Centre and provide a final copy in Microsoft Word; 
    Submit finalized document to UNDP Country Office in electronic format, Microsoft Word.

Note:

Programme activities may fall in the category of  a policy/regulation or guideline produced  at national level, capacity building initiatives undertaken, or concrete on  ground activities implemented by local communities, farmers, households, etc.

Expected outputs:

Finalized document in Microsoft Word (electronic format), not to exceed 30 pages (single line,  excluding annexes)  on approaches, lessons learnt, experiences, and best practices on the implementation of IDDP on the ground in Uganda

Key sections/contents of document to be produced:

    Table of contents
    Acknowledgement
    List of acronyms
    Executive summary
    Introduction
    Main Chapters (background, country context, national development strategies, activities under implementation,   lessons learnt, experiences and best practices, etc.)
    Conclusions
    Key messages and recommendations
    References - documents consulted in chronological order, using the following format: name of author, year of document, and name of document; publisher and place where published or link where it can be found.
    Annexes: list of persons met, contact details, one page - brief description of methodology used to collect lesson and best practices, tools used to collect data, etc.   

Timeframe:

This is a time bound assignment, delivery is required by 15 November 2012. The assignment will require consulting effort of 25 person days.

Supervision:

National Consultant will work in close collaboration with relevant Coordination/Implementing institutions, programmes/projects managers and major stakeholders particularly those involved in the implementation process.

The work of the Consultant will be supervised by UNDP Country Office in collaboration with Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries-UNCCD Focal Point.  UNDP/DDC Africa Programme Team Leader will provide guidance as appropriate.

Competencies

The Consultant will have the following knowledge, skills and abilities:

    Good understanding of the political, economic and social sectors in the given country;
    Familiarity with UNDP work in drylands development and/or environment, poverty and governance areas would be desirable; a good understanding of natural resources/ land use issues would be an asset;
    Proven capacity for working across different sectors and institutional levels from policy and decision making to programme formulation and implementation; from sub-regional, national to local community levels;
    A demonstrated ability (through previous similar assignments) to analyze, compile and synthesize information in  coherent and succinct formats; 
    Ability to work effectively under pressure in a team environment and in a multicultural setting;
    High attention to detail and ability to complete tasks and meet deadlines.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

    Minimum of post graduate degree in a relevant social sciences field including natural resource management, resource economics, socio economics, rural development, agriculture, development,  policy research and analysis or a related discipline.

Experience:

    A background and significant experience [a minimum of 5 years] in policy research and analysis and an understanding of development challenges in drylands.

Language Requirements:

    Strong communication skills spoken and written English.

Application Process:

Preparation of Proposals:

Language:

Proposals prepared by the Bidder and all correspondence and documents relating to the proposal exchanged by the bidder and the procuring UNDP entity shall be in English.

Documents to be included in the proposals:

The proposal shall be comprised of the following documents:

    Proposal submission – online application at the following address: http://jobs.undp.org
    Technical Proposal – suggested outline for technical proposal:
    a. The offerors interpretation of the assignment;
    b. Clarifications and or suggestions on scope of assignment;
    c. Approach and Methodology for undertaking the assignment along with timelines;

    The consultant should provide UNDP Country Office with (i) a brief write-up on his/her interpretation of the TORs, (ii) a work plan for the activity, and (iii) a sample of previous written work when applying for the assignment .

Proposal Price:

The financial proposal will indicate the price which will be in Uganda Shillings.

Payment Schedule:

The payment will be made in three installments:

    20% upon submission and approval of an inception report.
    30% upon submission and approval of a Draft Document
    50% upon submission and approval of a Final Document
How to Apply:
Eligible consultants(Ugandan Nationals only) are required to submit application and a detailed CV/Resume online at http://jobs.undp.org.

Please note that the system will only allow you to upload one document, therefore all the technical and financial proposals are to be attached to the CVs and uploaded together at once/as a single do
cument.

Deadline: 19th Sept 2012