VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT Issued on: 24 Oct 2011 ORGANIZATIONAL LOCATION: UN-HABITAT DUTY STATION: Nairobi, Kenya and other location(s) to be determined FUNCTIONAL TITLE: Consultant (Team Leader, Cities and Climate Change Initiative Mid-Term Review) DURATION: 21 November 2011 – 31 March 2012 CLOSING DATE: 4 November 2011
BACKGROUND
Climate change is now recognized as one of the key challenges of the 21st century. To address the effect of climate change upon cities in developing countries , in August 2008 UN-Habitat, with the generous support of the Government of Norway, launched its Cities and Climate Change Initiative (CCCI). CCCI started work in four cities: Maputo, Mozambique; Kampala, Uganda; Sorsogon City, Philippines; Esmeraldas, Ecuador, along with undertaking certain normative activities such as developing a series of global capacity-building tools.
In the three-plus years since then, CCCI has expanded and evolved. Operationally CCCI has expanded so that currently it is active in more than 20 cities. Additionally the Initiative's normative role has deepened and evolved to support activities within a rapidly changing policy landscape. To strengthen operational work and build support for normative activities, UN-Habitat has forged alliances and undertaken joint activities with a series of key actors.
To carry out this broad range of activities, UN-Habitat has mobilised additional resources from various sources to support CCCI, for a total of about US$ 7 million between 2008 and 2011. These supplemental resources include funds from the UN Development Account to support work in an additional five cities in Africa, and a grant from Cities Alliance to fund a Joint Work Programme between UNEP, the World Bank and UN-Habitat on cities and climate change.
To date CCCI has carried out its activities under two programmatic phases, and currently is preparing its third phase, as follows:
Phase Period I August 2008 – December 2009 II January 2010 – December 2011 III (planned) January 2012 – December 2013 Based on experiences to date, CCCI has prepared to enter its Phase III by developing a slightly revised logical framework that brings expected outcomes into closer alignment with the Agency's Medium-term Strategic and Institutional Plan (MTSIP), strengthening its results based management, developing roll-out strategies for Asia and Africa, working to clarify the Initiative's comparative advance and so on.
The planned mid-term review thus comes at an opportune moment – to help UN-Habitat and CCCI consolidate achievements to date while planning for a systematic expansion of activities; to achieve maximum synergy between normative and operational activities ; to engage ever more constructively with key actors on vital policy issues.
RESPONSIBILITIES
The mid-term review team will be led by a senior international consultant who will serve as Team Leader. In consultation with UEPB and the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Unit, and per UN rules and regulations, the Team Leader will select, appoint and supervise several (approximately 2-4) national consultants who (as described below) will undertake in-depth national/city-level reviews. To help ensure independence and the credibility of the exercise, neither the Team Leader nor the national consultants will have been associated with the operational or normative activities of the programme.
The following tasks are foreseen:
WORK EXPERIENCE In addition to the evaluation/management experience suggested above, the Team Leader will have: - More than 15 years of experience in urban issues and international development; experience in urban environment al and climate change issues is highly preferred - Experience in more than one developing region - Experience with international donors and/or UN agencies
LANGUAGE SKILLS - Excellent written and oral communication and presentation skills in English are essential
REMUNERATION Payments will be based on deliverables over the consultancy period. We anticipate a total of two (2) months level of effort for the Team Leader, spread over the duration of the assignment (22 November 2011 – 31 March 2012). There are set remuneration rates for consultancies. The rate is determined by functions performed and experience of the consultant. The fees will be paid as per agreement.
FULL TERMS OF REFERENCE Full terms of reference, which in addition to expanded versions of the discussion above also include: objectives of the mid-term review, outputs, work plan, payment schedule, illustrative table of contents and key questions, will be provided to the finalist candidate.
Applications should include:
BACKGROUND
Climate change is now recognized as one of the key challenges of the 21st century. To address the effect of climate change upon cities in developing countries , in August 2008 UN-Habitat, with the generous support of the Government of Norway, launched its Cities and Climate Change Initiative (CCCI). CCCI started work in four cities: Maputo, Mozambique; Kampala, Uganda; Sorsogon City, Philippines; Esmeraldas, Ecuador, along with undertaking certain normative activities such as developing a series of global capacity-building tools.
In the three-plus years since then, CCCI has expanded and evolved. Operationally CCCI has expanded so that currently it is active in more than 20 cities. Additionally the Initiative's normative role has deepened and evolved to support activities within a rapidly changing policy landscape. To strengthen operational work and build support for normative activities, UN-Habitat has forged alliances and undertaken joint activities with a series of key actors.
To carry out this broad range of activities, UN-Habitat has mobilised additional resources from various sources to support CCCI, for a total of about US$ 7 million between 2008 and 2011. These supplemental resources include funds from the UN Development Account to support work in an additional five cities in Africa, and a grant from Cities Alliance to fund a Joint Work Programme between UNEP, the World Bank and UN-Habitat on cities and climate change.
To date CCCI has carried out its activities under two programmatic phases, and currently is preparing its third phase, as follows:
Phase Period I August 2008 – December 2009 II January 2010 – December 2011 III (planned) January 2012 – December 2013 Based on experiences to date, CCCI has prepared to enter its Phase III by developing a slightly revised logical framework that brings expected outcomes into closer alignment with the Agency's Medium-term Strategic and Institutional Plan (MTSIP), strengthening its results based management, developing roll-out strategies for Asia and Africa, working to clarify the Initiative's comparative advance and so on.
The planned mid-term review thus comes at an opportune moment – to help UN-Habitat and CCCI consolidate achievements to date while planning for a systematic expansion of activities; to achieve maximum synergy between normative and operational activities ; to engage ever more constructively with key actors on vital policy issues.
RESPONSIBILITIES
The mid-term review team will be led by a senior international consultant who will serve as Team Leader. In consultation with UEPB and the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Unit, and per UN rules and regulations, the Team Leader will select, appoint and supervise several (approximately 2-4) national consultants who (as described below) will undertake in-depth national/city-level reviews. To help ensure independence and the credibility of the exercise, neither the Team Leader nor the national consultants will have been associated with the operational or normative activities of the programme.
The following tasks are foreseen:
- Carry out an initial desk review of CCCI materials. Review key programme documents. Review various types of outputs and deliverables, as well as key management tools. Finally review relevant UN-Habitat-wide materials, including the MTSIP.
- In consultation with the M&E Unit and UEPB, and in accordance with UN-Habitat rules and procedures, select and appoint the national consultants .
- Conduct a preparatory mission to Nairobi. The Team Leader will conduct initial interviews with key staff members. The Team Leader also will facilitate an off-site workshop with selected UN-HABITAT staff members. As part of this mission the Team Leader will propose an updated and more detailed work plan for the entire assessment team, and deepen the proposed assessment methodology.
- Carry out in-depth reviews in representative CCCI countries and cities . Under the overall supervision of the Team Leader, national consultants will facilitate half-day self-reviews in a workshop format by representative stakeholders and counterparts of the Initiative in selected CCCI cities , and undertake additional investigation.
- Carry out supplemental desk reviews with telephone interviews and/or questionnaires of other representative CCCI countries and cities (to be undertaken by the Team Leader and/or one or more of the national consultants).
- Carry out additional (non-country-specific) research. Additional research will include a scan of key global programmes and institutions that work in the area of cities and climate change, along with selected interviews.
- Synthesise findings and prepare the draft mid-term review.
- Prepare and present draft-final mid-term review; participate in workshop. Based on feedback received on the draft synthesis report, the Team Leader will prepare the draft-final mid-term review. The Team Leader will present key findings from the draft final study and lead a discussion of implications for CCCI, in a one day workshop to be held either at UN-Habitat headquarters in Nairobi or at another location to be determined.
- Prepare final mid-term review, based on feedback received on the draft-final report. COMPETENCIES (maximum of five) The international consultant / Team Leader will possess competencies in:
- Evaluating development programmes/projects at the international level
- Managing multi-national teams engaged in international development activities
WORK EXPERIENCE In addition to the evaluation/management experience suggested above, the Team Leader will have: - More than 15 years of experience in urban issues and international development; experience in urban environment al and climate change issues is highly preferred - Experience in more than one developing region - Experience with international donors and/or UN agencies
LANGUAGE SKILLS - Excellent written and oral communication and presentation skills in English are essential
REMUNERATION Payments will be based on deliverables over the consultancy period. We anticipate a total of two (2) months level of effort for the Team Leader, spread over the duration of the assignment (22 November 2011 – 31 March 2012). There are set remuneration rates for consultancies. The rate is determined by functions performed and experience of the consultant. The fees will be paid as per agreement.
FULL TERMS OF REFERENCE Full terms of reference, which in addition to expanded versions of the discussion above also include: objectives of the mid-term review, outputs, work plan, payment schedule, illustrative table of contents and key questions, will be provided to the finalist candidate.
Applications should include:
- Cover memo (maximum 1 page)
- Summary CV (maximum 2 pages), indicating the following information: 1. Educational Background (incl. dates) 2. Professional Experience (assignments, tasks, achievements, duration by years/ months) 3. Other Experience and Expertise (e.g. Internships/ voluntary work, etc.) 4. Expertise and preferences regarding location of potential assignments 5. Expectations regarding remuneration
All applications should be submitted to: Ms. Jayne Kimani UN-HABITAT P.O. Box 30030, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya Email: jayne.kimani@unhabitat.org
Please be advised that since April 15th 2010, applicants for consultancies must be part of the UN-HABITAT e-Roster in order for their application to be considered. You can reach the e-Roster through the following link: http://e-roster.unhabitat.org
Deadline for applications: 4 November 2011
UN-HABITAT does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process. If you have any questions concerning persons or companies claiming to be recruiting on behalf of these offices and requesting the payment of a fee, please contact: recruitment@unon.org