Antigua and Barbuda: Gender Expert on Adaptation and Climate Finance

Dec 29, 2020 | United Nations Development Programme
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The United Nations Development Programme is the United Nations' global development network. It promotes technical and investment cooperation among nations and advocates for change and connects countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life for themselves.

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries unanimously agreed to work toward global goals that would limit global average temperature rise. Specifically, the Agreement seeks to limit the rise in the world’s average surface temperatures to “well below” 2°C above pre-industrial times this century, while “pursuing efforts” for 1.5°C. It also sets a target of eliminating global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by the second half of the century – or at least compensating any residual emissions through, for example, forest growth.

A key principle in the Paris Agreement is that no country should backslide on its intentions, which were put forward in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which describe each country’s self-determined strategy for curbing GHG emissions, typically in five- or ten-year periods and can also include plans to increase resilience. Individually, NDCs represent each country’s climate priorities and vision for achieving sustainable development. Aggregated, they represent the world’s collective efforts to fight climate change. However current NDCs are estimated to collectively result in a temperature rise of 2.9 to 3.4 °C by 2100.

The Paris Agreement also clearly states that “Parties should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to health, the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations and the right to development, as well as gender equality, empowerment of women and intergenerational equity,”. Which suggests that countries should consider a multidimensional and gender responsive approach when developing and enhancing their NDCs.

All countries are expected to submit increasingly ambitious NDCs every five years; a first opportunity to do so is in 2020. Achieving the Paris Agreement’s goals will require an emissions peak as soon as possible, followed by sharp reductions in GHG emissions. Therefore, many see high ambition in 2020 as fundamental to get on track to 1.5°C and counter a worrying trend of rising emissions. The transformative climate action required needs a global commitment to raising ambition, articulated in the next generation of NDCs, to create economic drivers that shift investments away from fossil fuel use and carbon-intensive practices.

In response, UNDP is leveraging its extensive climate portfolio and scale up urgently needed support for NDC enhancement in 100 countries, working in close collaboration with UN system partners (e.g. UNEP, FAO, UNICEF), IRENA, the NDC Partnership, the Green Climate Fund, and other strategic partners. An integrated approach will be used that harnesses the wide-ranging expertise of UNDP’s Global Policy Network to strengthen climate solutions with perspectives from governance, health, water, gender equality, women’s and youth empowerment, disaster risk reduction, and inclusive growth, among others.

The UNDP through its Climate Promise initiative is assisting Antigua & Barbuda in its efforts to update its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). UNDP will support activities that will contribute to raised mitigation and adaptation ambition in the revised NDC. It is expected that the implementation of the NDCs will be closely linked to global and local goals and agreements such Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the country’s NAP and other national sectoral policies. Also, the implementation of the NDCs will be closely linked to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 Gender Equality, the gender mandates included in the Paris Agreement, and the implementation of UNFCCC’s Enhanced Lima Work Programme on Gender and its Gender Plan of Action through the integration of gender specific components in the planning and implementation process of the Climate Promise. The UNDP is therefore seeking to recruit a consultant to conduct activities under the Climate Promise Initiative, which will support the integration of gender-responsive actions across Antigua & Barbuda’s NDC targets resulting in a more inclusive and ambitious climate action.

The Importance of Gender Responsive Climate Actions in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) Planning Process

Women, men, boys and girls experience the impacts of climate change differently and contribute to mitigation and adaptation efforts in a gender differentiated manner. Each stakeholder has different needs, contributions, opportunities and capacities to respond[1] in relation to climate change due to their specific gender roles and responsibilities.  If gender considerations are not recognized and addressed in national policies and planning processes, there is a high risk that a) preexisting gender inequalities will be maintained, amplified or at worse new inequalities could be created and  b) climate mitigation and adaption actions will be less effective, efficient and sustainable. By acknowledging gender considerations, appropriate measures can be taken to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment within national climate change action and particularly in the planning and implementation process for Antigua & Barbuda’s Nationally Determined Contributions.

The integration of gender-responsive actions into the NDC framework at a country level, will be founded in the Lima Work Programme on Gender and the gender mandates included in the different UNFCCC decisions, which aim to advance the design and implementation of national gender-responsive climate policies and initiatives. Promoting gender equality within the climate change agenda at the national level will strengthen national support for the implementation of both the international and national commitments set. It is further noted, that systematically addressing persistent gender gaps and recognizing both women and men as key agents of change in the response to climate change is one of the most effective mechanisms for building climate resilience and reducing emissions.[2]

[1] Daze, Angie; Dekens, Julie. A Framework for Gender-Responsive National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Process. The NAP Global Network: August 2017.

[2] Huyer, Sophia. Gender Equality in National Climate Action: Planning for Gender-Responsive Nationally Determined Contributions. United Nations Development Programme: 2016.

Duties and Responsibilities

The main objective of this assignment is to develop socio-economic indicators and gender indicators to support socio-economic monitoring of NDCs development and the design of participatory, responsive and gender sensitive adaptation consultations, and social dialogues to define goals and/or priority setting in the NDC at national and subnational levels. The consultant will work with the Government of Antigua & Barbuda, UNDP and other key identified partners to support the following activities which will be executed in meeting the proposed project objectives.

As such, the engaged expert(s) will be expected to conduct/provide the following:        

1. Develop socio-economic indicators and gender indicators

• The consultant will be expected to conduct a brief situation analysis of national context to provide an understanding of the situation of women in the country, as well as gender differences in contributions to national development, division of labour, employment, access and control of resources, and participation in decision making, especially in key climate change sectors. The analysis must be linked in a practical way with the climate agenda, especially with the adaptation and mitigation actions that are a priority for the country. It is recommended that the analysis includes a compilation of sex disaggregated data and identifies a) gender gaps relevant to the climate agenda (particularly the NDC), b) climate vulnerabilities and impacts differentiated by gender, and c) contributions differentiated by gender to GHG reduction and increased resilience.

Review of Relevant Sector Policies or Strategies.

• This includes an analysis of the extent to which, national policy or strategy on integrating gender equity and equality into the updated NDC have been mainstreamed into current climate change legal, policy and institutional frameworks. This Policy Review should also identify gender mandates included in environmental/climate change policies and strategies (or other policies/strategies relevant to the NDC) and the environmental mandates included in the Gender Policies.

Identify and recommend and/or develop gender indicators to be included in the NDCs.

• Assessment should describe how NDC implementation will Monitor, Report, and Verify (MRV) advances in relation to the gender indicators and the tracking and evaluation of gender differentiated impacts and results of the climate actions included in the NDC. It should focus on the inclusion of sex disaggregated indicators.
• Indicators should be designed with a criterion for analysis and potential MRV

Produce a gender responsive, and multi-dimensional socio-economic analysis report.

• The final report should include a concise methodology and all the instruments required for the implementation and monitoring of the revised NDCs.

2. Design and conduct participatory and gender sensitive adaptation consultations

• The consultant will design, organize, and conduct a gender-responsive climate change consultation. The design and conduct of the consultation will be done in close collaboration with the Government of Antigua & Barbuda, UNDP, and other key partners identified. The aim of the consultation is to identify key gender considerations, goals, and priorities for Antigua & Barbuda’s NDC. The consultant must ensure that the consultation facilitates inclusive stakeholder participation which promotes gender equality and inclusion of vulnerable groups including youth.

The consultations should include an exercise to review the proposed indicators as developed in section 1.

The consultant should:

• Map key stakeholders that should be involved in the consultations (including women’s groups or women that are working in initiatives related to climate change, key government representatives working on gender equality and women’s empowerment, national and local gender experts that work on gender and environment/climate issues, among others)
• Organize a consultation on gender and NDC for women, women groups and representatives from the line Ministries and agencies with a gender mandate. The workshop/consultation could serve both as a capacity building space and a platform to discuss gender goals and priorities for the NDC.
• Organize different gender workshops for decision makers from the different sectors included in the NDC. These workshops should focus on the links between gender and climate change and the key gender considerations for the sector. It would be key to invite some of the women that participated in the previous workshop to participate and share their priorities and define with the decision makers gender goals and priorities for the NDC.

Lastly, in the documentation of the discussions, recommendations, and proposals coming out of the consultative process, it is critical that the consultant ensures that proposals brought forward are gender specific, that gender performance indicators are referenced, and that sex-disaggregated data as well as other gender-responsive reporting techniques are incorporated at this phase to ensure the final report produced is comprehensive.

All activities should be done in collaboration with the Government of Antigua & Barbuda to facilitate the undertaking of a gender responsive, and multi-dimensional socio-economic and climate-based vulnerability analysis, to inform the monitoring of the NDC revision process and future implementation. The consultant should draw on previous work conducted within the sector with which synergies can be found. The consultant is also expected to collaborate with other relevant authorities to highlight youth within the assessment and consultation.  Key documents to be reviewed will be provided by the country team.

Competencies

• Strong analytical, negotiation and communication skills, including ability to produce high quality practical advisory reports and knowledge products;
• Professional and/or academic experience in one or more of the areas of sustainable development
• Ability to produce high quality outputs in a timely manner while understanding and anticipating the evolving client needs;
• Strong organisational skills;
• Ability to work independently, produce high quality outputs.
• Communication
• Strong ability to write clearly and convincingly, adapting style and content to different audiences and speak clearly and convincingly;
• Strong analytical, research and writing skills with demonstrated ability to think strategically;
• Strong inter-personal, negotiation and liaison skills.

Required Skills and Experience

• Master’s Degree or in Economics, Sustainability, Environmental and Climate Change Economics, Econometrics, or a closely related field required with a minimum of 7 years of relevant working experience in related field(s).
• Master’s degree in Gender Studies, Social Development, Sustainability, Environmental and Climate Change Economics, Econometrics, or a closely related field required with a minimum of 7 years of relevant working experience in related field(s).

How to Apply

To apply, interested persons should upload the combined* Technical Proposal/Methodology (if applicable), CV and Offeror’s Letter to “UNDP Jobs” by navigating to the link below and clicking “APPLY NOW”, no later than the date indicated on the “UNDP Jobs” website. Applications submitted via email will not be accepted**: -

UNDP Job Site – https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=95968 (cut and paste into browser address bar if the link does not work)

* PLEASE NOTE: The system allows the upload of one (1) document ONLY – if you are required to submit a Technical Proposal/Methodology, this document along with your CV/P11 and Offeror’s Letter, MUST be combined and uploaded as one.

NOTE: The Financial Proposal should not be uploaded to “UNDP Jobs”**.

<IMPORTANT>

**Please email the password-protected Financial Proposal to procurement.bb@undp.org. The subject line of your email must contain the following: “BBRSO##### Financial Proposal – Your Name”

If the password for your Financial Proposal is required, it will be requested by the Procurement Unit.

Any request for clarification must be sent in writing to procurement.bb@undp.org within three (3) days of the publication of this notice, ensuring that the reference number above is included in the subject line. The UNDP Barbados & the OECS Procurement Unit will post the responses*** two (2) days later, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to: -

http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=73971 (cut and paste into browser address bar if the link does not work)

A detailed Procurement Notice, TOR, and all annexes can be found by clicking the above link.

*** UNDP shall endeavour to provide such responses to clarifications in an expeditious manner, but any delay in such response shall not cause an obligation on the part of UNDP to extend the submission date of the Proposals, unless UNDP deems that such an extension is justified and necessary