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Uganda: Terms of Reference for a Consultancy to Undertake a Gender Assessment and Develop a Gender Action Plan as Part of the Development of a Green Climate Fund Proposal

Apr 16, 2022 | International Union for Conservation of Nature
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The International Union for Conservation of Nature is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in data gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy and education.

Background

The Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE), Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), IUCN, African Wildlife Foundation, Opportunity International, in partnership with relevant government and non-government entities, local communities and stakeholders, especially women and the private sector are working together to develop and 8 year programme titled “Enhancing the resilience of ecosystems and livelihoods through sustainable forest and land use management in Northern Uganda and Kidepo landscapes” for submission to the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

The objective of the project is to enhance the adaptive capacities of both ecosystems and livelihoods in northern Uganda through nature-based solutions for sustainable forest and agricultural landscape restoration and management. This will in turn contribute to reduced GHG emissions and increased productivity leading to the improved resilience of the livelihoods of local populations.

This transformation will be achieved through innovative results-based financing and market-based partnerships and business models that overcome market failures and address the threats to ecosystems, production landscapes and wildlife resources. Implementation will be led by the Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE), supported by IUCN, in partnership with relevant government and non-government entities, local communities and stakeholders, especially women and the private sector.

The proposed GCF project takes a multi-sectoral and integrated approach to overcome the barriers to resilience and low-carbon development and achieve a paradigm shift in the sustainable management of landscapes in Uganda and will be delivered through 3 components.

Component 1 will focus on implementation of nature-based solutions to reduce emissions and build adaptive capacity which will include restoring forest and agricultural production landscapes and managing them sustainably in the face of climate change. The project will reduce deforestation and promote forest and wildlife habitat conservation and protection to maintain or increase the area under forest cover for carbon sequestration and climate mitigation. It will also restore degraded forests and other priority fragile ecosystems in order to maintain or increase tree density at the stand and landscape scales to maintain or increase carbon stocks. In addition, the project will support farmers to adopt climate resilient and low-carbon agricultural practices including agroforestry, soil conservation and improved catchment management. These measures will improve agricultural productivity and reduce climate-related losses, thereby easing pressure to expand the agricultural frontier by clearing forests. These nature-based solutions will enhance the availability and sustainability of biomass energy and reduce the loss of biomass carbon stocks, thus enhancing carbon sequestration and mitigating climate change. This will also enhance biodiversity conservation, landscape heterogeneity and connectivity, and provision of ecosystem goods and services (fresh water, fuel, fiber, climate change regulation and mitigation, carbon sequestration, water retention in the soil for crop growth, water for irrigated agriculture, pollination, soil formation and nutrient cycling).

Component 2 will focus on transforming investment and benefit sharing to ensure sustainable low carbon and climate resilient landscapes and livelihoods. This will overcome the barriers to lowcarbon and climate resilient management of agricultural and forest landscapes by mobilizing public and private financial mechanisms and aligning incentives for sustainability. Component 2 will establish innovative financial solutions that help small holder farmers and wildlife custodians outside National Parks build sustainable and resilient livelihoods as well as establish agriculture and naturebased value chains to embed innovation. The value chains development will promote private sector led deforestation-free food and commodity production that relies on restoration strategies providing a profitable and sustainable alternative for a national low carbon economy, and sustainable supply chain of crop, forest, and wildlife product development pathways. The project will also establish concessions and benefit-sharing mechanisms to incentivize climate-adaptive community wildlife habitat management plans which will include strengthening the capabilities of Community Wildlife Management Associations and incentivize climate-adaptive community wildlife management plans. In addition scalable Payment for Ecosystem Services mechanisms will be developed to foster natural resource stewardship among the project beneficiaries.

Component 3 will build the capacity of smallholders, public officers, the private sector, and other stakeholders to identify and respond to climate threats, to coordinate a multisectoral approach to climate resilience, and to monitor, learn, and develop knowledge manage products for climateresilient landscape management.

The project is developed by the Government of Uganda (GoU), is aligned with Uganda’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP) and particularly the National Adaptation Plan for the Agricultural Sector, the Forest Investment Program (FIP), National Development Plan III (NDPIII) and the National Forest Plan (2013), and it contributes to the achievement of Uganda’s priority national development goals and targets. The project is being developed in a participatory and consultative manner involving all the relevant stakeholders:

  • Government of Uganda Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
  • Civil Society Organizations.
  • The Private Sector.
  • Ministry of Water and Environment
  • The GCF national designated authorities at the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

The project contributes to the implementation of the Uganda REDD+ Strategy and Action Plan and addresses several of the REDD+ priorities. It contributes to Uganda’s Vision 2040 target of restoring forest cover to 24% of Uganda’s land area by 2040, and the National Development Plans III target of restoring forest cover to 18% by 2030. It contributes to the attainment of Uganda’s pledge to restore 2.5 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2030 under the Bonn challenge. It complements the efforts of the GoU enshrined in the Uganda Green Growth Development Strategy (2017/18 – 2030/31) and supports the implementation of its priorities of upgrading the agricultural value chains, sustainable energy and natural capital management. It supports the GoU in implementing its Agriculture Sector Development Strategy and Investment Plan priorities on climate smart agriculture and rehabilitation of degraded agricultural lands to achieve LDN. It is line with the Forest Investment Program priorities on climate smart agriculture and rehabilitation of natural forests.

The project will also contribute to Uganda’s NDC and Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets: (i) 22% emission cuts by 2030 in the energy. (ii) 21% tree or forest cover loss reduction by 2030. (iii) 12 % wetland cover loss reduction by 2030. (iv) Areas of declining or stressed land productivity reduced by 50% by 2030. (v) Level of Soil organic carbon (SOC) maintained or improved by 2030. (vi) LDN achieved in the watersheds and the highlands and 50% of areas of declining or stressed land productivity improved by 2030.

Overview the Consultancy

The IUCN is proposing a project to enhance the adaptive capacities of both ecosystems and livelihoods in northern Uganda through nature-based solutions for sustainable forest and agricultural landscape restoration and management. This project is intended to contribute to reduced GHG emissions and increased productivity leading to the improved resilience of the livelihoods of local populations. This transformation will be achieved through innovative resultsbased financing and market-based partnerships and business models that overcome market failures and address the threats to ecosystems, production landscapes and wildlife resources. Implementation will be led by the Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE), supported by IUCN, in partnership with relevant government and non-government entities, local communities and stakeholders, especially women and the private sector.

The project will highlight the role of women as informants and actors in making agricultural and forest landscapes climate resilient and ensure that they benefit equitably from project interventions. It will address barriers that cause gender inequality and address gender inequalities related to climate change and support women’s participation in decision-making and activities. Thus, proper gender assessment of the sector has been considered at an early stage and the project will conduct Gender Action Learning (GAL) and develop a Gender Action Plan (GAP) at funding proposal stage to guide transformation of gender and unequal power relations in the project activities. Based on the GAP and GAL, the project will apply a gender-mainstreamed approach in all the 3 project components by:

  • Increasing women’s participation and leadership in decision-making bodies and processes by having an indicative target of at least 50% women’s representation, subject to a detailed gender analysis and action plan at funding proposal stage.
  • Strengthening access to and control of land, forests, water, and other productive assets and resources for women.
  • Ensuring that economic benefits coming from the sustainable use of forest resources and restoration efforts are shared equitably between men and women, and empowering both women and men in ecosystems and natural resources governance.
  • Establishing a Gender Platform to assist the project in understanding and achieving gender objectives and targets.
  • Identifying training needs, knowledge products, and communication efforts towards increasing the number of commitments and initiatives aimed at promoting gender equality linked to particular commodity value chains.
  • Filling information gaps related to gender-related challenges and opportunities facing smallholders and value chain actors from local to global level.

For full details and expectations of the consultancy, please see link included above.