UNOPS helps its partners in the United Nations system meet the world’s needs for building peace, recovering from disaster, and creating sustainable development. UNOPS is known for its ability to implement complex projects in all types of environments around the globe. In an effort to promote organizational excellence, UNOPS seeks highly qualified individuals for the following position: Vacancy Details Vacancy Code VA/2011/NAO/DG/G-REDD/03-02 Gender and REDD+ Specialist (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) Local Individual Contractor Agreement (LICA – Specialist) UN-REDD UNDP/UN-REDD Home-based 40 working days during the period 1 March – 30 June 2011. 18 February 2011
Post Title Post Level Project Title Org Unit Duty Station Duration Closing Date
Background The forestry sector, mainly through deforestation and forest degradation, accounts for about 17% of global greenhouse gas emissions, larger than the entire global transport sector. Tropical developing countries, home to much of the world’s forests, cannot currently benefit under the Kyoto Protocol for most actions to reduce emissions from deforestation or forest degradation. The need to address these challenges by establishing an international REDD finance mechanism as part of a post-2012 global climate change framework was first reflected in the Bali Action Plan and UNFCCC COP13 Decision 2/CP.13, and was recently agreed upon at COP16 in Cancun. In response to this decision and requests from countries and donors, FAO, UNDP, and UNEP developed the UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD Programme). The UN-REDD Programme consists of two sets of activities: i) National Programme which will assist developing countries prepare and implement national REDD+ strategies and mechanisms; ii) Global Programme to support country actions and provide the international community with confidence and understanding of the technical and social aspects of a post2012 REDD+ mechanism. As per the UN-REDD Programme Strategy for 2010 – 2015, one of the six work areas, led by UNDP, is to support transparent, equitable and accountable management of REDD+ payments. Building on the background provided by the human rights approach to development programming and the articles of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discriminations Against Women (CEDAW), the UN-REDD Programme will support countries in the area of women’s empowerment and gender equality, including through a scoping of gender-disaggregated approach to the components of readiness to improve the
effectiveness of REDD+ readiness interventions supported by the Programme. Men and women often have different roles in forest resource management; men are more likely to extract forest products for commercial purposes, while women are more likely to gather such products for fuel, fencing, food or livestock fodder. The different ways in which men and women engage in forest based activities should be taken into account when designing REDD+ policies and activities. Because women often play a critical role in forest management, they can make significant contributions to REDD+. Well designed and implemented initiatives will provide new ways to engage and reward women for their forest stewardship services. Incorporating gender perspectives into REDD+ and ensuring that women’s unique knowledge and skills are reflected into mechanisms and projects will not only benefit the women and men directly involved, but can also lead to more efficient, equitable and sustainable outcomes. The ways in which finance for REDD+ will affect local men and women will depend on who and what activities are compensated within REDD+ approaches, how money flows to local communities (e.g., at what administrative level or through what mechanisms), what the overarching institutional arrangements are and how they are structured, how funding decisions are made, and who gets to participate and at what level. In order to provide a strong basis from which to advance work to integrate gender into REDD+ planning and policy, the UN-REDD Programme will develop a research paper to clarify the argument for a gender perspective in REDD+ approaches to be accompanied by a guidance note that will give recommendations on how a gender perspective can be rolled out as part of readiness preparation. The intended audience is policy makers and practitioners that are working on REDD+ at the national and possible sub-national levels. Both documents are meant to be practical and illustrated with concrete examples. UNDP is seeking an expert consultant to support this work and initiate the support to countries participating in readiness activities to strengthen their gender approach to REDD+. The Consultant will report UNDP’s Senior Technical Adviser on REDD of UNDP’s Environment and Energy group, with input and guidance from members of the Gender team.
Duties and Responsibilities 1. Objectives The Contractor will be tasked with developing a referenced 25-page report establishing a “Business Case for gender in REDD+” and a 10-page guidance note outlining how REDD+ policy-makers and practitioners can integrate a gender perspective into readiness planning and implementation. 2. Tasks and Outputs o Research and analyze key issues on gender in the context of REDD+ and REDD+ readiness and develop an annotated outline of key concepts. These should include: Background: Outline human rights basis for a gender perspective in REDD+ programming building on the human rights-based approach to development programming and CEDAW. Draw on existing research, policy literature and case studies to produce an overview analysis of key gender-differentiated issues in the forest sector. For example, an analysis of the roles, rights and responsibilities of women and men in the drivers of deforestation, in making rural land use decisions, in community forest management, in forest policy decision making and in benefit distribution systems to encourage natural resource management (PES, conditional cash transfer, etc), as well as gender specific needs, gaps, and opportunities for women and men in REDD+. Analysis: Building on the findings of the analysis of the above issues, analyze how a gendersensitive approach to REDD+ and REDD+ readiness will impact REDD+ outcomes, including emissions reductions, forest governance, stakeholder livelihoods, MRV, social and ecosystem benefits.
Conclusions: Identify elements of REDD+ and REDD+ readiness that will be made more effective by applying a gender-focused approach and make recommendations on how the UN-REDD Programme should support integration of these issues into National Programme and Global Programme activities. Areas for further investigation: Where evidence is lacking or incomplete, identify issues where targeted research may further inform and improve the effectiveness of gender-focused REDD+ interventions. o o Upon approval of the outline, draft a 25-page report for review by the UNDP Gender and REDD+ teams, respond to comments and guidance provided by UNDP and revise draft accordingly; Develop a 10-page guidance note, converting the key observations and conclusions from the analysis into practical, step-by-step guidance for REDD+ policy-makers and practitioners to integrate gender into readiness and REDD+ policy and planning at the national and sub-national levels. Submit a final draft of both the research paper and guidance note. Timeline 30 March: Annotated outline submitted 30 April: First draft of research paper submitted 15 May: Second draft of research paper submitted 30 May: Research paper completed and submitted 15 June: First Draft of Guidance note submitted 30 June: Guidance note completed and submitted The Contractor is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.
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Required Selection Criteria Competencies o o o o o o Demonstrate excellent and effective written skills; Ability to manage multiple tasks, set deadlines and plan work independently; Set clear priorities and be able to meet key deadlines under pressure; Ability to synthesize and summarize complex information; Be a team player; and Display cultural, gender and political sensitivity in the workplace
Education/Experience/Language o o o o o o o o At least 8 years of experience in climate and development; Masters degree in development, environment, or related field required; Excellent knowledge of gender issues; Demonstrated knowledge of forest management issues; Demonstrated familiarity with REDD+; Familiarity with UNDP’s work on gender and REDD+; Experience drafting UN reports, presentations, and other products is an asset Fluency in English required, other languages an asset
Submission of Applications Qualified candidates may submit their application, including a letter of interest, complete Curriculum Vitae and an updated United Nations Personal History Form (P.11) (available on our website) via email to dgvas@unops.org. Kindly indicate the vacancy number and the post title in the subject line when applying by email. Additional Considerations Applications received after the closing date will not be considered. Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified. Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a level below the advertised level of the post.
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