OVERVIEW

Parent Sector : Field Office

Duty Station: Harare

Job Family: Natural Sciences

Type of contract : Non Staff

Duration of contract : From 1 to 6 months

Recruitment open to : External candidates

Application Deadline (Midnight Paris Time) : 07-DEC-2023

UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism

OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POST

Call for Application

Conducting a Baseline Assessment for the Zimbabwe Adaptation Fund Project
“Strengthening local communities’ adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change through sustainable groundwater utilisation in Zimbabwe”

1. Background

UNESCO in partnership with the Government of Zimbabwe is implementing an Adaptation Fund (AF) project entitled “Strengthening local communities’ adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change through sustainable groundwater utilisation in Zimbabwe.” The objective of the proposed project is to increase local communities’ adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change through sustainable groundwater utilisation for food security and other productive uses in rural areas of Zimbabwe. To achieve this, the project will implement the following array of actions starting at national to local levels;

(i) Strengthening technical, institutional and human capacity for improved and sustainable utilization of groundwater at national and local level;

(ii) conducting comprehensive assessments of groundwater resources in two poverty-stricken and highly vulnerable sub-catchments of Lower Gwayi and Upper Save and develop sample plans for improving climate resilience through sustainable groundwater utilization;

(iii) Strengthening the capacity of water and land management institutions in Lower Gwayi and Upper Save sub-catchments by developing integrated catchment management plans that promote groundwater use whilst protecting groundwater resources;

(iv) Piloting and demonstrating concrete climate change adaptation measures based on sustainable groundwater utilisation by diversifying and strengthening the livelihoods of the most vulnerable population in Lower Gwayi and Upper Save sub-catchments; and

(v) Compiling and disseminating lessons learnt from the project to facilitate future upscaling and replication of good practices in groundwater extraction and management.

The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development is the executing partner and the project will be implemented for 4 years from June 2023 to June 2027.

UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa seeks to engage the services of an experienced Consultant/Consultant Firm to lead the planning and implementation of the Baseline Assessment for the Project.

Long Description

2. Scope of the Work

The Consultant / Consultant firm will develop all tools and resources to carry out the assessment and lead in the design and execution across all target areas to establish the baseline status for all project indicators. The Consultant/Consultant firm will work closely with the Project team in Natural Sciences Sector, under the overall guidance of the Chief of Science Unit, to deliver the assignment.

The purpose of the baseline data is to provide a benchmark from which to measure progress of the project through an in-depth situation analysis and needs assessment in the target districts. The baseline data will also cover interventions by the Government of Zimbabwe under the Presidential Rural Development Programme and other organizations in the target districts, women and youth groups, traditional and religious leaders, in order to understand the needs. This survey will provide the current status of the indicators in the results framework and facilitate monitoring of progress towards meeting project objectives. Specifically, the survey will:

a) Identify current landscape of climate change adaptation actions in the targeted districts and wards.
b) Establish current status of project indicators
c) Identify potential additional interventions which may be required to achieve project objectives

3. Approach and Methodology

The baseline study will be conducted in Buhera (Wards 20 and 23) and Binga (Wards 19 and 25) districts using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. Data will be collected through assessments and disaggregated by age, sex, and social economic status. The Consultant/Consultant Firm is expected to propose a suitable methodology following standard statistical methods. They are encouraged to be creative and elaborate on a detailed baseline design and methodology. The study will follow appropriate statistical sampling procedures, with the sample size finalized after discussion with the project team. The Consultant/Consultant Firm should suggest a detailed approach and methodology in compliance with the project’s goals, objectives, and log-frame.

Long Description

4. Tasks and Responsibilities

The Consultant/Consultant Firm will carry out the following tasks:
a) Produce an inception report which include a detailed methodology, including sample size, sampling plan, data collection tools, plan for field work, and data analysis;
b) Conduct consultations with key stakeholders and intended beneficiaries in the targeted districts and wards to gather baseline information on project indicators including gender specific barriers regarding access to social capital and how to ensure meaningful participation of women and youth in the community engagement approaches to be applied during project implementation as well as the climate related outcomes of the project;
c) Prepare a short presentation with initial findings, preliminary conclusions and recommendations;
d) Produce a draft baseline assessment report providing recommendations for gender responsive targets to be shared with project team for review;
e) Prepare the final baseline assessment report and make specific recommendations on the existing logical framework, plan and project indicators for gender sensitive monitoring and evaluation. Annexes should include the terms of references (TORs), inception report, programme baseline indicators with baseline values from the baseline survey, list of documents reviewed, list of persons interviewed or consulted and data collection instruments;
f) Prepare a PowerPoint presentation and two-page baseline Brief to facilitate sharing of the key findings, conclusions and recommendations.

Long Description

5. Deliverables

The Consultant/Consultant Firm shall deliver as follows:
a) Inception report – 5 days after signing the contract
b) Draft baseline report – 30 days after submission of inception report
c) Final report including an updated gender inclusive logical framework. – 10 days after submission of draft baseline report
d) Powerpoint presentation and two-page baseline Brief – 10 days after submission of draft baseline report

COMPETENCIES (Core / Managerial)

–

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

a) The Team Lead must have at least a Masters degree in social sciences, statistics, agriculture, natural resources management, climate change, or other related fields.
b) The Consultant/Consultant Firm is expected to have a mix of skills relevant to the assignment relating to analytical capacity, relevant gender analysis (especially collection and analysis of gender disaggregated data in the areas of livelihoods and resilience to climate change) and adequate reporting

Experience

The Team Leader must have minimum of 5 years’ experience conducting surveys of similar nature such as programme strategy development, design and evaluations and must have demonstrated experience with research and participatory methods.
• Strong capacity and experience in planning and organizing survey logistics
• Strong capacity and knowledge in data management and statistics including use of any of the following statistical software: Stata and Statistical Packages for Social Sciences
a) Team should be comprised of gender and statistics experts
b) Knowledge on Adaptation Fund’s Gender and Environmental and Social policies
c) Strong writing and analytical skills
d) Demonstrated ability to work in a multi-cultural environment and ability to establish good and effective relationships with national stakeholders.
e) Strong knowledge of the local languages (Ndebele, Shona and Tonga) spoken in the targeted districts (Binga and Buhera).
f) Have relevant experience in working with governments and/or international organizations on consultancy assignments, especially in Monitoring and Evaluation, and gender equality.
g) Have excellent proven written, spoken English and communication skills.

EVALUATION METHOD AND CRITERIA

The Consultant/Consultancy Firm will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis

The contract shall be awarded to the Consultant/Consultant Firm whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:
• Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and;
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.
* Technical Criteria weight 70%
* Financial Criteria weight 30%
Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (70 points)
Technical Proposal (50 marks)

Technical Approach & Methodology (35 marks) – Explain the understanding of the objectives of the assignment, approach to the services, methodology for carrying out the activities and obtaining the expected output, and the degree of detail of such output. The Applicant should also explain the methodologies proposed to adopt and highlight the compatibility of those methodologies with the proposed approach;
• Work Plan (15 marks) – The Applicant should propose the main activities of the assignment, their content and duration. The proposed work plan should be consistent with the technical approach and methodology, showing understanding of the TOR and ability to translate them into a feasible working plan.

Qualification and Experience (20 marks) [evaluation of CV for shortlisting]:
• General Qualification (10 marks);
• Experience relevant to the assignment (10 marks).

SELECTION AND RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Footer