Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is a specialized technical agency of the United Nations established in 1945 whose mission is to contribute to eradicating hunger and achieving food security for all. FAO contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through FAO’s Strategic Framework by supporting the transformation to MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agri-food systems, for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.

FAO mobilizes high level national and international technical expertise to build capacity of institutions and human resources. It also helps to bring in modern and innovative technologies and formulate conducive policies in countries through piloting, adapting and scaling up of successful global practices to achieve sustainable agri-food systems transformation.

The project “Building a Resilient Churia Region in Nepal” (BRCRN) was approved by the 24th meeting of the Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) in November 2019 and is Nepal’s first full-size GCF project. FAO, as the nominated Accredited Entity (AE) for the project, is responsible to the GCF for implementation of the project and is also co-Executing Entity (EE) with the Ministry of Forests and Environment (MoFE) of the Government of Nepal (GoN). The BRCRN project will be implemented in 26 critical river systems in the southeast region of Nepal, covering parts of Koshi, Madhesh and Bagmati Provinces, linking the Churia hills and upper Terai, and aims to promote widespread adoption of climate-resilient land use practices, confront the challenges of deforestation and forest degradation, better maintain the forest ecosystem in the Churia hills, and build resilience to climate-induced hazards.

In its capacity as co-EE, FAO has been providing intensive technical support to implement the plans developed during inception phase that includes Critical Ecosystem Restoration Plans (CERP), Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP), Social Inclusion Management Plans (SIMP) and Indigenous Peoples Plans (IPP). In addition, FAO has been providing support to develop capacity among relevant national, provincial and local institutions for project implementation, to ensure quality control of the technical services provided through project implementing partners, and to provide technical advice to the project management team. Further, FAO has planned providing support to the provincial government to plan and increase resilience to projected climate change-related extreme events.

A national expert “Climate Change Extreme Events and Land Use Planning” (CCEELUP) is sought to provide technical support on developing resilient plans for projected climate change related extreme events and climate resilient land use planning aiming at sustainable natural resource management.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Nepal, in close consultation with AFAOR (programme), overall technical guidance of Lead Technical Officer FAO RAP, direct supervision of National Project Manager, close coordination with BRCRN’s focal person at FAOCO, and the National Project Director under MoFE, the consultant will undertake the tasks but not limited to the following:

Technical Focus

The national expert will technically focus but not limited to the following:

Strengthen provincial and local government institutional capacity on climate resilient land use planning for sustainable natural resource management (Activity 1.1.2, 2.1.1, 2.2.2 of the Funding Proposal) and;
Increase resilience to projected climate change related extreme events by building capacity in developing and implementing climate induced disaster risk reduction plan (Activity 2.1.3 of the Funding Proposal).

Tasks and responsibilities

The CCEELUP Expert will be responsible for the following tasks:

Task 1: Strengthen provincial and local government institutional capacity on climate resilient land use planning:
•    Develop implementation plan of project interventions related to climate resilient land use and risk management planning.
•    Develop/improve training manuals, capacity building technical training modules, training materials for climate change, climate resilient land use planning and management practices in coordination with Farming System Expert (FAO TA), Capacity Development Expert (PMU) and other relevant experts to build the capacity of municipality officials.
•    Coordinate with provincial and local government to deliver training for the development of climate resilient land use policy and planning.
•    Provide training and mentoring, as required, to the officials of local government agencies and Local Resource Person (LRP) on climate change risks and climate resilient sustainable natural resource management
•    Support officials of local government and LRPs to provide training to CBOs and farmers to adapt and apply climate resilient land use practices and to organize annual stocktaking workshops on climate resilient land use planning
•    Provide refresher training to the officials of national and provincial government who were trained on climate resilient land use planning.
•    Provide support to facilitate and deliver secondary school sessions on climate resilient sustainable natural resource management (SNRM).
•    Raise awareness of climate change through participatory land use planning and support CBOs mainstreaming climate resilient SNRM into their management plan.
•    Any other climate resilient land use planning related task assigned by the project manager

Task 2: Increase resilience to projected climate change related extreme events by building capacity in developing and implementing climate induced disaster risk reduction plan.

Considering the increasing risk of climate change extreme events in the river systems of the project area the consultant will
•    Develop training materials for awareness raising and provide trainings to capacitate provincial and local government officials on climate change related extreme events.
•    Supports provincial governments of the project area to develop, validate and implement risk management plans for climate related extreme events including floods and landslides building on detailed hazard mapping, vulnerability assessments and risk mapping from the CERP planning process.
•    Organize 26 awareness-raising workshops (one in each river systems) for provincial and local government staff and train them on relevant guidelines and tools for further assessing climate extreme events and learn about river system specific risks.
•    Facilitate and support stakeholders to make them able to understand and analyse the climate change risks linking Churia Knowledge Centre in the respective provinces.
•    Engage Department of Hydrology and Meteorology officials in the training events to inform the planning processes and strengthen the linkages between DHM and Provincial level authority.
•    Support the mobilization of project service providers to develop management plans for project provinces on climate change induced extreme events.
•    Support to develop, validate and implement three provincial risk management plans for climate extreme events, building on detailed hazard mapping, vulnerability assessments and risk mapping from CERP planning process.
•    Develop articles and other communications materials related to climate change land use planning and risk management

FAO Standards and guidelines:

•    Liaison with OCC will be maintained, either directly or through an agreed focal point/coordinator, to ensure compliance with OCC standards, aligned messaging, and appropriate review and clearance processes.
•    All communication materials will follow FAO clearance processes and comply with FAO standards, including:
FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31: https://www.fao.org/strategic-framework/en
FAO social media policy and guidelines: https://www.fao.org/2/socialmedia
Social Media Branding Guidelines: https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cb5044en
FAOSTYLE(https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cb8081en
FAO terminology http://www.fao.org/faoterm
FAO Names Of Countries https://www.fao.org/nocs/en
Story guidelines, Story template, UN map standards, FAO logo policy and related branding guidelines (available to staff).
•    Further guidance regarding FAO communications, policies and procedures can be found through the FAO intranet, OCC section.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements  

•    Advanced university degree in forestry, Natural Resource Management, Environmental Science or a closely related field.
•    Minimum 10 years of relevant work experience in a related field in Nepal specifically
•    Working knowledge of Nepali and English
•    National of Nepal

FAO Core Competencies

•    Results Focus
•    Teamwork
•    Communication
•    Building Effective Relationships
•    Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

•    Working knowledge and experience on river-system, and risk assessment and management planning in Chure region.
•    Working knowledge and experience on climate resilience, climate-related extreme events, and disaster risk reduction and management in Nepal.
•    Ability to work with multidisciplinary teams in a multicultural environment
•    Proven track record of advising and collaborating with government institutions, other stakeholders and CBOs

Selection Criteria 

•    Extent of relevant technical experience in the areas related.
•    Ability to manage and work with a multidisciplinary and multicultural team.
•    Proven experience in the areas mentioned above.
•    Strong work ethic, well-organized, result-focused, good team player and dynamic personality.
•    Previous experience of working with UN agencies is an asset.
•    Proven writing and reporting skills.
•    Ability to operate under pressure and good interpersonal skills.
•    Proven track record of leading and facilitating related trainings and collaborating with government institutions and CBOs.
•    Strong inter-personal skills to work with a diverse and large stakeholders and excellent oral communication skills.
•    Knowledge of Computer skills in MS office package (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION