Senior National Consultant for Baseline Study

Result of Service

The result of this consultation is to provide the actors of the PARF 2 with a working document containing the baseline (basic) and target indicators to facilitate monitoring, evaluation, and if necessary the adjustment of the gaps.

Work Location

KINSHASA

Expected duration

4 MONTHS

Duties and Responsibilities

Organizational Background The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-Habitat, is the agency responsible for human settlements. It is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable cities, with the aim of providing adequate housing for all. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been engaged in the process of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) since 2009. In November 2012, the Government validated the National REDD+ Framework Strategy in the Council of Ministers. The Strategy promotes sustainable land management and use with a view to addressing the various drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in an integrated manner and stabilizing forest cover, while ensuring economic growth, increased incomes and improved living conditions, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable. The REDD+ Strategy, facilitated by the National REDD+ Fund (FONAREDD), is based on seven pillars: land use planning, land tenure security, sustainable agricultural and forestry exploitation, compensation for the negative effects of forestry and mining, promotion of access to sustainable energy, control of population growth and improvement of governance. It has been operationally implemented in a National REDD+ Investment Plan, which sets out the programmatic framework. This Investment Plan was validated in September 2013 and updated in 2015. It was postulated that the targets of the program at the national level are all the populations of the DRC who will benefit from the land reform. The direct beneficiaries of land tenure security operations in six territories hosting REDD+ projects are estimated at 500,000 people, 60% of whom are women, young people and people living with disabilities, the elderly, or vulnerable in local communities and among indigenous peoples. The baseline study will provide more clarity on these figures. In view of the complexity of the land issue in the DRC, the multiplicity of actors working in land governance, and the need to better monitor and inform the contribution of PARF 2 in the prevention, mediation, and management of land-related conflicts, the Programme is looking for senior consultants in evaluation or project management to conduct the baseline study. The position is located in the UN-Habitat office in Kinshasa. Under the overall supervision of the Head of Office for the Democratic Republic of the Congo based in Kinshasa, the incumbent will be responsible for the following duties and responsibilities. Duties and responsibilities Together with the UN-Habitat team and partners in the DRC, and in consultation with stakeholders under the leadership of the Ministry of Land Affairs, the consultants will conduct a baseline study to identify benchmarks and proposals for monitoring and evaluating PARF 2. This will be done to facilitate periodic reporting on progress or performance in relation to relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability, coherence and synergy, partnership, gender mainstreaming, conflict sensitivity, and prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse. He/she will be responsible for: • Organize and facilitate consultations with actors in the value chain from the promotion of good land governance from rural populations to ETD and national authorities, NGOs/CSOs and the private sector; • Conduct an in-depth contextual analysis of the frameworks (political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, ecological and legal) for intervention, criteria and conditions for success in monitoring the implementation of land reform at various spatial and institutional scales; • Identify and justify indicators and baseline data by specifying their definitions and calculation formulas for monitoring these indicators, taking into account the challenges posed by human capital within public administrations, local communities, customary authorities, and indigenous peoples; • To measure the performance and professionalism of public land administrations and customary authorities, including indigenous peoples; • Update and validate, in a participatory manner, the results framework including the baseline indicators, intermediate targets, and final targets of the program disaggregated by gender according to provinces, localities, and at the national level; • Formulate indicators to promote the digitalization of procedures and land administrations based on the analysis of the level of penetration and use of new information and communication technologies in public administrations, private companies, and populations to ensure the implementation and sustainability of the decentralized land information system; • Measure and assess (i) the mechanisms for interministerial coordination and governance of land tenure and related conflict prevention, (ii) the performance and professionalism of public administrations and customary communities, including indigenous peoples, and (iii) the levels of integration of administrative and customary systems in the procedures/mechanisms of governance and land tenure security; • Produce an atlas of base maps of intervention localities illustrating baseline and target indicators.

Qualifications/special skills

Master’s degree in (developmental) sociology, law, social sciences/geography, project management and evaluation, or any other relevant field is required. A minimum of 7 years of experience in the development of baseline studies and sector analysis of projects in conflict, post-conflict and developing countries is required. At least 5 years of experience in the implementation of a monitoring and evaluation system based on project results based on geolocation approaches is desirable. Experience working in the Democratic Republic of Congo or in an African country with security challenges will be an asset Experience in setting up a land information system to support land tenure security in rural area is desirable

Languages

Fluency in the French language, both written and oral, is required.

Additional Information

Not available.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.