Consultant to Building capacity for lesson-learning in GWP projects by piloting an action-learning exercise on counter-IWT initiatives

 

JOB DESCRIPTION

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

BACKGROUND

Please note that UNDP is not in the position to accept incomplete applications - please make sure that your application contains all details as specified below in this notice.   1. Background Poaching and illicit trafficking of wildlife is among the five most lucrative illegal trades globally, estimated to be worth up to US$23 billion annually. UNDP has recognized the growing problem of illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products and is responding accordingly, both in policy engagement and in UNDP-GEF programming. Financed by the GEF and USAID and implemented by UNDP between 2018 and 2024 the “Reducing Maritime Trafficking of Wildlife between Africa and Asia” project under the GEF-financed, World Bank led Global Wildlife Program (GWP) aims to curb maritime wildlife trafficking, targeting key routes and transit points between Africa and Asia. The GEF launched the Global Wildlife Program (GWP) in June 2015, bringing together funding from the GEF and a wide range of partners, including the governments of the now 32 participating countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, GEF Agencies, bilateral and multilateral donors, foundations, the private sector and civil society. Work to strengthen anti-trafficking capacity through this UNDP-GEF Maritime Trafficking project preliminarily targets the East African ports of Mombasa (Kenya), Kampala (Uganda), Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar (Tanzania). Additionally, the project works at global level to strengthen the performance of ports and the wider shipping industry in tackling wildlife trafficking in the long-term and supports knowledge exchange among GWP national projects and their stakeholders. Project activities are aligned with three main components: Component 1. Increasing awareness, incentives, and capacity for port-based law enforcement staff, port operational staff and the shipping industry, to support the achievement of best practice in combating maritime wildlife trafficking at seaports. Component 2. Bringing together different ports, countries and players to work cooperatively on combating wildlife trafficking across key illicit trade chains. Component 3. Identify, document and disseminate best practices and lessons learned on combating wildlife trafficking and ensure effective monitoring and evaluation of project results, along with coordination of monitoring and evaluation across the GWP to support a consistent approach to measuring the effectiveness of counter-wildlife trafficking efforts.   Sharing experiences and insights is an extremely valuable tool for advancing conservation, regionally and range-wide yet, paradoxically, it is widely recognized that conservation practitioners generally do not share their experiences in published form (Sunderland et al., 2009). Therefore, a huge volume of collective conservation experience is lost for future projects. Moreover, unexpected outcomes and project failures regularly occur in conservation projects given the complex socio-economic and uncertainty issues associated with species and ecosystem conservation. Yet these are very rarely reported despite their high practical value for others working in similar situations (Sunderland et al., 2009). Similarly, many projects do not regularly document lessons learned (both success and failure) or record them very briefly without sufficient details and analysis that would allow to apply the lessons in practice for other projects. Properly documented lessons learned from conservation projects in different parts of the world can have tremendous value for the rapid improvement of overall effectiveness of the entire Global Wildlife Program. Consultancy As part of Project Component 3, the UNDP-GEF-USAID Project “Reducing Maritime Trafficking of Wildlife between Africa and Asia” is seeking an International Consultant to assist GWP national projects to build capacities for effectively identifying, documenting and disseminating lessons learned. This will specifically involve an action-learning pilot training with six GWP national projects within the Sixth GEF Operational Phase (GEF6) with a strong focus on counter-IWT activities, including: (a) providing guidance and support to systematically identify, document and disseminate project lessons using a facilitative, action-learning approach; (b) supporting and guiding the 6 national project teams piloting this action-learning process to capture and document their learning related to interventions to prevent, detect and investigate/prosecute wildlife trafficking – at the national level and at the group level; (c) capturing and documenting their learning (from the action learning process) about systematically identifying, documenting and disseminating project lessons, into a publication that is easily understandable and applicable for other projects within the GWP framework and beyond. The development of summaries of lessons learned from the 6 pilot country projects as well as publications on 1) the 10 key lessons learned from counter-IWT approaches, and 2) lessons learned from this Action-learning Training Pilot will be supported by the TOR ‘International Consultant for facilitation and documentation of a study tour for GEF6 Global Wildlife Program national projects and development of lessons learned reports and publications’ Consultant.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Development, distribution and analysis of an online survey to GWP national project teams to (i) identify existing literature that documents learning about combating illegal wildlife trade; and (ii) explore what is covered in the existing literature and consider what contribution the GWP Project could / would want to make / What would be most valuable. Review relevant content in GWP national project documents focused on combatting illegal wildlife trade, including any existing ‘lessons learned’ documents and monitoring and evaluation reports, to understand the context and current practice. Design the agenda for, and running, an introductory, participatory and facilitative online webinar session (approx. 3 hours) with GWP national project team members to: (i) Build understanding about lesson learning in this context: What are the incentives / disincentives? What are the enablers / barriers? etc. (ii) Identify early ideas about learning from GWP that should be further explored; and iii) Announce the action learning process that will follow with 6 national projects - the learning from which will be shared with this group (to aid in replication of the process afterwards). Design the agenda for, and running, a participatory online workshop (3 hours each on two consecutive days) with all representatives of the 6 national projects selected for this ‘action-learning’ pilot (country project selection TBC). The workshop launches the action learning process. Outputs of these online sessions will include (a) collective agreement on the focus of the learning that the group will seek lessons around throughout the remainder of the process (key learning questions), as well as (b) the audience for the documentation and dissemination of the lessons learned, and (c) a co-designed process the group would like to use going forward to identify and document lessons learned). Guide and support the national project teams throughout the implementation of their action-learning process, which shall yield 3-page lessons learned summaries that will be compiled with assistance by the TOR ‘International Consultant for facilitation and documentation of a study tour for GEF6 Global Wildlife Program national projects and development of lessons learned reports and publications’ Consultant. This support may include: Co-designing and administering surveys to gather inputs Proposing agenda designs for project team, self-facilitated workshops to capture lessons learned Attending and supporting self-facilitated workshops (online presence) as required / agreed Reviewing outputs of workshops and providing comments Offering (online) coaching through the process as needed / requested Design the agenda for, and running, a workshop day during a 4-day in-person study tour (tentatively scheduled in Mombasa in early October 2022) for the currently 16 active GEF-6 GWP national projects to jointly review learning from across the 6 national project teams participating in this pilot ‘action-learning’ exercise and identify 10 key lessons for documentation in a concluding publication. Contribute to the design of the study tour agenda, to (a) optimize integration of learning from pilot projects; and (b) to ensure integration of reflective practice and identification of learning during the study tour. Designing the agenda for, and running, a half-day online workshop along with a survey and its analysis to identify, capture and document learning from the action learning process. Design and facilitate one virtual knowledge exchange webinar open to all GWP national projects and partners (a) sharing the outputs from the action learning process on combating illegal wildlife trade (b) including lessons learned about learning lessons -from participants in the action learning process). Estimated time to complete activities under this assignment: # Activity Days/project # of projects/trainings Total days 1 Development, distribution and analysis of an online survey to GWP national project teams     3 2 Design the agenda for and run an introductory, participatory and facilitative online webinar     1.5 3 Review relevant content in GWP national project documents     1 4 Design the agenda for, and running, a participatory online workshop with all representatives of the 6 national projects     2.5 5 Guide and support the national project teams throughout the implementation of their action-learning process. 1.5 6 9 6 Design the agenda for and run a workshop day during an in-person study tour     4 7 Contribute to the design of the study tour agenda     2 8 Designing the agenda for, and running, a half-day online workshop along with a survey and analysis     2.5 9 Design and facilitate one final virtual knowledge exchange webinar open to all GWP national projects and partners     1.5   Total # of days 27   Schedule of Payments and Expected Outputs   Deliverable/Installment Due Date 1st payment- upon completion of activities 1&2 (15% of the total amount) 30 August 2022 2nd payment- upon completion of activities 3&4 (10% of the total amount) 15 September 2022 3rd payment- upon completion of activity 6&7 (25% of the total amount) 15 October 2022 4th payment- upon completion of activities 5 (30% of the total amount) 10 November 2022 5th payment- upon completion of activities 8&9 (20% of the total amount) 17 December 2022

COMPETENCIES

Demonstrates integrity and fairness, by modeling the UN/UNDP’s values and ethical standards; Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP; Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability; Good interpersonal and networking skills; Ability to work well as part of a multi- cultural team and displays gender, religion, race, nationality, and age sensitivity and adaptability; Computer literacy (e.g., Microsoft Word) is a prerequisite; Demonstrates strong commitment and patience to deal with competing deadlines, demands, and interests.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Academic Qualifications/Education: Bachelor’s or higher degree in communication, social science, sociology, anthropology, international development, environmental or other relevant fields Experience: At least 8 years experience in organization and facilitation of lessons learning sessions, action-learning processes and/or trainings with international and national conservation or environment projects; At least 5 years previous professional experience with organizations and diverse stakeholders working in biodiversity conservation, ideally wildlife protection, in Sub-Saharan Africa and/or South East Asia; At least 5 years of hands-on experience in development of publications presenting lessons learned by projects (please attach or provide links to at least 2 samples of previous work in your application); At least 3 years experience in professional interviewing of project teams and other stakeholders; Previous professional experience with UNDP, GEF, and/or other international projects and programs; Particular experience working with organizations and stakeholders combating illegal wildlife trade is an asset.   Language skills:   Excellent writing, editing, and oral communication skills in English   5. Evaluation of Applicants   Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal. The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation. Only highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job based on the P11 desk review will be invited for an interview.   The selection of the best offer will be based on a Combined Scoring method – where the technical evaluation (desk review) will be weighted a maximum of 70% and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a maximum of 30%. The 70% rating shall be based on how well the Offer or meets the minimum qualifications/competencies described above.   The technical evaluation will be based on the following criteria with the corresponding points (out of a total 70 points):   At least 8 years experience in organization and facilitation of lessons learning sessions, action-learning processes and/or trainings with international and national conservation or environment projects (15 points); At least 5 years previous professional experience with organizations and diverse stakeholders working in biodiversity conservation, ideally wildlife protection, in Sub-Saharan Africa and/or South East Asia (15 points); At least 5 years of hands-on experience in development of publications presenting lessons learned by projects (15 points); At least 3 years experience in professional interviewing of project teams and other stakeholders (10 points); Previous professional experience with UNDP, GEF, and/or other international projects and programs (5 points); Particular experience working with organizations and stakeholders combating illegal wildlife trade (5 points); Excellent writing, editing, and oral communication skills in English (5 points).   Only applicants with a minimum of 49 points on their technical proposal will be considered for financial evaluation. The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:   p = 30 (µ/z), Where, p=points for the financial proposal being evaluated µ=price of the lowest priced proposal z = price of the proposal being evaluated   The contract will be awarded to the applicant who receives the highest combined score.   6. Application procedures   Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain: Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position and a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application. Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank form can be downloaded from http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc ); please upload the P11 instead of your CV. Financial Proposal* - specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this announcement. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (number of anticipated working days, travel, per diems and any other possible costs). Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials   *Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination, personal security needs and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services...). All envisaged travel costs will be covered separately by the project/UNDP. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel.   Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.   Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://on.undp.org/t7fJs.   Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply. Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.

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