The objective of the consultancy is to support UNEP in implementing the recommendations stemming from the Independent Review of UNEP's Contributions to Poverty Reduction to strengthening the integration of the social and economic pillars of sustainable development into the work of UNEP in supporting the implementation of the environmental pillar with a particular focus on the 2030 Agenda principle of Leaving No One Behind (LNOB).
In this consultancy, poverty is to be approached from a multi-dimensional perspective. This will include incorporating a people-oriented, social, and economic development approach into relevant strategic documents and project design and implementation. The objective of the consultancy is to ensure the broader UN system integrates environmental outcomes into their programming based on the strong interdependence between people and healthy ecosystems.
The Technical Guidance Specialist will work on environmental mainstreaming/integration of UNEP’s work into the work of the UN development system. The consultant will be engaged to provide the results mentioned below. In addition, the Head of SPU will be supported by an internal Technical Reference Group consisting of poverty-environment and policy-programme in-house experts in divisions and regional offices (including PPD and offices hosting the Poverty-Environment Action (PEA) team, the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) or other offices working on LNOB issues).
Result 1: Recommendations of concrete ways to integrate poverty reduction and related social and economic development issues in the theory of change and safeguard risk mitigation of 3 Programmes of impact (one Programme under each of the thematic subprogrammes of climate action, nature action and chemicals and pollution action) to deliver the three strategic objectives of the MTS.
Result 2: Four UNEP projects are reviewed, and advice provided on designing a project (With emphasis on TOC, results frameworks, and related operations strategies) with a human rights and multi-dimensional poverty-reduction based approach.
Result 3: Guidelines for the United Nations Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG) to integrate environment, natural resources, and climate change (ENR/CC) related aspects into their initiatives to support the UN Country Teams (UNCTs), for example, in the LNOB tool: "Operationalizing Leaving No One Behind Good Practice Note for UNCTs".
To deliver the expected results, the Consultant will work closely with UNEP divisions, regional offices, and partners throughout the assignment. SPU will facilitate the contacts, provide institutional knowledge as required, and ensure the Consultant has all the relevant documents/bibliography needed to conduct the assignment. The consultancy will be based primarily on an extensive documentary review of primary and secondary sources from UNEP and partners, complemented by in-depth interviews with key resource teams/persons.
All above results should be accompanied by an Executive Summary and a short slide deck for UNEP to take forward.
Home Based
7 Months
Based on the recommendations and suggested actions from the Sida Poverty Review on UNEP's Contributions to Poverty Reduction conducted by the UNEP Evaluation Office in 2021, the Consultant will undertake the following tasks and responsibilities in close collaboration and consultation with the Policy and Programme Division team and other UNEP divisions and offices. Furthermore, as the assignment should help to realize the aspirations of Sida and other UNEP donors for unleashing the developmental potentials of UNEP, the Consultant should closely collaborate with donor representatives and UNSDG during the work.
1) Review the strategy, theory of change, outcome, and outputs of three Programmes (one Programme under each of the thematic subprogrammes of climate action, nature action and chemicals and pollution action. and recommend concrete ways of integrating poverty reduction and related social and economic development issues in the theory of change, safeguard risk mitigation and project documents of the three Programmes. (Programmes are the means to apply UNEP’s delivery model programmatic approach to deliver the three strategic objectives of the MTS and were established to provide the focus, coordination, and thematic integration required to deliver the MTS and PoW.)
2) Working closely with the UNEP Safeguards team, review and provide advice to four new project proposals and advise the volunteering project teams (e.g., from a GEF project, an Adaptation Fund/GCF project, and a normative or science-policy project) in charge of them on how these teams could design their projects with a people-oriented approach and incorporate poverty-reduction issues. Based on the review, the Consultant will develop a guidance document, or a practice note for the teams and UNEP project teams, in general, to follow by outlining how project analysis, theory of change (including its connection to the PoW TOCs), and causal pathways may best reflect the social development and poverty issues. The output of this task will be used in preparing broader guidelines to be used as UNEP as a whole – e.g., through a revised UNEP Programme Manual. In addition, the four projects would serve as best practice examples to be shared widely within UNEP. As a model, the practice note and examples would be a benchmark for the Project Review Committee (PRC) 's review of project documents on poverty reduction and social development criteria.
3) Develop guidelines for the UNSDG to integrate ENR/CC-related aspects into their initiatives to support the UNCTs, for example in the LNOB tool: "Operationalizing Leaving No One Behind Good Practice Note for UN Country Teams" for UNRCs and UNCTs to strengthen the inclusion of ENR sustainability and CC resilience in their projects and programmes. For this task to be feasible, the Policy and Programme Division will consult with the UNSDG/ Development Coordination Office, to ensure their full support to the Consultant’s assignment and joint oversight of this specific task. The Consultant will work in collaboration with relevant teams in regional offices and consider UN-system wide initiative such as the “UN Strategy for sustainability management in the United Nations system, 2020-2030 Phase II: Towards leadership in environmental and social sustainability” endorsed by the Chief Executive Board.
The Consultant will report to the Head of the Strategic Planning Unit, Policy and Programme Division.
An advanced degree in social, economic, and environmental science is required.
Minimum 15 years of proven professional experience in economics and poverty, programme / project planning, development, coordination, implementation, and evaluation.
Proven technical experience in the fields of poverty assessment and reduction, inequality, social, economic, and environmental pillars of sustainable development, and policy analysis or related fields is required.
Experience on the integration/mainstreaming of environment into the social and economic pillars of sustainable development and liaison with multiple UN and donor agencies.
Technical experience with management of poverty assessment and reduction, inequality-related projects.
Proven and extensive experience in supporting the implementation of sustainable development, using socio-economic development metrics and analytical tools; providing expert advice, carrying out policy analysis, and preparing research papers on the environment and socio-economic development nexus.
Previous experience working in strategic planning, environmental policies and management, evaluation, and experience in rapidly assessing information and developing recommendations is desirable.
Knowledge of UN programme planning and of UNEP institutional mandates, policies, guidelines is an asset.
Experience within the UN system is desirable.
English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this position fluency in oral and written English is required.
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.