Forest and Landscape Restoration Financing Specialist

Closing date: Thursday, 15 January 2015

TERMS OF REFERENCE: FOREST AND LANDSCAPE RESTORATION FINANCING SPECIALIST

Consultancy reference number: CCD/15/GM/01

Background

In September 2013, the 11th session of the Conference of Parties (COP) of the UNCCD decided to establish a liaison office of the Global Mechanism (GM) of the UNCCD in Rome '[…] recognizing the importance and need to continue with coordination and interaction with United Nations agricultural agencies and donor community' (Decision 6/COP.11). As a result, the GM Liaison Office has been established on 1 April 2014 and houses the GM Programme on Liaison - Land, Security and Resilience (LLSR) and is housed at the Headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Rome, Italy.

One of the priority areas of work of the LLSR programme is to promote investments in sustainable management of land-based systems addressing desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD). In this context, the LLSR Programme is currently collaborating with FAO's newly stablished Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR) Mechanism in the development of a working paper on sustainable financing for FLR activities.

The objective of this consultancy is to make a substantive contribution to the production of this working paper by: (i) identifying and analyzing existing funding sources and financing mechanisms for FLR; and (ii) assessing opportunities to establish and strengthen financial alliances in support of FLR activities at national, (sub)regional and global levels.

Consultant's tasks

Under the overall supervision of the LLSR Programme Coordinator, the direct supervision of the Associate Programme Officer - LLSR, and working in close cooperation with other GM and FAO colleagues, the FLR financing specialist will complete a comprehensive literature review and consultations with relevant stakeholders, and produce two sections of the above-mentioned working paper, which include the following tasks

Section 1: Funding sources and financing mechanisms for FLR

• Review relevant funding sources and financing mechanisms at national, (sub) regional and global levels that could be harnessed for FLR proposes.
• Showcase relevant case studies, including available information on the costs of FLR interventions and the funding approach used.
• Discuss non-traditional or innovative perspectives for promoting FLR investments (e.g., private sector investments, payment for ecosystem services, non-timber forest products, agroforestry).

Section 2: Financial alliances for large-scale FLR investments

• Assess opportunities to establish/strengthen financial alliances to mobilize resources for FLR and related capacity building activities at national level in collaboration with key partners (e.g. FAO, WRI, IUCN, GEF, others).
• Analyze lessons learned from current and past experiences, highlighting success stories and key obstacles hindering FLR investments.
• Provide recommendations for alliances and partnerships to be developed for the mobilization of resources for large scale FLR activities at different levels.
• Provide recommendations for the design of processes that would promote an enabling environment for FLR investments at country level.

In addition, the FLR financing specialist will:

• Make available key literature identified and reviewed to the LLSR Team;
• Provide inputs to the overall scope of the working paper; and
• Carry out other tasks as requested.

Expected outputs

• Literature reviewed and made available and first draft of the two sections of working paper completed by 15 th March 2015.
• Peer-reviews and feedback from relevant stakeholder incorporated in the two sections by May 2015.
• Final draft of the two sections of working paper completed by 30 th June 2015.
• Editorial feedback incorporated in the final version of the two sections of the working paper ready for publication by 15 th July 2015.

Desired qualifications

• University degree in Finance or Economy with postgraduate specialization in the environment sector (preferably in forests and land), in Forestry with postgraduate specialization in Finance/Economy, or in any related field.
• Strong knowledge of FLR issues and relevant intergovernmental processes.
• Solid professional experience working with relevant financing institutions/mechanisms at country level (experience in several regions is an asset).
• Professional working level in English with demonstrated writing skills. Knowledge of other UN official languages (particularly Spanish and/or French) is an asset.

Contractual Terms

This consultancy is home-based and will involve a few scheduled meetings in Bonn and/or Rome. The contract will be from 2nd February to 15 th July 2015, for a total of 70 working days (2 nd February -16 th March on a full time basis, part-time afterwards). Fees will be based on qualifications and the level of experience.

SUBMISSION OF APPLICATION

Applications should be submitted by e-mail to staffing@unccd.int together with a UN Personal History Form or CV, specifying the position: CCD/15/GM/01 - FLR Financing Specialist.

The deadline for applications is 15 th January 2015. Only applications submitted by the deadline will be considered.

No telephone calls will be returned. Please address your application as indicated above and do not address or copy your application to an individual at the Secretariat or the GM of the UNCCD.