Terms of Reference (ToR) for
“Environmental and Social Safeguard Expert”
Fixed-Term Consultant
PROJECT:
Improving Climate Resilience of Vulnerable Communities and Ecosystems in the Gandaki River Basin, Nepal (P02849)
BACKGROUND:
Building adaptive capacity is a high priority for Nepal, given its vulnerability to climate change. Nepal ranks fourth globally in climate change vulnerability, with the Gandaki River Basin (GRB) amongst the region’s most vulnerable to its impacts. The GRB occupies about 21% of Nepal’s land area and is one of the largest river basins in Nepal. Climate change, however, is impacting the GRB through drought, late monsoon rains, flash floods, and landslides. These impacts are exacerbating existing issues like poverty and are affecting vulnerable communities and their capacity to adapt to climate change. Thus, this ‘Improving climate resilience of vulnerable communities and ecosystems in the Gandaki River Basin, Nepal’ or ‘Gandaki Basin Climate Resilient Project (GBCRP)’ in-short will focus on enhancing climate resilience of vulnerable communities and ecosystems in the GRB.
The project is designed with three components i) Community Resilience ii) Ecosystem Resilience and iii) Climate Governance. Each of the project components has an outcome which will contributed to by two to three project outputs.
The Project aims to reach at least 198,000 households directly and 250,000 households indirectly through project intervention which is 16.88% of the total population in the area. Upon completion of the project, the Gandaki River Basin will be used as a model to showcase how climate-resilient development in large river basins can occur throughout Nepal.
IUCN, as the Accredited Entity, is the implementing entity of the project. The Department of Forests and Soil Conservation (DoFSC) under the Ministry of Forests and Environment, Government of Nepal, and the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) are the executing entities of the project. IUCN Nepal country office is the TA provider for the project. The total budget of the project is USD 32.7 million, including grant from Green Climate Fund (GCF) of 27.4 million and the co-financing amount of USD 5.3 million from the executing entities. The Project Management Unit (PMU) is housed at the DoFSC and the Project Execution Support Unit (PESU) is housed in IUCN to support the PMU for the execution of project activities.
The Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) provides a systematic procedure to check project for potential adverse environmental and social impacts. The GBCRP project has completed the screening procedures of the ESMS and has been classified as moderate risk project (category B). The full ESMS Screening Report including the discussion on potential environmental and social risks has been developed. Similarly, the Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) has been developed which describes the process how sub-projects will be screened on environmental and social risks and how adherence to the ESMS Standards is ensured by avoiding or minimizing risks.
In order to ensure that the project fully comply with the ESMS Standards and potential risks have been mitigated in the proper way, IUCN Nepal will be recruiting Environmental and Social Safeguard (ESS) Expert to be housed at PESU. The ESS expert will work in close consultation with the PMU, Project Team Leader and other technical experts (including Gender) of the GBCRP project.
ASSIGNMENT AND OBJECTIVES:
Under the overall guidance and supervision of the National Project Director/Manager and IUCN Project/Program Coordinator, the ESS expert will lead the process for ensuring the compliance of the ESMS Standards for the project in supervision of PMU, as well as coordinate the implementation of activities as per ESMF with DoFSC, IUCN, NTNC and Field Execution Offices. The ESS expert will also closely work with IUCN Regional ESMS Focal Point.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CONSULTANT:
This consultant will be responsible to carry out the following tasks:
- Under the direct supervision of the PMU and IUCN Programme Coordinator/PTL, lead the process for ensuring the compliance of the ESMS Standards for the project;
- Provide ESMS Training for all PMU members, FEO and other project staffs, local consultant(s) and other relevant stakeholders;
- Conduct Rapid social analysis in each intervention site;
- Ensure the Stakeholder Engagement process through out the project cycle;
- Establish and maintain project-level Grievance Mechanism;
- Complete ESMS Questionnaire as per the changing context of the sub-projects;
- Develop detailed TOR and lead the process to hire service providers for impact assessments as per need;
- Support to form multi-sectoral/thematic task teams for consultations at different levels for effective execution of the activities;
- Conduct consultation with indigenous groups (including FPIC, where required as per ESMS Screening) and other potentially affected community groups;
- ESIA/SIA or targeted assessment of environmental or social aspects and development of safeguard tools;
- Development of ESMP together with relevant project stakeholders and ensure its implementation;
- Development of Emergency Response Plan for each sub-project;
- Provide necessary support to IUCN Regional ESMS Focal Point for ESMS clearance of sub-projects and appraisal of ESIA and ESMP report;
- Provide necessary support to IUCN Regional ESMS Focal Point for annual supervision of implementation ESMP and Stakeholder Engagement;
- Prepare and submit periodical and annual reports on ESS performance;
- Participate in different consultation and capacity building activities and if necessary facilitate and lead the process;
- Regular coordination with DoFSC, IUCN, NTNC and field execution Offices for activities implementation;
- Undertake any other task assigned by NPD/DDG or PMU or IUCN Programme Coordinator/PTL.
Duty Station: KATHMANDU – Project Execution Support Unit, IUCN Nepal
Travel Requirement: Frequent Visit (as required) to NTNC Office along with travels to project offices, districts & sites. Travelling Costs will be as per the Travel Policy of IUCN and will be reimbursed by IUCN.
Travel and other insurance coverages will be borne by IUCN Nepal directly.
Period of Involvement: Six (6) months, subject to renew based on performances and availability of the Funds
Requirements
- Master’s degree in Social Work, Sociology, Anthropology, Social Science, Environment Science, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Management or other related discipline with at least 5 years of work experience in safeguard related work/project in the forestry, climate change nature-based solutions, watershed management etc sectors;
- Proven experience in implementing environmental safeguards policies/ standards and working with field-based conservation and development initiatives, diverse community groups;
- Good knowledge in safeguards, social policies, IP related issues, gender and social inclusion, livelihood, conservation policies and current development issues in Nepal;
- Ability to build capacity and train various stakeholders on ESMS;
- Familiarization with the ESMF document, its requirement and implementation process;
- Knowledge of specific gender issues in natural resource management sector and sensitivity to local culture and traditions in Nepal and ability to work well with Government officials and community personnel;
- Experiences on developing detailed technical specification, technical standard guidelines including bid documents for ESMP activities;
- Skilled in preparing reports, stakeholder consultation, and familiar with the data analysis tools and software;
- Knowledge on Gandaki River Basin districts and sites;
- Proficient in using computers and software applications such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook and other applications;
- Good coordination and communication skills with stakeholders and proficiency in both spoken and written English.
Application Deadline
Applicants are requested to send the application form in Annex I, detailed CV with Cover Letter at info-np@iucn.org mentioning “Environment and Social Safeguard Expert” by 01 August 2023.
