SUPPORT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTEGRATED DRYLANDS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (IDDP) IN NAMIBIA

UNDP
SUPPORT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTEGRATED DRYLANDS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (IDDP) IN NAMIBIA Request for proposal

Reference: (Subject Line: Integrated Drylands Development Programme in Namibia)
Beneficiary countries or territories: Namibia
Published on: 21-Dec-2009
Deadline on: 15-Jan-2010 00:00 (GMT 0.00)

Description
Overview :

1.     Background

 The Drylands make up over 40% of the world’s productive land; about 2 billion people live in these areas and depend almost entirely upon natural resources for their livelihoods. In most Drylands, poverty is high and what’s more, the Drylands for most part are bypassed by development and attract very little investment on the assumption that these areas are non-productive thus confining their populations to poverty and marginalization. If the Drylands people are ignored, it will not be possible to attain the MDGs in many of the affected countries. The Drylands can however be productive if they are well managed and invested in. The Drylands have important assets, including resilient people who are adapted to the environmental hardships. Drylands’ people are productive, they have high cultural diversity with valuable indigenous knowledge systems on the use of various plants, trees, shrubs, systems of water harvesting, cultivation practices, climate forecasting as well as livestock management.
 
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through its Integrated Drylands Development Programme (IDDP) is assisting governments, civil society and local communities in the Drylands to build their capacity for developing and managing programmes geared towards improving their livelihoods and sustainable natural resource management. The IDDP is delivered to countries in the context of the United Nations Convection to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The programme was launched in 2002 and is currently under implementation in 19 countries in Africa, the Arab States and West Asia with the aims of reducing poverty through sustainable development of Drylands leading to reduced vulnerability, better management of natural resources and improved livelihoods.
 
2.     Scope of Work

 This consultancy focuses on assisting the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP Namibia) in the implementation of the IDDP activities in Namibia. Namibia is one of the African countries to benefit from the IDDP to support activities in the area of disaster risk management (natural or hydro meteorological disaster), in particular – capacity building to respond to drought risk in the Drylands; development of capacity building tools; and identification, documentation and dissemination of lessons learnt and success stories on drought risk management
 
3.     Specific Tasks

 The consultants will be expected to implement the following activities of the IDDP in Namibia:
  •  Carry out baselines assessment to identify existing needs and gaps in the capacity of communities to mange disaster risk (document current situation before project intervention)
  • Develop capacity building training materials and tools on disaster risk management taking into existing tools at local, national or international levels ;
  • Identify target communities for piloting capacity building materials and tools 
  • Build capacity (train) local community members in Namibia in disaster risk management;
  • Collate, synthesize, document and produce lesson learnt, best practices and success stories publication on disaster (drought) risk management and adaptation to climate change; and run one E-forum based on lesson learnt and best practices and success stories;
  • Identify community champions to lead communities in raising awareness on disaster risk management;
  • Establish links and seek collaboration with other programme in the field of climate change adaptation, disaster risk management;
  • Provide policy advice and technical backstopping for capacity building to line institutions to respond to natural disasters
  • Monitor and report on the application of capacity building tools and materials in the target communities as opposed to the baseline assessment results – throughout the implementation process.
 4. Expected Outputs and Final Deliverables:

 The key outputs from this consultancy will be:
  •  Capacity building tools developed and applied at community level. The consultant is expected to produce the tools in hard copies as well as soft copies for replication in other communities
  • Capacity built to respond to natural disaster in the Drylands. The consultant is expected to produce a report on capacity building activities undertaken, the number of people involved and how they will utilize the knowledge acquired;
  • Knowledge generated on disaster risk management and adaptation to climate change strategies disseminated to communities;
  • Communities champions identified to lead their communities in raising awareness on disaster risk management;
  • Links and collaboration sought with other programmes in the area of climate change, disaster risk management to ensure sustainability of the programme.
 5. Skills and Qualifications

 The selected consultant must demonstrate capabilities and work experience in the area of development planning and a full understanding of the social, economic and environmental aspects of sustainable development. The consultant must also have at least a University Degree in the field of natural resource management, development planning, social sciences or related disciplines. At least five years working experience in natural disaster (risk management); Experience in capacity building initiatives will be a requirement; experience with community mobilization or community development will be a requirement. Ability to carry action research will be an added advantage. The consultant must have ability to undertake work in a timely and efficient manner; and must also have strong conceptual and analytical skills and clear understanding of the mainstreaming process.
 
 6. Duration and Reporting

The services of the consultants are needed from the beginning of February 2010. It is expected that the project will be implemented over a period of three years. The consultant will work under the supervision of UNDP Namibia Country Office in liaison with UNDP-DDC. The consultant with submit progress reports to UNDP on a regular basis.
 
 7. Guidelines for Submissions

Interested consultants must obtain Request for Proposals from Registry Namibia at registry.na@undp.org (Subject Line: Integrated Drylands Development Programme in Namibia) prior to submitting their proposals. The deadline for submissions is 15 January 2010 (before 14h15). No facsimile submissions will be considered.