Terms of Reference

Job Title: Consultancy to Develop a National Climate Change Gender Action Plan
Consultancy: Consultant
Location: Belize
Duration: 40 days over a period of 3 months
Project Reference: Enabling Gender-Responsive Disaster Recovery, Climate Change and Environmental Resilience in the Caribbean (EnGenDER) Project

A. Background
Climate change affects ecosystems and populations in different ways. The threats of global warming and climate change have been seen in sea level rise, more frequent and more severe weather events, ocean acidification, coral bleaching, coastal erosion, and changes in precipitation patterns. These threats can potentially negatively impact a country’s social, economic and ecological life particularly developing countries along coastlines.
While the impacts of climate change are universal the effects are experienced differently by various elements of our society, with the most vulnerable of our societies commonly being most impacted and disenfranchised. Cognizant of this, the Government of Belize hopes to strengthen its climate action by promoting gender equality and inclusiveness in planning.
Typically, vulnerable parties of women and men respond and react differently to disasters and recovery and are therefore, the groups with the least knowledge and capacity to take short term measures to limit the impacts from climate related disasters, causing them to be most affected. In the Caribbean, as elsewhere, there is gender-based inequality in the experience and exposure of women and girls, to adverse impacts of disaster and climate change.
A fragmented approach to social and environmental planning has resulted in limited disaster risk reduction (DDR) and climate change and environmental issues in gender equality policies. Analysis of DDR planning documents shows that Belize has a greater consideration for gender with more robust gender policies but still has no specific content or commitment to work on in a responsive way.

The EnGenDER Project seeks to integrate gender equality and human rights based on approaches into DDR, climate change (CC) adaptation and environmental management frameworks and interventions and identify and address some of the gaps to ensure equal access to DRR and climate change environment solutions for women, men, boys and girls in nine Caribbean countries. By developing a National Climate Change Gender Action Plan (NCCGAP) which identifies opportunities and recommends measures for the integration of gender issues into climate change planning processes and key sector development processes, the output will support the implementation of gender-resiliency planning inclusive of National Adaptation Plan (NAPs) and Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) that are in place to support the design, implementation and monitoring of climate change interventions.

B. Overall Purpose of the Consultancy
The overall purpose of the consultancy is to develop a National Climate Change Gender Action Plan (NCCGAP) for Belize which identifies gender specific issues in each priority sector while providing opportunities and possible measures into climate change planning processes and key sector development processes that can be used in NDC, LEDS, NAP, NAMA implementation processes.

C. Specific Objectives
The objective of this consultancy is twofold:
1. To review extent of gender consideration into climate change/DRR policy and strategy documents.
2. To develop a Gender Action Plan which facilitates implementation of activities that promote gender equality and inclusiveness in climate actions.

Scope of Work
The consultant will work in close collaboration with EnGenDER Project Manager, and other duly appointed personnel of the National Climate Change Office (NCCO). The consultant will be responsible for carrying out detailed desk review and consultations to take stock of gender related actions and developments that may be needed in the agricultural, water and coastal sectors of Belize. They will be required to create an effective national climate change gender action plan for the most vulnerable populations being affected by climate change.
The consultant will also be required to carry out stakeholder consultations (which includes interviews, meetings, focus groups, workshops) while ensuring that their comments, concerns and recommendations are taken into consideration and as well as to ensure that the stakeholders are kept informed of the NCCGAP updating process. From this, the consultant will update and prioritize mitigation and adaptation options that will direct all government and non-governmental organizations, the private sectors, civil society, and all citizens in the pursuance of gender-based awareness in climate resilience. The target groups include policy and decisionmakers of the GOB, in local government and private sector as well as civil society and other stakeholder groups and institutions.

The consultant will also be required to develop an Action Plan including budgets and timelines. The Action Plan will compose of policy focus areas identified based on current actions, plans, projects, and any other activity taking place in the country. The policy focus areas should comprise programmes which will provide actions to address the vulnerabilities and prioritized sectors identified throughout the updating process. The recommended actions given in the update should be translated into tangible programmes and projects that would benefit communities and trigger the process of factoring climate issues into Belize’s development.

The consultant will be required to meet with the EnGenDER Project Manager, and other duly appointed personnel of the National Climate Change Office, to provide an update on progress.
This should be done fortnightly (every two weeks) and the meeting should last no more than one hour unless specifically requested.

The NCCGAP should guide Belize in addressing the evolving effects of climate variability and climate change on the economic and social development of the country taking into consideration especially vulnerable areas and applying a gender sensitive perspective and consideration for vulnerable persons. A cross-sectoral approach will be needed as the following sectors are taken into consideration: Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries & Aquaculture, Coastal & Marine, Tourism, Human Health, Human Settlements, Water Resources, Transport, Energy and Waste. These are national priorities for climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. However, the consultant will be able to either add or remove sectors based on prioritization results of the stakeholder consultations.

D. Key Tasks
The consultant will carry out the following tasks:
1. Prepare a review of gender integration into Belize’s three (3) principal climate change documents: Nationally Determined contributions and associated implementation plan; National Low Emission Development Strategy; National Climate Change Policy, Strategy and Master Plan.
2. Carry out a capacity needs assessment based on the current state-of-play for gender mainstreaming in climate change related strategies, programmes and plans.
3. Facilitate a gender and climate-change seminar as a means of introducing national functionaries to the gender-climate change nexus in Belize, with the purpose of engaging prominent innovative solution finders from government ministries, private sector, CSOs in identifying programmatic solutions to gender and climate change challenges in Belize.
4. Develop a Gender Vision Policy document which states national intention to support inclusive and gender just climate change and disaster risk management planning.
5. Develop a gender responsive toolkit to support enabling activities for climate actions as are prescribed in the NDC, LEDS and NCCPSMP documents.
6. Establish guidelines for the incorporation of gender analyses in policy development processes inclusive of monitoring and evaluation activities in key climate change sectors.
7. Develop sector-specific gender and climate change action plan.
8. Mandatory Information Resources:
The specific references to have the minimum technical consistency and comparability that should be reviewed and will form the basis of the consultancy are:
- Belize’s Second and Third National Communications, Belize’s First Biennial Updater Report to the UNFCCC
- Belize Updated Nationally Determined Contributions and associated Implementation Plan
- Belize Low emissions Development Strategy
- Updated Belize Climate Change Policy Strategy and Master Plan
- Updated sectoral policies
- Vulnerability assessments conducted during the current policy period
- Mitigation Assessment and Strategy

E. Expected Outputs/Deliverables
1. Inception report including a detailed work plan and implementation schedule
2. Report on Gender Integration into principal climate change and sectoral planning documents
3. Highlight Report: Capacity needs for gender integration
4. Consolidated Report for stakeholder consultations
5. Gender Vision Policy
6. National Climate Change Gender Action Plan

F. Institutional Arrangements

The consultant will be responsible to and report to the EnGender Project Manager of the NCCO for all correspondence related to this work. The EnGenDER Project Manager at her discretion may delegate the responsibility to the Chief Climate Change Officer of the National Climate Change Office for the day to day in-country supervision and monitoring of the consultancy to ensure that the expected outputs are achieved. The consultant will produce the reports/deliverables as indicated above. The consultant will incorporate comments and inputs from stakeholders, including the Vulnerability and Adaptation Sub-Committee, who will serve as the Technical Working Group. All comments and inputs should be incorporated into the draft report within 15 days of receipt from the consultant. In the absence of comments within the set deadline, the reports are deemed to be approved as recommended by the Technical Working Group.

G. Submission and Approval of Reports
The consultant will produce the reports/deliverables as indicated above. The consultant will incorporate comments and inputs from stakeholders including the Technical and Finance Sub-Committees in the draft report within 15 days of receipt from the contractor. In the absence of comments within the set deadline, the reports are deemed to be approved as recommended by the Committee.
Fifty (50) hard copies and one (1) electronic copy of the final draft National Climate Change Gender Action Plan will be presented to the National Climate Change Office of the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management for distribution to key stakeholders and other interested parties.

The required reports and the number of copies of the reports referred to above must be submitted to the EnGenDER Project Manager within the National Climate Change Office. The reports must be written in proper English. Please note that the final report must be book bound.

H. Personnel
Education Experience and Technical Knowledge
- A Master’s degree or higher in Gender, Social Sciences or Sustainable Development, with at least five (5) years working experience.
- Proven ability to undertake gender analyses, design relevant criteria and develop gender strategies.
- Experience in conducting research and analysis, and ability to rapidly integrate information from various sources, on gender equality and at least one other related theme, including climate change mitigation and/or adaptation, NDC, environment and/or sustainable development.
- Strong understanding of the links between climate change/environment and gender issues.
- Demonstrated experience working on policy and programmatic issues with national and local governments and civil society organizations.

Competencies
- Good analytical skills with ability to come up with solutions to complex and interconnected development challenges
- Ability to think strategically, to express ideas clearly, to work independently or in teams with a strong sense of initiative, discipline and self-motivation, to demonstrate a sense of self-assuredness combined with political, cultural and gender sensitivity
- Have excellent interpersonal, communication, report writing and organizational skills
- Excellent English and grammar drafting/reporting, communication and presentation skills
- Regional and national knowledge is highly desirable
- Computer skills including a working knowledge of Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Access software.

I. Application
Interested consultant should submit by email one (1) technical and one (1) financial proposal and budget indicating their interest in and capability to implement the above work. The budget should include the rates and total cost for each budget item.
The subject of the email should read: “PROPOSAL FOR THE DEVEOPLEMENT OF BELIZE’S NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE GENDER ACTION PLAN” and should include two (2) separate attachments: (1) ONE TECHNICAL PROPOSAL and (1) ONE FINANCIAL PROPOSAL.

The above email should be submitted by 5:00 pm Belize time on August 25, 2021 to:
Lennox Gladden (PhD)
Chief Climate Change Officer
National Climate Change Office
Ministry of Fisheries, Forestry, the Environment and Sustainable Development
Old Lands Building, Market Square, Belmopan, Cayo District
Tel: 501-828-5960
E-mail for EnGenDER Project Manager: pm.engender@environment.gov.bz

Applications must state the period during which the bid will be valid. No facsimile tender documents will be considered.