Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.
As a highly vulnerable island nation, Timor-Leste qualifies for the Green Climate Fund (GCF) as well as other
climate change funds and opportunities. However, while Timor-Leste has recently received two Green Climate Fund programs, Timor-Leste has the potential to increase opportunities to identify, evaluate, and acquire funding to implement
climate change mitigation and adaptation projects given the relative climate vulnerability and prioritization by GCF of SIDS and LDCs. There is a continuing need for strengthened capacity within various government ministries and partners to assess the funding landscape,
design projects, and write strong funding proposals. Increasing opportunities will require strategic support in building the capacity of key government staff and potential implementing partners that will empower them to conduct thorough analyses of the funding landscape, project identification and proposal design, development and application processes, as well as successful
program implementation.
Purpose / Project Description:
Mercy Corps will work with the National Designated Authority (NDA) of Timor-Leste to create assessment tools to provide sufficient information for the Government of Timor-Leste (GoTL) regarding partners, capacities, and solutions around key themes identified by the government. This resulting inventory should provide the GoTL with a number of generic profiles of ‘appropriate’ climate change and
disaster risk management projects, with the tools required to identify consortiums of appropriate actors and current areas of operation. These profiles will be used by the NDA for further consultation, strategic prioritization, and to facilitate identification of potential GoTL climate change projects to develop into proposals.
The assessment results will assist Mercy Corps and the NDA to create a workplan regarding trainings and development in identified areas to assist in support for key partners including the NDA, government ministries, and local organizations. Mercy Corps will also support the NDA to ensure that key government and NGO partners can develop strong proposals as well as execute any resulting programs effectively.
Consultant Objectives:
To prepare Government Ministries as well as local and international organizations to access international climate financing (especially Green Climate Fund), Mercy Corps will assist the GoTL to conduct a
needs assessment to determine the areas preventing GoTL and key Timorese partners from developing, winning, and managing Climate Change and Disaster
Risk Management proposals.
The consultant will work with Mercy Corps and the NDA to create assessment tools based off of to include key components of Green Climate Fund partnership requirements, and will work with local staff to document the ability of local partners as well as key government ministries to apply for and implement relevant
climate change adaptation and mitigations projects.
The consultant will analyze assessment results and create appropriate workplans for training, mentoring, and skill development for the NDA, other government ministries, and INGO/NGO stakeholders.
Consultant Activities:
The Consultant will:
- Create assessment tools for NDA, Government Ministries, and relevant INGO/NGO stakeholders
- Create tools to conduct an evaluation on capacities and resources of the NDA and other government ministries (including organizational, financial, institutional, human resources, technical, and leadership capacities), with particular focus on ability to access, oversee, or implement successful Green Climate Fund programming and program components. Work with the NDA to ensure that assessment forms include desired capacities.
- Assist the NDA to conduct a mapping of key organizations (international and local NGOs) who are working on climate change related programming in Timor-Leste. Create tools to assess the current programming, footprint, and capacities of these organizations.
- Support local staff to conduct assessment and gather data
- Provide remote coaching and assistance to locally based personnel conducting capacity assessments in person.
- Work with local personnel to ensure documentation of assessment findings.
- Analyze assessment results to determine strengths, opportunities, threats, and weaknesses for stakeholders
- Summarize and interpret results by comparing existing capacities to desired capacities against existing capacities.
- Use results create targeted training plan for the National Designated Authority and other key government ministries:
- Following the capacity needs assessment to evaluate the human and technical capacities within various ministries in the Government of Timor-Leste, the consultant will prepare training plan for the government ministries in the short- to medium-term including recommendations for training and recruitment of additional short term human resources for key strategy or policy development.
- Use results to create mapping of NGO stakeholders, along with recommendations for needed stakeholder engagement and capacity building:
- Create a mapping of organizations and key local actors, with results from assessment as well as profiles regarding current programs, technical capacity, geographical areas of implementation, etc. to highlight potential opportunities or gaps in geographic coverage in vulnerable areas in key technical sectors related to the government’s climate priorities.
- Develop stakeholder engagement plan, identifying needs of local agencies, and develop a suggested workplan for recommended trainings that would provide targeted capacity building.
Consultant Deliverables:
The Consultant will deliver the following:
- Draft assessments targeting the resource, policy, technical, and human resourcing capacities and needs based on GCF (and other major climate donors) expectations and requirements. Three different assessments should be drafted to address the relevant capacities and needs of the following actors:
- National Designated Authority
- Relevant Government Ministries
- Other Development Partners (INGOs and local NGOs)
- Report with documented assessment findings with consultant analysis (based on interviews conducted locally by a nationally-based team)
- Targeted training plan and resource recommendations for all relevant stakeholders (NDA, other government ministries, local organizations)
- Stakeholder Mapping report of INGO/NGO stakeholders with information about current programs, technical capacity, areas of implementation, etc.
Timeframe / Schedule:
The consultancy will consist of 35 days over the course of 4 months:
- Three draft Assessments (for NDA, other government ministries, and development partners): approximately 6 working days
- Assessment Support: approximately 2 working days
- Assessment Analysis and report: approximately 10 working days
- Three resourcing/training plans (for NDA, other government ministries, and development partners): approximately 12 working days
- Stakeholder mapping report: 5 working days
The Consultant will report to:**
Program Manager-
Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change, Mercy Corps Timor-Leste
The Consultant will work closely with:
National Designated Authority of Timor-Leste
Climate Change Officer, Mercy Corps Timor-Leste
director" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted #007bff !important;">Country Director, Mercy Corps Timor-Leste
Other program and MERL team members as relevant
Required Experience & Skills:
- Master’s degree in climate change, natural resources management, public administration or related field with specialized knowledge on capacity and needs assessment.
- At least 7 years of work experiences on policy level work with relevant ministries, international agencies, or other development partners.
- Experience of designing and conducting capacity needs assessments as well as developing capacity building plans.
- Knowledge and experience working with major climate change donors and the Green Climate Fund.
- Good communication skills both written and oral in English.
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We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.
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Safeguarding & Ethics Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our stakeholders and to international standards guiding
international relief and development work, while actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design,
monitoring and evaluation of our field projects. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect
local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.
