REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI)

GOVERNMENT OF SIERRA LEONE

MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE 

55 Wilkinson Road, Freetown

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI)

CONSULTANCY SERVICES FOR GENDER AND SAFEGUARD (NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL) FOR THE UNDP/GEF FUNDED PROJECT “SUSTAINABLE AND INTEGRATED LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT OF THE WESTERN AREA PENINSULA PROJECT”

Procurement Number: MOECC/UNDP-GEF/WAPP/RFP/2025/02

Job Title: LOT 1: Gender and Safeguards Consultant – National – for UNDP/GEF funded Project

                  LOT 2: Gender and Safeguards Consultant– International – for UNDP/GEF funded Project

Reports to: Project Manager

Application Start Date: 14^th May, 2025

Application Deadline: 12^th June, 2025

Type of Contract: LOT 1: Individual National Consultancy Contract

LOT 2: Individual International Consultancy Contract

Duty Station: Freetown with field visits to project locations

Language required: English

Contract Duration: The expected level of involvement will be up to 2 months spread over one year with possibility of extension

Terms of Reference

1. BACKGROUND

The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MoECC) received funding through UNDP to implement a 6-years GEF funded “Sustainable and Integrated Landscape Management of the Western Area Peninsula Project”. Located in the extreme west of Sierra Leone, the Western Area Peninsula (WAP) multiple-use landscape (69,820 ha) is dominated by moist closed forest occupying a narrow chain of hills (highest point 900m) surrounded by a thin coastal strip that lines the peninsula to the north, west and south. Forming part of the Upper Guinean Forests of West Africa Biodiversity Hotspot, the landscape includes two Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs). The first is the Western Area Peninsula Forest National Park (WAPNP). The rest of the area is occupied by mangrove forest which is largely located at the northeast of the peninsula but also in isolated patches along the western coastal stretch of about 200km, the Banana Islands, and Bureh Town forests of the peninsula. The mangroves at the northeast of the peninsula are part of the Sierra Leone River Estuary (SLRE), which is an internationally recognized KBA and Ramsar site. The WAPNP hosts 80-90% of Sierra Leone’s terrestrial biodiversity, and the forested surface of the WAP acts as the main water tower for the country’s capital Freetown. The SLRE is the site of the world’s third largest natural harbor, and its wetlands comprise 19% of the country’s mangrove forests.

The ecosystem services offered by the landscape and its biodiversity are increasingly threatened by unplanned and environmentally unsustainable land-use practices, manifested by encroachment into forests by agriculture, increased unplanned urban expansion, industrial and artisanal mining (mainly stone quarrying and sand extraction), as well as overexploitation of natural resources (especially forest products). Effective adoption of an integrated management approach for the WAP is hindered by insufficient systemic and institutional capacity for participatory management of the multiple-use landscape, lack of adequate information and coordination mechanisms, and insufficient financing to support biodiversity conservation and environmentally sustainable land management over the longer.

The project will address these barriers by means of four interrelated impact pathways: 1. Enhancement of systemic and institutional capacity for integrated landscape management; 2. Demonstration of sustainable land management interventions; 3. Facilitation of increased financial flows to support integrated land management and protected area management; 4. Mainstreaming of monitoring and evaluation, knowledge management and gender issues to support lessons learning, sustainability and upscaling processes.

The International and national Gender and Safeguard Consultants will have experience in gender mainstreaming strategies and in monitoring environmental and social safeguards. He/She will work in close coordination with the Project Manager (PM) and with technical guidance from the Technical Advisor (TA). The consultants will undertake the following:

Objective 

The overall objective of this assignment is to provide technical support in gender mainstreaming strategies and in monitoring environmental and social safeguards.

Duties and Responsibilities.

• Refine the gender strategy, building on the draft gender plan developed during project preparation
• Train stakeholders on gender issues and mainstreaming.
• Facilitate mainstreaming of gender considerations in all aspects of project implementation, monitoring and reporting.
• Undertake an ESIA
• Use the findings to refine the draft ESMF and SESP, develop a costed Environmental and Social Impact Management Plan (ESMP), including an Indigenous People Plan and a Resettlement Plan, following the FPIC principles fully, and if deemed necessary
• Design and establish a project-level Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) with full details of the GRM being agreed upon with partners and stakeholders, and train partners and stakeholders in similar activities
• Develop the Action Plan and Monitoring Plan for the ESMP
• Train project staff and stakeholders in the implementation of the ESMP
• Document the process and produce a technical report, including a section on gender mainstreaming and safeguards
• Develop and submit detailed report of the assignment

Qualifications required:

The Gender and Safeguards consultant should have at least the following qualifications and expertise:

• Advanced University Degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Gender and Environmental Studies specifically social safeguards or relevant discipline as required.
• The candidate shall have at least 5 years and above of relevant experience in the field of
• Gender Mainstreaming and consideration
• Gender Equality, Equity and gender responsiveness.
• Environmental Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and Risk Management
• Environmental studies and Project management
• Environmental and social management and planning

Skills & Competencies

• Ability to tactfully negotiate, lead, manage and motivate diverse groups of project partners, stakeholders and beneficiaries to achieve results.
• Demonstrable strong analytical skills. ability to quickly familiarize with complex issues. ability to transform data into information for targeted audiences.
• Excellent communication skills; ability to produce convincing, logical and concise written outputs; strong presentation skills. NB: evidence of writing skills will be required during the application and selection process.
• IT literate; including standard office software as well as use of social media.

• Language: Fluency in both written and spoken English

Apply: The application should contain:

• Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position.
• An indication of your availability, i.e. are there periods that you already know of when you would be unavailable to work.
• Updated CV to include qualifications/competencies and relevant experience in similar projects and name/contact details of 2 professional referees who can validate and recommend your professionalism, competencies and suitability to undertake this assignment.
• Samples of related work (email link or electronic copy)

WOMEN ARE STRONGLY

Apply to:

Procurement Specialist,

Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change,

55 Wilkinson Road, Freetown

Email: [email protected] and copy [email protected] ; [email protected] [email protected]