IMPORTANT: Under the JPO programme framework, the following position is open only to Danish nationals. The applicant must be fluent in both Danish and English. For the full requirements and information about the JPO Programme, please visit: https://www.undp.org/jposc

UNCDF’s financing models work through three channels: inclusive digital economies, connecting individuals, households, and small businesses with financial eco-systems that catalyze participation in the local economy, and provide tools to climb out of poverty and manage financial lives; local development finance, that capacitates localities through fiscal decentralization, innovative municipal finance, and structured project finance to drive local economic expansion and sustainable development; and investment finance, that provides catalytic financial structuring, de-risking, and capital deployment to drive SDG impact and domestic resource mobilization. By strengthening how finance works for poor people at the household, small enterprise, and local infrastructure levels, UNCDF contributes to Sustainable Development Goal-SDG 1 on eradicating poverty and SDG 17 on the means of implementation. By identifying those market segments where innovative financing models can have transformational impact in helping to reach the last mile and address exclusion and inequalities of access, UNCDF contributes to a broad diversity of SDGs.

The Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) is a mechanism to integrate climate change into local authorities’ planning and budgeting through the regular intergovernmental fiscal transfer system using performance-based grants in a participatory and gender sensitive manner, increase awareness and capacities to respond to climate change at the local level including through ecosystem-based solutions, and increase the quality and number of local investments that address climate change. LoCAL combines performance-based climate resilience grants (PBCRGs), which ensure programming and verification of change expenditures at the local level, with technical and capacity-building support. It uses the grants and demonstration effect to trigger further flows for local climate action including global climate finance and national fiscal transfers. LoCAL also aims to support private finance for small and medium businesses and municipal finance and public-private partnerships. LoCAL is currently active in 17 countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, with another 17 countries preparing to join (at the design stage).

The UNCDF’s programmatic portfolio in Eastern and Southern Africa is expanding through LoCAL, in particular in Uganda (phase 1), Tanzania (phase 1) and Mozambique (phase 2) ). Other countries in the region include Lesotho and Malawi (phase 1) and Sudan, south Sudan, Somalia and Zambia (scoping/design).

LoCAL combines performance-based climate resilience grants (PBCRGs) with technical and capacity-building support. PBCRGs ensure programming and verification of climate change expenditures at the local level and offer strong incentives for general performance improvements targeting areas of importance for enhanced resilience. The PBCRG can be seen as an earmarked cross-sectoral grant with conditions attached to the use of its funding for climate change adaptation beyond business as usual. Combined with regular grant allocations, PBCRGs enable 100 per-cent of the investments in climate-sensitive sectors to become climate resilient over time. They include a set of minimum conditions, performance measures and a menu of eligible investments. LoCAL focuses on the delivery of four outputs that will directly contribute to increasing local governments’ access to climate finance and building resilience to climate change:

Output 1 – Awareness and capacities to respond to climate change adaptation at the local level are increased;

Output 2 – CCA is mainstreamed into government’s planning and budgeting systems and investments are implemented in line with the PBCRG mechanism;

Output 3 – The PBCRG system is effectively and sustainably established in participating countries and leads to an increased amount of CCA finance available to local government and local economy;

Output 4 – The role of local authorities and of the PBCRGS in addressing climate change are increasingly recognized at international level, through outreach, learning and quality assurance.

The initiative operates in three distinct phases:

• Phase I: Piloting, consists of an initial scoping analysis, followed by testing in two to four local governments. As of 2022, Burkina Faso, Malawi, Uganda, Lesotho, Tanzania and Tuvalu are in Phase I; Lao PDR, Mali, and Nepal are preparing to enter Phase II.
• Phase II: Consolidating, takes place in 5–10 local governments in a country. It involves collecting lessons and demonstrating the mechanism’s effectiveness at a larger scale. As of 2022, Bangladesh, Benin, Ghana, The Gambia, Mozambique and Niger are in Phase II.
• Phase III: Scaling-up, is full national roll-out of LoCAL based on the results of the previous phases and lessons learned. LoCAL is gradually extended to all local governments, with domestic or international climate finance, and becomes the national system for channeling adaptation finance to the local level. Bhutan is in Phase III, with budget support from the European Union; Cambodia has also entered Phase III.

Since its global scale up in 2014, LoCAL has engaged 328 local governments in 17 countries representing over 15 million people. Between 2014 and 2022, it has mobilized more than USD 130 million, including grants and technical assistance to countries. During the same period, 2,000+ climate change adaptation interventions were finalized across  countries using grants or being planned in the next phase of LoCAL.

The Facility is overseen by the LoCAL Board, which comprises of representatives from participating governments, and is co-chaired by the Chairs of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group to the United Nations and to the UNFCCC. Through its decisions, the LoCAL Board reaffirmed its commitment to a strong and continued LoCAL engagement with UNFCCC, COPs and with the LDC group in the UNFCCC processes to consolidate and deepen the progress towards LoCAL’s objectives, and to explore options to institutionalize LoCAL as a global mechanism. In addition, the Board established a group of LoCAL Ambassadors, comprised of Ministers of Environment from LoCAL member countries (currently from Burkina Faso, Mali, Malawi, Mozambique, The Gambia, Niger, Benin and Cambodia), who commit to take a lead role in supporting the implementation of the Board Decision and advocating for the LoCAL mechanism, with support from the LoCAL Facility Secretariat. As of today, 34 countries are represented at the LoCAL Board, of whom 27 are LDCs, 7 are SIDS and 24 from Africa.

High-Level representatives and ministers from countries deploying the LoCAL mechanism have launched, in the margins of the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 76), as part of the New York Climate Week, a Ministerial Declaration aimed to provide political guidance and high-level leadership for the efforts on locally led adaptation action in vulnerable countries particularly, Least Developed Countries, Small Island Developing States and African countries, which resulted in a strong political engagement at COP26 and COP27 for increased climate finance for NDC and NAP-aligned locally led action.

Content and methodology of supervision:
As part of the UNDP JPO programme overall framework, the JPO will benefit from the following supervision modalities:

• Structured guidance provided by the supervisor, especially in the beginning of the assignment, with the purpose of gradually increasing the responsibilities of the JPO
• Establishment of a work plan, with clear key results
• Effective supervision through knowledge sharing and performance/development feedback throughout the assignment
• Easy access to the supervisor
• Participation in Unit/Team/Office meetings to ensure integration and operational effectiveness
• Guidance and advice in relation to learning and training opportunities within the field of expertise
  Completion of the yearly UNDP Performance Management Document (PMD)
• If more than one supervisor; clear agreement of the roles and responsibilities between the relevant parties

Learning and Training: 
As part of the UNDP JPO programme overall framework, the JPO will benefit from the followingtraining and learning opportunities:

• Participation in a Programme Policy and Operations Induction Course within the first 3 to 6months of assignment
• Use of yearly JPO duty-related travel and training allocation (DTTA), as per the online DTTAguide
  Other training and learning opportunities, as presented in the UNDP JPO Orientation Programme.

Key Duties and Accountabilities

The Programme Analyst’s (JPO) key focus areas will be:

1. Programme implementation support (40%)
2. Policy, regulatory and technical support to government counterparts and key stakeholders (30%)
3. Knowledge management and communication (10%)
4. Networking and partnership building (20%)

1. Programme implementation support (40%)

• Contribute to and provide effective support for programme implementation, monitoring and evaluation, reporting and completion activities, in close collaboration with the LoCAL Global Manager and the LoCAL Facility (global) and UNCDF;
• Contribute to the provision of technical assistance for LoCAL in the region (e.g. writing terms of reference, recruitment and management of national consultants);
• Support establishment of effective and efficient partnerships at the programmatic and operational levels with national counterparts and development partners to coordinate and ensure successful implementation of in-country activities;
• Contribute to strengthen the quality of the monitoring and evaluation and reporting of LoCAL in the region (e.g. preparation and monitoring of the annual work plan, participation to field missions contribution to the preparation of the annual report);
• Contribute to preparation and timely submission of comprehensive technical and financial reports in line with contractual agreements and provide inputs for semi-annual reporting.

2. Policy, regulatory and technical support to government counterparts and key stakeholders (30%)

• Contribute analysis and input to provision of policy, regulatory and technical advice to government counterparts at central and local levels (e.g. related to NDC, NAP, LTS);
• Contribute to the technical dialogue and support provision of policy and technical advisory services to national and local government counterparts in relation to decentralization and climate change, climate finance and (direct) access to international climate finance and (e.g. through accreditation to the Green Climate Fund and Adaptation Fund and subsequent direct access);
• Support the process of preparation, design, submission and approval of programme/project concepts and full-fledged proposals for financing

3. Knowledge management and communication (10%)

• Contribute to the knowledge and communication efforts of LoCAL in the region based on lessons learned and results achieved (e.g. stories from the field, photos/videos, webpage and social media presence, as appropriate);
• Support the preparation of various written outputs and knowledge products, e.g. draft background papers, analyses, sections of reports and studies, inputs to publications, etc;
• Support organisation of events, meetings, conferences, etc., including proposing agenda topics, identifying participants, preparation of documents and presentations, etc;
• Contribute to the implementation of the Communication and Visibility Plan of the programme, in collaboration with project team, partners and technical consultants;
• Support the process of convening national and regional stakeholders to share lessons learned.

4. Networking and partnership building (20%)

• Collect intelligence on technical and financial partners, identify opportunities for collaboration with key actors and support the development of partnerships for LoCAL in the region.
• Contribute to collaborative working relationships with other local stakeholders such as CSOs at the local level by building linkages and networks to enhance climate resilience
• Contribute to efforts to ensure close collaboration with UN system, as well as identify opportunities for collaboration and joint programming with other UN agencies and partners to maintain and/or strengthen UNCDF/LoCAL strategic positioning and presence in selected countries;
• Contribute to UNCDF/LoCAL and government resource mobilization efforts and support partnership building efforts for effective UNCDF/LoCAL positioning in the UN System and with development partners networks.

• Achieve Results: LEVEL 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline
• Think Innovatively: LEVEL 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements
• Learn Continuously: LEVEL 2: Go outside comfort zone, learn from others and support their learning
• Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible
• Act with Determination: LEVEL 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident
• Engage and Partner: LEVEL 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination

1.   Business Direction & Strategy   Business Acumen   Ability to understand and deal with a business situation in a manner that is likely to lead to a good outcome: Knowledge and understanding of the operational frameworks in the organization and ability to make good judgments and quick decisions within such frameworks
2.   Business Management   Project management   Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals
3.   Business Management   Monitoring   Ability to provide managers and key stakeholders with regular feedback on the consistency or discrepancy between planned and actual activities and programme performance and results

Technical Competencies:

1. 2030 Agenda: Planet   Nature, Climate and Energy   Climate Change Adaptation: Public and private finance for adaptation solutions
2. 2030 Agenda: Planet   Nature, Climate and Energy   Climate Change Policies: Climate Finance
3. 2030 Agenda: Planet   Nature, Climate and Energy   Climate Change Adaptation: strategies (adaptation)

• Master’s Degree or equivalent Advanced Degree preferably in Environmental Science or Management, Climate Change, Business Administration, International Relations, Development Studies or related field.

• A minimum of two (2) years’ paid work experience in progressively more responsible positions in project management in the environment/climate change area with result-oriented objectives, preferably in Africa.
• Demonstrated technical and intellectual skills in area of specialty (climate change adaptation and/or climate sensitive public financial management and governance, in particular at local level) is required;
• Strong awareness of key and emerging issues related to environmental sustainability and climate change and with addressing gender equality as project objective and/or cross-cutting issue in developing countries;
• Previous relevant work experience, working in Africa and/or Least Developed Countries (LDCs) is highly preferable.
• Relevant technical experience with policy and regulatory bodies and central and local governments in developing countries is desirable;
• Understanding of key concepts related to decentralization and local economic development;
• Experience with a UN organization/agency is desirable.
• Fully computer literate (office software, use of social media etc)

Language requirements

• Full fluency in written and spoken English is required.
• Full fluency knowledge of other UN languages is an asset

Nationality of the applicant

IMPORTANT: Under the UNDP JPO programme framework, the following position is open only to Danish nationals. The applicant must be fluent in both Danish and English. For the full requirements and information about the JPO Programme, please visit: https://www.undp.org/jposc

• A brief motivation letter in English that explains why you’re the ideal candidate for the position by using examples of your interests and achievements
• Copy of your passport
• Copy of your Master degree