Call for Expression of Interest: Climate Resilience Baseline Analysis for “Building Community Resilience via Transformative Adaptation Project”

Scope of Work

The preferred and most suitable approach, considering the scope of work, is to involve stakeholders through virtual platforms whenever possible. The baseline assessment will focus on establishing the status of any initiatives related to the project but should not require data collection like actual water quality for example.

The consultant/firm will undertake the following tasks:

Component One: Safeguarding Forest and Water Resources

• Assess current water quality initiatives along the key watersheds of the project.
• Evaluate the current understanding of climate change impacts within targeted communities.
• Identify existing riparian forest conditions.
• Document current capacity development activities related to watershed restoration and water quality management.

Component Two: Combating Wildfires

• Assess current community capacity to address wildfires within targeted communities.
• Identify existing community fire brigades and their composition.
• Evaluate the capacity of NGOs, CBOs, and regulatory agencies in wildfire management.
• Document existing communication tools and strategies related to fire management.

Component Three: Creating Opportunities to Support Alternative Livelihoods

• Assess current climate-smart food production systems.
• Document the number of individuals with alternative livelihoods and their gender distribution.
• Evaluate training programs and their effectiveness in improving food production strategies.

Component Four: Building National Capacity to Access Adaptation Finance

• Assess current technical capacity for accessing climate finance.
• Evaluate awareness levels of climate change among NGOs, CBOs, and regulatory agencies.
• Document existing capacity development sessions on climate financing.
Component Five: Community Disaster Risk Management
• Assess current community capacity to recover post-disaster.
• Evaluate existing drainage systems and their maintenance.
• Document communication tools related to community resilience against flooding.

Specifically, the approach to data collection and analysis, should undertake the following:

1. Desk Review
I. A thorough review of national policies, programs, planning instruments, institutional roles, and responsibilities related to climate change adaptation, mitigation, gender equality, Indigenous Peoples, REDD+, DRR planning, national communications, and financing modalities for climate action in key sectors, relevant to the project.

II. The desk review should assess the capacity of relevant authorities and service providers to offer gender-responsive and Indigenous People’s services, as well as the coordination between gender and Indigenous People’s entities, NGOs, and women’s groups with DRR, environmental, and meteorological agencies. This ensures strategic implementation of plans to prioritize and address the distinct needs and challenges of diverse groups, supported by stakeholder engagement insights.

III. The desk review should encompass both quantitative and qualitative data sourced from a wide array of sources, including national statistics offices, line ministry statistics units, planning divisions, and accessible administrative data. It should also incorporate relevant data from academic databases and other pertinent sources, such as census records, gender equality indices, poverty and labor force statistics, to ensure comprehensive analysis.

2 Stakeholder Engagement
I. Using recommendations from the desk review, create and implement qualitative and quantitative data collection methods and tools, along with a stakeholder engagement plan. This plan will identify stakeholders, including beneficiary groups, government entities, and private sector organizations engaged in climate change adaptation and mitigation, ensuring comprehensive data gathering and stakeholder involvement.

II. The stakeholder engagement plan will identify participants, data types, collection methods, and follow-up mechanisms to integrate their inputs into project activities. Stakeholders will encompass key government actors, civil society (particularly women’s groups and Indigenous Peoples), national women’s institutions, groups advocating for vulnerable populations (including those with disabilities and the elderly), academia, and private sector representatives involved in climate decision-making and planning. It will also involve stakeholders from finance (e.g., Ministry of Finance) and disaster risk management and climate change portfolios to ensure comprehensive integration of perspectives.

III. Use gender and Indigenous People’s sensitive methodologies for planning and conducting interviews, focus groups, and consultations to ensure inclusive engagement. These sessions should provide a safe environment for participants to express concerns and facilitate informal dialogues and information sharing, including gender, Indigenous People, and age-specific groups at grassroots levels. Considerations such as venue appropriateness, language accessibility, and socio-economic needs (e.g., childcare, wheelchair accessibility) will be integrated. Ethical guidelines for data collection involving human subjects will be strictly followed. Efforts will be made to achieve gender parity in participation where possible, recognizing structural constraints in some sectors where occupational sex segregation may limit the number of men or women involved.