Consultant – Nepal Donor Landscape – Remote

Job Description

Background:
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. Now, and for the future. Mercy Corps has been operating in Nepal since 2005, implementing programs in food security, agriculture, market development, financial services, youth engagement and education, climate change adaptation, and disaster risk reduction. We take a systems-based approach in our programming, with the aim of improving the lives and potential of vulnerable individuals and communities across Nepal.

Mercy Corps Nepal is looking to understand its Climate Change Donor Landscape to help strengthen our climate-smart programming and ultimately scale the impact of our work to address the climate crisis while ensuring our support to Nepal’s climate change commitments. Ultimately this landscape will help us build from our current and historic programming while looking ahead to future challenges and opportunities within the climate change sector.

This particular consultancy is the second phase in our Climate Action planning process and is focused on conducting a Donor Landscape Map. The ideal candidate would have a familiarity with the donor landscape in Nepal and be able to build upon the work completed in our Climate Action Capacity Review so we can further define the strategic direction of various aspects of the Climate Action Plan and support Nepal’s country strategies development to increase our low carbon and disaster resilience portfolio.

Purpose / Project Description:

The consultant will produce a Climate change Donor Landscape Review, which will articulate which donors are targeting support for climate action in Nepal, the sectors and types of work they are prioritizing, and short examples of key past projects they have supported, and their future plans for funding. Additionally, the review will provide Mercy Corps Nepal with an understanding of the necessary steps it should take to proactively engage each donor and preposition itself for future opportunities.  g. This will allow the team to better position itself moving forward as we continue to strive for more climate change and low carbon development activities in Nepal, especially targeting funding and donors who can support the current priorities laid out by the Government of Nepal and other CoP26 commitments.

Consultant Activities:

• Review and be familiar with the most recent strategies of Mercy Corps Nepal’s primary donors, especially those interested in funding climate change or environmental activities.
• Have regular check-in meetings with key Mercy Corps staff to report on progress, make suggestions, ask questions and solicit support to interview key climate stakeholders in local institutions, government agencies, and donor organizations to ensure alignment with their priorities.
• Develop a clear mapping of Donor prioritization of funding for Nepal, and the thematic or sector areas they focus on around energy access and climate change at the local and regional level (including Climate Change Mitigation and Resilience, Energy Access, Natural Resource Management, Agroforestry, Climate-smart agriculture, and Ecosystems Management).
• Analyze donor funding trends in Nepal, including an annotated list of opportunities and websites for monitoring purposes.
• Develop a list of potential partners for future funding opportunities
• Include a summary PowerPoint presentation that portrays key findings.
• Work closely with the country teams to organize and conduct Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) if appropriate to further deepen an understanding of the funding and partnership opportunities.
• Provide any recommendations for follow-up and next steps, which are not covered by the scope of this consultancy but would help forward the overall objectives of Mercy Corps Nepal.
• Engage in an in-person or remote workshop (circa late April or early May 2022) to summarize and present findings and/or to assist in the development of materials to be used during this workshop.

Consultant Deliverables:

The Consultant will produce the following:

1. Plan for the research as well as a workplan/timeline outlining key phases of the work.
2. Draft outline, highlighting initial findings for the first few days to ensure consultant and MC Nepal team are satisfied with the direction of the work.
3. Overall summary, highlighting common trends on energy access and climate change resilience funding spaces and present and future donor funding opportunities (max 20 pages excluding annexes) including initial recommendations on MC Nepal Strategic positioning for value add and alignment.
4. PowerPoint summary deck ( max 5 slides)
5. Annotated list of funding opportunities and websites
6. Summarized notes from key informant interviews

Timeframe / Schedule:

Work is estimated at approximately 10-15 days LOE between late April and early May, 2022.

The Consultant will report to:

Program Manager, Disaster Risk Reduction

The Consultant will work closely with:

Country Director; Director of Programs; MC Nepal DRR and Food Security staff. MC HQ climate change team as relevant.

Required Qualification & Experience

• 5-8 years of experience in the international climate change sector, including experience working with, or collaborating with, INGOs, as well as an understanding of other key humanitarian and development actors in the climate change and energy field
• Strong understanding of global development donors and climate finance mechanisms and opportunities that are relevant to Nepal.
• 5-8 years experience working on strategy development, donor engagement or proposal development.
• At least 5 years of experience as a technical writer and researcher
• Excellent English verbal and written communication skills, and the ability to present information logically and concisely
• Ability to work under pressure and deliver quality products under tight deadlines and in sparse working environments
• Ability to work as part of diverse teams and support planning processes
• Strong organizational and presentation skills, attention to detail, and proficiency in Microsoft Office and other appropriate software
• Experience working in international development and the humanitarian sector
• Preference is given to candidates with prior experience and demonstrated understanding of development issues in Nepal
• Previous experience working on communications deliverables with the international development sector is desirable

NOTE: Note this consultancy is open to qualified personnel of any nationality.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

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.

Equal Employment Opportunity

We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

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.

How to Apply

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