Result of Service

The TNC will contribute to strengthening the CT-GSP support in the Central Asia and the Caucasus Network fostering and nurturing a network community of countries, enhancing peer learning, and ensuring efficient country-level engagement. Through proactive outreach, regular bilateral meetings, and maintaining up-to-date transparency data, the coordinator will enable timely and effective country support. Additionally, network engagement will facilitate experience-sharing, reducing the learning curve for countries implementing new procedures and best practices. The programme envisages Transparency Networks not only as delivery mechanisms but also as mechanisms for articulating country demand and feeding lessons from national implementation back into global programme activities. The TNC will be required to undertake international and/or national travel within the assigned region and, where necessary, outside the region for CT-GSP workshops, country missions, coordination meetings, project planning and other activities required by the programme. Travel shall be undertaken in accordance with the applicable rules and procedures of the contracting agency.

Work Location

Home-based

Expected duration

Full-time / 11 months

Duties and Responsibilities

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. UNEP-CCC is a leading international advisory institution on energy, climate, and sustainable development. Its work focuses on helping developing countries and emerging economies transition to low-carbon development pathways and supporting the integration of climate resilience into national development. UNEP-CCC is actively involved in the implementation of the UN Environment Climate Change Strategy and Energy Programme. The Climate Transparency Global Support Programme (CT-GSP)) supports developing countries in strengthening their capacities to implement the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) under the Paris Agreement. The programme builds on the experience, partnerships and transparency networks established under previous phases of the Global Support Programme. A key pillar of CT-GSP's work will be the strengthening of 10 regional and linguistic transparency networks to foster sustained capacity-building, peer-to-peer learning, knowledge sharing, identification of country needs, and targeted technical support. By connecting global transparency guidance and expertise with national implementation, these networks will facilitate the effective transfer of knowledge while providing a critical feedback loop through which country and regional experiences inform the development of global tools, knowledge products, and programme priorities. The Transparency Network Coordinators (TNCs) are an integral part of the CT-GSP Project Technical Units (PTUs). Each TNC is responsible for one of the transparency networks and serves as the principal operational focal point between the programme, national transparency focal points and practitioners, regional institutions and relevant transparency support partners. The TNC is responsible for ensuring continuous engagement with countries, facilitating peer learning and regional cooperation, coordinating capacity-building and direct country support, organizing regional activities, maintaining regional transparency information, and systematically capturing results, lessons and evidence from implementation. The objective of the assignment is to ensure the effective operation, coordination and delivery of CT-GSP activities within the respective transparency network, with particular emphasis on: 1. Maintaining continuous and substantive engagement with participating countries; 2. Identifying and monitoring country and regional transparency capacity needs; 3. Translating identified needs into regional activities and targeted country support; 4. Providing technical, needs-based support to countries in relevant ETF areas; 5. Facilitating peer-to-peer learning and South–South cooperation; 6. Coordinating regional capacity-building, technical assistance and quality reviews; 7. Strengthening coordination with regional and international transparency support providers; 8. Maintaining accurate and up-to-date regional transparency, stakeholder and support information; and 9. Systematically documenting activities, results, lessons learned and supporting evidence for project management, monitoring and GEF reporting. The TNC shall ensure that network activities are implemented in accordance with the approved CT-GSP workplan, project procedures, technical standards, monitoring framework and relevant communication and knowledge management requirements. The consultant will undertake the following activities (further details are provided under 3.2 Specific Tasks and Responsibilities) 1. Transparency Network Management and Country Engagement 2. Regional Planning and Capacity Needs Assessment 3. Capacity-Building, Regional Events and Peer Learning 4. Coordination of Direct Country Technical Support 5. Knowledge Management, Regional Data and Stakeholder Information 6. Climate Transparency Platform 7. Knowledge Products, Communications and Programme Visibility 8. Monitoring, Reporting, Documentation and Evidence Management 9. Key Management Tools Performance will be assessed not only against completion of individual activities but also against the effective management of the assigned regional portfolio. The TNC will be expected to: 1. Maintain substantive and regular engagement with countries in the network; 2. Ensure country requests receive timely acknowledgement and documented follow-up; 3. Manage and build a community of transparency stakeholders within the respective networks, creating a conducive environment for peer learning and South-South Cooperation among network countries and across networks 4. Proactively organize support activities, in close coordination with the coordination team and also in collaboration with other partner organizations and support providers 5. Foster partnerships and collaborations with other support providers and partners, with a view to creating synergies in support delivery 6. Regularly update the PTU on country support requests, network activities and other developments in meetings and via email, as applicable 7. Maintain complete and current records of all active support requests; 8. Update regional management trackers at least monthly; 9. Document missions and substantive activities within 10 working days; 10. Ensure regional activities are implemented in accordance with approved plans and project procedures; 11. Provide complete and timely information required for project and GEF reporting; 12. Maintain an organized and current regional evidence repository; 13. Identify implementation risks and delays early and escalate issues requiring management intervention; 14. Actively identify opportunities for peer learning and collaboration; and 15. Contribute regional lessons and evidence to programme-wide learning and knowledge management. 16. Follow the CT-GSP branding guidelines and related materials The consultant will undertake the following activities: 1. Maintain continuous and substantive engagement with participating countries; 2. Identify and monitor country and regional transparency capacity needs; 3. Translate identified needs into regional activities and targeted country support; 4. Provide technical, needs-based support to countries in relevant ETF areas; 5. Facilitate peer-to-peer learning and South–South cooperation; 6. Coordinate regional capacity-building, technical assistance and quality reviews; 7. Strengthen coordination with regional and international transparency support providers; 8. Maintain accurate and up-to-date regional transparency, stakeholder and support information; and 9. Systematically document activities, results, lessons learned and supporting evidence for project management, monitoring and GEF reporting. In line with the above, the consultant will provide the following deliverables: 1. Inception and Regional Portfolio Baseline (Month 1): Confirmed country focal points and stakeholder mapping; baseline of country transparency/reporting status and priority needs; review of existing country profiles on the Climate Transparency Platform; establishment/update of Country Engagement & Support Tracker; initial review of ongoing country support requests, projects and regional activities; priorities for first quarter. 2. Annual Transparency Network Capacity Needs Assessment (Beginning of each annual planning cycle): Assessment of country and network ETF capacity needs drawing on country consultations, reporting/review experience, previous support and relevant project data; identification and prioritization of themes for network capacity-building, peer learning, knowledge products and direct country support. 3. Annual Transparency Network and Country Support Workplan (Annually, following needs assessment): Consolidated and regularly updates annual plan covering regional workshops and online activities; peer-learning and knowledge-exchange activities; country engagement; countries prioritized for direct support; type and timing of assistance; knowledge-product and dissemination priorities; communication and Platform activities; coordination with partners; and expected outputs/results. 4. Monthly Transparency Network Implementation and Progress Package (Monthly): Concise progress report against annual workplan; country engagements undertaken; country needs/requests identified; direct support planned, ongoing and completed; regional/network activities; knowledge products/resources disseminated; partner coordination; results and follow-up; emerging issues/risks; priorities for following month. Accompanied by updated Country Engagement & Support Tracker and Activity & Results Tracker. 5. Climate Transparency Platform and Network Information Update (Monthly – incorporated into Deliverable 4): Review/update of country profiles and relevant country transparency information; support requests uploaded and their status updated; project information reviewed/updated; regional network page kept current; relevant knowledge products/resources shared; network forum moderated; questions answered or referred to appropriate technical experts and followed through to response; actions undertaken to support countries to maintain their own profiles and project information. 6. Activity, Mission and Country-Support Documentation (Within 10 working days of each substantive activity): Complete documentation/evidence package for regional events, country missions and substantive technical support, as applicable: activity/mission/support report; agenda; participant records; materials; outputs; evaluation/feedback; key findings; recommendations; agreed follow-up actions and other required evidence. For direct support, documentation should capture the request, actions taken and outputs delivered, as envisaged under CT-GSP. A completed activity also needs to be marked as complete in the annual workplan accordingly and the relevant trackers as applicable, e.g. in-country support tracker, as well as on the Climate Transparency Platform. 7. Half-yearly Network Progress and Results Report (Every 6 months): Consolidated quantitative and qualitative reporting covering progress against workplan; countries engaged and supported; country support requests; in-country missions; direct technical assistance; quality reviews; regional/online capacity-building; participation data; knowledge products disseminated/developed; Platform engagement; partnerships; results achieved; challenges; risks and corrective actions. 8. Annual Network Results and Lessons Learned Report (Annually): Analytical synthesis of regional results and country progress; recurring ETF capacity gaps; effectiveness and uptake of support; lessons from direct support and regional activities; good practices; peer-learning examples; knowledge-product uptake; emerging regional trends; unresolved needs; recommendations for the following year and lessons relevant to other CT-GSP networks/global activities. This supports the CT-GSP requirement to synthesize country experiences into actionable lessons. 9. Final Transparency Network Results and Handover Report (End of assignment): Consolidated results over assignment period; status of countries and outstanding support requests; key regional achievements; lessons and recommendations; status of Platform information; completed and pending actions; updated country/stakeholder/expert information; confirmation that all activity documentation and evidence has been archived; orderly handover of regional portfolio.

Qualifications/special skills

a) Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in climate change, environmental sciences, engineering, public policy, economics, statistics, international relations, development studies or another field relevant to the assignment. b) A first-level university degree combined with additional relevant professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree. a) A minimum of five years of progressively responsible professional experience in climate transparency, MRV/ETF systems, climate-change capacity-building, regional coordination, technical cooperation or a closely related field. b) Demonstrated experience working with national governments and government officials. c) Experience coordinating multi-country or regional programmes, networks or initiatives. d) Experience organizing and facilitating workshops, peer-learning activities and stakeholder consultations. e) Experience supporting climate transparency, reporting or institutional-capacity development. f) Demonstrated ability to manage multiple country engagements and workstreams simultaneously. g) Experience with project monitoring, results reporting and documentation. h) Experience preparing technical or analytical reports, knowledge products or training materials. i) Experience working with UN agencies, GEF-funded projects or international cooperation programmes is desirable. j) Qualification as certified expert reviewer as part of the UNFCCC Roster of Experts for BTR Reviews is a plus.

Languages

a) Fluency in written and spoken English is required. b) Knowledge of additional languages relevant to the Transparency Network is an asset.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.

CT-GSP Transparency Network Coordinator for the Central Asia and the Caucasus Network