International Consultant for updating the UNECA Blue Economy Valuation Toolkit, and for its domestication in Zanzibar and Ethiopia at UNECA – United Nations Economic Commission for Africa: (Deadline 8 June 2023)

Result of Service4. RESULTS OF SERVICE

1. An updated UNECA Blue Economy Valuation Toolkit with a more comprehensive set of social indicators related to the Blue Economy

2. A reviewed and validated economic, social, and ecological assessment of the Blue Economy in Zanzibar, aimed to support informed Blue Economy policy making in Zanzibar.

3. A reviewed and validated economic, social, and ecological assessment of the Blue Economy in Ethiopia, aimed to support informed policy-making, and contribute to the successful operationalization of the National Blue Economy Strategy of Ethiopia.

Work LocationHome Based with travel

Expected duration8 months

Duties and Responsibilities1. BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC 1994) which aims at combatting human interactions of destructive nature with the climate system specifically included the protection of oceanic ecosystems only in 2015 at COP21. Since, the protection and sustainable management of oceans has become an integral part of the climate change discourse. However, while the ecological perspective treats each type of water body differently (by dint of their different compositions, structures and therefore in the way that they are affected by human interaction), a developmental perspective treats water bodies under a singular umbrella as it aims mainly at identifying the value that these water bodies can generate for humans. This resulted in expanding our understanding of the concept to constructive harnessing of the potential of vast water resources for ecological, economic as well as social gains therefore adopting the encompassing terminology of “Blue Economy”. Blue economy addresses seas, rivers, lakes, wetlands, and any other water bodies. The blue economy seeks to mitigate and eventually eliminate the environmental risks and degradation that can be generated by water-based economic and social activities.

In 2015, African Union launched the Africa Integrated Maritime Strategy which focused on the potential of wealth creation and enhanced security of lives and of economies in the African Maritime Domain. Under this strategy, AU identifies several key areas of intervention, all of which require extensive public, private and civil collaboration—be it in cash or in kind. However, in order to garner a sustained collaboration of all these parties, it is essential to for the Blue Economy initiatives to be backed by reliable, valid and quantitative data which will allow all parties involve to track the value and results of their investments. To this end, in 2020, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) developed the Blue Economy Valuation Toolkit (BEVTK). The toolkit allows countries or regions to measure the economic, ecological, and social contribution that blue economy resources generate for them. Since, the toolkit has been applied to Djibouti, Seychelles, and Tanzania.

During the validation exercises with the three countries, the feedback received were regarding the need to strengthen and render the social component of the toolkit more specific to the reality of the blue economy. It was agreed that, for a comprehensive assessment of the contribution of the blue economy to the social fabric of a country, the BEVTK should be equipped with a larger number of measurable indicators, disaggregated along gender and age lines.

As the value of the toolkit in supporting blue economy policy-making and especially, in assisting with costing of national blue economy strategies, is recognized, UNECA received requests from the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar, and the Federal Government of Ethiopia to apply the UNECA BEVTK to an assessment of their respective national blue economy resources.

2. OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE OF CONSULTANCY

The objectives of this assignment are as follows:
• Improvement of the BEVTK on its social dimension with the view to improve on the quality of the BE potential assessments made with it
• Enhanced capacity of nations and regions to conduct comprehensive assessments of the contribution of BE to their economic, social, and ecological fabric
• Domestication of the UNECA BEVTK to an economic, social, and ecological valuation of the Blue Economy in Zanzibar
• Domestication of the UNECA BEVTK to an economic, social, and ecological valuation of the Blue Economy in Ethiopia

The scope of the consultancy expands over two countries: Tanzania (including Zanzibar) and Ethiopia.

Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar will act as the case study for a review of the social component of the UNECA BEVTK. The reason for selecting them is that Mainland Tanzania , along with Zanzibar, form a prototype case where all types of blue economy resources are present and therefore the impact of human interactions to each of the different resources can be captured—Zanzibar as an island state, and Mainland Tanzania as a coastal state, endowed with lakes, wetlands and rivers.

Zanzibar will additionally be subject to a domestication of the UNECA BEVTK, along with Ethiopia.

3. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

In close consultation with and under the guidance of the project manager at the Sub-Regional Office for Eastern Africa (SRO-EA), the selected consultant will have the main duty and responsibility to support the elaboration of the social component of the UNECA BEVTK, to support Zanzibar with an in-depth economic, social, and ecological assessment of the blue economy using the UNECA BEVTK, and support Ethiopia with an in-depth economic, social, and ecological assessment of the blue economy using the UNECA BEVTK

With the view to perform above duty, the consultant will carry out the following tasks and activities:

i. Elaboration of the Social Component of the UNECA Blue Economy Evaluation Toolkit
• Define the methodology towards the survey of the social dimensions relevant to the blue economy
• Supervise the work of the junior consultant on the survey of the social dimensions of the blue economy over one month
• Review of the findings with UNECA officials
• Update the user manual of the UNECA BEVTK
• Update the BEVTK matrix used to conduct the assessments

ii. Support Zanzibar with an in-depth economic, social, and ecological assessment of the Blue Economy using the UNECA Blue Economy Valuation Toolkit
• Produce an inception report, defining the methodology
• Liaise with national stakeholders, potentially interested UN Agencies and other relevant partners/institutions, and undertake initial consultations
• Complete data collection, review, and produce a draft assessment report
• Peer Review of findings with UNECA
• Facilitate a validation workshop wherein the consultant should present initial findings of the socio-economic assessment for review and feedback purpose
• Submit a revised draft socio-economic and ecological assessment report based on the above workshop’s conclusions and contributions, for a latest round of comments
• Finalize the socio-economic and ecological assessment of the Blue Economy in Zanzibar

iii. Support Ethiopia with an in-depth economic, social, and ecological assessment of the Blue Economy using the UNECA Blue Economy Valuation Toolkit
• Produce an inception report, defining the methodology
• Liaise with national stakeholders, potentially interested UN Agencies and other relevant partners/institutions, and undertake initial consultations
• Complete data collection, review, and produce a draft assessment report
• Peer Review of findings with UNECA
• Facilitate a validation workshop wherein the consultant should present initial findings of the socio-economic assessment for review and feedback purpose
• Submit a revised draft socio-economic and ecological assessment report based on the above workshop’s conclusions and contributions, for a latest round of comments
• Finalize the socio-economic and ecological assessment of the Blue Economy in Ethiopia

Qualifications/special skills

Academic qualifications: An advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in economics, sustainable development studies, accounting, statistics, or a related field (PhD preferred).
A minimum of 10 years of work experience on Blue Economy related sectors and/or policy development and/or economics, accounting, and statistical systems. This should include macroeconomic and social analyses and/or policy development.

It is mandatory for the consultant to have:
– Familiarity with the UNECA Blue Economy Valuation Toolkit
– Good understanding of the Blue Economy landscape in Africa (Eastern Africa knowledge preferred).
– Record of publications and research on sustainable development, or related areas.
– Demonstrated experience working under tight deadlines and delivering high-quality outputs.
– Strong oral and written communication skills.
– Ability to work independently, proactively and with little supervision

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this post, fluency in English is required (oral and written). Knowledge of French is an advantage.

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.

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