INCLUSIVITY ADVISOR - UNITAR

 

Programme Unit: Peacekeeping Training Programme Unit, Division for Peace

Project title: Global Platform for Action for Sustainable Energy in Situations of Displacement

Title (i.e. consultant, individual contractor): Individual Contractor

Area of Specialization/Thematic Areas: Energy in Displacement Settings

Overview of the GPA (Quick description of the funded project and its context):

The Global Platform for Action for Sustainable Energy Solutions in Situations of Displacement (GPA) was established to enable increased access to sustainable energy solutions in displacement settings. Aligned with the Sustainable Development Goal 7, the GPA is guided by the vision that: “every person affected by conflict or natural disaster has access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy services by 2030.” Its mission is to equip all stakeholders with the capacity to mainstream sustainable energy solutions into programming and implementation, with the goal of delivering improved protection, dignity, and energy related social, environmental, and economic benefits to displaced people. The supporting members are facilitating a community of practice of over 300 members in five thematic working areas that address current challenges and barriers to achieving access to sustainable energy for displaced people, namely: coordination and planning, policy and advocacy, innovative financing, technical expertise and capacity building, and data. The process is guided by a steering group consisting of members from the UNITAR, UNHCR, IOM, GIZ, WFP, FAO, Chatham House, Practical Action, UNDP, the Clean Cooking Alliance, Mercy Corps, SNV, MECS, ILF and Sustainable Energy for All. The Coordination Unit of the GPA is housed at UNITAR, within the Peacekeeping Training Programme Unit (PTPU).

The GPA initiative is contributing to strengthening long-term protection of refugee, internally displaced and local host communities through increased energy efficiency and increased access to renewable energy sources. It recognises that the use of renewable energy technologies in humanitarian response settings is not so much a question of access to technology but of an integrated policy approach bringing together all relevant stakeholders, such as governments and local communities of host countries, international humanitarian organizations, displaced communities as well as private sector providers of resources, knowledge and technology. 

Overview of GPA INCLUDE Programme: 

The GPA INCLUDE programme (Inclusive, Collaborative, Lived Understanding and Diverse Energy experiences in humanitarian contexts) is a collaboration between UNITAR’s Global Platform for Action on Sustainable Energy in Settings of Displacement (GPA), the Global Refugee-Led Network, Ashden, and Chatham House. The programme is a part of the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Carbon Trust Transforming Energy Access Programme (TEA) and aims to provide inclusionary analysis and evidence on the energy needs of all displaced people. Specifically, the GPA INCLUDE programme seeks to do so by delivering high-quality research and knowledge to support policy and decision-making on humanitarian energy investments, as well as enabling systematic change within the UN system and across the humanitarian partner network. Through the programme, the GPA works with the wider TEA partnership network to mainstream energy access in humanitarian settings, providing expert advice on the needs of all displaced people for UK innovators and international energy access projects.

Overview of READS Programme: 

The Roadmaps for Energy Access in Displacement Settings (READS) programme is a research programme that is funded by the IKEA Foundation. The programme will produce a “Country Roadmap” report for each of the ten countries in its scope in collaboration with project partners and researchers with a displacement background. The Country Roadmaps aim to take stock of the current state of energy access in displacement settings in each country with a focus on identifying gaps and viable project opportunities to increase sustainable energy access in displacement settings. The production of the Country Roadmaps will be supported by a series of stakeholder engagement workshops in each country, a publicly available data platform, donor briefings, and other dissemination outputs such as advocacy material and blog posts. The programme seeks to contribute to improving the data situation by consolidating existing secondary data on the topic of energy in displacement settings and to use that data to mobilise additional resources to deliver humanitarian energy programming in those countries.

General objective of the contract: The individual contractor will support critical activities of the GPA team, leading the Coordination Unit’s inclusivity workstream, focusing on the GPA READS and GPA INCLUDE Programmes. 

• Lead the GPA’s inclusivity agenda in ensuring that the principles of inclusive methodologies and meaningful participation of communities affected by displacement are put into sustainable, long-term action. 

• Facilitate a sector-wide paradigm shift away from tokenistic engagement of affected communities to their critical involvement in decision-making processes through actively advocating for the direct involvement of refugee/IDP leaders, host community members, and other representatives of displacement settings in the humanitarian energy sector’s activities.

Responsibilities/description of professional services: 

• Lead the drafting and development of an Inclusivity Strategy for the humanitarian energy sector in collaboration with the Global Refugee-led Network (GRN). 

• Deliver inclusive energy programming design, with partners, to reach the most vulnerable in displacement settings: producing written outputs and engaging with partners across the GPA network. 

• Provide expert analysis on humanitarian energy data and evidence, with a focus on developing alternative inclusive investments and assessing inclusivity within humanitarian energy programming. 

• Deliver knowledge of investment modalities and inclusive development pathways: ability to analyse and suggest programming for transformative investments. 

• Act as the focal-point for working partnerships with community led- organizations (CLO’s) including the Global Refugee-Led Network (GRN) and other community research-orientated organizations and networks such as the Refugee-Led Research Hub (RLRH). 

• Develop content and facilitate knowledge on inclusive approaches in humanitarian energy, such as evidence sharing workshops on energy access and programming with the GRN for the GRN’s Regional Chapters, research collaboration with Chatham House and Ashden. 

• Co-develop a monitoring strategy with the Global Refugee-led Network (GRN) through which the GRN, the GPA Coordination Unit, and the GPA’s wider partners can monitor and measure the impact of the GPA’s efforts to prioritise inclusive methodologies and meaningful participation. 

• Support research outputs developed by Chatham House, events and inclusivity processes developed by Ashden, and decarbonisation processes with TEA partners, to enable the INCLUDE programme to deliver critical evidence outputs with partners. 

• Initiative / establish new partnerships with refugee-led and community-based organisations and facilitate cooperation between local organisations and other stakeholders working on humanitarian energy. 

• Recruit and hire researchers from displacement backgrounds responsible for taking the lead in data analysis projects, drafting, and reviewing the country roadmaps developed under the READS Programme. 

• Provide analytical work to support producing figures for key reports on energy access needs and access levels. For example, supporting the production of the country roadmaps as part of the READS programme

Measurable outputs/deliverables/schedule of deliverables: 

• Attend regular online meetings (TBD) for READS and INCLUDE coordination. • Attend TEA bi-weekly online meetings with Carbon Trust and donor meetings with FCDO. 

• Organise regular check-ins with refugee-led and community-led organisations and wider sector partners dedicated to inclusive action. 

• Liaise and correspond with donors: direct line reporting to FCDO for the INCLUDE Programme and participation at meetings with IKEA Foundation. 

• Further build relationships and prioritise knowledge sharing with TEA partners. • Present programme findings at TEA annual partners in-person meeting. 

• Speak at COP type events and present INCLUDE findings at a senior level within the UN. 

• Produce content summaries and written outputs pertaining to core programmes; such as developing the Inclusivity Strategy. 

• Produce high-quality written outputs, including content reports, journal articles, blogs, and news articles to highlight the role of inclusivity in energy programming. 

• Complete necessary administrative tasks for the GPA’s inclusivity workstream. 

Performance Indicators for evaluation of results: 

• Quality submission of deliverables 

• Activities implemented with a high degree of effectiveness and efficiency, demonstrating a high degree of professionalism of the individual contractor, and contributing to an increase in the professional image of the Institute.

Reporting structure (name of direct supervisor): The consultant reports to Thomas Fohgrub, GPA Strategic Lead, UNITAR. 

Application closing date: 10 November 2022 

Contract start: 28 November 2022

Location of contract: The consultant may work remotely from any location, but ideally would be within +/- 3 hours of Geneva time or willing to align their work hours with central European time zone. Applicants from the Global South are encouraged to apply for this role.

To apply: Please submit a CV, attach a document which you have written or published, and a short 1- page cover letter to: energy@unitar.org. The subject of the email should be “GPA Inclusivity Advisor”. Online interviews will be conducted on the morning of the 15th of November or anytime on the 17th of November. If you have a preference for the date or time for the interview, please include that in your cover letter.

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