Under the direct supervision of the Programme Officer in charge of the LDN Transformative Projects and Programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean, the overall supervision of the LDN Programme Coordinator and the Managing Director of the Global Mechanism, and under the guidance of the PISLM Executive Director, relevant UNCCD National Focal Point institutions, and the identified Accredited
Entity, the consultant will carry out the following tasks:
In the first stage of the assignment, the consultant will be specifically responsible for:
• In coordination with the PISLM Executive Director, and relevant UNCCD National Focal Point institutions and GCF National Designated Authorities, undertake a situational analysis to assess the capacity of different potential GCF Accredited Entities in the Caribbean, and identify the GCF Accredited Entity that would be best positioned to lead the development of the project proposal;
• In coordination with the PISLM Executive Director, relevant UNCCD National Focal Point institutions, and the identified GCF Accredited Entity, and engaging with other relevant partners, confirm the project idea considering existing draft documents and previous high level PISLM decisions and its alignment with identified funding sources, including private sector, to ensure all partners are engaged from the start of the concept note design;
• Ensuring sound liaison with the funding source national focal point (e.g., GCF National Designated Authority), to secure the project endorsement, and to further develop the project concept in partnership with the identified Accredited Entity and all relevant stakeholders;
• Further defining the LDN project/programme concept based on desk reviews and interviews with national institutions and potential technical and financial partners;
• Ensuring the project concept contributes to achieve the LDN targets (SDG 15.3) defined by participating countries, ideally in LDN hotspots, and fully integrates the LDN conceptual framework guiding principles and gender mainstreaming elements;
• Identifying additional funding sources, complimentary to the main targeted funding source already identified, as well as key co-financing sources relevant to the identified project concept, as well as building the project/programme financing arrangements including blended financing mechanisms1 where applicable involving several potential funders;
• Facilitate building partnerships with relevant private sector stakeholders at national and/or international level and ensure their involvement in the design and implementation of the LDN project/programme.
In the second stage of the assignment, once the scope of the project concept is agreed between relevant national stakeholders, the GCF Accredited Entity has been identified, and the project/programme  financial arrangements are defined, the consultant will be specifically responsible for:
• Producing a project concept note document according to the required funding source template, taking into account the LDN features checklist as well as paying a particular attention to mainstreaming gender, to be reviewed by the Global Mechanism team, PISLM, identified Accredited Entity and taking into account the outcome of national/regional consultations. In cases where more than one financing source is identified, the identified Accredited Entity and the Global Mechanism will agree on the funding source to be targeted by the UNCCD supported concept note to be developed by the consultant. In cases of a blended financing mechanism, the identified Accredited Entity and the Global Mechanism will agree on the specific focus of the UNCCD support commensurate with the agreed remuneration of the consultant;
• Facilitating, under the guidance of PISLM’s Executive Director, the UNCCD National Focal Point institutions and the identified Accredited Entity, national/regional multi-stakeholder  consultation meetings organized by the National Focal Point institutions and/or regional partners to foster dialogue and consensus on the project;
• Producing a final project concept note integrating comments from involved stakeholders, particularly PISLM, the National Focal Point institution, the identified Accredited Entity and the Global Mechanism.