Consultant - PUDT

Support for explaining the legal framework on land use planning guidelines in the Republic of Congo

-----------

Consultant Terms of Reference

March 2025

I. Context and Justification

The Sustainable Land Use Program (PUDT) is led by the Government of the Republic of Congo through its partnership with the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI). The general objective is to define a concerted process for rural land use planning, to support the implementation of the country's economic diversification policy (PND- 2022-2026).

One of the expected outputs of this program is Output 1.1. Establishment of the consultation and decision-making mechanism at the national level, for land use planning guidelines. For this output, WRI will play a leadership role for activity 1.1.2 which concerns the “Establishment and animation of the Land Use Planning Animation and Consultation Group (GACAT)”. GACAT is indeed a group formed of agents with varied profiles from various administrations involved in the land use planning process.

This activity consists of setting up, operationalizing, and animating the group that was previously formalized by activity 1.1.1 establishing the creation of GACAT. WRI will now support GACAT on aspects of explaining the legal framework, understanding cartographic documents, and spatial analysis. These terms of reference will focus solely on explanations of the legal framework related to land use planning guidelines.

II. Objective

The objective of this consulting mission is to provide GACAT members with the necessary explanations for understanding the legal framework concerning land use planning guidelines, to help them appropriate these land use planning guidelines and develop the necessary skills in carrying out their missions.

III. Methodology

The methodological approach must be both documentary and didactic, involving the collection of documents related to the legal and institutional framework for land use planning (JO, SNAT, PNAT, etc.). The approach used (methods and tools) to collect the necessary data related to the legal framework must be clear. Then the consultant will have to categorize and interpret the information from the legal and institutional framework on land use planning and link it to the objectives of the PUDT, particularly concerning product 1.1.

From a didactic perspective, the selected consultant will propose and lead a training and capacity building workshop on the legal and institutional framework of land use planning, its strengths, weaknesses, and prospects. This workshop will be based on the design of a training module and educational material concerning the legal framework of land use planning for GACAT members.

IV. Consultant Tasks

Without being exhaustive, the consultant will carry out the following tasks:

• Collect documents related to the legal and institutional framework for land use planning in the Republic of Congo.
• Organize interviews or meetings with legal professionals to ensure that key documents are collected and major provisions concerning land use planning are identified.
• Design, based on these documents and interviews, a training document that will serve as educational support to be given to GACAT members.
• Lead a workshop or meeting to explain the legal framework on land use planning guidelines, its limits, and prospects.
• Evaluate the satisfaction level of workshop participants.

V. Deliverables

• Educational material reflecting the training module for GACAT members.
• Analysis notes on the use and major orientations of rural lands in relation to PUDT priorities.
• The realization of an explanation workshop or meeting and its PowerPoint presentation.
• A report of the legal framework explanation workshop or meeting.

VI. Technical and Functional Skills

The consultant must demonstrate the following technical skills:

• Solid expertise and knowledge of land use planning issues in the Republic of Congo, particularly the existence of numerous land use planning principles currently distributed across several sectoral laws and regulatory texts concerning the missions of several ministries;
• Good knowledge of the strategic importance of land use planning in the Republic of Congo and the extent of the challenges associated with it;
• Good knowledge of the obstacles faced by land use planning in the Republic of Congo;
• Good knowledge of government strategies for sustainable development and climate change, including the national sustainable development strategy and the current nationally determined contribution, as well as the national REDD+ strategy;
• Good knowledge of the need for a land use planning code in the Republic of Congo.
• Good knowledge of territorial issues in the Republic of Congo.
• Good knowledge of the political, social, and sociological context of the Republic of Congo.
• Data analysis and synthesis skills, and written and oral communication skills.
• Excellent skills in building strong client relationships, an ability to focus on client impact and results, and positive responsiveness to sponsor feedback.
• Ability to simplify land use planning concepts to make them accessible to a non-specialist audience from different administrations.
• Skills in facilitating discussions, managing interactions between different participants with sometimes divergent interests.
• Demonstrates cultural, gender, religious, racial, national, and age sensitivity and adaptability.

VII. Consultant Profile

The consultant must have the following profile:

• Education:

• Hold a Bac+4 (Master's) or Bac+5 (DEA or Master's) degree in administration, sociology, law, development sociology, or any other postgraduate degree specializing in one of the land use planning themes.

• Experience:

• Justify a general experience of at least 10 years in one of the themes relevant to land use planning.
• Have proven experience (two or more missions) in formulating development projects, preferably according to the standards of international governmental and non-governmental organizations.
• Have proven experience (two or more missions) in developing conceptual notes, national or sectoral development policies or strategies; successful experience with a conceptual note with a multilateral fund would be an asset.
• Have practical knowledge and proven experience in developing results chains and frameworks.
• Have the ability to take into account the dimension of land use planning issues in development policies and strategies.
• Good knowledge of the country's development strategies and other documents, including the PND 2022-2026, land use planning and sustainable development orientation laws, the national REDD+ strategy, sectoral strategies) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), etc.
• Excellent writing skills in French; English would be an asset.

VIII. Selection Criteria

Submissions will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

• Experience in drafting legal notes related to the legal framework of land use planning: 50%;
• Experience in the land use planning process in the Republic of Congo: 30%;
• Education: 20%;

The contract will be awarded to the consultant whose submission was:

• Deemed admissible and compliant
• Received the best score on the technical criteria according to the weighting mentioned above.

IX. Mission Duration and Indicative Schedule

The mission duration is estimated at 90 working days.

X. Process Flow

To ensure overall coherence of the process and deliverables:

• A working session, whose objective is to provide the consultant with the necessary information on the mission, will be organized by WRI. It will allow the consultant to better understand WRI's expectations and the quality criteria that will be applied to the mission's outputs.

• The consultant will then work autonomously.

• A second working session will be organized, mid-term, for framing and information exchange.

• After receiving WRI's comments, the consultant will finalize the deliverable in the form of implementation and implementation report support.

XI. Reference Documents

• PUDT PRODOC

XII. Application File

The application file consists of the following documents:

• A signed cover letter;
• An updated and signed curriculum vitae detailing professional experience and similar missions carried out.

XIII. Submission and Request for Additional Information

Interested candidates are invited to apply by sending their application files by email to the address: blaise.louzalakounkou@wri.org and copy to Jean.Bakouma@wri.org and Christ.Otilibili@wri.org with the subject reference: “Consultant Juriste”.

For any request for additional information, please refer to the addresses above.

XIV. Submission Deadline

The deadline for receiving applications is set for no later than August 26th at 4 PM (Brazzaville time).