Local Programme Review Committee Secretariat Consultant, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

## Local Programme Review Committee Secretariat Consultant, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Organization:UN-Habitat - United Nations Human Settlements Programme - Office:UN-Habitat ROLAC A documented and practical set of quality-assurance analyses, recommendations, tools and knowledge-transfer products that enables designated UN officials to improve the consistency, timeliness and quality of PRC-LWG project reviews while retaining full accountability for decisions and approvals. Home based - The consultancy will be home based, at 50 per cent part-time, for a fixed period of three months. Any extension will require a documented continuing need, revised measurable outputs, funding confirmation and prior approval by the authorized officials. No renewal is guaranteed. Duties and Responsibilities Background With UN-Habitat's growing project portfolio and the introduction of the Programme Review Committee (PRC) processes, there is an increased need for technical coordination to ensure that projects align with organizational objectives, regional needs, and global standards. The PRC serves as a critical quality assurance mechanism, ensuring coherence, efficiency, and effectiveness of projects across UN-Habitat' s operations. The PRC's review and approval process supports the strategic alignment of projects through co-creation, collaboration across divisions, and mainstreaming cross-cutting themes such as environmental and social safeguards, gender equity, and risk management. The PRC Secretariat, located at UN-Habitat Headquarters in Nairobi, is responsible for coordinating project reviews and approvals across regions. It ensures that projects comply with UN-Habitat's Strategic Plan and Results-Based Management (RBM) frameworks while facilitating knowledge sharing and continuous improvement within the organization. PRC Local Working Groups (PRC LWGs) have been established at the regional and divisional levels to handle the review and approval of smaller, region-specific projects. The Regional Representatives or Directors of Divisions chair these working groups, with support from standing members who are responsible for quality control and ensuring alignment with the Strategic Plan. This home-based consultancy will provide time-bound technical advisory and quality-assurance services to strengthen the PRC LWG serving the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (ROLAC). The assignment will focus on defined analytical products, technical reviews, process-improvement recommendations and knowledge-transfer deliverables. The consultant will not exercise representative, certifying, approving or supervisory authority, nor replace regular and continuing staff functions. Duties and Responsibilities Under the supervision of the Regional Director for ROLAC, and under the overall guidance of the Chair of the PRC-LWG ROAF-ROLAC, the consultant will coordinate with the designated ROAF counterpart and provide specialized advisory services through the following time-bound activities: 1. Project Review Support a. Contribute to the project review processes under the Programme Review Committee Headquarters Working Group (PRC-HQ WG) and Local Working Groups (PRC-LWGs) through the review of project documentation against established guidance, templates and procedures. b. Review selected project documents and identify areas requiring clarification or further alignment with Results-Based Management principles and the UN-Habitat Strategic Plan. c. Examine project documentation and highlight considerations related to gender equality, social inclusion, environmental sustainability, safeguards and risk management for the attention of responsible officials. d. Prepare draft meeting materials, summaries of discussions, action trackers and background information for designated PRC meetings. The convening of meetings, approval of records and follow-up decisions remain the responsibility of designated UN officials. e. Assess project documentation for completeness and consistency before submission to IPMR, and provide observations for consideration by the responsible approving authority. 2. Coordination Support a. Facilitate communication and information exchange among headquarters, regional offices and designated technical focal points involved in project review processes. b. Compile and document inputs received from relevant stakeholders and support the incorporation of regional perspectives into project documentation, where appropriate. c. Maintain records of comments, recommendations and follow-up actions arising from project review processes. 3. Monitoring, Reporting and Documentation Support a. Review the status of project submissions recorded in IPMR and prepare summary reports highlighting pending actions, documentation gaps and issues requiring attention by responsible officials. b. Compile and analyze information from project review processes and prepare periodic summaries of recurring issues and lessons identified. c. Review project documentation and provide suggestions for improving document organization, filing and record-management practices. Official records and systems shall remain under the responsibility of designated UN personnel. d. Contribute to the preparation of knowledge products, reference materials, guidance notes and lessons-learned documents for institutional learning purposes. 4. Capacity Building and Knowledge Sharing a. Contribute to the delivery of guidance sessions on project formulation, PRC procedures and Results-Based Management using approved methodologies, tools and materials. b. Facilitate knowledge-sharing activities and provide practical guidance to staff involved in project development and review processes. c. Contribute to the development and dissemination of standard reference materials, templates and good-practice examples to support compliance with established procedures. Objectives To provide specialized, time-bound technical advisory and quality-assurance services that strengthen PRC-LWG ROAF-ROLAC project-review methodology, documentation quality, cross-cutting integration and organizational learning through measurable deliverables, without exercising approval authority or assuming regular and continuing staff functions. Output/Work Assignments The consultant will deliver the following substantive, measurable outputs. Each output must be submitted electronically in editable format and accepted in writing by the supervisor based on completeness, technical accuracy, usefulness, timeliness and consistency with applicable UN-Habitat guidance: - Output 1 - Inception and baseline assessment package - An inception report, workplan and process map identifying the assignment methodology, selected project pipeline, review criteria, milestones, risks and data requirements. - Delivery: by the end of the first contract month. - Acceptance indicators: agreed scope and methodology; complete process map; actionable workplan; supervisor acceptance. - Output 2 - Project quality-assurance review package - Documented technical assessments of the agreed project submissions, including findings on strategic alignment, RBM quality, gender equality, social inclusion, environmental sustainability, safeguards and risk mitigation, with recommendations for action by responsible officials. - Delivery: by the end of the second contract month. Acceptance indicators: evidence-based findings; clear recommendations; no exercise of approval authority; supervisor acceptance. - Output 3 - PRC process improvement and tracking package - A consolidated analysis of recurring review gaps, proposed corrective actions, a refined action-tracking tool and draft technical inputs for designated PRC-LWG records. - Delivery: by the end of the third contract month. Acceptance indicators: traceable analysis; usable tracking tool; practical corrective actions; supervisor acceptance. - Output 4 - Knowledge-transfer package - Training or advisory materials on PRC processes, project formulati