National Consultant - Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) and Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD)

Job Description

The International Trade Centre (ITC) is a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization for trade-related technical cooperation in developing countries. Green and Inclusive Value Chains Section (GIVC) is responsible for developing and disseminating sector level expertise for sustainable market driven solutions in ITC, including the Alliances for Action (A4A) methodology and Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) approach. The approaches engage smallholder farmers and MSMEs to manage risks and facilitate networks that provide the required technical expertise and capacity building to transform food systems and advance the Sustainable Development Goals through partnerships that cultivate ethical, climate smart, sustainable value chains. ITC aims at achieving resilience and growth for farmers and MSMEs through more mindful and responsible trade, production and consumption systems and improved opportunities to compete in global markets. This includes building resilience and competitiveness of MSMEs and enabling sustainable market linkages and value addition. The project Responsible Business Conduct in Africa aims to strengthen aims to the capacity of value chain across 11 African countries by aligning national policies, business practices, and value chains with EU and international standards on due diligence, sustainability, labour rights, and corporate accountability. The Overall Objective of this action is to promote smart and inclusive growth and sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by supporting responsible business practices, in line with existing internationally agreed standards and frameworks set out in the UN, ILO and OECD instruments and taking into account EU regulatory and policy developments on RBC. The project seeks to enhance compliance with emerging EU regulations, support economic diversification, promote decent work, and improve the competitiveness of African enterprises in regional and global markets. The Project will address increasing regulatory expectations from the EU on sustainability, due diligence, deforestation, forced labour, carbon border measures, and financial disclosure; low awareness and limited capacity of African SMEs and institutions to meet these requirements risking loss of market access; weak governance, limited enforcement capacity, civic space restrictions, and lack of access to remedy mechanisms; structural economic challenges including high informality, youth unemployment, gender inequality, reliance on primary commodities, weak infrastructure, and low digitalisation; human rights and environmental risks linked to extractive industries and other high-risk sectors; and the need for stronger integration of RBC standards in trade, investment, and industrial policies under AfCFTA and AU frameworks. The project is jointly implemented by ITC, ILO, OHCHR, OECD and UNDP to promote smart and inclusive growth and sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by supporting responsible business practices, in line with existing internationally agreed standards and frameworks set out in the UN, ILO and OECD instruments and taking into account EU regulatory and policy developments on RBC. For ITC, the implementation is being led through the Alliances for Action methodology, starting with a six (6) month inception phase. For this project, capacity building on Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) and Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) is of central importance. For HREDD to be effective, a system of shared responsibility must be adopted to identify, prevent, mitigate and remediate risks and harms. In addition, the focus should go beyond non-compliance to identify areas of improvement in sourcing, procurement and production practices that would prevent risk and harms, following holistic approach that ensures that value chain actors, particularly MSMEs, are not left behind in the practical implementation of HREDD systems to drive competitiveness and resilience. In this regard, ITC is seeking a national consultant to contribute to the design and implementation of RBC interventions, targeting selected value chain operators (MSMEs, farmer-support organizations, cooperatives, suppliers, government, and private sector) to successfully implement the project in Uganda, in line with the objectives of the project. The project will be implemented in 11 countries: (Angola, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire ,DRC, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Namibia, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia) and implemented by ITC, OECD, ILO, UNDP and OHCHR. Broadly, the targeted sectors include Agriculture /Agribusiness, Critical Minerals and Textiles, among others. Specific value chains will be defined during the inception phase.

Description of Duties/Responsibilities

• Provide in-country technical and coordination support during the inception phase, in close collaboration with ITC project teams and partners.
• Participate in onboarding with relevant ITC experts to understand ITC’s ongoing work on Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) and gain a thorough understanding of existing ITC RBC tools and resources, including due diligence risk assessment tools, key modules of the Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) framework, and practical templates.
• In collaboration with national project partners, identify and map key value chain actors in target sector(s), including MSMEs, cooperatives, farmer organizations, suppliers, and private sector actors, with interest in HREDD implementation to manage risks, increase market readiness and income, and enhance competitiveness.
• In collaboration with relevant public-private sector actors, mobilize key value chain operators ,plan and facilitate meetings or dialogues using participatory approaches that enable inclusive action plans to assess the relevance, efficacy, and appropriateness of HREDD accompanying measures and mechanisms to increase awareness and capacity-building awareness for the target value chain (s) in Uganda.
• Develop a country-level workplan for Year 1 of the project implementation phase in Uganda, outlining areas of capacity-building interventions, proposed budget, timelines, and expected outputs, for validation by national-level partners (public and private sector) and approval by the ITC Project Manager.
• In collaboration with ITC RBC experts, conduct due diligence readiness assessments for selected VC operators (at least 15 companies/cooperatives), and support the development of capacity building action plans based on the gaps and opportunities identified in the analysis , leveraging ITC due diligence risk assessment tools and HREDD capacity-building resources.
• Organize and facilitate participatory multi-stakeholder workshop(s) for the cohorts to present readiness assessment results and co-develop targeted capacity-building action plans, outlining areas of support, calendar of activities, and co-investment from companies/cooperatives, for validation by companies, support institutions and ITC RBC experts and programme advisors.
• Coordinate and support the participation of value chain operators, particularly smallholder farmers, producer organizations, cooperatives, MSMEs, in project activities, including trainings, coaching, HREDD-aligned and investment linkage support, advocacy forums, South-South exchanges/dialogues.
• In close collaboration with ITC RBC expert, assist stakeholders to develop national value chain-based action plans, through a participatory approach, that align with the evolving RBC-related national, regional, and international frameworks.
• Provide technical and coordination support in planning, implementation, progress monitoring, and reporting of activities for RBC country-level interventions, in line with overall project objectives and deliverables.
• Participate in monthly coordination meetings to present progress updates on the agreed workplan for Uganda, alongside other RBC national coordinators and country teams, to share lessons learned, best practices, and partnership opportunities etc.
• Monitor the impact of RBC activities through field visits, beneficiary meetings, surveys; document results, lessons learned and partnerships; and contribute to project reporting, in close collaboration with ITC HQ reporting focal points.
• Participate in and/or lead field missions for ITC experts and project stakeholders, including proposing the mission agenda, participant lists, and coordinating onsite logistics and stakeholder engagements.
• Participate in relevant national, regional and international trade & investment events to promote ITC’s work on RBC and facilitate potential partnerships.
• Maintain ongoing communication with key project stakeholders, including government counterparts, the European Union Delegation, representatives from OECD, ILO, UNDP, and OHCHR, as well as key private sector actors.

Requirements

Copyright Clause: The consultant has to ensure that she/he has obtained the necessary permissions with regard to intellectual property rights required to perform his/her services under this consultancy contract and for the subsequent dissemination by ITC in any form. Documentary proof is to be submitted to ITC. Should any license fee be due for the use of copyrighted materials of third parties, the consultant shall request the prior written permission from ITC. ITC champions workforce diversity, inclusion, gender equality and gender parity and considers all qualified persons - of all genders - equally, including those with disabilities, without discrimination or prejudice of any kind.