UNDP-PHL-00926 - Indigenous Peoples, Social Inclusion and Community Development Expert (IC) - UNDP - PHILIPPINES

Summary

Introduction Description of the Assignment: Despite the landmark passage of the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA), many Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs) continue to experience poverty, marginalization, and limited access to basic services and decision-making spaces. Women and girls remain disproportionately excluded due to entrenched sociocultural and institutional barriers that limit their leadership, control over and resources, and access to finance, training, digital tools, and economic opportunities. I-LEAD seeks to address these challenges by ‘affirming and strengthening the rights and leadership capacities of at least 1,600 indigenous women and girls across four ancestral domains of Regions XI and XII in Mindanao by 2030, through improved access to information, decision-making spaces, economic opportunities, and leadership roles within their ancestral domains’. I-LEAD's Theory of Change posits that ‘if indigenous women and girls are equipped with the capacities, skills, and platforms to understand, assert, and exercise their rights, and if ancestral domain governance structures, national and local duty-bearers, and development partners adopt gender-responsive—inclusive-- and rights-based service delivery models, then indigenous women and girls will be positioned to meaningfully participate in governance and decision-making, access improved services, and engage in economic activities aligned with their cultural values and environmental realities’. With support from the Government of New Zealand and in partnership with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), the Project will be implemented through three interlinked components: 1. Strengthening Ancestral Domain Governance with Human Rights and Gender Perspectives; 2. Promoting Gender-Equitable and Culturally Appropriate Economic Empowerment; and 3. Enhancing the Capacity of the NCIP and other Stakeholders on Human Rights-Based, Gender Responsive, and Culturally Appropriate Policy Development and Knowledge Management. Together, these components will deliver nine (9) key outputs that contribute to three long-term outcomes: (i) Resilient, Responsive, and Relevant indigenous women and girls, and ICCs/IPs; (ii) Economically empowered indigenous women and girls; and (iii) Improved access to basic services by indigenous women and girls. Collectively, these advance the project’s overarching goal: ‘ICCs/IPs in the Philippines are economically empowered and resilient, enjoying decent and sustainable livelihoods that support their cultural integrity and enhanced intergenerational well-being’. Implemented over four years (2026–2030), I-LEAD adopts an integrated, rights-based, gender-transformative, and systems-strengthening approach, convening ICCs/IPs, local government units, national government agencies, and civil society to co-create solutions anchored in indigenous rights, cultural identity, human rights, and gender equality. The project emphasizes evidence-based planning, participatory decision-making, capacity development, digital connection, and scalable women and youth-led enterprise models to advance inclusive development. Scope of Work Under the supervision of the I-LEAD Project Manager and with guidance from the Programme Analyst of the Climate Action Programme Team, the Indigenous Peoples, Social Inclusion and Community Development Expert will: • Lead and provide technical support in the development of the Community Resources Management and Development Plan (CRMDP), ensuring it reflects inclusive, participatory processes and integrates cultural sensitivity, climate resilience and sustainable resource management principles; • Prepare a comprehensive case study documenting the CRMDP development process, including best practices, challenges, and lessons learned in resource mobilization for implementation; • Support the enhancement and institutional strengthening of governance structures within the pilot ICCs/IPs; • In coordination