BACKGROUND

Liberia’s coastal zone is adversely affected by several climate change impacts, including increases in sea level rise resulting from rising temperatures. The impacts of climate change, combined with non-climatic drivers such as sand mining, the expansion of agricultural areas, unsustainable fishing, pollution, and inadequate drainage systems, compromise the resilience of ecosystems and Liberian communities situated along the coastline. Consequently, local communities and ecosystems are experiencing increased coastal flooding and erosion, saltwater intrusion into groundwater supplies, waterlogging of inland areas, and sedimentation of rivers and freshwater resources as a result of SLR and higher-intensity rainfall events.

As a result of coastal communities in Liberia being threatened by damaging floods and erosion – both of which are increasing as a result of sea level rise as well as other impacts of climate change such as increasingly intense rainfall events – and the current limited financial and technical capacity at the national and county levels to address these threats, the Government of Liberia through the EPA in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Liberia Country Office submitted a joint proposal to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in 2021 for the “Enhancing the resilience of vulnerable coastal communities in Sinoe County of Liberia”. The project has now been approved for implementation. The Environmental Protection Agency of Liberia (EPA) is the Executing Entity for the Project, which is financed by a GEF Trust Fund grant of USD$8.9 million and co-financed by UNDP and the Government of Liberia (GoL).

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this consultancy is to mainstream gender considerations, promoting gender equality into the Sinoe, Grand Bassa, and Maryland Counties Resilience Plans by developing a Gender Action Plan (GAP) for each of these selected counties. These CRPs will include an assessment of climate change priorities and challenges for the country, as well as county-specific plans to ensure the climate resilience of these selected counties by incorporating the implementation of ICZM, adaptation options, and gender responsiveness measures.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this consultancy is to mainstream gender considerations, promoting gender equality into the Sinoe, Grand Bassa, and Maryland Counties Resilience Plans by developing a Gender Action Plan (GAP) for each of these selected counties. These CRPs will include an assessment of climate change priorities and challenges for the country, as well as county-specific plans to ensure the climate resilience of these selected counties by incorporating the implementation of ICZM, adaptation options, and gender responsiveness measures.