Redesign of the Safeguards, Stakeholder Engagement, Gender and Social Inclusion Documents for the HECO GCF Project in Colombia

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF-US), in its capacity as an Accredited Entity of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), commissioned AAE to review, update and optimize the environmental and social safeguards, stakeholder engagement and gender instruments of the Heritage Colombia Project (HECO GCF) as part of its restructuring process.

The consultancy aims to facilitate the effective implementation of these instruments during the project’s next phase and ensure functional equivalence between GCF requirements, WWF’s Environmental and Social Safeguards Framework and Colombia’s national legal and institutional framework, including the instruments and procedures applied by National Natural Parks of Colombia (PNNC). The assignment is being undertaken in close coordination with WWF-US, WWF Colombia, Fondo Patrimonio Natural and PNNC, incorporating the experience, lessons learned and challenges identified during the first years of implementation.

The scope of the consultancy includes:

• Conducting a comparative analysis of GCF and WWF safeguards and gender requirements against Colombia’s national safeguards system, identifying gaps and the measures required to achieve functional equivalence.
• Developing a new screening tool and an Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) for the project as a whole.
• Preparing five Environmental and Social Action Plans tailored to the Amazon, Andes, Caribbean, Orinoquía Transition and San Lucas mosaics.
• Updating the Stakeholder Engagement Plan and the Gender Assessment and Action Plan, expanding their focus to encompass gender equity and social inclusion (GESI).
• Preparing five localized gender equity and social inclusion roadmaps and completing Indigenous Peoples Plans, as well as assessing the need for additional management instruments.
• Designing a disclosure strategy and materials that are accessible, culturally appropriate and adapted to the different territorial contexts.
• Providing technical support throughout the review of the documents by the GCF Secretariat and the Independent Technical Advisory Panel.

The consultancy includes field missions to all five project mosaics, involving interviews, focus groups and consultations with institutions, Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant and rural communities, women, and other rights holders and stakeholders. These visits provide evidence on how safeguards are applied in practice, support consultation and validation of the project-level grievance redress mechanism, and contribute to updating the gender baseline using a GESI approach. This ensures that the final instruments respond to the specific realities, risks and needs of each territory.