Background

Together with other Central Asian Countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan) and with the support of the international donor community, Uzbekistan is active in promoting sustainable land management (SLM) and reverse land degradation through the Central Asian Countries Initiative for Land Management (CACILM).  CACILM’s goal is to restore, maintain and enhance the productive functions of land in Central Asia (CA), leading to improved economic and social well-being of those who depend on these resources. The goal is achieved through implementation of measures and interventions reflected in National Programming Framework (NPF) developed in each CA country. This project is one of the multi-country level activities on CACILM implementation which aims capacity building to support the Central Asian Countries’ efforts to halt land degradation by enhancing the capability of each nation to execute their NPFs.

The project plans to achieve its objectives through the accomplishment of four major outcomes: (i) Enhanced policy coherence through mainstreaming of sustainable land management (SLM) principles into national policies and legislation; (ii) resources effectively mobilized to support SLM initiatives; (iii) improved interaction between state agencies and land users through human resource development; (iv) learning, dissemination and replication of best practices in collaborative SLM developed and strengthened.

Duties and Responsibilities

The purpose of this consultancy is to provide support to the National Irrigated Land Reclamation Fund Department in considering updates to current legislation. Under this effort, the consultant will review the current legislative framework, including normative documents and recommend effective legislative options.

Based on the results of these activities the consultant will submit a report on key revisions of the current legal framework and recommendations for their improvement.

To achieve expected outcomes the National consultant will be asked to accomplish the following tasks:

1. In development of recommendations of the international consultant on legal issues, to prepare legal document describing concrete mechanism of public provisioning of mandatory inventory and passportization of the entire reclamation network, as well as accurate distribution of authorities and responsibilities for proper implementation of reclamation works between all the participants of reclamation process, inclusive of:

•  Farmers’ responsibility for monitoring and maintaining technical condition of collector and drainage system (CDS) facilities in their fields;
• Water Users Associations’ (WUA) responsibility for monitoring and maintaining technical condition of CDS between the farmers’ fields;
• Oblast hydro geological reclamation expeditions’ (OGME) responsibility for monitoring and maintaining technical condition of CDS between WUAs and overall reclamation control;
• Mutual responsibility between OGMEs, WUAs and farming enterprises for monitoring and maintaining reclamation well-being of irrigated lands.

3.      To develop interaction mechanism of participants on reclamation process in the conditions when irrigation and drainage systems borders do not coincide, as well as with coverage of the issues of government support and economic incentives for implementation of activities aimed to improve reclamation status of irrigated lands.

4.      Develop new principles for the system of contractual relations between all the participants of reclamation process, as well as practical mechanisms for strengthening their mutual responsibility for ensuring reclamative well-being of irrigated lands.

The National consultant will be responsible to achieve following outputs:

VI. Payment Conditions

Competencies

• Understanding of development issues of National public institutional arrangements;
• Initiative and strong leadership skills;
• Result-orientation;
• Ability to use information and communication technology as a tool and resource;
• Strong analytical and writing skills, good ability in networking and ability to work both independently and in team; Excellent interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience

• Advanced university degree with a focus on water and irrigation management, agricultural management and/or land use.

• 5 years practical experience in drafting/developing legal documents related to land use management, water resources management or related fields.
• In depth understanding of best practices for effective land reclamation programs;
• Experience in irrigation and/or water resources management;
• Good communication and presentation skills;
• Good analytical and writing skills;
• Excellent MS Office skills and knowledge of PowerPoint presentations.   

Language Proficiencies:

• Proficiency in both written and oral Russian and Uzbek language. Working knowledge of English languages will be an asset.