UNDP Jobs - 49648- Consultant – Freshwater Community of Practice Spec

Consultant – Freshwater Community of Practice Specialist

Location :

Home-based

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

05-Oct-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

20 working days (distributed from October 2014 to mid-November 2014)

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The Global Environment Facility (GEF)

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) (www.thegef.org) unites 183 member governments—in partnership with international institutions, non-governmental organizations and the private sector—to address global environment issues. An independently operating financial organization, the GEF provides grants for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer and persistent organic pollutants. Since 1991, the GEF has provided US$12.5 billion in grants and leveraged US$58 billion in co-financing for 3,690 projects in 165 developing countries. Through its Small Grants Programme (SGP) the GEF has made more than 20,000 grants totaling about US$1 billion to civil society and community-based organizations.

The GEF International Waters (IW) focal area targets transboundary water systems, such as shared river basins, lakes, groundwater and large marine ecosystems. The IW portfolio comprises 242 projects to date and some US$1.4 billion of GEF grants invested in 149 different countries. This investment has leveraged about US$8.4 billion in co-financing.

GEF IW:LEARN (International Waters Learning Exchange and Resource Network)

Such investments to protect the global environment leverage many invaluable experiences, lessons learned and recommendations for current and future GEF IW projects. The IW focal area has handled knowledge management with the help of a series of global projects titled, “International Waters Learning Exchange and Resources Network”, or IW:LEARN.

IW:LEARN operates as a central hub of information and knowledge sharing and delivers a host of programmatic initiatives for the benefit of the GEF IW portfolio of projects. In pursuit of its global and regional objectives, IW:LEARN seeks to strengthen global portfolio experience sharing and learning, dialogue facilitation, targeted knowledge sharing and replication in order to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of GEF IW projects to deliver tangible results in partnership with other IW initiatives.

More information about GEF IW:LEARN is available at www.iwlearn.net/abt_iwlearn.

The fourth IW:LEARN project (IW:LEARN4) is in the Project Preparation Grant (PPG) phase—a designated period to design and develop the project’s activities. The project proposal received approval from the GEF in May 2014. The PPG phase is planned for completion in late 2014. Outputs during the PPG phase will be utilized to construct the full-sized project document.

The scope of IW:LEARN4 lies in a continued demand for:

Assisting projects in acquiring relevant knowledge related to transboundary waters management in order to improve future project design;
Enhancing the understanding and application of GEF IW experiences across the IW portfolio to produce better quality project results;
Facilitating the replication and scaling up of good practices in transboundary waters management, resulting in lower costs and improved capacity to address transboundary concerns; and
Ensuring that insights generated through project interventions are shared and add value to the IW portfolio and beyond.
IW:LEARN4 is divided into five components:
Support the harvesting, dissemination and replication of portfolio & partner results, data and experience;
Share knowledge across projects and partners (through dialogue processes and face-to-face capacity building) to advance transboundary water management;
Expand global freshwater Communities of Practice, to advance conjunctive management of surface, ground and marine waters and partner with new enterprises on initiatives to better manage international waters;
Promote GEF IW results, tools & best practice to the non-GEF community to increase awareness, replication, scalability and sustainability of GEF IW investments; and
Launch programmatic tools to improve portfolio performance and sustain project interventions.

Per Component 3 of the proposed project, IW:LEARN will mobilize external partnerships to work together for improved learning and knowledge management through enhanced global surface and ground freshwater Communities of Practice (CoPs) to impact results and advance conjunctive management. CoPs act as a catalytic coalition among GEF IW projects, transboundary commissions and non-GEF partners to promote learning that meets project-level priorities. CoPs are designed to build on existing knowledge from inside and outside the GEF IW Portfolio, build regional and country partnerships, connect scientists to decision-makers and be responsive to the learning needs of the GEF IW projects. They aim to illuminate good practice, spawn new ideas for products and services, enable accelerated learning, connect learning to action and improve organizational performance.

In particular, IW:LEARN will address (1) GEF5 Strategic Objective 3 to support foundational capacity building, portfolio learning and targeted research needs for joint, ecosystem-based management of transboundary water systems; and (2) Draft GEF6 IW Programs 2.1 and 2.2 by engaging a new set of partners. These partners include global NGO’s and transboundary commissions, collectively dubbed the Global Network to Advance Integrated River Basin Management, established in March 2013 to coordinate and jointly deliver freshwater capacity-building activities on the basis of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU has been co-signed by the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River, the International Network of Basin Organizations, the International River Foundation, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, IW:LEARN’s previous phase, the Nature Conservancy and the World Wildlife Fund. The MoU provides a framework for a voluntary, cooperative, and committed effort by the organizations to work on circles of activities that build synergies between and among the organizations, and helps leverage resources to support more river basins globally develop and implement IWRM. The Project will also work with existing partners of the previous phase, including Global Water Partnership and the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization to advance conjunctive management. The expanded partnership represents a deepening of the proposed project’s baseline, as well as significant opportunities to leverage the work of the GEF IW portfolio through partnerships.

Duties and Responsibilities

This ToR is designed for a consultant to develop an expanded freshwater Community of Practice(s) to advance conjunctive management of surface, ground and marine waters, and to design initiatives between IW:LEARN and new partners (including the private sector) to better manage international waters (IW).

The key outputs for this consultancy are (1) a concise written baseline assessment of CoPs among GEF IW projects (3 pages maximum); and (2) building on this baseline assessment, an organized matrix of designed activities, and projected project partners, outputs and budgets for Component 3 of IW:LEARN.

In order to produce these outputs, the consultant will:

Identify and assess the uses of IW CoPs and IW:LEARN’s role in CoPs; set the strategic context to rationalize the value of CoPs and identify success factors; describe how IW CoPs are structured (inner and outer circle); identify who participates in IW CoPs (statistics); outline how CoPs identify, create, store, filter, share and use knowledge; and determine the critical IW CoPs development and expansion challenges;
Recommend a set of actions to enhance the IW CoPs to advance conjunctive management, and deliver the recommended actions to IW:LEARN’s partners for review;
Identify how IW:LEARN can reach beyond the IW portfolio to build partnerships with other actors in the water sector (including joint management bodies) and the private sector to support global scaling-up of GEF IW investments through various management approaches. Special attention should be given to the work of the Global MoU partners. Recommend a set of actions for IW:LEARN and deliver the recommended actions to IW:LEARN’s partners for review;
Examine proposed contributions to IW:LEARN and suggestions from the Global MoU partners for activities to be supported with GEF funding;
Facilitate bilateral and multilateral teleconferences with project partners (from the Global MoU partners) to discuss the above recommended actions and project partner feedback;
Consolidate recommended actions and feedback to develop targeted CoPs activities for Component 3 of IW:LEARN to promote conjunctive management (i.e., dialogues, webinars, video lectures, specific technical support to projects, training material, peer-to-peer assistance, ecosystem-specific programmatic support though guidance materials and face-to-face exchanges) and corresponding outputs and budgets;
Work with Global MoU partners to discuss and identify project partner strengths for, and contribution (if any) in, the development and implementation of Component 3. Negotiate an effective management structure for the successful implementation of the Component.

The Consultant will carry out any other relevant duties falling within the scope of his/her competence, which may arise during the course of his/her assignment, as requested by the PPG Management Specialist.

The consultant will provide a weekly activity report to the IW:LEARN PPG Management Specialist, This will include an accounting of activities done for the project, the amount of time spent on each, and follow-up for each, including status and recommendations for next steps.

Assignment Deliverables

Deliverable 1:

Detailed review of and suggestions for adjustments to the terms of reference (TOR) and expected outputs of the consultants;
Detailed timeline of activities and responsibilities for the preparatory process;
Proposed methodology and formats for collecting information for the PPG consultant team.

Deliverable 2:

A concise written baseline assessment of CoPs among GEF IW projects (3 pages maximum); and
Building on this baseline assessment, an organized matrix of designed activities, and projected project partners, outputs and budgets for Component 3 of IW:LEARN.

Estimated duration

The consultancy will be for 20 working days over a period from end-September 2014 to mid-November 2014. Deliverable 1 should be submitted within 2 weeks after the contract signature, and Deliverable 2 within 4 weeks after submission of Deliverable 1.

Institutional Arrangements

The Consultant will be home-based;
The Consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment;
The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his station (i.e. laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, etc.) and must have access to reliable internet connection;
Payments will be made per deliverable. The quality of the final documents will be evaluated by the UNDP-GEF Principal Technical Advisor, International Waters and/or the UNDP-GEF Regional Technical Advisor, International Waters, Europe and CIS. If the quality does not meet standards or requirements of the UNDP-GEF, the consultant will be asked to rewrite or revise (as necessary) the document before proceeding to payment. In that sense, payments shall be made upon delivery and approval by the UNDP-GEF Principal Technical Advisor, International Waters and/or the UNDP-GEF Regional Technical Advisor, International Waters, Europe and CIS. of the products agreed as per following distribution: Deliverable 1 (25% of total contract amount); Deliverable 2 (75%).

Travel:

International travel will not be required in this consultancy.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

Excellent communications and networking skills and the ability to work in a team;
Strong interpersonal and negotiating skills;
Ability to work in a multicultural environment; and
Sound judgment and discretion.

Functional Competencies:

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise

Familiarity with or, ideally, work experience in GEF International Waters recipient countries and/or with donors or related NGOs;
Familiarity (and interest) with transboundary waters issues and regions.

Management and Leadership

Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Leads teams effectively and shows conflict resolution skills;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors;
Remains calm, in control and composed even under pressure;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
Communicates effectively with staff at all levels of the organization;
Acts with tact and diplomacy;
Proves outgoing and comfortable in handling external relations at all levels;
Demonstrates compelling communication skills and cross-cultural effectiveness;
Demonstrates experience in bilateral and/or multilateral negotiations, and negotiating and training / facilitation skills; and
Possesses the ability to convey difficult issues and positions to senior officials, proven political judgment, sensitivity to local cultures.

Professionalism:

Capable of working in a high pressure environment with sharp and frequent deadlines, managing many tasks simultaneously;
Excellent organizational skills;
Able to work independently and remotely with minimal supervision;
Exercise the highest level of responsibility and be able to handle confidential and politically sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner;
Capacity to submit high quality deliverables under time constraints.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced degree in environmental management or science, international relations, information management, communications, development studies or related fields, or equivalent demonstrated experience (max 20 pts).

Experience:

Over seven (7) years of experience in information and knowledge management, including planning, design, preparation and delivery of knowledge management strategies (max 20 pts);
Demonstrated experience in support to local, national and international organizations, including support to non-profits and NGOs (max 20 pts);
Demonstrated capacity in implementing knowledge sharing strategies and plans (max 20 pts);
Demonstrated competency in writing knowledge products (max 20 pts).

Language:

English is the working language for this assignment, therefore excellent oral and written communications and presentation skills in English are required.

Evaluation method:

Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated;
Offers will be evaluated according to the Combined Scoring method – where the technical criteria will be weighted at 70% and the financial offer will be weighted at 30%;
The technical criteria (education, experience, language) will be based on maximum 100 points. Only the candidates that have achieved a minimum of 70 points of the technical criteria will be deemed technically qualified and considered for financial evaluation;
The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, including breakdown per deliverable. Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal must additionally include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including number of anticipated working days and all inclusive daily provisional fee). Costs for mission travel should not be included in financial proposal;
Financial score (max 30 points) shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal of those technically qualified;
Applicant receiving the Highest Combined Score and has accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions will be awarded the contract.

Documentation to be submitted:

Applicants must submit a duly completed and signed UNDP Personal History form (P11) to be downloaded from the below link. Kindly note you can upload only one document to this application. In addition, applicants must reply to the mandatory questions asked by the system when submitting the application.

UNDP Personal History form (P11) required of all applicants:

http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/corporate/Careers/P11_Personal_history_form.doc.

General Conditions of Contract for the ICs:

http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf.