UNDP Jobs - 53290- Individual Consultant Procurement Notice: Services

Individual Consultant Procurement Notice: Services of a National Individual Consultant for Water & Sanitation - LEB/CO IC/9/15”

Location :

Beirut, LEBANON

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

09-Feb-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

From Contract Signature till end of December 2015

Languages Required :

Arabic English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

From Contract Signature till end of December 2015

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

This TOR falls under the UNDP project “Improving Living Conditions in Palestinian Gatherings Host Communities”, which aims at enhancing access to Basic Urban Services BUS (water, sewerage, solid waste management, electricity, roads) and shelter conditions. In addition to the 12 official Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon, a total of 42 Palestinian Gatherings are distributed along the regions of Lebanon, housing Palestinian refugees in the South (Tyr and Saida), North, Beirut and Beqaa (refer to the map at the end of the document). Palestinian Gatherings are informal settlements ‘constituting relatively homogenous refugee communities, such as smaller villages or households living in the same multi-story residential buildings” (fafo, 2003).

Being informal areas, Palestinian gatherings remain excluded from national strategies or local development plans, thus increasing poverty and marginalization of the local refugee communities and the deterioration of the living environment. The forty-two gatherings fall under the municipal domain of twenty-five municipalities; however, municipalities in general do not intervene to provide basic urban services or improve the physical environment in these areas. The lack of municipal intervention is attributed to a number of reasons mainly: lack of financial resources; the security situation in the gatherings mainly adjacent to camps; and most importantly misconceptions that the gatherings are served by UNRWA. In fact, as per UNRWA’s mandate, the Agency’s services targeting refugees living in the gatherings are restricted to education and health coverage. UNRWA’s interventions in terms of basic urban services, including WASH, and shelter self-help programmes are restricted to the boundaries of the 12 official camps. Due to the lack of service providers, refugees living in the gatherings resort to a number of informal self-help initiatives to access and maintain basic urban services. While these informal practices that are affordable to dwellers ensure their access to some services, the services themselves are inadequate, insufficient and characterized by huge gaps and shortfalls. In addition, they are ultimately connected in an ad-hoc manner to the surrounding municipal networks or to the camps’ networks in the case of gatherings that are adjacent to camps; however no coordination mechanisms exist between the actors.

Duties and Responsibilities

The individual consultant will achieve the following tasks/activities:

Task 1: Technically assess the situation and needs in water and sanitation in the selected gatherings, in consultation with local communities and actors (local committees, municipalities, UNRWA, etc.). These shall include, but not limited to, water source development, water distribution, storage, and treatment; and sewage networks and disposal and treatment facilities and methods;
Task 2: Investigate and recommend the most efficient solutions to implement Water and Sewage systems in selected areas to ensure sustainability and economic viability. These could include new technologies or more traditional methods that are environmentally friendly;
Task 3: Assess the feasibility and components of WATSAN projects to be implemented, in consultation with local actors;
Task 4: Produce engineering studies (BOQs, illustrations, maps, etc.) and bidding documents in line with UNDP procurement guidelines and TORs when applicablefor WATSAN projects. All technical designs should be in line with national regulations and projects. The consultant should advise UNDP accordingly (e.g. need for EIAs, designs in line with other projects being implemented by CDR in surrounding municipalities, etc);
Task 5: Assess proposals submitted by contractors and make sure they correspond to the standards mentioned in the engineering studies and bidding documents;
Task 6: Review and approve the Schedule of Works submitted by the contractor;
Task 7: Acknowledge, on behalf of the project, receipt of materials that will be delivered by suppliers (if any); and make sure that the final count of the materials (received by contractors) is adequate to the bill of quantities and Standards and Specifications;
Task 8: Supervise the implementation of works on the ground and make sure works are compliant with the Standards and Specifications; provide technical guidance to the contractor and approve any changes in the work plan or BOQ along the course of implementation;
Task 9: Prepare weekly progress reports to the Project Manager and check and approve payments for contractors according to finished works.

For detailed information, please Refer to Annex I – Terms of Reference.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Functional Competencies:

Detailed knowledge of the Lebanese context and market;
Familiarity with relevant technical standards, norms, and current best practices and technologies;
Strong communications skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Degree in Civil Engineering with specialization in water and sanitation, hydraulic engineering or relevant degree.

Experience:

Minimum of 8 years of relevant local experience.

Languages:

Proficiency in Arabic and English.

Application procedure:

Kindly refer to the Individual Consultant Procurement Notice and all related Annexes by visiting the below link:

http://www.lb.undp.org/content/lebanon/en/home/operations/procurement/

Please make sure to submit all the requested documents/information; otherwise, your application will be considered incomplete.

Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.