Background
This project aims to strengthen conservation of snow leopard ecosystems and landscapes and ensure stability of global snow leopard population by addressing drivers of existing and emerging threats. The main global environmental problem that the project will contribute generally to is to halt the decline of snow leopard populations and to secure the snow leopard ecosystems in the 12 range countries (Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Kingdom of Bhutan, People’s Republic of China, Republic of India, Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Russian Federation, Republic of Tajikistan, and Republic of Uzbekistan). The project aims to facilitate advancement of national and regional actions that the 12 snow leopard range countries have agreed to under the aegis of the Global Snow Leopard Programme that was signed at the Snow Leopard Forum in Bishkek in 2013. The project is in line with existing national strategies and national priorities of the 12 range countries.
The project will specifically focus on the 5 countries in the Central Asian region. This focus speaks to the need for a regional initiative that includes all the range countries in the region that complements the national actions for enabling the transboundary conservation of snow leopards and their habitats. The Central Asian region faces several common environmental challenges including managing rivers and river basins, and fighting against wild life crime and trafficking, managing transboundary landscapes and ecosystems. These are inherently cross-border in nature and can only be tackled effectively through a cooperative effort at regional level. Although there were some initiatives for regional cooperation most have been focused on issues related to water and energy in particular regional use of water for production of hydropower or for irrigation. Unlike in the other regions, there has been currently limited experience in regional cooperation in the Central Asian region in the broader environmental management and in particular in joint management and conservation of transboundary landscapes. In addition, national regulation implementation and enforcement remain weak particularly in transboundary areas due to the limited administrative capacity while public and local community participation are presently less developed. The full PPG-IP document can be accessed at this link:
PIMS 5413 Global Snow Leopard_Initiation Plan_15Jan2015 needs OIC signature.doc
UNDP-GEF would like to engage an experienced consultant, who has a strong biodiversity background and who can quickly and effectively prepare a GEF a medium sized project (MSP) and corresponding support documentation for PIMS 5413 (Global): Transboundary Cooperation for Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Conservation. This document will be submitted to the GEF following further information gathering and stakeholder consultation, and will be accompanied by co-financing letters in line with the Project Identification Form (PIF).
Duties and Responsibilities
The overall objective of the consultant is to prepare the medium-size Project Document and GEF CEO Approval Request Form for project “Transboundary Cooperation for Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Conservation” for approval by the Global Environment Facility. The UNDP-GEF Project Development Expert will take the lead, in collaboration with the UNDP, key stakeholders, implementing and executing agencies, in designing the project document.
The key duties and responsibilities of the Expert are:
- Supporting UNDP in providing technical advice and guidance on GEF requirements and inputs to the formulation of the UNDP and GEF Project Documents for the “Transboundary Cooperation for Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Conservation” project;
- Provide strategic guidance to UNDP to ensure that all the necessary elements are covered in sufficient details to meet GEF approval of the CEO Endorsement;
- Working together with the local consultants and lead completion of the UNDP Project Document and CEO Endorsement, drafting sections, providing review comments/inputs and finalizing the documents;
- Review the official comments from UNDP, the Scientific and Technical Panel (STAP), GEF and others, and assist in preparation of responses;
- Conduct feasibility analysis of different options for the implementation of project activities and project governance;
- Ensure action points from the UNDP environmental and social screening process (ESSP) for the PIF stage are fully implemented during the PPG;
- Conduct the full UNDP ESSP and compile a summary report indicating results of the PPG investigation and future actions;
- Define and validate the project outcomes, outputs, and activities based on a logical framework analysis and baseline gathered by the PPG team;
- Design the project Monitoring and Evaluation system and provide guidance and orientation to the project implementation unit on defining appropriate indicators and targets to track project progress and effectiveness;
- Develop the results framework of the project with SMART indicators, baseline and targets with specific information for the selected transboundary landscapes (and indirect replication to all snow leopard landscapes in the 12 range states);
- Completion of the relevant GEF Biodiversity Tracking Tool with inputs from the local consultants and national partners
- Compile the final baseline/situational analysis for the project based on the inputs from project consultants and contractual service providers and in close cooperation with the key national stakeholders. This will include a precise definition of baseline projects, activities, budgets, goals, and co-financing links to GEF outcomes, definition of GEF incremental value per outcome and output, and development of incremental cost matrices describing and evaluating (costing) any alternative means of achieving the goals of the project;
- Perform final reviews of the required project documentation including quality control of outputs produced by the local consultants;
- Compile response to GEF Secretariat’s, council and STAP review comments and make necessary revisions to the documents.
Outputs
The key deliverable of the Project Development Expert will be a final comprehensive project document in both GEF and UNDP formats and the CEO Approval Request Document, which needs to be technically cleared by the UNDP Regional Technical Adviser for Biodiversity and Ecosystems.
Deliverable 1:
- Detailed timeline of activities and responsibilities for the preparatory process;
- Proposed methodology and formats for collecting information for the PPG consultant team;
- Virtual inception workshop report that includes technical advice on data collection, planning and project monitoring, focusing on the approach to describe and quantify the project baselines;
- Final report with observations and comments on the products.
Deliverable 1 Due Date: 2 weeks from start of assignment.
Deliverable 2:
- Logical framework and Total Budget and Work Plan table;
- Draft documents: ProDoc, CEO Endorsement Request, SESP and Tracking Tool in English, revised, updated and including required attachments, in accordance with the guidelines and requirements of UNDP-GEF.
Deliverable 2 Due Date: 15 May 2015
Deliverable 3:
- Final documents: Project Document, CEO Endorsement Request, SESP checklist and ABS Tracking Tool, updated in response to the reviews and opinions of relevant stakeholders.
Deliverable 3 Due Date: 15 June2015.
Deliverable 4:
• Project Document, CEO Endorsement Request, SESP and Tracking Tool, updated in response to the reviews and comments of the UNDP-GEF RCU, the GEF Secretariat and the GEF Council.
Deliverable 4 Due Date: 1-30 June 2015.
Institutional arrangements
- Estimated level of effort, including travel, is 45 working days;
- The consultant will work from home with possible mission travel;
- The consultant will report to, and be directly supervised by, UNDP-GEF Regional Technical Advisor (RTA) for Ecosystems and Biodiversity, who is based in Bangkok, Thailand;
- 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 own working station (i.e. laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, etc.) and must have access to a reliable internet connection;
- The consultant will engage regularly by email, Skype and/or and phone on a weekly and/or as needed daily basis;
- Payment will be made upon satisfactory submission and acceptance of deliverables. The quality of the final documents will be evaluated by the RTA. If the quality does not meet standards or requirements, the consultant will be asked to rewrite or revise (as necessary) the document before proceeding to payment.
Travel:
- Anticipated travel to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan to participate in one day consultation meeting on 21 March 2015, immediately following the GSLEP Steering Committee Meeting and a few days in the region interacting with partners. Timing, location, and number of days to meet with partners to be determined;
- All travels must be authorized in advance and in writing by the supervisor;
- The Advanced and Basic Security in the Field II courses must be successfully completed prior to commencement of travel;
- Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director;
- Consultants are required to comply with the UN security directives;
- The consultant will be responsible for making his/her own mission travel arrangements in line with UNDP travel policies;
- Consultants are responsible for obtaining any visas needed in connection with travel with the necessary support from UNDP;
- All related travel expenses will be reimbursed as per UNDP rules and regulations upon submission of an F-10 claim form and supporting documents;
- Costs for round trip economy fare tickets, terminal expenses, and daily living allowances should not be included in financial proposal.
Competencies
Corporate Competencies:
- Demonstrates integrity by modelling 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:
- Demonstrated excellence in clear, concise and convincing writing and communication skills;
- Highly organized with strong analytical and research skills;
- Demonstrated ability to work effectively as part of a collaborative team and process;
- Ability to work with multiple stakeholders across a wide range of disciplines;
- Ability to work under pressure and time constraints;
- 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.
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
- Master’s or equivalent degree in biodiversity conservation, natural or environmental sciences or other related expertise areas. (max 10 points).
Experience:
- Minimum 10-years professional experience in programme/project formulation and project monitoring and evaluation. GEF project development experience desirable; experience formulating UNDP biodiversity projects an advantage; (max 50 points);
- Demonstrated understanding of the GEF rationale and procedures, and demonstrated experience in formulation of GEF-funded project proposals, using the logical framework and the results-based management approaches. Proven record of projects developed under Biodiversity Focal Area and approved by GEF; (max 20 points);
- Experience working with government institutions, as well as, civil society/private organizations (max 20 points).
Language Requirements:
- Fluency in written and spoken English. (10 points).
Scope of Price Proposal:
- Financial proposals must be all inclusive and must be expressed as an all-inclusive daily fee in USD. The term ‘all inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, utilities, consumables, insurance, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the proposal;
- Payments will be made based on the agreed lump sum and released upon submission of a certificate of payment request, indicating outputs achieved and days worked to be verified and cleared for payment by the supervisor.
Evaluation Criteria and Selection of Best Offer:
- 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 a maximum 110 points. Only the top 3 candidates that have achieved a minimum of 77 points from the review of the technical criteria will be deemed technically qualified and considered for financial evaluation;
- Financial score (max 100 points) shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal of those technically qualified;
- The financial proposal shall specify an all-inclusive daily fee, including breakdown per deliverable as outlined above. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal must additionally include a breakdown of this daily fee (including all foreseeable expenses to carry out the assignment);
- Applicant receiving the Highest Combined Score and has accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions will be awarded the contract.
Documentation required:
- Applicants must submit a duly completed and signed UNDP Personal History form (P11) to be downloaded from the link below;
- Please also provide your all-inclusive daily fee proposal for the assignment, including number of all foreseeable expenses to carry out the assignment.
Kindly note you can upload only one document to this application (scan all documents in one single PDF file to attach). 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: