UNDP Jobs - 54963- International Consultant: Project Formulation (Wat

International Consultant: Project Formulation (Water Resources Management)

Location :

Home based and travel to Uzbekistan, UZBEKISTAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

31-Mar-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

25 working days (April– May, 2015)

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 Government of Uzbekistan with support from UNDP is completing a five year project in water resources management, which has produced two important outputs - an IWRM Plan for the Zarafshan River basin and the new Water Code, both awaiting national adoption. Implementation of the project revealed the need for further strengthening of strategic water resources planning and management, as existing framework is costly and unsustainable, particularly in view of climate change. Therefore, UNDP together with the Government of Uzbekistan, other national and international partners has embarked on a design of a new water management programme which will support the Government of Uzbekistan is further enhancing water management at national and local levels, strengthening the legal framework and promote efficient agricultural technologies.

Objective

UNDP seeks a highly qualified and capable International Consultant on water resource management and planning who, on the basis of his/her knowledge and experience will provide technical assistance to UNDP in producing high quality project documents as per expectations and requirements of the Government and donors, providing key contributions indicated below. The objective of this contract is therefore to produce: a) a UNDP Project Document and b) an EU Description of Action and build consensus among key stakeholders in Uzbekistan.

Scope of work

Review various documents including ProDoc of the ongoing UNDP project and projects of other donors working in the water sector, various studies and evaluation reports, knowledge products, laws and bylaws and other background materials related to water management in Uzbekistan;
Undertake a mission to Uzbekistan to liaise with relevant stakeholders to ensure a broad stakeholder engagement in the design of the project to ensure transparency and ownership of major groups interested in the results and conclusions of the project;
During the mission, consult with relevant stakeholders including Government, EU, UNDP, other donors and civil society organizations at national and local level for informed project development process;
Review project activities, achievement, challenges and lessons learnt from the ongoing UNDP project;
Analyze the scope for potential synergies for the proposed project with other current interventions/projects/programmes within UNDP and beyond;
The project formulation team will comprise of one International Consultant and two national consultants. The International Consultant will manage the work, inputs and deliverables and other information from national consultants as might be required for producing UNDP ProDoc and EU Description of Action;

Define:

project outcomes, outputs and activities;
key national and regional stakeholders;
roles and responsibilities of the various project partners;
budgetary inputs of all project partners to the project;
implementation and management arrangements;
project time frame and budget;
monitoring and evaluation framework;
ToRs for key project staff;
other necessary parts and components to ensure completeness, feasibility and potential effectiveness and efficiency of the planned project implementation phase;

The consultant will work in close coordination with UNDP Environment and Energy Unit at UNDP Uzbekistan and in close cooperation with water experts identified to lead project formulation work on UNDP’s behalf. The international consultant will define individual work-plans of national consultants and will be responsible for overseeing their work. Interaction with relevant Government and international partners will be through UNDP Uzbekistan.

Duties and Responsibilities

Review and finalize draft project formulation work-plan, which describes key activities, responsible parties and timelines;
Mobilize the team of local consultants/experts (to be recruited by UNDP) to carry out data collection and implement relevant parts of the work-plan. To this end, consultant will be expected to set tasks, accept deliverables, consolidate and use as might be required for project formulation. Provide timely advice and guidance to national consultants so that they can fulfill their tasks of data gathering, analysis, and reporting.
Review approved EU Action Fiche which describes expected results and activities; Draft and align UNDP ProDoc and EU Description of Action (to be signed between UNDP and the EU) with the approved EU Action Fiche;
Identify national (and regional) stakeholders, and carry out (and document) consultations with key project stakeholders and implementing partners to agree on the design of the Project;

Describe and elaborate project components, expected outcomes, inputs and outputs and accompanying activities in view of:

assessment of water resources issues and priorities;
analysis of existing and further developing of effective cross-sectoral coordination mechanism (composition, role and tasks; specific support to the mechanism, such as secretariat services; managing horizontal and vertical exchange and flow of information);
stakeholder participation process (stakeholder analysis, managing participation and dialogue);
capacity building and awareness raising activities (contents and delivery of capacity building in connection with practical demonstration at pilots, e.g. workshops, field days, target audiences);
Other activities as emerging and necessary.

Define project management and implementation arrangements, including project personnel and short-term inputs. Define roles, responsibilities and functions of project implementing partners, and their inputs (activities) they will provide to project components.
Draw up a logical framework, including the project monitoring and evaluation plan, as well as the project outcome and outcome-output-input budgets, as per templates of UNDP (ProDoc) and EU (Description of Action);
Organize a verification workshop confirming the draft ProDoc and EU DoA with all stakeholders;
Draft UNDP Project Document and EU DoA, addressing all donor and UNDP requirements. Finalize as per comments received from UNDP and partners;
Perform other duties relevant to the project formulation process jointly agreed with UNDP;

Key milestones

The total duration of the assignment will be 30 working days between March-May, 2015 according to the following draft plan.

Preparatory work (5 w/days):

Initial discussion with UNDP to discuss expected results as per ToR and clarify any outstanding matters;
Familiarization with the overall development situation of Uzbekistan (based on reading of CCA and other agency reports on the country) and particularly in the water management sector;
A detailed work plan with time schedule, which includes deskwork and mission to Uzbekistan and expected deliverables of consultant’s work, should be submitted to UNDP within 1 week of signing the contract with UNDP;
Liaise with the national consultants to define their scope of work and initial data requirements;

Mission to Uzbekistan (5 w/days):

In consultation with UNDP, identify dates for a 5-day mission to Uzbekistan and put together a draft programme;
Meet with key national and international partners to identify key issues to be addressed by the programme, within the general framework as defined by the approved EU Action Fiche;
Facilitate a stakeholder workshop to discuss key priorities to be addressed by the programme, to ensure ownership and buy-in;

Mission follow-up (10 w/days):

Following the mission to Uzbekistan, liaise with national consultants for any information gaps identified during the mission;
Produce the first drafts of UNDP ProDoc and EU DoA which shall be submitted to UNDP no later than 1 week following the mission to Uzbekistan;
Address comments from UNDP and partners. The prepared documents should make sense technically, financially, and especially politically. Once comments are addressed, UNDP will formally submit the project documents for Government approval.

Technical backstopping (5 w/days):

Once document is formally submitted to the Government, the International Consultants should be on standby for further revisions of the document for a range of comments to be receiving from the Government and donors;
The final UNDP Project Document and EU Description of Action is considered accepted upon official confirmation from the Government and donors on their readiness to countersign such documents;

Deliverables 1

Desk work- April 13-17; Deliverable 1 (10%)

Initial discussion with UNDP to discuss expected results as per ToR and clarify any outstanding matters;
Familiarization with the overall development situation of Uzbekistan and particularly in the water management sector;
A detailed work plan with time schedule, which includes deskwork and mission to Uzbekistan and expected deliverables of consultant’s work;
Define the scope of work of national consultants and initial data requirements.

Deliverables 2.

Mission to Uzbekistan- April;

Deliverable 2 (40%)

Identify dates for a 5-day mission to Uzbekistan and put together a draft programme (in consultation with UNDP)
Meet with key national and international partners to identify key issues to be addressed by the programme, within the general framework as defined by the approved EU Action Fiche
Facilitate a stakeholder workshop to discuss key priorities to be addressed by the programme, to ensure ownership and buy-in

Deliverables 3.

Mission follow-up- April - May

Deliverable 3 (40%)

Liaise with national consultants for any information gaps identified during the mission;
Produce the first drafts of UNDP ProDoc and EU DoA
Address comments from UNDP and partners and prepare final drafts of project documents

Deliverable 4 (10%)

Revise the final drafts of Project Documents, based on final feedback from the Government and donor, as required for signature;

This is a lump sum contract that includes all costs of consultancy, including travel and daily subsistence allowance required to produce the above-mentioned deliverables. The contract amount will be released in four instalments as per completion of above deliverables, subject to acceptance by UNDP.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Proficiency in the work with Microsoft Packages;
Ability to work in close collaboration with a group of national and international experts, to meet strict deadlines and plan the work according to priorities;
Strong interpersonal and communication skills;
Strong analytical, presentation, and writing skills;
Good cross-cultural, facilitation and training skills;
Partnership building and networking;
Ability to work independently and as part of a team.

.Corporate competencies:

Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Academic/Scientific degree in Social or Natural Sciences related to Water Management, Economics and/or Public Policy on Water, Water Resources Management. A relevant multi-disciplinary background is considered useful.

Experience:

Demonstrated scientific or practical experience in water resources management, including experience with policy development and capacity building in water and environmental issues, as well as a good understanding of water management in relation to sustainable development and poverty reduction from a developing country perspective (specific knowledge of water management in Central Asia is considered an asset)
Extensive experience (10 years or more) in drafting high quality project documents in the area of water resources management, subsequently approved for funding by donors (experience with UNDP and EU is an asset);
Familiarity with legal frameworks, policy and planning process on water and environment in developing countries or transition economies (knowledge of Uzbekistan’s legal frameworks and policies on water will be an advantage), and familiarity with the MDGs (and SDGs) and other relevant UN global/regional processes;
Familiarity with the United Nations system, multi-and bilateral donors, water and environmentally related NGOs, academic institutions;
Demonstrated experience in leading multi-stakeholder consultations, meetings and building consensus around issues of common interest;
Ability to use ICT as a tool and resource. Excellent knowledge of MS Word/Excel/Powerpoint
Previous relevant experience in Uzbekistan is an asset.

Language Requirements

Proficiency in both written and oral English;
Working knowledge of Russian and/or Uzbek languages will be an asset.

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

P-11 form and Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability

Applicants are required to fill and sign a P11 Form and Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability and submit it to the online application

Above mentioned documents can be obtained at http://www.uz.undp.org/content/uzbekistan/en/home/operations/jobs/

Application process:

To submit your application online, please follow the steps below:

Download and complete the UN Personal History Form (P11) and Offeror’s Letter;
Merge your P11, Offeror’s Letter and Proposal into a single file;
Click on the Job Title;
Click “Apply Now” button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and click “Submit Application”;
Upload your forms

You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

Note:

Only shortlisted candidates will be asked to provide a financial proposal.

Financial Proposal

Lump sum contracts:

This is a lump sum contract. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount. 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 will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days);
The payment will be made in four installments to be issued upon completion and submission of Performance Evaluation Form (PEF) on the works performed as indicated in the terms of reference.

Travel

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. In general, UNDP does not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Evaluation

The individual consultants will be evaluated based on the Cumulative analysis methodology.
The award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

Responsive/compliant/acceptable;
Having received the highest score out of the set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation;
Technical Criteria weight – 70%;
Financial Criteria weight – 30%.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points for the Technical Criteria will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.