UNDP Jobs - 69482- International Consultant to Provide Quality Assura

International Consultant to Provide Quality Assurance to the Revision and Harmonization of the National Energy Policy, Review Drafts of National Energy Bill and National Bioenergy Policy & Action Plan for Sierra Leone

Location :

Freetown, SIERRA LEONE

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Dec-2016

Application Deadline :

28-Nov-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Twenty Working Days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Twenty (20) working days between 1st December 2016 to 31st March 2017

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 Sierra Leone Government established a Directorate of Energy under the Ministry of Energy (MoE) in 2012 in recognition of the need to coordinate energy-related matters within the Ministry’s mandate. The mission of the Directorate of Energy is to: (i) Develop policies and programmes for the provision of energy (electricity and otherwise) on a constant, affordable and sustainable basis; and (ii) derive value out of natural resources as sources of energy for the benefit of the nation.

With support from UNDP and financing from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), a country-led project was designed to complement the national Energy Strategic Plan. The project aims to address the current regulatory, institutional, technical, financial and social barriers to energy efficient production and utilization of charcoal in Sierra Leone through innovative technologies and private sector involvement. One of the key objectives of the project is to facilitate the formulation and enforcement of relevant policies, laws and regulations, as well as to strengthen institutional capacity on biomass resource utilization at the national, regional and community level.

The National Energy Policy that was developed for Sierra Leone in 2009 falls short in advocating for the promotion of renewable energy sources. The existence of inadequate regulations and standards, guidelines and bylaws poses major challenges to the Directorate of Energy in fulfilling its mandate on promoting renewables. Adequate enforcement cannot be attained without the requisite reviewing and updating as well as harmonisations of fragmented policies, regulations and legislation.

Bioenergy is one of the dominant sources of energy supply in Sierra Leone, and is likely to continue to dominate as a prime energy source. This phenomenon, together with the steady development of biofuels as an alternative energy supply, emphasizes the need to ensure that the supply of bioenergy is as environmentally sustainable as possible. Although bioenergy sources hold the potential to reduce dependency on non-renewable energy sources, and reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions, their cultivation poses a challenge to food security. As such, there is a clear need to ensure that an adequate legal framework exists, in order to guide: (i) environmentally sustainable supply and quality production; (ii) efficient conversion and utilization; (iii) transportation; (iv) marketing, pricing and incentives; and (v) institutional development.

On behalf of the MoE, UNDP is requesting the services of a Legal Consultancy firm to (i) Revise and Harmonize the National Energy Policy, (ii) Draft a National Energy Bill, and (iii) Draft a National Bioenergy Policy & Action Plan for Sierra Leone.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Project Manager, and in close collaboration with Directorate of Energy in the Ministry of Energy and the UNDP EENRM Team Leader, the contractor will be expected to perform but not limited to the following key functions:

Review legislative and institutional frameworks of other countries that could serve as examples of good practices, and integrate appropriate elements in the policy and action plan for Sierra Leone.
Review the draft National Energy Policy, draft Energy Bill, and National Bioenergy Policy & Action Plan, and provide constructive technical inputs and recommendations for strengthening the documents in compliance with international standards and best practices.
Participate as a resource person in a 3-day national-level consultation workshop (scheduled to take place in February, 2017.

Deliverables and Timelines

Based on the scope of work outlined above, the contractor will be expected to deliver the following outputs:

Detailed inception report, including timelines and activities that the contractor plans to undertake in order to complete this assignment, to be submitted for review and approval to UNDP with copy to the Director of Energy within 5 working days upon contract signature.
Report of an overview of the existing national legal instruments and international frameworks relevant to the proposed policy and action plan including their strengths, gaps and weakness and recommendations to address these to be submitted within 10 working days after signing of contract.
Inputs on drafts (i) National Energy Policy, (ii) National Energy Bill, and (iii) National Bioenergy Policy & Action Plan for Sierra Leone with clear outlines of the proposed relevant institutional framework to implement the action plan, reflecting the outcomes of the reviews and consultations undertaken, to be submitted within 40 working days after signing of contract.

Recommendations for final (i) National Energy Policy, (ii) Draft a National Energy Bill, and (iii) Draft a National Bioenergy Policy & Action Plan for Sierra Leone presented to the Ministry of Energy to be submitted within 60 working days after signing of contract including the following.

Competencies

Excellent analytical and research skills.
Demonstrated expertise in drafting and reviewing technical reports.
Excellent communication skills, and fluency in spoken and written English.
Demonstrated expertise in areas relevant to renewable energy, including biomass conversion and rural charcoal production, as well as issues related to marketability.

Required Skills and Experience

This assignment requires the services of a individual international consultant based in the country that can demonstrate adequate analytical capacity and that can provide a legal firm with expertise relevant to providing technical support to quality assurance. The consultant should provide:

Record of similar work performed and completed.

Beside the provision of the profile of the individual and evidence based of previous works of similar nature, the consultant should provide summary CVs of its technical specialists as below:

Education:

Advanced University Degree in Law, Environmental Studies or other professional area relevant to this assignment.

Experience:

At least seven years of relevant working experience, at a senior level.
Demonstrated understanding of the principles applicable to drafting of legal and regulatory instruments.
Experience in providing professional advice to Government institutions concerning legislative drafting of constitutional, environment or other public law issues.
Experience working for an international organization would be an advantage.

Language:

Fluency in English.

How to Apply:

Qualified individuals are hereby requested to apply. The application must contain the following:

Brief letter of application.
Description of similar assignment that has been undertaken by the individual
Summary CVs of Technical staff for the assignment
Submission of relevant documentations as indicated above
Brief description (max. 4 pages) of the proposed methodology on how to complete the assignment.
Financial proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price supported by a breakdown of costs (including professional fee, and specified other costs if applicable)

Note:

The information in the breakdown of the offered lump sum amount provided by the offeror will be used as the basis for determining best value for money, and as reference for any amendments of the contract.
The agreed contract amount will remain fixed regardless of any factors causing an increase in the cost of any of the components in the breakdown that are not directly attributable to UNDP.
Approved local travel related to this assignment will be arranged and paid by UNDP Sierra Leone.

Please note that applications will only be considered if they include ALL of the items listed above. Also note that the UNDP job portal website only allows for one document to be uploaded, so please combine all of the abovementioned items into one single Word or PDF document before uploading.

Evaluation Criteria

Offers received will be evaluated using a Combined Scoring method, where the qualifications and proposed methodology will be weighted 70%, and combined with the price offer, which will be weighted 30%. Only consultants obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the Technical Evaluation will be considered for the Financial Evaluation. Criteria to be used for rating the qualifications and methodology:

Technical evaluation criteria (total 70 points):

Professional qualifications and technical experience of the applicant with respect to the TOR: 40 points.
Methodology of approach (max 4 page) in accomplishing the consultancy including though not limited to (a) stakeholder engagement strategy, (b) timeline: 30 points.

Financial evaluation (total 30 points):

All technically qualified proposals will be scored out 30 based on the formula provided below. The maximum points (30) will be assigned to the lowest financial proposal. All other proposals receive points according to the following formula: p = y (µ/z) where: p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated; y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal; µ = price of the lowest priced proposal; z = price of the proposal being evaluated.

Payment Modalities

Payment to the contractor will be made in four instalments upon satisfactory completion of the following deliverables:

1st instalment: 30% upon review and approval of the detailed inception report by UNDP;
2nd instalment: 50% upon review and approval of the i) Report of an overview of the existing national legal instruments and international frameworks, ii) Draft National Energy Policy, (iii) Draft a National Energy Bill, and (iv) Draft a National Bioenergy Policy & Action Plan for Sierra Leone;
3rd Instalment: 20% upon review and approval of the final i) National Energy Policy, (ii) Draft a National Energy Bill, and (iii) Draft a National Bioenergy Policy & Action Plan for Sierra Leone including annexes.