Background

UNDP Global Mission Statement

UNDP is the UN’s global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with national counterparts on their own solutions to global and national development challenges.

UNDP Afghanistan Mission Statement

UNDP supports stabilization, state-building, governance and development priorities in Afghanistan. UNDP support, in partnership with the Government, the United Nations system, the donor community and other development stakeholders, has contributed to institutional development efforts leading to positive impact on the lives of Afghan citizens. Over the years UNDP support has spanned such milestone efforts as the adoption of the Constitution; Presidential, Parliamentary and Provincial Council elections; institutional development through capacity-building to the legislative, the judicial and executive arms of the state, and key ministries, Government agencies and commissions at the national and subnational levels.

Organizational Context

The Afghanistan Sustainable Energy for Rural Development and Climate Change Adaptation programme developed by MRRD and UNDP builds on the existing efforts to provide energy to adapt to the effect of climate change at rural areas of Afghanistan. Rural areas of Afghanistan which remains socio-economically underdeveloped in terms of education, incidence of poverty, and access to infrastructure. Lack of access to modern forms of energy has serious health implications on rural Afghans and predominantly affects women and children.

The project has been developed to address lack of access to energy in rural areas and adopt with the effect of climate change, which will contribute significantly increasing the access to thermal energy and electricity through a technology neutral approach, in rural communities in Afghanistan. This will result in increasing the access to electricity, clean cooking and heating options and will contribute to a tangible reduction in the pre-mature deaths of women and children due to indoor air pollution. The project will pilot seven innovative financing models which once successful will be mainstreamed. The project will also establish conducive policy and regulatory frameworks and capacity development of key stakeholders. It is envisaged that, the project will establish a sustainable rural energy supply approach which can be scaled up beyond the project period. 

This initiation plan is to develop a proposal to mobilize funds for climate change resilience, following a feasibility study for at least 48 sites identifying potential areas for renewable energy generation as one of the top requirement; identifying economic development options that can be linked in provision of affordable energy; identifying climate change adaptation elements and mobilize local community support soliciting their ideas to be incorporated and envisaged in the proposal.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work and Deliverables:

Under the supervision of Section Head of Livelihood and Resilience (L&R)  unit and in close coordination with the relevant programme officer and project staff, the Consultant –, will perform the following duties:

• Develop Environmental and Social Impact Assessment;

• Develop Environmental and Social Management Plan;

• Develop other supporting documents required for the funding proposal related to the environmental data.

The  Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and Management Plan contains the items below:

• Overview of the environmental and social situation in the country;

  Assessment of climate change adaptation and mitigation impact;

• Climate variability and extreme events;

• Information on the relevant NDA and Implementing Entity re their capacity to implement a project of; and their experience re E and S (including nomadic/IPs etc) across the provinces;

• Information on all the relevant laws that may be in some way applicable.  For example, include the relevant laws consistent with the Lao ESMF;

• Details of the multi-lateral conventions etc that Afghanistan has signed for environmental, social, indigenous, nomadic peoples etc for both the ESMF and IPPF;

• Meteorological data for each provinces.  This includes temperature (maximum, minimum, mean etc), rainfall by month, wind etc etc.;

• Details of general ecology/biodiversity within all provinces. This should describe the forests, ground vegetation, etc, what the areas are used for currently re forestry, grazing etc, details of all levels of animals including fish, reptiles, amphibians, mammals etc that are within the provinces (not just the specific sites); details of any protected areas including internationally listed sites;

• Details about the surface waters in the relevant provinces.  Infrastructure being built in the rivers, this will need to include hydrological data and modelling.  Details of the rivers where the HPPs etc will be built, the catchment/basin size, topography, geology, vegetation characteristics.  Information on surface water quality and quantity, the amount of water that is taken out of the systems, whether the rivers stop flow/freeze during the winter months, information on temperature given the nature of the projects eg HPP.  Any details about water quality issues, water pollution;

• Information about groundwater across the provinces to understand what the quality and quantity of the groundwater ecosystems are, are there any groundwater depended ecosystems that may be impacted through any interactions and any modelling that may have been undertaken;

• Details about the air quality and noise within the relevant provinces. This includes the proximity of all the projects to major, medium and small towns/cities, what happens re climatic events with air pollution as a result of wood burning etc, are their weather inversions that occur in valleys;

• Details about the topography, geology and soil types within the provinces;

• Details on social issues in the relevant provinces.  What are the existing populations within each area.  Could the project for example, cause conflict between users and their ability to access power to the detriment of others. What is the social structure, eg women headed households, employment, etc and how could the project change that.  Details of any traditional customs that occur within the provinces and how these will be included in the social management of the project.  How could the project change the status of people living in the communities;

• Details of any important Archaeological and Cultural Heritage sites that might exist in any of the provinces and the status of those sites if any;

• Include any other items as deemed as necessary or advised by the supervisor.

Expected Outputs, Deliverables; Timelines and Payment percentage:

• Deliverable 1: Develop and finalize Environmental and Social Impact Assessment with acceptance by UNDP and government counterpart, 15 working days - 45 %

• Deliverable 2: Develop and finalize Environmental and Social Management Plan with acceptance by UNDP and government counterpart, 15 working days -45 %

• Deliverable 3: Develop other supporting documents required for the funding proposal related to the environmental data, 5 working days – 10% after submission and acceptance by UNDP management.

Payment Modality: 

Payments under the contract shall be delivery based and be made on receipt of the specific milestone reports indicated above, and including a timesheet according to UNDP procurement formats for individual contractors. These shall be as indicated in the table above, and shall be made upon approval by the relevant Head of L&R Unit. The draft of the assessment and recommendations will be reviewed by Head of L&R Unit. Upon receipt of final comments, the consultant shall finalize the report for formal acceptance by UNDP at which point the final payment shall be released.

Competencies

Competencies:

• Demonstrated expertise in gender analysis and gender assessment;

• Excellent interpersonal and facilitation skills.

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.

Special skills requirements

• Analytic capacity and demonstrated ability to process, analyses and synthesize complex, gender related information;

• Proven experience in the developing country context and working in different cultural settings;

• Good knowledge and awareness of gender issues and how they impact upon men and women’s roles especially in community development;

• Excellent inter-personal, communication, and teamwork skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in the area of social science, environment, natural resource or other closely related field.

Years of experience:

• At least 5 years of relevant work experience in the area of research and evaluation, environmental impact assessment and related initiatives;

• Related working experience in the developing countries is essential.

Language:

• Excellent English writing skills.

Working Arrangements:

Institutional Arrangements

• The International Consultant will work under the overall guidance and supervision of the Section Chief, L&R unit and relevant Programme Officer.

Duration of the Work:

• 35 working days (25 working days Kabul based and 10 working days home based)

Duty Station:

• Home based and Kabul, Afghanistan

Price Proposals and Schedule of Payment:

The contractor shall submit a price proposal as below:

• Daily Fee – The contractor shall propose a daily fee, which should be inclusive of his professional fee, local communication cost and insurance (inclusive of medical health insurance and evacuation). The number of working days for which the daily fee shall be payable under the contract is 35 working days;
• The contractor shall propose a Living Allowance at the Kabul applicable rate of USD 162 per night for his/her stay at the duty station. The number of nights for which the Living allowance shall be payable under the contract is 25 nights. The contractor is NOT allowed to stay in a place of his choice other than the UNDSS approved places. UNDP will provide MORSS compliant accommodation in UNOCA to the contractor. The payment of accommodation shall be made directly by the contractor;
• Travel & Visa – The contractor shall propose an estimated lump-sum for home-Kabul-home travel (economy most direct route) and Afghanistan visa expenses.

The total professional fee, shall be converted into a lump-sum contract and payments under the contract shall be made on submission and acceptance of deliverables under the contract in accordance with the schedule of payment linked with deliverables.

Evaluation Method and Criteria

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined 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 (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Technical Criteria 70 points

Technical Proposal (30 marks)

• Technical Approach & Methodology (20 marks) – This explain the understanding of the objectives of the assignment, approach to the services, methodology for carrying out the activities and obtaining the expected output, and the degree of detail of such output. The Applicant should also explain the methodologies proposed to adopt and highlight the compatibility of those methodologies with the proposed approach;
• Work Plan (10 marks) – The Applicant should propose the main activities of the assignment, their content and duration, phasing and interrelations, milestones (including interim approvals by the Client), and delivery dates. The proposed work plan should be consistent with the technical approach and methodology, showing understanding of the TOR and ability to translate them into a feasible working plan.

Qualification and Experience (40 marks) [evaluation of CV]:

• General Qualification (10 marks);
• Experience relevant to the assignment (25 marks);
• Experience of working for projects funded by UNDP (5 marks).

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document:

• Duly accomplished confirmation of Interest and Submission of Financial Proposal Template using the template provided by UNDP (Annex II);

• Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references.

Technical Proposal:

• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment;

• A methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment and work plan as indicated above.