Background

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council recently approved the Program Framework Document (PFD) for the Africa Mini-grids Program (AMP). The overall program objective of AMP is to support African countries to increase energy access by reducing the cost and increasing commercial viability of renewable energy mini-grids. The program has two main elements:

• A cohort of National ‘Child’ Projects, each with a set of tailored activities in line with the program’s three thematic areas of: (i) policy and regulations; (ii) business model innovation and private sector; and (iii) innovative finance. The program will initially support a first round of 11 national child project concepts approved in the GEF December 2019 work program. These 11 countries are: Angola, Burkina Faso, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan.  Funding for national child projects has come from GEF STAR resources (9 of the 11 approved concept notes), UNDP TRAC, and AFDB Sustainable Energy for All (SEFA), as well as, other co-financing sources;
• A Regional Project, to support the program’s national child projects, and the Africa mini-grid market more generally, offering three core sets of activities: (i) knowledge tools for both public and private actors; (ii) tailored technical assistance to countries; and (iii) convening, dissemination, and tracking of progress. The Rocky Mountain Institute is UNDP’s main partner for the regional project. Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) is an impartial not-for-profit organization with a 37-year history of creating market-led energy transformations globally. Its work in mini-grids focuses on reducing cost of service and supporting innovative business models.

The AMP program is broadly focused on supporting appropriate policies and enabling environments; cost-reduction – across hardware costs, soft costs and financing costs; and promoting innovative business models for mini-grids. The programmatic approach aims to achieve greater impact by helping create new mini-grid markets across the continent, which, in aggregate, will create scale and momentum, attracting private sector interest and investment. The programmatic approach will also allow for a broader sharing of good practice and create economies of scale in providing program services. The program will support and facilitate knowledge management and information sharing between the regional project and national child projects, within the program’s community of practice, as well as broader information sharing amongst the larger mini-grid community.

The initial 11 aforementioned countries participating in the program represent a diverse cross-section of: African countries, both large as well as smaller markets; Anglophone and Francophone countries; small island developing states; and countries in post-crisis contexts.

The program is structured as four components, across national child projects and the regional child project, as set out in Figure 1 below. This structure allows for a clear results framework for measuring impact across national child projects, with a commonality in outcomes, outputs and indicators in each component.

UNDP is now commencing a detailed project preparation phase expected to last 9-12 months. The PFD was approved by the GEF Council on 20 December 2019. At the end of the preparation phase, UNDP will finalize 9 project documents and CEO endorsements for approval/endorsement by the GEF CEO for the national child projects allocated GEF resources and one project document and CEO endorsement for the regional project supported by the GEF. In the case of Angola and Madagascar, while both projects are officially part of the Africa Mini-grids Program, these two projects are funded separately from the GEF, using UNDP TRAC and AfDB Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) resources. For Angola and Madagascar, UNDP will work closely with the AfDB SEFA team to prepare the required project documentation.

The Project Preparation Grant (PPG) team composition for each national child project will include the following international consultants:

• International UNDP-GEF Project Development (PPG Team Leader);
• International Social and Environmental Safeguards Coordination Consultant;
• International Social and Environmental Safeguards Support Consultant;
• International Social and Environmental Safeguards expert for a high-risk country (only for Sudan);
• Gender Specialist;
• Mini-grids Technical Experts (providing services for all participating child projects).

As per the 2018 GEF cancellation policy, the following key milestones will apply for the project preparation phase for each national child project:

Table 1: Key Dates for the GEF PPG

UNDP’s Social and Environmental Standards (SES) underpin our commitment to mainstream social and environmental sustainability in our Programmes and Projects to support sustainable development. The objectives of the standards are to:

•Strengthen the social and environmental outcomes of Programmes and Projects;

•Avoid adverse impacts to people and the environment;

•Minimize, mitigate, and manage adverse impacts where avoidance is not possible;

•Strengthen UNDP and partner capacities for managing social and environmental risks;

•Ensure full and effective stakeholder engagement, including through a mechanism to respond to complaints from project-affected people.

A key mechanism to ensure these standards are applied is through UNDP’s project-level Social and Environmental Screening Procedure (SESP) which is a requirement for all proposed projects. The objectives of the SESP are to:

(a)Integrate the SES Overarching Principles (human rights, gender equality and environmental sustainability);

(b)Identify potential social and environmental risks and their significance;

(c)Determine the Project's risk category (Low, Moderate, High); and

(d)Determine the level of social and environmental assessment and management required to address potential risks and impacts.

UNDP’s SES and SESP came into effect January 1, 2015. All guidance on UNDPs Social and Environmental Safeguards can be found in the SES Toolkit. Pre-SESPs were done for all national child project concept notes developed as part of the PFD submission and all child projects – with the exception of Sudan – were classified in the pre-SESP as medium-risk.

UNDP, in collaboration with the participating Governments, seeks to engage a qualified International Social and Environmental Safeguards Support Consultant to assist in finalizing the programme-wide ESMF and to prepare legal and institutional frameworks for each of the national child projects. The Consultant will be expected to provide quality assurance to data collected by national consultants, and to also finalize Indigenous People Plans for the relevant countries (Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Somalia).

Duties and Responsibilities

Task:

The SES Support Consultant will work closely with the Social and Environmental Safeguards Coordination Consultant to identify potential environmental and social risks, ways to avoid negative environmental and social impacts where possible, and where risk avoidance is not possible to identify appropriate mitigation and management measures, in line with the UNDP Social and Environmental Standards.

The Consultant will:

1. Prepare Indigenous Peoples Plans for the following countries: Nigeria, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, and Somalia;
2. Provide quality assurance on the preparation of a program-wide ESMF, in particular the legal and institutional framework content for each country.

Responsibilities:

The list below outlines key responsibilities and deliverables of this contract:

A. Indigenous Peoples Plans:

• Review and prepare content on Indigenous Peoples Plan for the applicable countries. Mission may be required to gather content and finalize plans for Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Nigeria, however for the case of Somalia, the content can be collected in coordination with national consultants.

B. Quality assurance on national inputs for ESMF, particularly legal and institutional frameworks for 8 child projects (not including Sudan):

• Review the pre-screening (SESP) of the Concept Note;
• Agree to a project-specific safeguards approach, workplan and mission schedule (as needed) with the PPG Team Leaders, UNDP Country Office and the UNDP-GEF Regional Technical Advisor (RTA);
• Familiarize other PPG team members with UNDP’s SES and specific requirements, as appropriate;
• Finalize legal and institutional framework content provided by each national consultant (excluding Sudan), for efficient inputs into the preparation of the overall ESMF by the Environmental and Social Safeguards Expert.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

Table 2. Deliverables, estimated duration, dates, fee percentage and required approvals

Information on Working Arrangements:

• The consultant will be home-based with missions to Nigeria, Ethiopia & Burkina Faso;
• The consultant will report to, and be directly supervised by, the relevant Regional Technical Advisor for Climate Change Mitigation and Energy at the Addis Regional Hub, and will receive directions from and coordinate closely with UNDP's Senior Advisor on Environmental Finance and Private Sector Development;
• The Consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment;
• The Consultant will work closely with national consultants compiling legal and institutional framework content;
• The Consultant will provide finalized content for review and incorporation into ESMF to the Social and Environmental Safeguard Expert;
• The Consultant will retain availability to support the finalization of all safeguards work on an as-needed basis;
• The Consultant will closely interact with the other consultants hired as part of the PPG Team;
• The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own workstation (i.e. laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, etc.) and must have access to reliable internet connection;
• Given the global consultations to be undertaken during this assignment, the consultant is expected to be reasonably flexible with his/her availability for such consultations taking into consideration different time zones;
• Payments will be made upon submission of a detailed time sheet and certification of payment form, and acceptance and confirmation by the Supervisor on days worked (with a “day” calculated as 8 hours of work) and outputs delivered.

Travel:

• Missions to Nigeria, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso with an estimated duration of 15 days (one mission of 5 days in each country, including travel days) might be required;
• Mission travel must be approved in advance and in writing by the Supervisor;
• The BSAFE course must be completed before the commencement of travel;
• Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when traveling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director;
• Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under https://dss.un.org/dssweb/; 
• The consultant will be responsible for making his/her mission travel arrangements in line with UNDP travel policies;
• All travel expenses related to mission travels will be supported by the project travel fund and will be reimbursed as per UNDP rules and regulations for consultants. Costs for mission airfares, terminal expenses, and living allowances should not be included in financial proposal.

Competencies

Corporate

• 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.

Functional

• Able to communicate effectively in writing to a varied and broad audience in a simple and concise manner;
• Capable of working in a high- pressure environment with sharp and frequent deadlines, managing many tasks simultaneously;
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills;
• Exercises the highest level of responsibility and be able to handle confidential and politically sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner;
• Works well in a team;
• Projects a positive image and is ready to take on a wide range of tasks;
• Focuses on results for the client;
• Welcomes constructive feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Master’s Degree or higher in a relevant field, such as Environment, Renewable Energy, Environmental Sciences, Development or a related discipline (Max Point 10).

Experience

• Minimum 10 years of demonstrable experience related to social and environmental safeguards and/or impact assessment in an international development context (Max Point 15);
• Demonstrable experience in completing Indigenous Peoples Plans (Max Point 5);
• Demonstrable experience of in carrying out an ESMF in line with SES guidelines is required (Max Point 10);
• Knowledge of human rights, including child labor and indigenous peoples (i.e. Free, Prior and Informed Consent and/or Indigenous Peoples Plans) (Max Point 10);
• Work experience with sustainable development environmental management issues, as related to decentralized renewable energy such as mini-grids is an asset (Max Point 10);
• Work experience in African countries an asset (Max Point 5);
• Previous working experience with GEF project agencies and familiarity with GEF and UNDP policies, procedures and practices are assets (Max Point 5).

Language:

• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English and French (Pass/Fail).

Evaluation Method:

• Only those applications, which are responsive and compliant, will be evaluated. Incomplete applications will not be considered;
• 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 [max. 70 points] and interview [max. 30 points]) will be based on a maximum 100 points;
• Only the top 3 candidates that have achieved a minimum of 49 points from the review of education, experience and language will be considered for the interview;
• Candidates obtaining 21 points or higher in the interview will be deemed technically compliant 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 lump sum fee. 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 to be submitted:

• Applicants must submit a duly completed and signed UNDP Personal History form (P11) and/or CV including Education/Qualification, Professional Certification, Employment Records /Experience to be downloaded from the below link;
• Applicants must reply to the mandatory questions asked by the system when submitting the application.
• Applicants must submit a duly completed and signed Annex II Offeror´s letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the Individual Contractor (IC) assignment to be downloaded from the UNDP procurement site.

Links:

UNDP Personal History form (P11):

www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/corporate/Careers/P11_Personal_history_form.doc 

General Conditions of Contract for the ICs:

https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=201192

Annex II Offeror´s letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the Individual Contractor (IC) assignment:

https://procurement-notices.undp.org/search.cfm  (reference 64175   )