UNDP Jobs - 12996- International Consultant: SEA Management and Repo

International Consultant: SEA Management and Reporting

Location :

Minsk/Minsk Region, BELARUS

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

29-Oct-09 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

9 working days in October-November (8 hours per day)

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 United Nations Development Programme’s Project #00062796 “Building capacity for Strategic Environmental Assessment and environmental conventions implementation in Belarus”, implemented jointly by the United Nations Development Programme in Belarus (UNDP Belarus) and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus (Ministry of Environment) within the European Commission Programme “Support to Environment and Sustainable Development in Belarus”, aims to assist Belarus in developing domestic capacity for an effective integration of environmental concerns into the national decision-making through introduction of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and enhancing environmental conventions implementation in the country.

Within the current planning system and practice of formulating strategic initiatives applied in Belarus, a majority of developments at the national and/or local levels result from the implementation of a national, sub-national or local policy, programme or plan for socio-economic, sectoral or spatial development. The elaboration of national or sectoral strategic initiatives in Belarus is the responsibility of respective ministries, research institutes, which belong to these ministries, and of the local authorities. The governmental institutions formulate a significant number of policies, strategies, plans and programmes that would provide a basis for SEA application in the country.

The current project will assist the Ministry of Environment through carrying out five training workshops in Minsk/Minsk Region (Belarus) to develop expert capacity of Belarusian specialists in SEA methodology, approaches and techniques (including application of environmental objectives in SEA; identification of the SEA scope and baseline scenarios; analysis of possible substantial environmental impact, including cumulative impact; comparison of alternatives; consultations with environmental and health authorities and with the general public; analysis of trans-boundary effects and arranging trans-boundary consultations; and managing a SEA process).

Duties and Responsibilities

The Consultant will be required to prepare the presentations (min. 3 hours of duration per each one) and to deliver them during three one-day workshops in Minsk/Minsk Region (Belarus) within the training course “Strategic Environmental Assessment in Belarus: Training of Practitioners” as well as to facilitate the group discussions/debates and to assist in summarizing of the conclusions:

Workshop 1, presentations “Environmental Baseline”, “Impact Analysis” and “SEA Report”:

“Environmental baseline” (baseline trends, past evolution of the environment, current status and future trends, “zero alternative”, “business as usual” scenario, importance of the baseline analysis for further steps of the assessment, international good practice, case examples);
“Impact Analysis” (purpose, approaches, methods, expected results, links to the further steps, evaluation of alternatives, mitigation measures, international good practice, case examples;
“SEA Report” (key issues for good SEA report, international practice, case examples).

Workshop 2, presentation “Public Participation and Consultation in SEA”:

“Public participation and consultation in SEA” (purpose and reasons for public participation and consultations in SEA, international practice and legal requirements (including requirements of international organizations/donor agencies to public participation in SEA), public involvement in the different stages of SEA process, effective approach to the public participation (SEA as a participatory process, key stakeholders, benefits of the public participation), considering the outputs from public participation in SEA and planning process, transboundary consultations, case example);

Workshop 3, presentations “SEA and decision-making” and “Effective management of SEA”:

“SEA and decision-making” (integration of SEA results in the decision-making, communication to decision-makers, international good practice, case examples);
“Effective management of SEA” (good practices of SEA management (international experience), time and resources of the specific tasks within SEA, internal management (communication with the planning team, expertise for SEA, changes of planning process), management instruments and tools for SEA, case examples).

The Consultant will also facilitate the thematic discussions/debates (including discussion on further capacity building for SEA in Belarus) within the workshops and will provide inputs to preparation of the conclusions. The Consultant will work in close cooperation with the Task Coordinator (SEA-Conventions) of the project and SEA Course Curator.

Assignment Reporting Milestones:

The following defines the main milestones where formal reports for which submission for the review by the Task Coordinator (SEA-Conventions) and approval by the UNDP Belarus and Ministry of Environment are required, and which will govern payment under the contract for this assignment.

Milestone 1: Thesis of the presentations described above (minimum 3 hours of duration per workshop) prepared and submitted to the Task Coordinator (SEA-Conventions) in electronic form.

Milestone 2: Presentations (minimum 3 hours of duration per workshop) delivered during three one-day workshops (preliminary scheduled for October-November 2009, the dates are to be negotiated) in Minsk/Minsk Region (Belarus), group discussions/debates facilitated, inputs to preparation of the conclusions made.

All reports/deliverables within the assignment shall be in English (or Russian) and be provided in MS Office electronic format.

Competencies

Training experience in the field of SEA;
Outstanding presentation, lecturing and communication skills;
Previous experience and/or knowledge of the SEA systems in former-Soviet Union countries and/or in the Central and Eastern Europe would be an asset.

Required Skills and Experience

Master’s Degree in natural resource management, environment or equivalent;
Minimum 5 years of practical experience in SEA;
Good knowledge of written and spoken English;
Knowledge of MS Word, Excel and email communication software.

Applications procedures:

Applicants are requested to apply on-line.

Applicants have to:

Complete the form stating their interest in and qualifications for the position (in English);
Upload completed Personal History Form (PHF) in the required resume field. The PHF form can be downloaded from: http://un.by/vacancy/undp/form/

Deadline for submission of applications: 29 October 2009

Responsible applicants will be shortlisted, and at least three applicants will gain a personal, or telephone hearing.

Women are encouraged to apply. UNDP is non-smoking work environment.