Background

Project – Third National Communication and First Biennial Report

Background - In accordance with its commitments as a Party, and as mandated by Article 12 of the UNFCCC and subsequent Conference of Parties (CoP) decisions, Samoa will prepare and submit its Third National Communication (TNC) and First Biennial Update Report (FBUR) to the UNFCCC. The project aims to update the information provided regarding national circumstances, inventories of greenhouse gases (GHG), policies and measures undertaken to mitigate climate change, assessments of vulnerability to climate change and steps taken to adapt and promote increased awareness and understanding of critical importance of climate change to the country’s sustainable development.  The project will also increase the national technical and institutional capacities in preparing the NC/BUR and assisting the Government to integrate climate change issues into sectoral and national development priorities that directly contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action.

The implementation of the project objectives will support Samoa’s preparation of a high-quality National Communication and Biennial Update Report to be submitted to the UNFCCC in a timely manner. As GHG inventories are a key component of both the National Communication and Biennial Update Report, the project will take a learning-by-doing approach, to the extent possible considering limited staffs trained in populating and managing the GHG Inventory.  In this way, the project intends to catalyze the institutionalization of knowledge among the national participating experts and partner institutions involved in the development of national GHG Inventory, to improve quality control and quality assurance of the inventory’s data.

Given the findings from the last Second National Communication (2010) and the Intended National Determined Contributions (2015), important challenges remain. Although the exercises to prepare these reports have resulted in increased capacities to collect and manage data and information to carry out, for example vulnerability assessments, critical data and information gaps remain. Greater collaboration and institutional coordination are needed to ensure that critical understanding of the data and information needs for all sectors are adequately understood in order to move forward with policy implementation. While financing from the international community is available, it remains fragmented and insufficient at the local level, which is important to the pursuit of better adaptation practices. 

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Works

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision and overall guidance of the ACEO of GEF and Climate Change Division, (MNRE) and Head of Environment Unit at UNDP Samoa, the Consultant will perform the following tasks:

1. Analyze data structure requirements, relationships, and attributes, resulting in reliable data flows and outputs.
2. Design requirements for developing of new database on mitigation and adaptation information.
3. Translate design requirements into reliable and user-friendly solutions using appropriate technologies, languages, and tools within defined standards.
4. Perform all aspects of the development life cycle including, architecture, analysis, design, development, testing, and training. Implementation and support of reporting database to be used internally by employees.
5. Train and transfer knowledge and information to team members to ensure the team operates the system/database efficiently.
6. Develop a training user manual for the database system.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

Upon approval of UNDP and Government of Samoa (GoS):

The consultant is to propose a financial submission of lump sum payments in WST (Samoa tala) as per the payment schedule listed in above table.  A breakdown of costs is required from the proposal using the Financial Template for submission (Annex III).

Institutional Arrangement

Counterparts and line of reporting

The Consultant will work closely with the Project Coordinator, UNDP in collaboration with the ACEO GEF & Climate Change of MNRE.

Inputs by UNDP,MNRE and Stakeholders

All key stakeholders will make available to the consultant all relevant information which may assist the consultant in carrying out and completing the Terms of Reference including resources (photos) that may be used for developing of database.

Timeframe of the consultancy 

The consultancy will be for twenty days tentatively from mid-September to November of 2021.

Duty station 

Home based but will work closely with the GEF & Climate Change Division of MNRE and the Environment and Climate Change Unit of the UNDP Samoa.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

• Strong background in information technology
• Experience in developing database.
• Excellent organizational skills.
• Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure
• Excellent research and evaluative skills.
• Excellent report writing skills.
• Excellent inter-personal and teamwork skills, networking skills, and proven ability to work well in multicultural environments.
• Excellent facilitation and presentation skills.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with various stakeholders including government ministries, civil society, the private sector, development partners, and communities.
• Strong interpersonal and cross-cultural skills and ability to foster relationships with key stakeholders.
• Ability to work under pressure, effectively coordinate others and meet tight deadlines without compromising the quality of work.

Corporate Competencies:

• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards.
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP.
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.
• Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.
• Ability to be flexible and respond to changes as part of the review and feedback process;
• Participate effectively in team-based, information-sharing environment, collaborating and cooperating with others;
• Focus on impact and results for the Project.

Required Skills and Experience

Evaluation Criteria & Contract Modality

The consultant will sign with UNDP an Individual Contract or a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (with an employer).

The assessment of proposals will be in accordance with the combined total weighting of the  evaluation criteria as per below of:

• 70% for Technical; and
• 30% for Financial.

Technical Evaluation Criteria will be based on the information provided in the CV and relevant documents that are to be submitted as evidence to support the above required criteria.

Only the top candidates that have achieved a minimum of 70% of the total technical score, will be deemed technically compliant and their financial proposal considered.

The technical competencies will be assessed as per follows:

Education Qualifications:

• Mandatory Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent field.  Desirable certification in database development. 15 marks

Experience:

• Minimum of 3 years of combined and relevant experience in database development & maintenance, 15 marks
• In-depth understanding of data management (e.g., permissions, recovery, security, and monitoring), 10 marks
• Knowledge of software development and user interface web applications Experience working with Net Framework, JavaScript, HTML and Oracle, 10 marks
• Experience in development of front-end users’ requirements and problem-solving attitude, 10 marks
• Strong analytical and trouble shooting skills, 10 marks
• Strong communication, time management, and organization skills, 10 marks
• Must be self-motivated, demonstrate grace under pressure and possess the ability to work well independently as well as within a team, marks

Other requirements:

• Fluency in English is mandatory, 5 marks
• It is desirable that the candidate should hold a license for all the software being used and has access to functional hardware to deliver on the tasks to be allocated, 5 marks

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Download the full Terms of Reference and the forms for submission of your proposal from the Procurement Notice link https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=82292.