Background

The Philippines stands as the third biggest contributor of marine litter in Asia throwing 2.7 million tons of plastic every year. The amount of mismanaged plastic waste generated by 83.4 million coastal residents in the Philippines was 1.88 million metric tonnes in 2010, with a high level of plastic bag consumption.[1]  Waste generation has been steadily increasing from 37,427.46 tonnes per day in 2012 to 40,087.45 tonnes in 2016 and is expected to increase by 165 percent to 77,776 tonnes by 2025. As about two-thirds of the Philippine population lives within coastal municipalities and cities, urban centers stand as a major contributor to marine litter and plastic pollution in the country. Metro Manila, which is composed of 16 highly urbanized cities and one municipality, generated the biggest volume of wastes. 

The waste problem resulted from a linear economic model, which follows the “take-make-dispose” process. This also contributes to significant greenhouse gas emissions across the chain. Plastic production for example, consumes 99.5% of fossil fuels. It is estimated that globally, the plastic industry will contribute 20% of fossil fuel consumption by 2050. Compounding this is the country’s vulnerability to climate and disaster risks and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exacerbated the waste problem. If urgent and transformative measures are not undertaken, this linear economic model will pose significant challenges to the people, economy and the environment.

UNDP is advocating for a “circular economy” model where waste leakage is reduced not only through improved waste management but, more importantly, through a radical rethinking of production and consumption systems so that waste generation is avoided in the first place. In exploring how might this model be operationalized at the city model, UNDP Philippines partnered with the City Government of Pasig to apply a systemic design approach to understanding the deeper economic, political, behavioral, and cultural issues underpinning the waste generation issue. A collaborative design exercise resulted in a portfolio of options that aims to systemically promote a circular economy through various interventions.  

The UNDP Accelerator Lab in the Philippines (ALab) is currently supporting the country office’s Climate Action Programme to promote such circular economy model by exploring, testing, and scaling potential solutions that attack various inflection points in the system. ALab PH requires the services of a coordinator to manage the growing portfolio of experiments on circular economy, engaging a broad range of stakeholders, overseeing the outputs of service providers, and deriving learnings and produce knowledge products from experiments.

Duties and Responsibilities

Institutional Arrangement

The Project Coordinator will directly report to the Head of Experimentation, of the Accelerator Lab Philippines with oversight from the Team Leader of the Impact and Advisory Team (IAT). The Project Coordinator shall closely work with both Accelerator Lab,  Pintig Lab and Climate Action Programme Team. The Project Coordinator is expected to coordinate with government partners, CSOs, and other key partners of IAT.

Scope of Work 

1. Ensure strategic management of the project and provide day-to-day financial and administrative management for the delivery of the project’s activities focusing on achievement of the following results: 

• Support the experiment design, including background research, organizing and facilitating meetings and activities to co-design experiments, project planning, etc. 
• Manage the implementation of experiments, including tracking of tasks and deliverables, coordination within UNDP and with external stakeholders for required inputs and resources, contracting of and coordination with third-party service providers, etc.
• Monitor and evaluate the results of experiments, including the conduct of exploratory data analysis, field observation, interviews, and focus group discussions, etc.
• Ensure complete documentation of the experiments from planning to closure, including but not limited to filling out forms in the UNDP PH Knowledge and Innovation (KAI) Portal. 
• Provide support in drafting terms of reference and support recruitment and management of a team of national and international consultants and subject matter experts; 
• Support the project for creating specifications/ evaluation criteria etc. related to procurement, subcontracting, and outsourcing of services etc. 
• Assist partners in preparing their progress and financial reports for the project activities. 

2.  Develop and maintain effective working relationships and coordination with key counterparts to ensure the strategic positioning of UNDP, focusing on achievement of the following results: 

• Help ensure full alignment with UNDP PH Programme Teams by, among others, mapping existing programmes, projects, and activities that may be relevant to the experiments and ensure the relevant programme and project teams’ participation.
• Identify relevant external stakeholders (national and local government, development partners, civil society, private sector, academic partners, etc.) and map their various initiatives which may help inform the design, implementation, and evaluation of experiments. 
• Identify potential opportunities, entry points, points of convergence with stakeholders, and other openings for scaling up of experiments in the future.
• Provide inputs and insights on strategy for consolidated offer to cities

3. Efficient support to tasks related to advocacy, programming, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) focusing on achievement of the following results: 

• Ensure the implementation of the communications and advocacy plan for the project; 
• Establish suitable monitoring mechanisms and undertake regular monitoring and reporting on project progress, risks and constraints; updates the implementation plan as required; 
• Promote accountability through effective programme results reporting (monthly, quarter, and annual progress and financial reports), to the UNDP, government counterparts and the Project Board; and 
• Monitoring, reporting and evaluation of outputs and accomplishments towards the achievement of project intended outputs. 

4. Ensures provision of top-quality advisory services and facilitation of knowledge building and management focusing on achievement of the following results: 

• Maintain effective network with development partners and Government at regional level co-develop with ALab and other UNDP personnel at least one (1) knowledge product on Experimentation in Circular Economy which consolidates lessons learned from the various parallel experiments, particularly the participatory recovery planning exercise. The report shall emphasize how decentralization and participatory governance are crucial to promoting risk-informed development. This knowledge product shall be produced by end-2021. The consultant may be asked to present findings in a national or regional platform as necessary
• Ensure that relevant forms and attachments of the UNDP PH Knowledge and Innovation (KAI) Portal are filled out or uploaded. 
• Review, analyze, and index related literature, including policies, academic research, data and other materials, and as needed translate or condense these into digestible formats.
• Help understand the evolving policy terrain on localization and urbanization by mapping issuances and pronouncements from UNDP and other relevant UN bodies, national and local government, and other stakeholders.
• Collaborate with ALab PH and other UNDP CO colleagues in drafting policy notes or briefs, blog posts, presentations, communication materials, and other materials.
• Maintain strategy notes, partner directories, partnership agreements, contracts, and other such important documents in ALab PH’s file system under the corporate Sharepoint of UNDP.
• Contribute to the ongoing development of the country office’s Local Government Engagement Strategy, including provision of inputs and other ad-hoc related tasks.
• Perform other tasks that may be assigned

Competencies

Required Skills and Experience