Background

Lao PDR faced serious shortages and price fluctuations of medical supplies during the pandemic of COVID-19, as the country is wholly dependent on imports. The critical need for supply and quality control of medical devices in the market has appeared as one of the challenges for sustainable socio-economic development in Laos. To adapt to this situation, the Government of Lao PDR has the ambition to capture this opportunity to promote the high-quality local production capacity of PPE and improve the quality assurance of the items available in the market. 

In addition, the quality of imported and domestically produced medical devices and supplies in the market vary significantly due to the limited regulation and surveillance capacity. The government acknowledges the critical need to enhance its regulatory capacity by developing PPE Manufacture Establishment Guidelines, National Medical Device Registration Regulations, and PPE Inspection Guidelines and tools. 

To tackle the adverse impacts of the pandemic, UNDP Lao PDR has supported the Government of Lao PDR with a comprehensive portfolio to respond to COVID-19 directly. In this context, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Health, UNDP Lao PDR initiated this project by providing financial and technical support to enhance the domestic production of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and a quality management system for PPE production and better market access. 

The project is implemented by UNDP in partnership with the Food and Drug Department (FDD), Ministry of Health.

OBJECTIVE

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

  • Strengthen the quality of programming by ensuring a principled approach;
  • Maximize social and environmental opportunities and benefits;
  • Avoid adverse impacts on 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; and
  • Ensure full and effective stakeholder engagement, including through a mechanism to respond to complaints from project-affected people

During the Social and Environmental Screening Procedure (SESP) conducted for this project, the protection of labour rights of the factory workers and preventing adverse impact to the surrounding environment were identified as the major risks. This assignment is aimed at assessing potential environmental impact of the PPE production lines to be installed by this project (labour conditions will be assessed by another consultant) following national regulations of Lao PDR and international standards.

In this regard, UNDP is seeking an experienced national consultant to assess and plan for preventing and addressing potential negative impacts to the surrounding environment.

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK

The successful applicant will be expected to be responsible for the following:

  • Review relevant national legislations, standards, and guidelines on environmental impact of of the Government of Lao PDR or international organizations, including UNDP, ISO, and ASEAN.
  • Review specifications of the hand sanitizer and mask production lines to be procured in the project and visit the project site  (State Enterprise Pharmaceutical Factory No.3 in Vientiane Capital) to assess and identify potential environmental impacts to the surrounding community.
  • Undertake consultations with the potentially affected individuals (including factory workers and managers, as well as the residents of the surrounding community), as well as the relevant governmental authorities to explain about the project and collect their concerns.
  • Evaluate the extent to which environmental impact is an issue for the project, and if necessary, develop mitigation measures to address these issues, building on any available national legislations or international standards.
  • Develop the Environmental and Social Management Framework for enviornment, including Environmental Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP), outlining the steps that should be followed during the project implementation.
  • Visit the project site again after the machinery installation are completed either during or after the test operation to verify the actual environmental impact of the production lines.
  • Conduct two one-day trainings for the project team at the time of:
    • After the approval of the Environmental and Social Management Framework.
    • After the machinery installation is completed.

Competencies

  • Excellent computer skills (word, excel, power-point, internet, and other related matters)
  • Quality of the writing sample (Please attach one writing sample of your completed task relevant to this assignment to your application)

Required Skills and Experience

  • University degree in environmental science, chemistry, engineering or a relevant field. A Master’s degree is preferred.  
  • At least 5 years of experience in one of the following: SES, project monitoring & evaluation, or environmental impact assessment (EIA).
  • Proven experience and knowledge of safeguard principles or environmental and social impact assessment of UNDP or other international organizations

LANGUAGE :   Excellent analytical, writing, advocacy, presentation, and communication skills in English and Lao are required

Requirements for submission of proposals 

All interested and qualified International or National Individual Consultants should apply online using the following links: 

 

UNDP Lao PDR Country Office website at https://www.undp.org/laopdr/jobs

 

In order to make your submission, please read the relevant documents available at the links below 

  1. TOR (Annex I) 
  1. IC General Terms and Conditions _ Annex II; 

 

Interested Individual Consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications: 

  1. Technical Proposal 

            (i)  Explaining why you are the most suitable for the work; 

            (ii)  Providing a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work including the work 

                  schedule for the delivery of outputs/deliverable; 

       2. P11 Form Education and work experience, including past experience in similar projects and contact references of at least 3 references for whom you have rendered preferably the similar services; 

       3. Financial proposal:  Detailed financial proposal: Lump sum offer with clear cost breakdown against each deliverable. Please use this template  Offerors Letter to UNDP

 

Instructions for online submissions: 

  • Step 1:  Please prepare all required documents electronically; 
  • Step 3: After that you will receive an auto reply from the UNDP jobs if your offer is received successfully. 

Incomplete proposals or proposals received after the deadline will be rejected