Background
Since the operationalisation of the Enviromental Impact Assesment (EIA) Process in Uganda, most EIAs carried out have been mainly guided by the framework EIA guidelines that were put in place in 1997. Of recent, however, there is evidence of increasing demand for EIA guidelines that specifically focus on sectoral development programmes, and projects. It is also envisaged that sector specific EIA guidelines will enhance the integration of environmental concerns into sectoral development planning. In addition, there are so many sector-based natural resources (such as Energy resources) that are experiencing degradation of varying intensity; and for which EIA would be a useful tool to control degradation through use and application of specific Sectoral EIA Guidelines relevant to the Ugandan situation.
National Enviroment Management Authority (NEMA) had previously prepared EIA Guidelines for the Energy Sector but these require to be updated taking account new emerging challenges. In view of the above, there is an urgent need to prepare Sectoral EIA Guidelines, which should be based on the general principles and procedures that have already been elaborated in the framework EIA Guidelines. This initiative is thus, intended to provide the basis for meeting the demand for development of these sectoral EIA Guidelines and will further improve the capacity of sectoral agencies in assessing environmental issues of the sector.
Context of the required services:
Government of Uganda has in recent years undertaken several socio-economic reforms in order to improve the performance of the country’s economy. For instance, Government has put in place programmes for the development of the Energy sector through consultation and consensus-building with a wide range of stakeholders.
Since the energy sector was identified as an engine of economic growth and poverty eradication, it is prudent that EIA guidelines be developed in the sector as a basis for ensuring environmentally sustainable development.
In order to facilitate the conduct and review of EIAs, developers, sectoral institutions, and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development in particular, need to be equipped with guidelines that will enable identification of environmental problems specific to projects and activities of a sectoral nature and, therefore, be able to recommend appropriate mitigation measures based on the technical capacity available in the sector departments.
As an aspect of capacity-building, and in view of the fact that EIA review and the conduct of EIAs demands a considerable amount of time to enable effective consultation between the sectoral lead agencies, NEMA and other stakeholders, development of sectoral EIA guidelines will, among others, provide the lead agencies and EIA Practitioners with easy and quick reference material; and thus, enhance the EIA review capacity of sectoral agencies, and reduce on time spent on the review process or actual conduct of EIAs.
Since the responsibility for conduct of EIA lies with the developer, it is also hoped that the EIA sectoral guidelines will provide reference material that will enable developers to carry out screening of their projects, as well as enable the conduct of EIAs for proposed projects. Many developers currently rely solely on hired services for EIA.
Duties and Responsibilities
The Consultant shall be required to carry out the following tasks:
- Liaise with the relevant sectors, and including key players including regulatory bodies, lead agencies and other development partners, to obtain the required and relevant information and input on pertinent issues relating to the energy sector;
- Consult with relevant stakeholders, including developers, EIA Practitioners, researchers and research institutions, NGOs, CBOs, among others, to obtain their input during the formulation of the sectoral guidelines;
- Develop sectoral EIA energy guidelines which will cater for and enable improvement in energy output/productivity and protection of the environment, in accordance with the framework provided in the EIA guidelines already developed by NEMA. The sectoral guidelines should relate to and/or be in harmony with other related sectoral development procedures and practices impacting directly or indirectly on the energy sector and resources;
- Outline the laws and regulations in place relating to the sector and reflecting cross-cutting concerns;
- Define a framework and procedures for conduct of EIA for energy projects and related activities - such as such as hydropower, thermo electric projects, generators, geothermal, biomass, solar energy, wind energy, electricity transmission, petroleum storage/trading of petroleum products etc;
- Prepare and define a set of check-lists tailored for each of the components of the energy sector as reflected above.
- Define the institutional framework for implementation of sectoral EIA Guidelines;
- Prepare a Draft Report by the sixth week of the consultancy period and submitted to a select Committee to undertake the initial review;
- Organise and conduct a review workshop involving all relevant stakeholders, to discuss the first draft report;
- Consultant then incorporates the comments of the Review Workshop into the first draft sectoral EIA guidelines.
- Where deemed necessary, after the review workshop and incorporation of the workshop comments into the draft guidelines, a select Technical Committee can be constituted to study within one week the revised workshop draft Sectoral EIA guidelines submitted by the consultant, in order to contribute to preparation of the final report;
- Consultant should include recommendations for relevant training and awareness programmes on the Sectoral Guidelines - targeting other sector agencies, district officials, the private sector, industrialists, other stakeholders, and the general public;
- Consultant submits the Final Sectoral EIA Guidelines to NEMA;
- The Consultant will provide copies of the Final Draft (8 bound copies) in print and electronic media (two sets of 1.44MB, CD containing documents prepared in MS Word 2007 and MS Excel).
Some of the relevant information for the assignment includes the EIA Guidelines 1997, The National Environment Policy 1994, The Energy Policy, sectoral guidelines of Multi-lateral Development Agencies.
Expected Outputs and Deliverables
The key deliverables of this assignment include:
- Sectoral EIA guidelines for the energy sector suited to its components/sub-sectors;
- A set of check-lists to cater for the different components/sub-sectors within the sector;
- A framework for operationalisation of the Sectoral EIA guidelines for the sector;
- Recommendations for training pertaining to application of Sectoral EIA Guidelines of the sector, targeting lead agencies, district authorities, research institutions, private sector, agro-industrialists, and the public/civil society.
Institutional Arrangement
- The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA);
- The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development;
- Uganda Association for Environmental Practitioners;
- Districts and Local Authorities;
- Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) (both local and International), community-based organisations (CBOs) and the private sector;
- Development partners, trade and manufacturing associations;
- Researchers, research institutions, extension agents/personnel.
Duration of the Work
The expected duration of the assigment is forty five (45) working days, spread within three (3) months.
Duty Station
The consultant will be based in Kampala but will also travel to representative Districts within the country. In case of official travel out of Kampala, UNDP will provide for the travel expenses.
Competencies
Core competencies:
Functional competencies:- Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
- Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.
- Excellent analytical skills;
- Excellent ability to communicate and write in English both written and spoken, and to work in a team;
- Familiarity with the national development agenda and environmental management in particular;
- A solid experience in the areas of environmental assessments, natural resource valuation, sector and social economic analysis;
- Experience in formulating development strategies and policies;
- Excellent public speaking and presentation skills.
Required Skills and Experience
Academic Qualifications:
- A master Degree in environmental management, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Economics, Natural Resources Management.
Years of experience:
- A minimum of five years experience in environmental impact assessment practice, socio-economic analysis, strategic planning among others.
Language:
- Fluency in written and spoken English.
Schedule of payments
- 20% of the contract amount upon submission of acceptable Sectoral EIA guidelines report;
- 20% of contract amount upon submission of acceptable set of check-lists to cater for the different components report;
- 30% of contract amount upon submission of acceptable framework for operationalisation of the Sectoral EIA guidelines for the sector;
- 30% of contract amount upon submission of acceptable training report for the Sectoral EIA guidelines for the sector.
Submission of procedure
Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document:
- Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP (Annex II);
- Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
- Technical proposal: a brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, a methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment and a work plan;
- Financial proposal in template provided in Annex II) stating an all-inclusive lumps sum for this assignment in Ugandan Shillings, supported by a breakdown of costs. The all-inclusive daily fee shall take into account include professional fee, and costs necessary to conduct the assignment such as communication costs, etc.
Annexes (to be downloaded from UNDP Uganda Website, procurement notices section: www.undp.or.ug):
- Annex I - Individual Contractor General Terms and Conditions;
- Annex II – Offerors Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual Contractor Assignment.
FC: 04000