Sustainable natural resources and environment is integral for Cambodia to sustain its economic growth and its growing population. Yet the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) currently faces several major challenges as exemplified by the fact that Cambodia is ranked 145 out of 178 countries for the Environmental Performance Index (Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, 2014).
At present, Cambodia has a number of governmental bodies and laws for the governance of natural resources and the environment. The Ministry of Environment is one of the governmental bodies with a central mandate to ensure conservation and management of natural resources and environment. Over recent years, however, the MoE has faced significant constraints in addressing the emerging environmental issues and challenges due partly to its outdated organizational structure, priorities and strategic plans, and due partly to insufficient human and technical resources. Besides this, there had been no inter-ministerial governmental bodies or legal principles that provide overarching guidance and direction towards the aim of sustainable development. Nor did the mandates and regulations of existing ministries adequately correspond to emerging challenges

In order to tackle these challenges, the RGC embarked upon environmental governance reforms in November in 2013 with technical assistance from UNDP Cambodia. The governance reforms build on three pillars of activities (See the attachment, concept note for environmental governance reforms for more information about each activity:

• MoE modernization to address emerging environmental challenges and to enhance technical capacity to implement a service-delivery culture. In May, 2015, the RGC officially released a sub-decree on the new structure of MoE which builds on following four pillars, (1) Environmental Knowledge and Information, (2) Environmental Protection, (3) Nature Conservation and Protection Administration and (4) Administration and Finance. The MoE identified 7 priority activities  for further actions;
• Establishment of the National Council of Sustainable Development (NCSD) to facilitate inter-ministerial political dialogues and decisions to achieve sustainable development. In May 2015, the RGC issued a royal decree on the NCSD. The NCSD is an inter-ministerial institutional body, composed of high level decision makers from all ministries in Cambodia. Its main task is to ensure sustainability in development across all the economic, social and development sectors;
• Development of an Environmental Code to provide overarching guidance and direction towards the aim of sustainable development, and bring clarity in terms of jurisdictions and mandates among line ministries to ensure efficiency, and effectiveness in achieving the goal.  In March, 2015, the Minister of the MoE made an official announcement of its goal to develop an Environmental Code.

Scope of Work:

This assignment of the Environmental and Sustainable Development Advisor is specifically designed to support the works related to MoE modernization and NCSD. Building on the earlier progress and achievements made in relation to three pillars of environmental governance reforms, this assignment aims to further strengthen the technical and organizational capacity across different offices/departments of the new MoE organizational structure and NCSD to develop action plans for priorities, planning and implementing the priorities, and so on for both MoE and NCSD.

MoE modernization 
Ministry Planning

• Develop an implementation work plan reflecting  critical implementation needs for MoE and NCSD;
• Work with the MoE management team to define strategic objectives for the 6+ 1 priorities;
• Develop a results framework, project proposals, and resource mobilization strategy for MoE’s strategic priorities;
• Map and analyze current and new emerging donor support in relation to  MoE’s strategic priorities, and advise on gaps and opportunities for enhancing the coherence and effectiveness of donor support;
• Review MoE’s strategic budgetary plan and existing department action plans in relation to the results framework and mobilization strategy;
• Assist each department in incorporating priority action plans into department action plans and budgets;
• Conduct consolidated planning sessions for all departments;
• Advise and guide revision, finalization and the securing of approval for department action plans (several planning sessions and iterations).

Ministry Strengthening

• Develop an operational procedure/strategy, including whom to involve, time frame, information needs and sources;
• Advise MoE on Strategic framework and organizational responsibilities, current capacities (HR, procurement, finance and admin), future needs, current and forecasted strengths and weaknesses, retention, compensation and other issues;
• Conduct staff capacity assessment to identify technical capacity gaps;
• Guide development of an action plan to address capacity gaps of new MOE department personnel;
• Advise on the development of standard procedures and processes;
• Assist MoE in defining principal communications needs, opportunities and functions;
• Facilitate MoE in developing communications and awareness raising strategies for priority topics;
• Support MoE on the establishment and management of potential revenue including advising on the development of related guideline and procedure.

National Council for Sustainable Development
NCSD planning

• Analyze in  and out  country experiences with similar institutional models;
• Take stock of existing national policies, legislation and plants related to sustainable development;
• Support the exchange visits with those who are or have been involved in some of those other models to learn about prior experiences;
• Devise an overall strategy and action plan for making the NCSD effective reflecting lessons learned;
• Support the General Secretariat in developing presentation materials and organizing information sessions with NCSD member Ministries and agencies, and external stakeholders.

Strengthening NCSD and its General Secretariat

• Facilitate planning and management of Secretariat and assist in the development of an annual work plan for the General Secretariat;
• Assist and provide coaching to the different NCSD departments to articulate their results framework;
• Assist in the development of multi-year strategic and operational plan for the NCSD for the Council and  General Secretariat of the NCSD;
• Assist the Secretariat in defining institutional arrangements for inter-agency cooperation/coordination (e.g. inter-ministerial working groups, taskforce, expert review panels);
• Guide and assist the development of a proposal for the first meeting of the NCSD and support its implementation;
• Evaluate performance of the NCSD implementation and the Secretariat operations and recommend improvements;
• Assess the capacity needs of the General Secretariat for NCSD;
• Design and help organize and provide training for members of General Secretariat for NCSD;
• Analyze current financial needs;
• Develop resource mobilization strategy;
• Design a capacity assessment plan for NCSD and its General Secretariat.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

The Advisor’s primary responsibility will be the overall management and coordination of the MoE modernization and NCSD launching and strengthening.  The Advisor will provide a wide range of services during each phase to accomplish this aim. The Advisor will also coordinate the integration of these activities  into the third component of technical assistance (i.e. Environmental Code) to the Ministry described in Section 2 of this Terms of Reference, and will provide assistance to the other aspect as may be required from time to time. The specific tasks and duties set forth below may be modified depending on the progress of the project.

Institutional Arrangement:

• The Environmental and Sustainable Development Advisor will work under and have regular meetings with the direct supervision of the Senior Policy Advisor, UNDP Cambodia, Advisor and Director of MoE Cabinet (for MoE component), and Secretary General of General Secretariat of the NCSD (for NCSD component);
• S/he will report on/submit the above deliverables to the Senior Policy Advisor, UNDP Cambodia, Advisor and Director of MoE Cabinet (for MoE component), and Secretary General of General Secretariat of the NCSD (for NCSD component);
• Over the course of this assignment the Environmental and Sustainable Development Advisor will liaise with relevant departments/divisions of MoE, General Secretariat of the NCSD and relevant stakeholders. The Environmental and Sustainable Advisor will work closely with a legal advisor for Environmental Code;
• S/he needs to maintain daily communication with the UNDP Country Office as and when problems emerge during the consultancy period, especially if they affect the scope of the job;
• The policy unit of UNDP Cambodia is expected to provide the overall supervision and monitoring the performance of the consultant, coordination for the participation from relevant stakeholders to ensure the quality control of the consultant’s outputs.

Duration of the Work:

The proposed duration of this assignment is 225 working day spreading over the period of September 2015 – December 2016. The assignment is a combination of home-based and in-country missions (Cambodia). The Environmental and Sustainable Advisor is required to make at least 8 trips to Phnom Penh, Cambodia with up to 120 working days during the missions.

Duty Station:

The duty station of this assignment is a combination of home-based and in-country missions. The Environmental and Sustainable Development Advisor will perform duties from her/his home country through email, telephone/Skype correspondence. The consultant will be responsible for her/his own local transportation arrangement.

Functional Competencies:

• Sound technical knowledge of institutional and governance reforms and environmental policies and laws;
• Strong leadership, coordination and facilitation skills;
• Strong analytical and writing skills;
• Ability to work effectively in the team and transfer knowledge to and build capacity of local partners.

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Education:

• Master’s Degree in Law, Environment, Public Policy and Administration or other related fields.

Experience:

• At least 15 years of professional experience at policy advisory level in the environmental management and sustainable development;
• Minimum 7 year of working experience with multi-stakeholder and multi-disciplinary consultation processes;
• Previous working experience in institution assessments, and advising governments in developing strategic plans and innovation related environmental management and sustainable development;
• Previous working experience with the Ministry of Environment of Cambodia.

Language:

• Strong command of written and spoken English.

Important note:

Interested offeror is strongly advised to read the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice, which can be viewed at http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=24509 for more detail about term of references, instructions to offeror, and documents to be included when submitting offer.

Documents to be included when submitting the application:

Interested offeror/individual must submit the following documents/information.

• Cover letter: Explaining why the consultant the most suitable for the work;
• Offeror’s letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the Individual Contractor (IC) assignment and Final all-inclusive price proposal with breakdown of costs as per UNDP template, which can be downloaded at http://www.kh.undp.org/content/dam/cambodia/docs/Operations/UNDP_Template%20for%20Confirmation%20of%20Interest%20and%20Submission%20of%20Financial%20Proposal.docx;
• UNDP Personal History Form (P11), which can be downloaded at http://www.kh.undp.org/content/dam/cambodia/docs/Operations/UNDP-P11%20modified%20for%20SCs%20and%20ICs.doc;
• Note for Interested Candidates above the age of 62: UNDP regulations require, at their own cost, to undergo a full medical examination including x-rays. Medical evaluation documentation does not need to be submitted with the other requested documents listed above, but will be requested should the candidate be chosen.

UNDP reserves right to reject any applications that is incomplete.

Please be informed that we don’t accept application submitted via email.

Interested Offerors are required to submit application via UNDP jobsite system, because the application screening and evaluation will be done through UNDP jobsite system. Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file. Your on-line applications submission will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an e-mail acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary. Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

Any request for clarification/additional information on this procurement notice shall be communicated in writing to UNDP office or send to email dalis.heng@undp.org and cc procurement.kh@undp.org. While the Procurement Unit would endeavor to provide information expeditiously, only requests receiving at least 5 working days prior to the submission deadline will be entertained. Any delay in providing such information will not be considered as a reason for extending the submission deadline. The UNDP's response (including an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of inquiry) will be posted in Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice page as provided above. Therefore, all prospective Offerors are advised to visit the page regularly to make obtain update related to this Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice.