Antecedentes

This project is designed to strengthen capacity for environmental monitoring and information management in Albania by establishing an operational environmental information management and monitoring system (EIMMS) with a focus on biodiversity and protected areas. The project will address the need for an environmental monitoring system that is integrated throughout relevant government institutions and that uses international monitoring standards for indicator development, data collection, analysis, and policy-making. It will also build on existing technical and institutional capacity in Albania to align its management and monitoring efforts with global monitoring and reporting priorities. Increased capacity in this area will improve reporting to the Rio Conventions and lay the groundwork for sustainable development through better-informed environmental policy.

A Project Inception Workshop will be held within the first 2 months of project start with those with assigned roles in the project organization structure, UNDP country office and where appropriate/feasible regional technical policy and programme advisors as well as other stakeholders.  The Inception Workshop is crucial to building ownership for the project results and to plan the first year annual work plan.

The Inception Workshop should address a number of key issues including:

• Assist all partners to fully understand and take ownership of the project.  Detail the roles, support services and complementary responsibilities of UNDP CO and RCU staff vis à vis the project team.  Discuss the roles, functions, and responsibilities within the project's decision-making structures, including reporting and communication lines, and conflict resolution mechanisms.  The Terms of Reference for project staff will be discussed again as needed;
• Based on the project results framework and the relevant GEF Tracking Tool if appropriate, finalize the first annual work plan.  Review and agree on the indicators, targets and their means of verification, and recheck assumptions and risks;
• Provide a detailed overview of reporting, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) requirements.  The Monitoring and Evaluation work plan and budget should be agreed and scheduled;
• Discuss financial reporting procedures and obligations, and arrangements for annual audit;
• Plan and schedule Project Board meetings.  Roles and responsibilities of all project organisation structures should be clarified and meetings planned.

An Inception Workshop report is a key reference document and must be prepared and shared with participants to formalize various agreements and plans decided during the meeting.

Project Description

Albania has become a Party to three Rio- Conventions after 1990-s which corresponds to the country’s change of regime and participation in international agreements on environmental protection. The national development agenda of Albania fully takes into consideration the fact that its development will only proceed by adequately taking into account, global processes and trends. The principles of the conventions, as well as of the European Union environmental policy, have been established as priority areas in the National Strategy for Development and Integration (NSDI) 2007-2013, which is under review for the period up to 2020. The Environmental Cross-cutting Strategy integral part of the NSDI is the basic document that represents the national policy on environmental protection. This document addresses all environmental components and sets general guidance on problems arising from sectors having an impact upon environment.

Reporting obligations under the existing environmental regulations have been restricted to compliance with environmental quality standards without including any information about policies’ effects and effectiveness. The lack of policy-oriented monitoring and information support tools hinders intersectoral collaboration throughout the entire policy process.

In 2006 Albania, with UNDP support has conducted a self-assessment process aming at assessment of capacity needs (NCSA) and priorities with respect to the global environment and within the context of sustainable development so that Albania can meet the requirements of the Global Environmental Conventions in a coordinated and strategic manner.

The NCSA highlighted that due to many problems existing in information collection and management systems, the government has limited capacity to meet its obligations, which results in uninformed constituency, poor knowledge of existing problems and their extent by the decision makers which in turn results in poor planning practices. The immediate need for sound and integrated information was articulated in NCSA as:

• Providing basis for the development of specific and yet future looking policies, strategies, plans, undertaking specific measures;
• Enabling the Civil Society organizations (CSO) and the general public in getting more aware and mobilized around solving particular issues and pressuring the government to adhere to its obligations;
• Reporting to the all three Rio Conventions to which Albania is the signatory and has commitments.

Reporting obligations under the existing environmental regulations have been restricted to compliance with environmental quality standards without including any information about policies’ effects and effectiveness. The lack of policy-oriented monitoring and information support tools hinders intersectoral collaboration throughout the entire policy process The key challenges and its causal linkages identified in the NCSA with regards to information management and reporting is summarized in figure 1 annexed herewith.

The existing Protected Areas (Biodiversity) Information System (PA-IS) is thought as the single, unique and more comprehensive national entry point for data and information on biodiversity in Albania. However, at its current scale and scope the PA-IS is limited to the protected areas network and cannot serve as a tool for informed decision making and reporting for broader natural resources management and conservation at national level and global level.

In addition, various projects carried out by many international and national agencies in the environment and natural resources management areas have generated a vast amount of data and information which are important for conservation and sustainable management of these resources within the country as well as within the region. These data and information are stored in various government and non-government agencies with no proper system established to interlink and retrieve for utilization

Creating national wide environmental information system will therefore enable Albania monitoring and coordinating sectoral policies strategically to fulfill national obligations under global environmental agreements so that Albania can meet the requirements of the Global Environmental Conventions in a coordinated and strategic manner.

As an integral part (or the pre-requisite) of the national environmental information system establishment, the country needs to review various environmental and social economic indicators in order to create a well integrated and manageable monitoring systems that would form the foundation of national environmental information system.

The project is a response to the need for an environmental monitoring system that is integrated throughout the related government institutions, that is well coordinated and cooperates, using international monitoring standards for the selection of monitoring indicators, the data collection processes, the processing and reporting of this information covering all three Rio Conventions. The GEF contribution will develop national capacities in Albania to align its national environmental information management and monitoring system with global environmental monitoring and reporting priorities; including the compliance with the Multilateral Environment Agreements reporting obligations.

In particular the project will aim at:

• Development of the EIMS to enable integration of global environment commitments into planing and monitoring processes;
• Development and application of uniform indicators encompassing UNFCCC, CBD and CCD concerns and global environmental threats;
• Stakeholder’s capacity for information management (collection processing) of key global environment data and utilization (interpretation and reporting) is enhanced at national and local level.

Deberes y responsabilidades

Under the guidance and in consultation with the project coordinator, the program officer for environment and energy at UNDP Albania and relevant stakeholders, the consultant will undertake the following tasks:

Task 1: Develop the Project Annual Work Plan:

• Prepare a detailed work plan for the first year of implementation together with the project team, including a budget revision if necessary;
• Detail and finalize TORs for all project sub-contracts;

Task 2: Develop the Project monitoring and evaluation framework:

• Develop evaluation plans for the achievement of the targets, milestones/benchmarks;
• Review the Project Framework to ensure that indicators and milestones of impact at the Output, Purpose and Goal levels are measurable and updated, and verify assumptions;
• Review the M & E framework of the project, including a)Setting of yearly targets/milestones that must be linked to project outcome indicators (impact indicators), progress indicators, and the Project Results Framework, and that will be endorsed by all partners; b)Detailed monitoring and evaluation plans that clearly indicate the roles and responsibilities of UNDP staff, auditors, and other involved government agencies; c) Identifying significant Project Risks and preparing a detailed risk management strategy.

Task 3: Review and refine the project management arrangement, including:

• Revise existing TORs of all project personnel in the Project Document, if necessary;
• Clarify the role and functions of (and relationships between) the Project Steering Committee and the
• Annual Project Review, prepare a structural guidance on the functions of steering committee members;
• Clarify the role and responsibility of partners for achieving the project outcomes by
• identifying possible linkages and coordination mechanisms between partners and project
• activities;
• Review and finalize the project management arrangement diagram, including reporting lines.

Task 4: Prepare an Inception Report that takes into account all analysis and updates as indicated above.

Task 5: Conduct consultation meetings with relevant stakeholders during the inception mission.

Task 6: Prepare a presentation and participate in a one-day Inception Workshop towards the end
of the mission and finalize the Inception Report based on the outputs of this workshop.

The International Consultant will take lead in undertaking all the tasks described above.

The consultant is required to work under overall guidance of the program officer for environment and energy and will directly report to the project coordinator.

Expected Deliverables:

The International Expert for the Inception Phase shall deliver the followings:

• Draft Inception report by January 25, 2016;
• Final Inception report by February 5, 2016.

The Project Inception Report should contain the following key elements:

• Project operational strategy;
• Detailed first year work plan; Budget breakdown and work/activities allocation for the following two years;
• Detailed annual monitoring and evaluation plan with means and verification indicators;
• Possible linkages and coordination mechanisms between the project and other Biodiversity/Protected Areas initiatives and programs;
• TORs of all subcontracts;
• List of project risks and risk management measures;
• Minutes of the Inception Workshop.

Payment Schedule:

The international Consultant for the preparation of the inception phase shall receive payment in three installments from UNDP as follows:

• 25% upon completion and acceptance of the outline of the inception report and a draft work plan;
• 25% upon completion and acceptance of the project monitoring and evaluation framework, revision and finalization of the project management arrangement, first draft of the inception report, ToRs of subcontracts and annual work plan for first year;
• 50% upon preparation and acceptance of the final Inception Report that takes into account all the analysis and updates as indicated in the tasks above.

Responsibility for Expenses and their Reimbursement:

This is a lump sum assignment. The Consultant will be responsible for all personal administrative and travel expenses associated with undertaking this assignment including office accommodation, printing, stationary, telephone and electronic communications, and report copies incurred in this assignment.

Competencias

Technical work

• Strong expertise in Environmental Management;
• Experience in developing institutional arrangements for multi-national projects;
• Familiarity with the International Conventions addressing Biodiversity Conservation, Desertification and Climate Change.
• Experience in
• Ability to pick up new terminology and concepts easily;
• Familiarity with GEF and UNDP policies, templates and requirements for project inception phases.

Partnerships

• Maturity and confidence in dealing with senior members of national institutions;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Excellent English written and communication skills, with analytic capacity and ability to synthesize relevant collected data and findings for the preparation of quality analysis for the project proposal;
• Excellent coordination skills and result oriented collaboration with colleagues

Results

• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Good team player who has ability to maintain good relationships.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education:

• Advanced University degree in the fields of environmental management, sustainable development or relevant related fields;

Experience:

• At least 7 years of relevant professional experience;
• Proven experience in implementing similar tasks preferably in other CCCD projects;
• Previous experience with UNDP or other UN Agencies is an advantage.

Languages:

• Excellent English writing skills are essential.

 Evaluation of Applicants:

Individual consultant will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants and financial proposal.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 70 points -

• Criteria A: Strong expertise in Environmental Management and analytical skills to evaluate and review environmental project documents- max point -30;
• Criteria B: Strong technical report writing - max points – 15;
• Criteria C: Familiarity with the International Conventions addressing Biodiversity Conservation, Desertification and Climate Change; Familiarity with GEF and UNDP policies, templates and requirements for project inception phases. – max points - 25.

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 30 points

Application Procedure:

The application should contain:

• Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application.
• Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees, please upload the P11 instead of your CV. (a template can be downloaded from http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc );
• Financial Proposal* - specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this TOR. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (number of anticipated working days – in home office and on mission, travel – international and local, per diems and any other possible costs), preferably according to the following template.

General Conditions of Contract for the ICs:

http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf.

Please note that UNDP is not in the position to accept incomplete applications - please make sure that your application contains all details as specified below in this notice. Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.