UNDP Jobs - 64467- National Consultant - Project Formulation Speciali

National Consultant - Project Formulation Specialist

Location :

Vientiane Capital, LAO PDR

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

30-Mar-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

45 working days between April – December 2016

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

45 working days between April – December 2016

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, with support from UNDP, are working together to formulate a five-year project “Improving the resilience of livelihoods in the vulnerable provinces of Lao PDR” for submission to a global development fund.

The proposed project will be seeking to finance the measures that contribute towards food and nutrition security in Lao PDR in the face of increasing challenges of climate change. The agriculture sector is characterized by low productivity and at the same time provides employment to over eighty percent of the population. Out of eighteen provinces in Lao PDR six belong to the top twenty five percent of the most vulnerable regions in the Southeast Asia. Low adaptive capacity is largely due to the high incidence of poverty. The current trends of reliance on monocultures also conditions high vulnerability to external shocks, including climate change.

Some efforts have been made to strengthen the resilience of both rain-fed and irrigated rice-based systems through adoption of improved varieties and better management practices and reducing vulnerability to extreme climate events. This includes the use of specific varieties to mitigate the impact of flooding and extreme heat, as well as the shifting of cropping calendars to avoid harvest during periods of high rainfall. National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute - NAFRI has been spearheading some of the essential research and field trials of such local rice varieties. Improving soil fertility, erosion control techniques, intercropping and promoting agricultural diversification and mixed farming systems have been applied in several villages through the UNDP’s Increasing Resilience of Agriculture Sector – IRAS project financed from the Least Developed Country Fund of the Global Environment Facility. Positive impacts of increased productivity and adaptive capacity provide a pathway towards further scaling up of resilient livelihood options especially among food insecure rural communities. The consultancy is required to formulate a full funding proposal based on the technical material available at the IRAS project and other related initiatives.

The proposed project will focus on the following results:

localized climate services to farming communities for improved preparedness and adaptive capacity; (ii) scale-up integrated farming systems to help create diversified and resilient livelihoods; and (iii) sustainable land and water management options at a micro-watershed level to sustain farm productivity in the face of climate change.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of work and Responsibility

The main objective of the consultancy is to support the International Consultant and Project Formulation Specialist in the design and formulation of a full proposal for the GCF funding for Lao PDR. In order to achieve this objective international national consultant is required to conduct data gathering, provide relevant inputs on the national context, review national documents and meet with relevant stakeholders and support the formulation of a funding proposal that fully meets GCF investment criteria. The national consultant will provide necessary inputs for finalisation of the project after appraisal by GCF and with the aim for a final submission by September, 2016. S/he will work with MAF, NAFRI and UNDP Country Office, under an overall technical guidance of the UNDP’s Regional Technical Advisor (RTA) for climate change adaptation at the UNDP’s Bangkok Regional Hub.

The consultant will contribute to the Project Formulation process by implementing below tasks:

In consultation with the International Consultant and under the guidance of the International Consultant the National Consultant will be required to prepare a work plans with clear outline of scope of their expected inputs and related timeline;
The National Consultant will participate in a series of consultation discussions with stakeholders, and facilitate technical inputs from UNDP and MAF / NAFRI, and other line ministries as deemed relevant, particularly MONRE;
Contribute to the data and information inputs required to ensure all project interventions of the three components are robustly designed meeting GCF investment criteria and is backed up with evidence including feasibility assessments, evaluations, relevant studies etc.;
Review relevant national documentation that are written in English or Lao language;
Conduct research and a detailed review of all relevant studies and reports to support the preparation of the technical feasibility study that will underpin the preparation of the funding proposal;
Conduct research and technical analysis, in coordination with the International Consultant to eolaborate project components and all technical sections, particularly 6 criteria elements of impact potential; paradigm shift potential; sustainable development; country needs; country ownership and cost-effectiveness; make sure that the technical proposal is evidence-based and has all necessary references to proof of concept that the proposed adaptation solution demonstrates its feasibility, across all project components;
Work closely with the UNDP Country office colleagues to present the implementation arrangement, including the procurement plan, procedures and principles the project will adhere to, in accordance with UNDP’s rules and regulations under the NIM modality; Prepare the project budget, as detailed as requested by the GCF full funding proposal template;
Provide inputs to the preparation of the the project logframe with well-defined indicators, targets, inputs and outputs; make sure that indicators in logframe fully respond to the GCF indicator framework for adaptation;
In coordination with the International Consultant undertake necessary consultations with relevant government agencies, stakeholders and experts to obtain comments/suggestions and incorporate these comments into the draft documents;
Assist with addressing comments during the GCF review process after submission of the Project Document during Aug-Oct 2016.

The final deliverables will be Inputs to the Technical Feasibility Study and the Full Funding Proposal to the Global Development Fund, as determined by the approved Workplan and under the guidance of the International Consultant for Lao PDR.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Shares knowledge and experience;
Plan and prioritizes work activities to meet organizational goals;
Builds and sustains relationships with key stakeholder groups and project team;
Conceptualizes and analyzes problems to identify key issues, underlying problems, and how they relate;
Demonstrates excellent and effective written and oral communication skills;
Demonstrate respect to knowledge and culture and religion in a multidisciplinary working environment;
Applies the required depth and breadth of knowledge and expertise to meet job demands;
Uses information technology effectively as a tools and resource;
Demonstrated flexibility and adaptability in taking on this type of consultancy.

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.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Postgraduate degree (MS) in environmental science, economics, sustainable land management, climate change adaptation in the sector of agriculture or related fields;

Experence:

At least 7 years substantial relevant experience in research related to the design and implementation of integrated disaster and climate change risk management projects with particular focus on the sector of agriculture;Other relevant experience on climate resilient livelihoods and integrated farming systems will be of additional advantage;
Experience in the support of, and contribution to, the formulation of similar projects with global funds (e.g. GEF, LDCF, SCCF, Adaptation Fund, etc.) would be an asset;
Strong research and analytical skills;
Flexibility and ability to operate in different cultural settings and with a variety of stakeholders; culturally and gender sensitive.

Language:

Fluency in spoken and written English;
Ability to read, write and speak English fluently.

All interested and qualified candidates should submit proposals to the following email account: lao.procurement@undp.org

In order to make submission please read the attached relevant documents:

TOR (Annex I);
Individual Contract & General Terms and Conditions (Annex II);
Offerors's letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability (Annex III).

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

Technical and Financial Proposal as per Annex III “offerors's letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability;”
Explaining why you are the most suitable for the work;
Providing a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work including the work schedule for the delivery of outputs/deliverable;
CV including past experience in similar project and contact reference of at least 3 references for whom you have rendered preferably the similar services.

Note: The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon monthly outputs, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days). All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. UNDP accept travel costs not exceeding of an economy class air ticket.

Cumulative analysis: The award of the contract will be made to a consultant who offer has been evaluated and determined as:

responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria;
Technical Criteria weight - [0.7];
Financial Criteria weight - [0.3].

Only a consultant obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical rating would be considered for the financial evaluation.

Note: Any request for clarification must be sent in writing to the following e-mail: kiettisack.senephansiri@undp.org with CC to margaret.jones.williams@undp.org

UNDP Lao PDR will respond in writing by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all consultants.

Please note that only short-listed candidates will be notified.

Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

For more detailed information about UNDP Lao PDR please visit our website at http://www.la.undp.org/lao_pdr/en/home.html