Background

UNDP’s Global Environment Facility (UNDP-GEF) is based in UNDP’s Bureau of Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) and is responsible for providing leadership and technical support to delivery of the Environment and Sustainable Development pillar of UNDP’s Strategic Plan. Its main focus is on helping countries develop the capacity to fully incorporate environmental sustainability into development at national and local, but also global and regional, levels.  The principal areas of work are in environmental mainstreaming, environmental finance, adaptation to climate change, and local governance of resources, including energy.

UNDP-GEF is responsible for providing detailed knowledge related to sources of funds for environment work, and assisting partners to obtain, use, and report on, such funding. Currently the main sources of funds include: the Global Environment Facility (GEF); the GEF managed Adaptation Funds (LDCF, SCCF); the UNFCCC Adaptation Fund; voluntary carbon markets; and various bilateral, multilateral, and sub-national donors and partners including country governments and the private sector. The main category of financing for the UNDP’s Ecosystems and Biodiversity (EBD) portfolio is the Global Environment Facility, with distinct project development steps that need to be undertaken to access the financing and start implementation of the project. 

With its technical focus, UNDP-GEF is organized into substantive technical teams based in regional service centers from where they support UNDP’s country offices and partners in their region. Support to countries in project cycle management is coordinated through the UNDP-GEF Directorate at UNDP Headquarters in New York, with Regional Coordination Units (RCU) – in Istanbul (for Arab States and Europe & CIS), Addis Ababa (for Africa), Panama (for Latin America and the Caribbean) and Bangkok (for Asia Pacific) - that work with the Regional Bureaux to provide support to countries. A team of Regional Technical Advisors (RTA) in each RCU provides technical advice and support, and assistance with project development and implementation, in a number of interrelated GEF focal areas including Ecosystems and Biodiversity. The RTA and consultants work under the overall supervision of the Principal Technical Advisor and in close collaboration with other technical specialists at both global and regional levels.  

The UNDP-GEF Project: Strengthening human resources, legal frameworks, and institutional capacities to implement the Nagoya Protocol (“Global ABS Project”, GEF ID 5731; 2016-2019), is a 3-year project that specifically aims at assisting countries in the development and strengthening of their national ABS frameworks, human resources, and administrative capabilities to implement the Nagoya Protocol.

The overall objective of the project is to assist countries in the development and strengthening of their national ABS frameworks, human resources and administrative capabilities to implement the Nagoya Protocol. The expected outcomes of the project are:

• Strengthening the legal, policy and institutional capacity to develop national ABS frameworks;
• Building trust between users and providers of genetic resources to facilitate the identification of bio-discovery efforts;
• Strengthening the capacity of indigenous and local communities to contribute to the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol;
• Implementing a community of practice on ABS and South-South Cooperation mechanisms.

Objective of the assignment:

UNDP-GEF is seeking one individual consultant to provide technical advisory services to project implementation partners, primarily UNDP country offices and UNV, provide quality assurance for the efficient, effective and high quality delivery of project development and implementation. The Consultant will be responsible for providing technical and legal support to the national implementation of the Global ABS Project activities at the regional level in 4 countries in Asia-Pacific region (India, Mongolia, Myanmar and Samoa). S/he will liaise directly with designated officials of the Participating Countries, UNDP Country Offices, RCU staff and existing and potential additional project donors and stakeholders. In addition, the individual consultant will be available to provide technical expertise to other ABS projects implemented by UNDP in the Asia-Pacific region. The consultant will report to the Global Project Manager (GPM) based in Panama, and in close collaboration with other technical specialists at both global and regional levels, the consultant will  responsible for providing technical advisory services and quality assurance to project results/outcomes partners, primarily working with UNDP country offices.  

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will be responsible for the provision of following services: 

• Conduct research and contact Country Offices for information to design fact sheets, presentations, briefs on specific development thematic areas related with ABS, in coordination with the communication specialist; 
• Consult Country Offices  on technical particularities of  the elaboration and implementation of the work plans of activities of the Global ABS Project at the national level and provide substantial guidance on the implementation of operational and technical activities;
• Provide technical support related to the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol to other UNDP Country Offices in the region that are executing ABS national projects;
• Identify conceptual and learning needs in the implementation of national ABS systems and support in designing and organizing regional and national learning activities to address those needs;
• Coordinate online knowledge sharing activities;  
• Advise on and contribute to the organization of national or regional consultations, workshops, and communication campaigns;
• Consult the implementation and management of the project.

ABS legal frameworks:

• Consult the elaboration of the draft national ABS frameworks in Mongolia, Myanmar and Samoa, providing specific technical and legal advice on access measures (PIC, MAT and national permits), compliance measures (checkpoints and sanctions) and ways to monitor the information generated by the Nagoya Protocol, in particular the Internationally Recognized Certificate of Compliance (IRCC), at the national and international level. 
• Structure and facilitate the national consultations to discuss and validate the drafted legal framework, ensuring the involvement of all the relevant stakeholders, in particular women. 
• Identify opportunities and challenges for the adoption of the national ABS legal frameworks and propose strategies to overcome challenges and maximize opportunities
• Provide technical expertise by leading the development and design of Traditional Knowledge databases at the national level, including legal rights over genetic that are traditionally owned by Indigenous and Local Communities (ILCs), ensuring equally participation of women in those procedures. 
• Provide technical and legal support in the development of ABS contract models at the national level, including sectoral model clauses.
• Advise identified country counterparts on the development of biocultural community protocols.

Workshops and consultations:

• Provide substantive inputs for the preparation and facilitate, inter alia, the following workshops and consultations at the national level:
• Workshop with the participation of key stakeholders to validate the guidelines for access to genetic resources and TK in the country by the research sector. 
• One-day workshop with 150 people from research funding institutions and key public and private research institutions in India.
• Regional workshops in India about national ABS procedures for researchers.
• Support the creation at national level of a forum for exchange of views among ABS authorities, researchers, and business community to promote the use of genetic resources in India as a source of innovation.
• Collaborate in the process of identification of communities involved in the management of genetic/natural resources to serve as case studies for the development of Biocultural community Protocols by reviewing the different options and the information provided, analyze the information and provide advisory by reviewing the activities through an ABS oriented criteria.

Trainings:

• Support the preparation of training activities (plan the structure of the activity, facilitate or provide the substantive materials and/or conduct lectures) (i.e., learning-by-doing activities) at national level on different access procedures and biodiversity-based research and development for the different sectors, including the preparation of the necessary materials. 
• Prepare and coordinate training events for the countries upon request about the use of the CHM and connections with the global ABS-CH. 
• Support training activities for different sectors at the national level by providing technical assistance and information databases.
• Provide training to relevant agencies at national or regional level for conducting knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) KAP assessments and analyzing results.

Campaigns:

• Support the development and implementation of national programs to raise awareness about ABS, CBD, and the Nagoya Protocol by preparing the necessary technical inputs and materials for the campaign, including regional workshops about national ABS procedures for researchers.
• Actively promote biodiscovery opportunities in all the countries involved in the project based on research and data collection performed.

Design of guidelines:

• Support the development of different guidance documents requested at the national level, including their validation processes, such as on access to genetic resources and traditional knowledge for researchers: 
• study presenting different options for the monitoring system for researchers;
• guidelines on the monitoring system for researchers;
• guidance document for public authorities on how to incorporate, estimate, and promote non-monetary benefits in ABS agreements;
• sectoral guidelines for research.

Revise the preparation of and provide technical inputs to the elaboration of ethical codes of conduct for specific sectors, such as agriculture, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology sectors.
Promote exchange and interaction among different sectors to understand business models for key industries.
Participate in the development of regional or national “success story” publication for use by national stakeholders to understand the potential of biodiscovery and ABS.

Expected outputs and deliverables timelines (estimated duration to complete and payment percentage (working days; %):

First deliverable by end of September 2017 (work input: app. 45 working days; payment: 25% of total amount)

• Organization and design of the agenda and structure of the initial events or workshops of the Global ABS Project at the national level in the 4 countries with direct participation in the events, presenting to different ministries and relevant stakeholders the key elements of the Nagoya Protocol, the challenges for its implementation and how the Global ABS Project will contribute to address those challenges at the national level. Preparation of supportive documentation, materials and presentations, as needed, for those events; 
• Produce a report of the national activities conducted to initiate the project (public events, workshops, conferences or meetings with stakeholders) in each of the countries from the region with specific reference of the direct support provided; 
• Produce a report of other activities and projects that are taking place or are going to take place at the national level by other donors, stating their objectives, outputs and activities and possible synergies with the Global ABS Project, proposing ways to maximize the relationship between projects. 

Second deliverable. By end of December 2017 (app. 45 working days; payment: 25% of total amount)

• Review, revision and adoption, with concrete and substantial technical support to Country Offices, of all the annual work plans of the 4 countries included in the project from the Asia-Pacific region for 2018 (India, Mongolia, Myanmar and Samoa);
• Active technical support and direct participation in the preparation, organization of the public events, workshops and national consultancies carried out at the national level in the 4 countries, providing direct expertise and presentations, as needed, on the substantial elements of the Nagoya Protocol (access measures, PIC and MAT from Indigenous and Local Communities in regard their Traditional Knowledge associated to genetic resources, compliance measures, checkpoints, etc.); 
• Active advisory support to other countries in the region, on request, in the preparation, supervision and preparation of the different activities of other UNDP national ABS projects; 
• Engage countries in the region to actively participate in the ABS community of practice of the Global ABS Project with at least one request generated per country;
• Produce a report of the national activities included in the Annual Work Programme (workshops, studies, draft legislation, campaigns) conducted in each of the countries from the region (public events, workshops, conferences or meetings with stakeholders and national consultancies) with specific reference of the direct support provided;
• Produce a note identifying interesting potential cases of best-practices or lessons learnt in the countries covered.

Third deliverable by end of March 2018 (work input: app. 45 Working days; payment: 25% of total amount)

• Consult, support and participate in the preparation, organization and guidance on the different activities of the Project at the national level in the 4 countries; 
• Active advisory support to other countries in the region, on request, in the preparation and celebration of the different activities of other UNDP national ABS projects; 
• Engage countries in the region to actively participate in the ABS community of practice of the Global ABS Project with at least one request generated per country;
• Provide inputs for the Annual Project Implementation Reports (PIR) for each of the four countries covered by the Global ABS project, as inputs to the Global Project PIR
• Produce a report of the national activities included in the Annual Work Programme (workshops, studies, draft legislation, campaigns) conducted in each of the countries from the region (public events, workshops, conferences or meetings with stakeholders and national consultancies) with specific reference of the direct support provided;
• Produce a report identifying interesting potential cases of best-practices or lessons learnt in the countries covered.

Fourth deliverable by end of June 2018 (work input: app. 45 Working days; payment: 25% of total amount)

• Consult, support and participate in the preparation, organization and guidance on the implementation of the activities included in the AWP of each country at the national level in the 4 countries; 
• Respond the requests for technical support from other UNDP national ABS projects in the region; 
• Engage countries in the region to actively participate in the ABS community of practice of the Global ABS Project with at least one request generated per country;
• Provide inputs for COs to the Annual Project Implementation Reports (PIR) for each of the four countries covered by the Global ABS project, as inputs to the Global Project PIR, generating the necessary information from the activities conducted in each country;
• Produce a report of the national activities included in the Annual Work Programme (workshops, studies, draft legislation, campaigns) conducted in each of the countries from the region (public events, workshops, conferences or meetings with stakeholders and national consultancies) with specific reference of the direct support provided;
• Identify and report on interesting potential cases of best-practices or lessons learnt in the countries covered.

Management and organizational arrangements 

• The consultant will work under guidance and technical supervision of the Global Project Manager; 
• The consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment;
• The consultant will work from home with mission travel; 
• The consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own working station (i.e. laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, etc.) and must have access to reliable internet connection;
• Given the global consultations to be undertaken during this assignment, the consultant is expected to be reasonably flexible with his/her availability for such consultations taking into consideration different time zones;
• Payments will be made upon submission of the deliverables defined in the Terms of Reference. Payments will be equally divided among the Deliverables and payments will be made upon completion of deliverables and acceptance by the Global Project Manager. 

Travel arrangements:

• Travel will be required to the 4 Asia-Pacific countries (at least two per country ) participating in the Global ABS Project and may also be required in order to provide technical expertise to other ABS projects implemented by UNDP in the Asia-Pacific region;
• Any necessary mission must be approved in advance and in writing by the Global Project Manager and the UNDP-GEF Global Adviser on ABS;
• The Advanced and Basic Security in the Field II courses must be successfully completed prior to commencement of travel; 
• Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director;
• Consultants are responsible for obtaining any visas and security clearances needed in connection with travel with the necessary support from UNDP; 
• Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under https://dss.un.org/dssweb/;   
• The consultant’s travel will be arranged separately according UNDP travel policies;
• All related travel expenses will be supported by the project travel fund and will be arranged as per UNDP rules and regulations for consultants. Costs for airfares, terminal expenses, and living allowances should not be included in financial proposal.

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

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

Technical competencies: 

• Ability to provide guidance on implementation of the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ABS), including design and implementation of ABS and traditional knowledge policy and bioprospecting projects;
• Knowledge of environmental issues, environmental law and policy concept and principles and the ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations;
• Knowledge of NRM concepts, principles and policies and ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations;
• Ability to work with multiple stakeholders across a wide range of disciplines.

Functional competencies:

Development and Operational Effectiveness:

• Ability to contribute to strategic planning, change processes, results-based management and reporting;
• Ability to lead formulation, oversight of implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects;
• Ability to apply development theory to the specific country context to identify creative, practical approaches to overcome challenging situations.

Knowledge Management and Learning:

• Demonstrates practical knowledge of inter-disciplinary development issues;
• Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside of UNDP. 

Client Orientation:

• Maintains relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude; 
• Proven networking, team-building, organizational and communication skills.

Professionalism:

• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications/Education: 

• Minimum Bachelor’s degree in environmental law or policy, conservation of biodiversity, natural resources management or other closely related field. 

Experience: 

• 5 years of relevant experience in environmental law or policy, biodiversity, or natural resources management, including experience in Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit-Sharing at national or international levels;
• Experience in planning, management, and coordination of multi-disciplinary projects is required, and of bi-national or regional scope is an asset;
• Previous work experience in one or more of the participating countries or in the region on issues related to Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit-Sharing;
• Working experience in an international organization or knowledge of UN policies, procedures and practices is an asset;

Language skills: 

• Excellent writing, editing, and oral communication skills in English;

Evaluation of Applicants:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.
The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose 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 (P11 desk reviews and interviews) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation. 

Only those candidates who obtained at least 70% of points in each of the steps of the process will be considered for financial proposal evaluation.  

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

• Criteria A - (relevant education background) – max points: 10;
• Criteria B – (5 years of relevant experience in environmental law or policy, biodiversity, or natural resources management, including experience in Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit-Sharing at national or international levels) - max points: 15;
• Criteria C – (Experience in planning, management, and coordination of multi-disciplinary projects)- max points: 10;
• Criteria D – (Working experience in an international organization or knowledge of UN policies, procedures and practices) – max. points: 5;
• Criteria E – (Previous work experience in one or more of the participating countries or in the region on issues related to Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit-Sharing) – max. points: 10;
• Criteria F – Written test (professionalism, good written communication skills and capacity to synthesise and ABS expertise)– max. points: 10;
• Criteria G - Interviews (experience and knowledge of the region, good oral communications skills and ABS expertise)– max. points: 10.

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

Application procedures:

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain:

• Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please also 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 
• (blank form can be downloaded from http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc); please upload the P11 instead of your CV. 
• Financial Proposal in USD - specifying a) professional fee for tasks specified in this announcement* as a total lump sum amount  and b) breakdown of costs for 2 return flight tickets** to each of the following cities i) New Delhi, India, ii) Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, iii) Naypyidaw, Myanmar and iv) Apia, Samoa.
• Applicants must reply to the mandatory questions asked by the system when submitting the application.
• Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.

*Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination, personal security needs and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services...). 

** Candidates are requested to apply price for an economy class ticket on the most direct routes. Per diem and terminals should not be included in the price offer as they will be paid separately as per UNDP rules and regulations. Consultant may be requested to complete more mission in these countries. Travel costs of unforeseen missions will be paid separately as per UNDP rules and regulations. 

Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner. 

Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org

General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://on.undp.org/t7fJs.

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.
Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.