Background

The Global Environment Facility (GEF)
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) (www.thegef.org) unites 183 member governments—in partnership with international institutions, non-governmental organizations and the private sector—to address global environment issues. An independently operating financial organization, the GEF provides grants for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer and persistent organic pollutants. Since 1991, the GEF has provided US$12.5 billion in grants and leveraged US$58 billion in co-financing for 3,690 projects in 165 developing countries. Through its Small Grants Programme (SGP) the GEF has made more than 20,000 grants totaling about US$1 billion to civil society and community-based organizations.
The GEF International Waters (IW) focal area targets transboundary water systems, such as shared river basins, lakes, groundwater and large marine ecosystems. The IW portfolio comprises 242 projects to date and some US$1.4 billion of GEF grants invested in 149 different countries. This investment has leveraged about US$8.4 billion in co-financing. 
UNDP GEF Kura Project “Advancing Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM)  across the Kura river basin through implementation of the transboundary agreed actions and national plans” will be implementing the Strategic Action Program for the Kura River Basin in partnership with the Governments of Georgia and Azerbaijan. The SAP is framed around four agreed Ecosystem Quality Objectives (EQO) which are:

• To achieve sustainable utilization of water resources to ensure access to water and preserve ecosystem services;
• To achieve water quality such that it would ensure access to clean water for present and future generations and sustain ecosystem functions in the Kura river basin;
• To achieve and maintain ecosystem status whereby they provide essential environmental and socio-economic services in a sustainable manner in the Kura River Basin; and,
• To achieve mitigation of adverse impacts of flooding and climate change on infrastructures, riparian ecosystems and communities.

The GEF will support priority activities towards these objectives. The GEF funded SAP implementation Project has the objective “to integrate water resources management in the Kura river basin to address water-energy-food-ecosystem security nexus through the implementation of agreed actions in the SAP”.
There will be five components to support the countries to achieve this objective. These are:

• Project Component 1: Establishment of effective cross sectoral IWRM governance protocols at the local, national and transboundary levels in the Kura Basin;
• Project Component 2: Strengthening national capacities to implement multi-sectoral IWRM in the Kura basin;
• Project Component 3: Stress reduction in critical areas and pre-feasibility studies to identify investment opportunities for improving river system health;
• Project Component 4: Targeted education and involvement projects to empower stakeholders in implementing local / national / regional actions in support of SAP implementation;
• Project Component 5: Enhancing science for governance by strengthening monitoring, information management and data analysis systems for IWRM.

Duties and Responsibilities

Designing an Information System for water resources management in both Azerbaijan and Georgia is essential to support the two countries efforts in proper management of water resources. Developing this information system requires establishment of an effective tools for managing the historical data and the recently captured data for both water quantity and quality. The development of a water resources data center will avoid duplication in data collection and allow for better dissemination of the available data. Further, the importance of considering climate change, that requires long-term hydro-meteorological records, has increased in all the above water related planning and control activities over the recent years. 

In this instance, a primary focus of the development of the Regional and National IWRM Information system will be strengthening national hydrological databases and establishing a regional one in support of the bilateral discussions between the two countries to sign the bilateral agreement. Noting this however, countries will need to identify the combined regional and national priorities for water resources information and the adopted hydrological database will need to meet these requirements. 

The Kura II project will support the two countries to develop the conceptual design of a national and regional database systems for water resources management. These systems will allow the concerned stakeholders to have access to reliable information on the status of water quantity and quality in the Kura river basin. An integrated database system will be designed to receive, archive and process hydrological, hydro-meteorological, ecological, and water quality data with the aim of providing information useful in decision making on water related issues in both countries.  The design will cover the data collection methods, the central archival system, the network of the distributed users and the dissemination of and access to the data an information. 

The services of a qualified and highly competent consultant will be required to assist the CTA in the system analysis and design for IWRM information system. The purpose of these Terms of Reference is to guide the Consultant in the process of the analysis and designing the required information system in both Azerbaijan and Georgia. This will be carried out in consultation with the two National Focal Points and will be guided by the following objectives:

• Conceptualize and design a system able to receive, archive, process and disseminate hydrological and hydrometeorological data with the aim of providing useful information in decision making on water related issues in the two countries;
• Establish a hydrological database for basin-wide water resource management and planning;
• The proposed database system must meet the complex information needs for holistic management of water and so must be user friendly and accessible;
• Water quality and pollution data are included for Environmental and Ecological Management;
• Optimum use of both existing data management systems and state-of-the-art management Systems /software;
• Staged levels of access for users, based on professional positions.

The Database Management System for the Kura II project will be designed on the basis of in-depth assessment of the present status of the national databases, of the software in use, the hydrological products, the available and foreseeable technical skills, overall regional and national relevance of hydrological products and the emerging and future needs (e.g., climate change adaptations). The project specific related outcomes are:

• Pollution abatement plans developed with key stakeholders - Develop Cadaster for Pollution sources information;
•  Capacity for information management, data analysis - Assessment of needs and gaps in information management, data analysis for IWRM and identify decision support priorities; Develop capacity building strategy working with information producing and management bodies; Develop staged budget allocation strategy for information data management needs and equipment; Conduct 2 training modules in information management for relevant stakeholders;
• River system ecological assessment - Create database for ecological assessment to include macro-invertebrates;
• Data & information exchange protocols - Develop a harmonized regional database from an agreed set of indicators to show water quality status.

The international Information Management Expert will report to the Project Chief Technical Advisor / Regional Project Coordinator (CTA/RPC). Timesheets will be reviewed and approved by the CTA/RPC.

Scope of work

• Review the current information management systems and databases in the water sector in both Azerbaijan and Georgia; 
• Review the all data storage and information reporting systems in both countries;
• Assessment of the available hardware and software for data management in different stakeholders;
• Field visits to the relevant stakeholders in both Azerbaijan and Georgia;
• Develop the current water resources data flow diagram and the linkages between different institutions;
• Identify the main data inputs and output reports for the water management information system;
• Development a technical report on needs assessment and gaps in information management for integrated water resources management in the two countries;
• Develop the conceptual design and detailed design of the IWRM information system taking into account the current resources (The detailed design will include clear definitions of all its components and a roadmap for its implementation);
• Develop capacity building strategy for IWRM information system working with all stakeholders to address information management main priorities;
• Develop budget needed for full implementation of the IWRM information system and staged budget allocation strategy;

Timeframe for Deliverables and payment schedule

Provide detailed workplan and methodology for implementing the above mentioned tasks
Start date: 1st Aug. 2017End date: 31 Aug. 2017
Payment due: 10% of the total lumpsum on delivery and approval by the CTA

Field mission to the region for 5 days, and brief mission report
Start date: 1st Aug. 2017
End date: 31 Aug. 2017

Technical report on needs assessment and gaps in information management for integrated water resources management in the two countries;
Start date: 1st Sep. 2017
End date: 30 Sep. 2017
Payment due: 20% of the total lumpsum on delivery and approval by the CTA

Detailed technical report on the IWRM information system analysis and design, including: Hardware and Software requirements and their specifications; Communications requirements; Skills requirements; Detailed design of the different components of the information system; Implementation and training schedule; Estimated budget required for full implementation and staged budget allocation strategy;
Start date: 1st Oct. 2017
End date: 30 Nov. 2017
Payment due: 40% of the total lumpsum on delivery and approval by the CTA

Field mission to the region to present the detailed design with countries stakeholders, and brief report on the mission results
Start date: 1st Dec. 2017
End date: 15 Dec. 2017

Develop capacity building strategy for IWRM information system working with all stakeholders to address information management main priorities
Start date: 1st Dec. 2017
End date: 31 Jan. 2018
Payment due: 15% of the total lumpsum on delivery and approval by the CTA

Develop Training Curriculum and the training material for DSS and information systems
Start date: 1st Feb. 2018
End date: 28 Feb. 2018
Payment due: 15% of the total lumpsum on delivery and approval by the CTA

Information on Working Arrangements: 

The international Information Management and DSS Systems Expert will report to the Project Chief Technical Advisor / Regional Project Coordinator (CTA/RPC). Deliverables will be reviewed and approved by the CTA/RPC. 

Competencies

Functional competencies

• Strong communication and management skills and demonstrable capacity to work with a multi-national team and to work with government institutions;
• Demonstrated ability on information system analysis and design; 
• Ability to develop Decision Support Systems for water management;
• Ability to conduct needs assessment studies and develop capacity needs strategies for IWRM information systems;
• Good Knowledge of data management systems; Hydrological observation networks design and instrumentation;
• Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
• Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations;
• Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities.

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

• Masters degree in Information Systems management, or related fields required;  
• Masters degree focusing on using DSS for water resources management a strong advantage. (Criteria A –Max. 10 pts)

Experience

• At least 7 years of demonstrated experience in development and oversight of water management Information systems required (Criteria B –Max. 10 pts); 
• Proven experience in information system analysis and design with emphasis in at least two of the following: water resources information systems, the use GIS and remote sensing techniques as tools in water management information systems, the development of ecological and hydrological databases using open source software and web-based application (Criteria C – Max. 15 pts);
• Proven experience in conducting needs assessment studies for water management information systems, and development of capacity building plans for concerned stakeholders required (Criteria D – Max. 10 pts);
• Experience in working with UNDP and GEF through multiple sectors/ministries or work experience in GEF International Waters and experience in the CIS region is an asset (Criteria E – Max. 5 Pts);
• Experience in the water resources management systems in Azerbaijan and Georgia, and with the EU WFD is a strong asset. (Criteria F – Max. 5 pts).

Language: 

• English is the working language for this assignment, therefore excellent oral and written communication skills in English are required.
• Ability to communicate in Russian is an advantage

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 candidates who receive 70% or more of points in desk review will be invited for an interview.

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

• Criteria A – Academic qualification / education – max points 10;
• Criteria B – Experience – max points 10;
• Criteria C – Experience– max points 15;
• Criteria D – Experience– max points 10;
• Criteria E – Experience – max points 5;
• Criteria F – Experience – max points 5;
• Criteria G – Interview (communication skills) – max points 15.

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

Time Frame 

The expected time frame for the Consultant to complete these activities is 7 months started from 1st August 2017, with app. 40 working days work (30 days home based and two field missions to the region with 5 days per mission (each mission will have 3 days in Azerbaijan + 2 days in Georgia)).

Financial Arrangements 

Payments as percentage of lump sum will be made monthly on the following based on approval and timely completion of above all deliverables described above.
Any delay of deliverable must be approved by the CTA in writing.

Procedures for Applying 

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 and a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work. 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 (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. 
•  A detailed proposal for the workplan indicating the work to be done for achieving the task, main points to be discussed with the countries and to also be addressed in your report, plan for visiting countries, the structure of your final report. 
• Financial Proposal in USD* - specifying a) total amount for the tasks specified in this announcement and b) mission related costs (i) travel costs and ii) per diem) for two field missions to the region with 5 days per mission (each mission will have 2 days in Azerbaijan + 2 days in Georgia + 1 day for travel))
• 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...). All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. 

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.