UNDP Jobs - 97616- Consultant to support the Ministry of Environmenta

Consultant to support the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture (MEPA) in elaboration the fourth National Environmental Action Programme (NEAP) for 2022-2026

Location :

Tbilisi, GEORGIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

26-Mar-21 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Up to 50 working days within period of March-October, 2021

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

Environmental protection is one of the priority directions of the Government of Georgia (GoG). The Government is committed to establishing better environmental governance across the country. However, the country faces a number of structural environmental challenges such as improving environmental legislation, increasing awareness of stakeholders, improving monitoring, inspection and enforcement systems, etc. Environmental degradation and irrational use of natural resources, coupled with global environmental problems, pose devastating threats to the country.

Law of Georgia on Environment Protection (https://www.matsne.gov.ge/ka/document/download/33340/19/en/pdf) together with the sector-specific environmental laws, establishes the legal framework for comprehensive environmental protection and management of natural resources. Moreover, the law stipulates that Georgia must develop a National Environmental Action Programme (NEAP) every five years and implement it subsequently. NEAP is presented in the form of a document specifying a list of environmental themes, sectors, and priority activities, with a concise justification based on a tight set of criteria. It sets long-term goals, short-term targets and provides respective activities. Considering the complex and inter-sectoral nature of environmental problems, implementation of the document's activities broadly depends on coordination within the national Government, between the national and the municipal levels.

After the signing of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement (AA) in 2014, the reforms in the environmental sector have been accelerated, and the long process of harmonisation of the environmental regulatory framework with the EU directives has been started. One of the main challenges of the environmental action programme is incorporating the obligations imposed by AA since the environmental directions covered by the programme should be fully in compliance with the EU requirements. Simultaneously, the full and efficient implementation of NEAP is one of the obligations underlined in the EU-Georgia Association Agenda. Furthermore, MEPA considers Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) a valuable tool to promote good environmental governance principles. Therefore, NEAP should fully reflect the actions targeting the environmental pillar of nationalised SDGs (https://www.matsne.gov.ge/ka/document/view/4732470?publication=0).

The timeline of the current phase of NEAP-3 (https://mepa.gov.ge/En/Files/ViewFile/1605) expires at the end of 2021. According to the national obligations, the Ministry is obliged to develop the fourth NEAP for the period of 2022-2026, which should modify and strengthen the legal, administrative and institutional framework at all levels and create a good platform for the EU approximation process. It should identify the country's environmental priorities and develop clearly defined policy goals, subsequent measures, deadlines, and finances. The preparation of NEAP-4 should be organised with full transparency and participation of the key stakeholders.

Elaboration of NEAP-4 is a challenging task, and MEPA has requested UNDP to provide support and technical assistance through a national consultant to develop the programme mentioned above. The programme will fulfil the national and international environmental obligations of Georgia and create a strong basis for the sector development for the next five years by developing action-oriented, country-driven, and immediate activities.

Duties and Responsibilities

The local consultant should provide support to the national leading consultant in elaborating NEAP-4 and will be responsible for developing specific chapters of the programme. The local consultant should find solutions to common environmental problems, address the country's environmental priorities, and ensure gathering available information concerning the main environmental issues, define main measures to be taken, and the responsible parties for each action. The local consultant will work under the national leading consultant's supervision to ensure efficient facilitation and elaboration process of NEAP-4.

The scope of work for the local consultant will include, but may not be limited to:

Assist the national leading consultant in preparation of workplan, selection of methodology and collecting the necessary information required for drafting the document, and ensure timely and quality implementation of the agreed work plan;
Organize and participate in consultation meetings with all relevant stakeholders including MEPA and its sub-agencies, other state authorities, etc. and if necessary, conduct additional consultancies for gathering the necessary information;
Participate in the meetings with the working groups created within the Ministry on need basis to gather and discuss the information related to the elaboration of specific chapters of the NEAP-4;
Review of relevant information gathered during the consultations as well as proposed measures with MEPA and other state institutions in Georgia;
Elaborate the particular chapters of NEAP-4 in accordance with the adopted workplan;
Assist the national leading consultant in presenting the first draft of NEAP-4 to MEPA (internal presentation/discussion);
Assist the national leading consultant in finalization process of the NEAP-4 based on solicit feedback and present the final version of the document to the relevant stakeholders;
Participate in all stakeholders' workshops and public discussions organized within the consultancy facilitated by the national leading consultant;
Compile a final consultancy report, including the accomplishments undertaken during the consultancy period.

The payment schedule is given below and will be made upon competition, submission and approval of deliverables by the GRF Project Manager:

40% of the consultancy fee

The detailed workplan determining the responsibilities and timely of the planned activities as well as methodology for preparing NEAP-4;
The presentation of NEAP-4 chapters to MEPA;
The first draft of NEAP-4;

60% of the consultancy fee

The stakeholders' workshop (public discussion) to present the elaborated draft of NEAP-4;
Final draft of NEAP-4;
Final consultancy report.

Management Arrangements:

The Local Consultant will work under the overall supervision of the Governance Reform Fund (GRF) Project Manager and the direct supervision of the GRF Environmental Coordinator. The expert will have close working relations with the representatives of MEPA and the national leading consultant to make sure that the overall vision and priorities of the Ministry are taken into consideration.

The service provider will be directly responsible for, reporting to, seeking approval from and obtaining a certificate of acceptance of outputs from the GRF Project Manager and the GRF Environmental Coordinator. In addition, the respective GRF team will be responsible for sharing relevant documents, contact details and other necessary information with the service provider.

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN's values and ethical standards;
Understanding of the mandate and the role of UNDP would be an asset;
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.

Functional competencies:

Strong communication and analytical skills;
Demonstrated skills in drafting reports;
Ability to work under pressure with several tasks and various deadlines;
Actively generates creative, practical approaches and solutions to overcome challenging situations;
Excellent writing, presentation/public speaking skills;
A pro-active approach to problem-solving;
Computer literacy.

Leadership and Self-Management skills:

Builds strong relationships with the working group and with the project partners
Focuses on impact and results for the project partners and responds positively to feedback;
Cooperates with the working group effectively and demonstrates strong conflict resolution skills;
Consistently approaches work with energy, positivity and a constructive attitude;
Demonstrates strong influencing and facilitation skills;
Remains calm, in control and good-humored under pressure;
Demonstrates openness to change, new ideas and ability to manage ambiguity;
Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
Demonstrates the ability to transfer knowledge and competencies;
Is able to work independently and hurdle competing priorities.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree in public policy/public administration, natural or environmental sciences or other related fields (minimum requrement Master’s degree - 13 points; PHD – additional 2 points).

Experience:

At least seven years of proven experience in support to institution building actions related to environmental management (minimum requirement 7 years – 15 points, more than 7 years – additional 5 points);
At least three years of proven working experience with government agencies and/or international organizations in supporting the elaboration process of environmental policy and strategic documents and development of action plans (minimum requirement 3 years – 7 Points, more than 3 years – additional 3 points);
Proven knowledge of Georgian legal and institutional framework in the area of environment and climate action will be ana asset (5 points);

Language:

Excellent command of written and spoken English and Georgian.

Evaluation:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis method: Offerors will be evaluated against combination of technical and financial criteria. Maximum obtainable score is 100, out of which the total score for technical criteria equals to 70 and for financial criteria – to 30. Offerors that do not meet Minimum Qualification Criteria will be automatically rejected, while the rest will form up the long list. The offerors who obtain minimum 35 points as a result of the desk review will be invited for the interview. Offerors who pass 70% threshold, i.e. obtain minimum 14 points, as a result of the interview will be requested the financial proposal.

Financial Proposal:

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 instalments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, 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. Maximum 30 points will be assigned to the lowest price offer. All other price offers will be scored using the formula (inverse proportion): Financial score X = 30* the lowest price offer/suggested price offer.