Background

In 2015 the world adopted the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), marking a historic shift in the global development agenda. A major focus moving forward will be the implementation agenda, particularly bottom-up local actions and solutions to achieve results across the range of environmental sustainability issues addressed in the SDGs. This project seeks to establish the enabling environment to make this happen in Kuwait.

The passage of this new global agenda converges with the enactment of Kuwait’s new Environmental Protection Law (EPL) (Law No. 42 of 2014), which sets an ambitious vision to scale-up environmental protection results across all sectors of development. The new law is a critical turning point for environmental governance in Kuwait, setting a more ambitious vision for environmental sustainability and providing the Kuwait Environment Public Authority (KEPA) an enhanced mandate to set implementing regulations, seek actions by sectoral Ministries, and achieving improved environmental compliance and enforcement.

The project supports a set of two strategic outputs meant to set an enabling environment for implementation of the new EPL: (1) Capacities for Effective Participation in Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), (2) Environmental Information Systems (EIS) enhanced including the use of statistics and indicators for measuring EPL implementation.

The project goal is to support the improvement of the sustainable management of the environment and natural resources in Kuwait and to contribute towards the development and implementation of comprehensive and integrated environmental strategies and policies for Kuwait based on the EPL and Kuwait’s commitments under the MEA and SDGs.

At the base of a risk-informed approach to decision-making is the need for better scientific information and data on environmental risks, and the capacities to interpret them. Information can provide an improved foundation for decision-making and policy setting in an era defined by increasing complexity and need for systems-based thinking and decision-making. The project will support alignment of existing databases (including the Compliance Information Management System, CIMS) to KEPAs Environmental Monitoring Information System of Kuwait (eMISK), to scale-up their use into an umbrella EIS for EPL implementation and decision-making support.

Successful Implementation of environmental regulations requires strong principles for compliance and enforcement. Compliance monitoring is a key component of any effective environmental compliance and enforcement program. Establishing minimum, uniform standards and requirements for environmental compliance through the integration of stakeholder compliance inspections with environmental enforcement is critical for the establishment of a holistic Environmental Information System. the effectiveness of EPL is determined by its implementation at national, and deficient application and enforcement remain an important issue. Monitoring is crucial — of the state of the environment and of the level of implementation of the environmental law

Without effective environmental enforcement, countries experience low levels of compliance, nullifying the objectives of the developing environmental laws and regulations. For an enforcement program to be effective, there must be adequate resources and staffing throughout the compliance continuum to ensure the enforceability of the developing laws and regulations, promote compliance, provide compliance assistance to the regulated community, conduct compliance monitoring to detect violations, prosecute in the appropriate forum violations that may be discovered, and efficiently resolve instances of noncompliance with appropriate remedies and sanctions where necessary. Many countries are trying to build their enforcement capacity by increasing staffing in the environmental ministries and elsewhere, developing their policy framework, and training inspectors, prosecutors, and program managers responsible for the planning and execution of compliance and enforcement resources.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective of the consultancy:

The objective of this consultancy is to assess the status of EPL implementation and practice in Kuwait taking into consideration the formal (regulations, guidelines) and the informal (e.g. cultures, behaviors, what’s acceptable in a society) rules and practices that may underlie the implementation of relevant policies and regulations and identify priorities to address key challenges in enforcement and compliance. This should consist of a review of existing legislation, regulations and guidelines, as well as actual practice (through case studies) and evaluating this against regional and international best practice in select countries, and proposing a related outline action plan to improve the system.

The assignment will consist of identifying strengths and weaknesses, priority reform areas and opportunities for strategic interventions in implementing the EPL in eight principle area; Legal enforcement authority, institutional arrangements and capacity building, compliance monitoring, enforcement response, compliance assistance and data management, economic and other incentive based instruments, indicators to evaluate implementation of EPL and public participation.

TASKS:

1. Assess the institutional and legal framework in Kuwait and develop a set of recommendations for effective EPL implementation by identifying priorities to address key challenges in enforcement and compliance.    
2. Undertake a review and gap analysis of existing policies, governance structure, legislations and frameworks relevant to EPL implementation, identify key stakeholders from government, civil society, private sector that are relevant to EPL implementation.
3. Identify and analyze EPL and relevant law enforcement framework. Identify the entities responsible for apprehension of violation of the relevant laws and make recommendations where necessary to improve the existing law enforcement framework, Outline the penalties and violations of these laws.
4. Propose recommendations and provide options for a comprehensive legislative framework building on existing laws, policies and Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) that Kuwait has signed on and make recommendations where possible for amendments to be made or new laws to be drafted.
5. Develop compliance and enforcement strategies based on executive regulations to monitor implementation of the EPL in the EIS. Propose a comprehensive integrated approach to reflect EPL implementation requirements in the EIS. Identify causes of non-compliance and propose compliance assistance strategies for the regulated communities. 
6. Conduct consultations with relevant stakeholders including government ministries, civil society, private sector where necessary on the proposed recommendations and develop a capacity building road map based on the consultations.
7. Identify and propose key indicators to evaluate compliance and enforcement management and develop a road map to assess effectiveness of EPL implementation.
8. Identify any legally established incentives for compliance and propose recommendations, taking into account any new proposed programs (Environment Protection Fund for example), present examples of best practice related to market-based incentives to encourage pollution prevention and increase operational flexibility, compliance incentives for small business (incentives for auditing, disclosure and correction), training needs, small business assistance schemes.
9. Identify opportunities, key challenges, bottlenecks for effective public participation (access to information, citizen complaints, citizen enforcement) and propose recommendations to address the challenges.  
10. Prepare a comprehensive capacity building action plan to address gaps, needs, challenges identified in the above assessment, the plan will include number of workshops, detailed training needs and further recommendations for key stakeholders.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS AND DELIVERABLES

 The consultant will report to the Project Manager of the KEGI and present an inception report and workplan with table of contents outlined within two weeks of signing the contract. The consultant will coordinate with the environmental data specialist regarding the evaluation of the EIS systems at KEPA and present a comprehensive report on gaps, recommendations and capacity building requirements for effective EPL implementation.

Outputs:

1. Assessment report.

The assessment report should include:

• Background overview of the development of the EPL system in Kuwait
• The current state of implementation of EPL in the country, including an outline of the legal, institutional framework, enforcement and compliance monitoring.
• The different institutions and their role in EPL enforcement and compliance process in Kuwait, including the KEPA, other governmental agencies, as well the private sector, civil society, and attention will be given to coordination issues in terms of EPL implementation in Kuwait between KEPA and other agencies.
• How the system is implemented in practice, including EPL/ EIS integration, institutional capacity, the effectiveness of arrangements for public participation, quality review, follow-up, and any other aspects which may give cause for concern.
• Gaps identified
• Effective compliance and enforcement strategies and proposed indicators for monitoring EPL implementation.
• Potential improvements, including compliance assistance, public participation, a commentary on stakeholders’ suggestions

1. An outline of an action plan

1.         An outline of an action plan should be presented, which includes short-term and long-term recommendations for further development of regulations, procedures and guidelines, capacity strengthening for KEPA and major stakeholders, any other actions needed to improve the institutional framework and its practical implementation to the level where it would satisfactorily meet recognized international standards.

1.        The prime purpose of this action plan is to advise national representatives of the actions they may consider including in their own strategy for further development of the EPL process, areas where international assistance may be particularly valuable should be identified (compliance assistance, compensation mechanisms)

1. Capacity building road map and implementation plan.

Institutional Arrangement

• The consult will report directly to UNDP Project Manager.
• He/she will liaise directly with project team on day to day matters for supplying documentations, obtaining information and arranging for the delivery of the expected outputs. 
• The scheduled payments will be based on deliverables supported by submission of approved reports, each report should be priory approved by KEPA and UNDP Project Manager. These interim and final reports with all attachments (work plan, assessments, etc) will serve as justification of payments and prove of work provided.
• The consultant will be based in KEPA and provided with access to printing machine, phone and internet access during regular office hours, while in Kuwait.

Duration of the Work

The consultancy will require 100 working days from January 3rd- June 30th 2018 with 3 travels.

Duty Station:

Home based work with mission travel to Kuwait

Competencies

• Possess a solid understanding of the institutional arrangements and resources required to carry out the scope of works
• Demonstrate flexibility in the event adjustments are required based on the findings, both at the organizational and technical levels, for successful implementation of the consultancy.
• Experience in working with government institutions in GCC countries/Arab region and UN, is an added advantage;
• Strong conceptual and analytical skills
• Demonstrate competence in report writing, presenting information and consulting with stakeholders
• Strong communication, drafting, presentation and reporting skills; 
• Written and spoken proficiency in English is required, Knowledge of Arabic Language will be an added value.
• Proves integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards and diversity.
• Identifies stakeholders’ needs and matches them to appropriate solutions.

Required Skills and Experience

I. Academic Qualifications:

• Masters Level Degree in one of the following fields: environmental law, international development studies, environmental legislation, environmental policy or closely related fields.

II. Years of experience:

• 10 years of experience working on environmental legislations and regulations
• Experience with legislative and regulatory review.
• Experience in working with, and analyzing environmental data.
• Written and spoken proficiency in English. Knowledge of Arabic language is an advantage.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Lump Sum Amount

• The financial proposal submitted shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable
• Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.
• The financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel, living allowance, and number of anticipated working days).

Travel: All envisaged travel and other related costs must be included in the financial proposal.

Evaluation:

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Cumulative analysis

Total score=Technical Score + Financial Score.

Technical Criteria weight - 70%, 700 scores maximum 

Financial Criteria weight - 30%. 300 scores maximum

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 490 from 700 point in the Technical part of evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

The selection of candidates will be done in 3 stages:

1st stage: Prior to detailed evaluation, all applications will be thoroughly screened against eligibility criteria (minimum qualification requirements) as set in the TOR in order to determine whether they are compliant/non-compliant.

2nd  stage: Evaluation of technical proposals

Short-listed candidates will be evaluated based on the following criteria. Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 490 points (70%) at the Technical Evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

3rd stage: Financial evaluation

Cumulative analysis will be used based on the following methodology: All the offers of individual consultants who scored 490 (70% from 700) and more points during the desk review are acceptable for financial evaluation. The lowest financial qualified proposal receives 300 points and all the other technically qualified proposals receive points in inverse proportion per the formula:

The candidate achieving the highest cumulative score for both Technical and Financial evaluations will be recommended by the Evaluation Committee for contracting.

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals.

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
2. Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
3. Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, if applicable, on how they will approach and complete the assignment. A methodology is recommended for intellectual services, but may be omitted for support services [Note: this is optional for support services]; 
4. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided.  If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP. 
5. Technical Proposal with clear methodology with clear methodology of conducting Gap Analysis report for Environment Information Systems integration.

UNDP forms to be filled:

• P11  http://www.kw.undp.org/content/dam/kuwait/documents/Procurmenet/P11%20modified%20for%20SCs%20and%20ICs.doc
• Template for Confirmation of Interest and Submission of Financial Proposal; http://www.kw.undp.org/content/dam/kuwait/documents/Procurmenet/Template%20for%20Confirmation%20of%20Interest%20and%20Submission%20of%20Financial%20Proposal.docx