Background

UNDP Bangladesh’s Country Programme Document (2017-2020) seeks to assist the Government of Bangladesh and its development partners to implement Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. In the context of the Bangladesh 7th Five Year Plan (7FYP) and the government’s vision to graduate from Least Developed Country status, UNDP will aim to ensure a more resilient and inclusive society that shares its increasing prosperity with all. UNDP will leverage its unique position and experience to deliver tactical policy and programme expertise that supports implementation of the 7FYP and cements UNDP as a strategic partner of the government on the sustainable development agenda.

UNDP Bangladesh is engaged with change-making interventions on climate change. ‘Enhancing Climate Resilience to Heritage Sites in Coastal Region of Bangladesh’ is such a project by IDCOL and UNDP which seeks to assist Government of Bangladesh, through its Ministry of Cultural Affairs (MoCA) and Department of Archeology (DoA). It is aimed at reducing climate-threats to 18 key sites in Khulna and Barisal districts in southern Bangladesh. The AE seeks $35.15m as part of $50m project implemented over 6 years to (outcome 1) enhance capacity and knowledge to enable climate risk-informed cultural heritage preservation, (outcome 2) strengthen integrative, climate risk responsive cultural heritage management plan development, and (outcome 3) improve structural and community resilience of cultural heritage sites. The CN supports a potential PPF request.  The project presents risks to archeological sites well but needs to ground activities and outcomes of GCF funding to climate adaptation rather than general heritage conservation. The CN also needs to be strengthened in terms of impact, sustainability, replicability, efficiency and effectiveness. GCF funding is to apply towards capacity building, technical assistance, inter-agency coordination, awareness raising, development of site- management plans, etc. As such, the improved resilience of built infrastructure is contingent on action at the site or district level that are not directly funded by GCF.  Scaleup from 18 selected sites to others (100+) is unclear. Other issues are identified, such as high project cost vis-à-vis scope of activities, and need for clarity on use of funds and responsibilities of project proponents. Further, linkages to existing flood, cyclone and disaster management in Barisal and Khulna need to be developed. The AE is advised to explore these and other elements of the project so that the funding leads to a sustained improvement in management of historical assets in Bangladesh vis-à-vis the growing climate pressures facing the country.

Against the backdrop, UNDP Bangladesh is looking for a consultant to support the above project and prepare the project preparation facility and finalize the concept note in accordance to the GCF requirements. The following sections include the roles and responsibility of the potential candidate.

Duties and Responsibilities

Roles and Responsibilities:

Roles and responsibilities of the consultant required to prepare the project Preparation Facility (PPF) application and its relevant deliverables: 

• Prepare the Project Preparation Facility (PPF) application 
• Develop and finalize the Concept Note (CN) in accordance with GCF’s requirements and standard
• Prepare a detailed budget for the PPF application 
• Prepare a Terms of Reference (ToR) to hire a consultant(s)/consulting firm to conduct the activities under the PPF 

Scope of Work under the PPF:

The requested services of the consultant(s) comprise the following:             

1. Prepare the Project Preparation Facility (PPF) application  

• Clearly define and accordingly develop the PPF activities (such as pre-feasibility and feasibility studies; environment, social, gender studies, risk assessments etc. which are already provided under the GCF PPF guideline and template) that contribute directly to the development of the project and will need to be submitted as part of the Funding Proposal package.   
• The description of project design, baseline situation, climate rationale should be present in the application
• The justification of the funding request should be clearly illustrated – such as how conducting research, data collection, technical appraisals etc. entails cost incursion
• Outline the time frame required to conduct each activity under the PPF.
• Provide information on implementation arrangements for the proposed Project Preparation activities (through providing ToRs for all consultants to be contracted with the PPF activities)  

1. Develop and finalize the Concept Note (CN) in accordance with GCF’s requirements and standard

• Please refer to the portion above where the consultant’s responsibilities for preparing the Concept Note has been outlined
• In addition to the responsibilities described above, the consultant should be able to provide all forms technical, financial, analytical, environmental, social, gender, baseline justification along with being able to provide the expected impacts aligned with the GCF investment criteria

1. Prepare a detailed budget for the PPF application  

• Prepare a detailed budget of the disbursement schedule under each activity as per the GCF PPF template
• Prepare activity-wise breakdown of the disbursement of funds in terms of quantity, unit cost (e.g. rate), duration (e.g. days), total cost etc.
• Provide a separate schedule for disbursement and reporting

1. Prepare a Terms of Reference (ToR) to hire a consultant(s)/consulting firm to conduct the activities under the PPF 

• Prepare a ToR clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of the consultant(s)/consulting firm required to conduct the activities defined under the PPF. 
• The activities to be carried out by the consultant should include but are not limited to, the following: a) Pre-feasibility and feasibility studies as well as project design b)Environmental, social and gender studies  c) Risk assessments  d)Identification of programme/project-level indicators    
• Other activities that may be included are: a) Pre-contract services, including the revision of tender documents b) Other project preparation activities
• Under the broader activities, all the relevant sub-activities should be defined with thorough and minute details
• Development of list of deliverables under the PPF with timeline & method of deliverable acceptance
• Moreover, the ToR should have relevant sections such as Background, Objective of the Consultant’s services, Scope of work, Timeline of work, Expected key deliverables, Qualifying requirement of the consultant etc.
• The ToR should also clearly indicate the consultant’s services required in preparing the full funding proposal for GCF

Supervision

The consultant will directly report to Climate Change Specialist of the UNDP.

Documents

The Consultant will prepare and submit the above-mentioned documents during the assignment period. All deliverables of the consultant will be submitted in English. The deliverable’s outline should be agreed on at the beginning of the assignment and cleared by the task force. Further work or revision of the documents may be required if it is considered that the documents do not meet the ToR, errors of fact or the documents are incomplete or not of an acceptable standard. Consultant will be provided additional project documents for reviewing.

Travel and Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA)

No DSA will be paid at the duty station. If unforeseen travel outside the duty station not required by the Terms of Reference is requested by UNDP, and upon prior agreement/approval, such travel shall be UNDP’s expenses and the individual contractor shall receive a per-diem not to exceed United Nations daily subsistence allowance (DSA) rate in such other location(s).

Deliverables

EVALUATION

Individual Consultant will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:

Cumulative analysis

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual Consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

1. responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
2. Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

* Technical Criteria weight; 70%

* Financial Criteria weight; 30%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49% point in technical criteria would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

Competencies

• Good interpersonal skills;
• Ability to take initiative and promotes a knowledge sharing and learning culture in the office;
• Ability to establish and maintain good working relationships to facilitate work goals;
• Demonstrable capacity to build knowledge through using various sources;
• Ability to plan, organize, implement and report on work;
• Positive, constructive attitude to work, effective problem solving, self-improvement, analysis and synthesis;
• Openness to change and ability to responds positively to feedback and differing points of view and integrates & updates accordingly; adaptability, creativity;
• Excellent presentation and facilitation skills;
• Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Exhibit strong teamwork skills in a complex environment.
• Confident in demonstration of work;
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic qualification: Postgraduate degree in Environment, Climate Change, Archaeological Science, Economics, Development Studies, or relevant subjects or related field to the discipline of social science

Language requirement: Fluent over communicating in both English and Bangla, both written and verbal.

Preferred qualification of the archaeological specialist:

• Having 5 years experience of working with archaeological sites; specially previous experience of working on conservation
• Having at least 2 years of experience to analyze archaeological artefacts and information regarding heritage sites and heritage conservation
• Having knowledge about how climate change is inducing archaeological heritage vulnerability, especially in coastal belts; prior experience of working on such project in Bangladesh/other countries
• Having the ability to plan and manage tasks given under the project, especially procedural complexities arising out of surveys, excavations etc.
• Analyze findings derived from the effects of climate change to the sites by grouping, identifying and classifying
• Conduct financial (mathematical, statistical and/or computational) modeling to determine the direct beneficiaries and other impact potential of the project
• Having prior experience of working with GCF/GEF related projects will be appreciated
• Having prior experience of budgeting for any project related to heritage conservation activities will be appreciated.