Development Minerals (traditionally known as low-value minerals and materials) are mined, processed, manufactured and used domestically in industries such as construction, manufacturing, infrastructure and agriculture. They include industrial minerals, like gypsum and salt; construction materials, like clay, sand and gravel; dimension stones, like marble and granite; and semi-precious stones, like garnet and tourmaline.

The OACPS-EU Development Minerals Programme is a capacity building programme that aims to build the profile and improve the management of Development Minerals. The programme is an initiative of the Office of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), financed by the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and implemented by UNDP.  Phase II of the OACPS-EU Development Minerals Programme was launched with a EUR 11.1 million funding from the European Union and the UNDP. Phase II of the programme takes the accomplishments of the Phase I programme one step further. It builds on the capacity building interventions carried out thus far to improve livelihoods for artisanal and small-scale mining enterprises (ASMEs) operating along the Development Minerals value chain in the African Caribbean and Pacific countries. The project aims to enable ASMEs in the Development Minerals sector to achieve better livelihoods through higher employment and incomes from their mining operations. The project will ensure these objectives are met by: 1) improving the business environment and formalising the operations of ASMEs; 2) enhancing the entrepreneurial skills among ASMEs and their access to finance, technologies and markets; 3) strengthening social and environmental safeguards in mining and quarrying; 4) enhancing gender inclusion and support to women miners; and 5) facilitating inter-ACP knowledge exchange on Development Minerals.

Focus Country: Fiji

Development minerals play a significant role in Fiji’s domestic development, in the areas of infrastructure, housing construction, road building, agriculture and disaster reconstruction, as well as supporting a large number of Fijian small and medium-sized domestic enterprises[1]. The mining and quarrying of Development Minerals in Fiji is dominated by crushed aggregate, gravel and sand, used for construction materials, and to a lesser extent limestone, used for agricultural purposes. The ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme Fiji project is implemented by UNDP Pacific office in Fiji in collaboration with the Mineral Resources Department, under the Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources. Mining and Quarrying is regulated in Fiji through a number of legislation, including (but not limited to) the Fiji on Mining Act (1965) and its amendment (1983), the State Lands Act, the Rivers and Streams Act, Quarries Act, Town Planning Act, and Roads Act.

From the findings of the 2018 Baseline Assessment of Development Minerals in Fiji, the legal and policy framework relating to Mining and Quarrying is outdated and subsequently does not support sustainable development of the sector. Much of the legislation originates from the colonial era (such as the Quarries Act 1939) and includes inappropriate content such as gender discrimination. Reference to the Development Minerals sector in the existing policy framework is minimal, no specific policy has been formulated for the sector, nor does the framework acknowledge the unique and crucial role that the sector plays in Fiji’s domestic development. Rectification of legislative issues and introduction of a policy targeting sustainable development of the Development Minerals sector are vital interventions required to improve the state of the sector.

The Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources, in consultation with government and private sector stakeholders, has led on reviewing and updating the current Mining Act, with the intention of engaging development partners to strengthen the draft Bill before it is presented to Cabinet. The Draft Bill includes specific provisions around the extraction, processing, manufacturing and sale of Development Minerals.

Given the minimal reference to and regulation of extraction of development minerals in the existing legal framework, the Mineral Resources Department, has developed the supplementary guideline “River gravel and sand extraction management guideline 2019’. The Guideline has undergone consultation processes and has received substantive inputs from some of the stakeholders. There is a need to further review the updated draft of the Guideline and undertake a second round of consultations with stakeholders in the 4 divisions before the Draft Guideline is presented to Cabinet for approval and adoption.

The OACP-EU Development Minerals programmes is looking to engage a technical expert in the area of geology mining and quarry management to review the latest draft “River gravel and sand extraction management guideline 2019’ for Fiji and provide specific analysis and recommendations based on global and Pacific best practices.

Objective:

The technical expert will contribute to the OACP-EU Development Minerals programme Fiji, through independent technical advisory support and capacity building to be provided to the Ministry of Lands & Mineral Resources on the River Gravel and Sand Extraction management guideline 2019.

Scope of Work

Under the direct supervision of the UNDP Country Coordinator, and in coordination with the office of the Director of Mineral Resources Department, the technical expert will undertake the following tasks:

• review and analysis of the latest version of the “River gravel and sand extraction management guideline 2019’ for Fiji, and supporting reports, feedback, and documentation received by the Ministry of Lands and Minerals Resources on the Guideline. The review will include a gender impact analysis of the Guideline, and include clear comparisons and recommendations based on international best practices
• prepare and facilitate up to four consultation and information sharing events on the revised Guideline with key stakeholders (government counterparts, private sector representatives, non-government organizations) in the four divisions to be facilitated with the Mineral Resources department.
• Submit consultation report and revised Guideline incorporating substantive inputs where relevant

Institutional Arrangement

• The consultant will be recruited under the UNDP Individual contract modality
• The consultant will report to the Country Coordinator of the OACP-EU Development Minerals Programme in Fiji.
• The consultant is expected to submit specific deliverables outlined in table below which will be linked to contract payments.

Duration of the Work

• The consultancy is for up to 20 days within the 1st quarter of 2021.

Duty Station

• The consultancy is based in Suva Fiji

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

Functional Competencies:

• Knowledge and expertise in Governance, Development, natural resource management, and in Mining and Quarrying
• Be able to work well with senior counterparts in government, civil society, and know how to contribute to building national capacity for development.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, ability to foster networks and partnerships, and good working knowledge of ICT. Demonstrates sound knowledge of best practices in the extractive sector / Mining.
• Excellent negotiation and representational skills, at senior level 
• Displays analytical judgment and demonstrated ability to handle confidential and politically sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner.
• Demonstrates strong intellectual and operational capacity in providing and coordinating advisory services to stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to multitask under pressure and to meet strict deadlines.

Educational Qualifications:

Education:

• Post-graduate qualification in the area of geology, mining, quarry management, environmental studies or related fields.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of progressive experience working in the area of geo-science, mineral resource management, mining, quarry management in Fiji and in the Pacific;
• Significant experience in undertaking research and providing technical advice to policy and law makers in the Pacific region on sustainable management practices in the area of mineral resources, mining and quarrying and extraction of development minerals;
• Familiarity with international standards and best practice concerning Mining and quarrying legal frameworks.

Language requirements

• Fluency of English language is required;

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

The consultant must send a financial proposal based on a Daily Fee. The consultant shall quote an all-inclusive Daily Fee for the contract period. The term “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, consumables, etc.) that could be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment are already factored into the daily fee submitted in the proposal. If applicable, travel or daily allowance cost (if any work is to be done outside the IC’s duty station) should be identified separately. Payments shall be done based on contract deliverables.

In general, UNDP shall not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources

In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Deliverables and Schedule of Payments

Based on the specific duties mentioned above in Scope of Work, the deliverables for the assignment are:

Evaluation Method and Criteria

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70%). and financial criteria (30%). Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 70 points)

• Post-graduate qualification in the area of geology, mining, quarry management, environmental studies or related fields. (20points)
• At least 10 years of progressive experience working in the area of geo-science, mineral resource management, mining, quarry management in Fiji and in the Pacific; (15 marks)
• Significant experience in undertaking research and providing technical advice to policy and law makers in the Pacific region on sustainable management practices in the area of mineral resources, mining and quarrying and extraction of development minerals; (20 marks)
• Familiarity with international standards and best practice concerning Mining and quarrying legal frameworks (15 marks)

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Documentation required

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided in Annex II.
• 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.
• Technical proposal, including a) a brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment; and b) a methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment.
• Financial proposal, as per template provided in Annex II. Note: Consultants must quote prices in United States Dollars (FJD).

Annexes

• Annex I - Individual IC General Terms and Conditions
• Annex II – Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual IC, including Financial Proposal Template

All applications must be clearly marked with the title of consultancy and submitted by 5:00pm 28 January 2021 (Fiji Time) electronically to https://jobs.undp.org/

For any further information concerning this Consultancy or ToR, please email procurement.fj@undp.org

Incomplete applications will not be considered, and only candidates for whom there is further interest will be contacted.

Women applicants are encouraged to apply

Application procedure:

Please combine all your documents (Signed P11/CV), Technical Proposal, Confirmation of Interest and submission of financial proposal form, etc into one (1) single PDF document as this system only allows to upload maximum one document, failure to combine all document in one will be considered as incomplete and proposal will not be accepted”. You can email procurement.fj@undp.org to request for these templates.