Historique

UNDP is an Implementing Agency of the Global Environment Fund (GEF) for the Chemicals and Wastes Focal Area, and works with public and private partners in developing countries to assist them in meeting the targets of chemicals conventions, including the Minamata Convention on Mercury, which is designed to protect human health and the environment from adverse effects resuting from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds. The government of Malaysia signed the Minamata Convention 24 September 2014,  but has not yet ratified. The Convention entered into force 16 August 2017.

As part of the preparation to bring the Convention into force, with funding provided by the GEF and technical assistance provided by GEF implementing agencies, developing countries were supported to develop Minamata Initial Assessments (MIAs) Enabling Activities (EAs) (from here on referred to as “MIA projects”), that sought to  strengthen national decision-making toward ratification of the Minamata Convention on Mercury and build national capacity towards implementation of future obligations. Another objective of the MIA stems from the Minamata Convention’s Article 30 (paragraph 4), which states “Each State or regional economic integration organization” is encouraged to transmit to the Secretariat at the time of its ratification, acceptance, approval or accession of the Convention information on its measures to implement the Convention.”

MIA project provides an opportunity for a country to undertake a mercury inventory, determine and agree upon the measures it will take to implement the Convention, estimate associated costs and communicate this information in a concise and clear manner. Therefore, through its MIA, the Government of Malaysia sought to determine the national requirements and needs for ratification of the Minamata Convention, and to establish the foundation of partnerships and technical expertise required to undertake implementation of the Convention. Specifically, the Malaysia MIA project’s stated expected outcomes are:

1. Development of a national  mercury  profile,  including  significant  sources  of emissions  and  releases,  as well  as  inventories  of mercury  and  mercury compounds; 
2. The identification of structures, institutions, legislation already  available to implement the Convention  identified;
3. Identification of barriers that would hinder or prevent implementation ;  and,
4. Identification of the technical and financial needs for implementation of the Convention, including resources from the GEF, national sources, bilateral sources, the private sector and others.

The objective of this assignment is to provide review to ensure quality of the final Minamata Initial Assessment (MIA) of Malaysia, through review of the draft MIA Report, comparison with the UNDP Minamata Initial Assessment Report - Suggested Structure and Contents (February 2017), and working closely with the national project team responsible for the Malaysia MIA,  and the national consultant undertaking the assessment study and development of National Mercury Profile.

Devoirs et responsabilités

The international expert will be engaged by UNDP Malaysia Country Office (UNDP CO) and will work with the Project Management Unit (comprising of UNDP and MESTECC), to carry out review of the MIA draft report, to ensure that expectations of quality and content are met ahead of submission to the Minamata Convention.  During the fulfillment of the assignment, the consultant will ensure regular communication with the project team, and will ensure a timely delivery of the expected outputs, regularly informing UNDP CO and MESTECC of the progress of the review, as well as any obstacles that might occur. 

The international expert will carry out the following services:

A. Quality Review of the Malaysia MIA

The Consultant is to be provided the draft MIA report, and any constituent and/or background documents used to generate the report, in order for him/her to assess that the data for the report, and the compilation of the report has been done in accordance with the UNDP Minamata Initial Assessment Report - Suggested Structure and Contents (February 2017).

Specifically, attention should be paid to required chapters in the suggested MIA outline, ensuring that to the extent possible, the suggested structure and page limits of chapters have been followed, as well as that the required methodologies and suggested resource tools have been used to inform these chapters. This should include, inter alia,

1. Chapter I: Overview – ensuring that it outlines the purpose and structure of the MIA, including a summary of the Minamata Convention, its objective and its main obligations. There should also be description on the approach used to develop the MIA and the stakeholder consultation process. A summary of the mercury issue and the problems it causes at global and national levels would provide the context for the MIA report

2. Chapter II: National Profile – ensuring this chapter provides a brief country profile in order to place the MIA strategies and action plans in a country-specific context; and summarizes information on geography and population, membership in regional and sub-regional organizations, the country’s political, institutional, legal and economic profile, profiles of potentially important economic sectors in the context of mercury issues and overall environmental conditions and priorities in the country.

3. Chapter III: National Mercury Inventory – ensuring that there was appropriate use of the Level 1 or Level 2 inventory tool found in the UNEP Toolkit for Identification and Quantification of Mercury Releases, with corresponding use of appropriate calculation spreadsheets and Inventory Reporting Template, to generate Malaysia’s mercury inventory, highlighting key mercury sources and emissions to land, water and air. There should also be overview of initial inventory of mercury in areas, as relevant to national context, such as : (i) Stocks of mercury and/or mercury compounds, including an assessment of current storage conditions as well as an evaluation of potential storage needs in the future once the Convention is implemented; (ii) Supply of mercury, including sources, recycling activities and quantities; (iii) Relevant sources of mercury emissions and releases; (iv) Sectors that use mercury or mercury compounds and the amount per year, including in manufacturing processes and for the production of mercury added products, ASGM; (v) Trade of mercury and, mercury containing compounds as well as the import and export of mercury-added products.

4. Chapter IV: Legal Framework & Operational Framework – ensuring that a national situation analysis has been carried out, identifying existing relevant domestic legislation and identifying legal or administrative actions that may be needed to support ratification and long- term implementation of the Convention. There should be, inter alia, : (i) a summary of existing national policies and regulatory measures (in place and under development), their scope and to what extent they already meet the requirements as stipulated in the provisions of the Minamata Convention; (ii) the institutional map to show owners, enforcement leads and partners for policies and regulatory instruments, and their baseline capacity and needs; (iii)  an analysis of existing gaps that would need to be addressed to ensure compliance with the Convention and satisfy particular provisions of the Convention; (iv) highlight of any national policies and regulations which are not specific to mercury, but which have a direct relevance to the management of mercury or the implementation of the Convention; and (v) an analysis of ability to comply with non-binding provisions of the Convention).

5. Chapter V: Proposed Action Plans – deemed necessary by Malaysia , the consultant shall help advise on how the report might briefly document how the country could go about preparation of such a plan, as well as look at the feasibility and completeness of the identified technical and other relevant needs for implementation of the Convention (including i.e. resources from the GEF, agencies, national sources, bilateral sources, the private sector and others).

6. Wherever necessary the report could also cover:

• Identification of Populations at Risks and Gender Dimensions – ensuring that appropriate suggested guidance has been utilized to identify potential populations at health risk, with appropriate generation of gender disaggregated data, and exploration of gender dimensions, use of case studies or whatever is relevant to national context.
• Awareness/Understanding of Workers and the Public; and Existing Training and Education Opportunities of Target Groups and Professionals: ensuring that there is capture baseline awareness/education/training as relates to mercury knowledge, tracking, management (policy or technical) et. al., and contrast with the changes brought about by the awareness raising, training, education and other opportunities that arose through stakeholder engagement during the MIA. If relevant, there can be highlighting of training or knowledge gaps that may hamper Implementation of Article 18 of the Convention.
• Mainstreaming of Mercury Priorities (mandatory for UNDP MIAs)- examine and advise as necessary on the thoroughness of opportunities identified for mainstreaming of mercury priorities in National Development Policies and Plans, ensuring that best practices/approaches as outlined in “UNDP Guide for Integrating the Sound Management of Chemicals into Development Planning” and the SAICM document on “Integrated Approach to Financing Sound Chemicals and Waste: UNEP Case Studies on Mainstreaming” have been followed and to the extent possible .

7. Annexes – ensure that ANNEX I: Stakeholder Engagement process includes an exhaustive contact list of all institutions and persons interviewed and engaged with during the preparation of the MIA Report, Mercury Inventory and other aspects of the MIA project; and that the ANNEX II: UNEP TOOLKIT Calculation Spreadsheet is complete and correct.

Expected Output:

Institutional Arrangement:

The international expert will report to and seek approval and/or acceptance of outputs/deliverables from the Head of Sustainable and Resilient Development of UNDP Country Office in Malaysia. The UNDP Montreal Protocol/Chemicals Focal point in the Bangkok Regional Hub, can also give comment during the review process as needed. During the fulfillment of the assignment, the expert will ensure regular communication with the project team, and will ensure a timely delivery of the expected outputs and will regularly inform the project team of the progress as well as any obstacles that might occur.

Duration of the Work:

The assignment will require 15 working days starting from 1 to 30 June 2019.

Duty Station:

The international expert will be home-based with 5 days mission to Putrajaya, Malaysia.

Deliverables and Schedule of Payment:

Compétences

• Analytical thinking:  Excellent technical skills.
• Professionalism:  Ability to interact with a wide range of high level partners from high placed government officials as well as small business owners.
• Teamwork:  Ability to motivate and work harmoniously with partners and colleagues
• Communication:  Strong interpersonal and communication skills

Qualifications et expériences requises

• Master’s Degree in chemistry, applied chemistry, chemical engineering, business administration; or relevant degree.

Documents to be included when submitting proposals:

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

1. Completed Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability provided by UNDP below;
2. Technical Proposal on how your qualifications, experience and list of track records can lead to successful deliverables of this assignment within the required timeframe, and provide a methodology and approach on how you will approach and conduct the assignments;
3. Financial Proposal should specify unit price (daily professional fee in USD), travel and relevant costs using the financial proposal example below.
4. Personal CV including areas of expertise and past experiences in similar projects and at least three (3) references.
5. For clarification question, please email to procurement.my@undp.org. The clarification question deadline is two (2) days before the closing. When emailing for clarification questions, please put "MyIC/2019/024" as the subject matter.

Forms and General terms & conditions to be downloaded:

• The UN Personal History Form (P11) is available at:http://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/P11%20for%20SC%20&%20IC.doc?download
• The Letter of Confirmation of Interest at: http://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/Letter%20of%20Interest%20_Annex%201.docx?download
• The General Terms & Conditions for Individual contract is available at:http://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/General%20Conditions%20of%20Contract%20for%20IC.pdf?download 
• The General Terms & Conditions for Reimbursement Loan Agreement is available at:http://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/Reimbursable%20Loan%20Agreement%20_%20Terms%20&%20Conditions.pdf?download 

Financial Proposal (Sample):

Note:

• Prices should be in US Dollars and include all expenses related to the assignment. Individual Contractor is responsible for payment of all relevant taxes.
• UNDP does not accept travel costs exceeding those of most direct route, cheapest and restricted economy class ticket. Should the Individual Consultant wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources. In the case of unforeseeable and additional duty travels required, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. Individual Contractor is responsible for his/her own travel arrangement in Malaysia.

Criteria for selection of the best offer:

The award of the contract will be made to the Individual Expert who has obtained the highest Combined Score and has accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions. Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated. The offers will be evaluated using the “Combined Scoring method” where:

1. The technical proposal including educational background and experience on similar assignments will be weighted a max. of 70%; and
2. The financial proposal will weigh as 30% of the total scoring.