Jobs at UNDP in Uganda- Consultants

Job Title: 3 INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANTS: CLIMATE EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS
Location :     Home-based with mission travels
Application Deadline :    25-Jun-12
Type of Contract :    Individual Contract
Post Level :    International Consultant
Languages Required :
    English 
Starting Date :
(date when the selected candidate is expected to start)    16-Jul-2012
Duration of Initial Contract :    12 months (approximately 56 day's effort)
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Background

Project Development Phase: Strengthening climate information and early warning systems in Africa for climate resilient development and adaptation to climate change – Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, São Tomé and Príncipe

Background:

Addressing climate change vulnerability is constrained in many countries by a number of factors, including a decline in the observation network (e.g. automatic weather stations, hydrological gauges, satellite imagery, radars etc), which limits observations and the ability to monitor and forecast the weather, slow onset disasters and long-term climate. Additional limiting factors include the presentation and communication of climate information to those who can use early warnings to better manage climate-related risks, such as creating advisories incorporating e.g. fertilizer/commodity prices and flood vulnerability maps, as well as communication through different media (e.g. TV, radio, internet) and institutions (e.g. disaster management agencies and NGOs).

To support Least Developed Countries to address this specific constraint, the Least Developed Country Fund has approved the financing of a set of initiatives that will assist the Governments of Ethiopia, Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone and São Tomé and Príncipe, to strengthen their climate monitoring capabilities, early warning systems and the information available to help respond to climate shocks and plan adaptation to climate change. Funding will be used for a number of activities, including the procurement and rehabilitation of observational equipment, data communications, training on equipment maintenance, forecasting and archiving of climate data, the use of satellite-based information products, and the generation of income through services and products for the private sector. The flow of information within and between government institutions involved in the dissemination of early warnings will be critical to the project and this initiative will be rolled out in a manner that is fully consistent and aligned with other initiatives on strengthening EWS in African countries, including those supported by a variety of agencies such as the World Bank, WMO and UNEP.

In order to advance the design of the project in detail, the services of at least 3 international consultants (ICs) is sought by UNDP-GEF to work with UNDP staff at the country, regional and global level during the project preparatory phase. The consultants will lead the drafting of the UNDP-GEF/LDCF compliant project documents and GEF CEO Endorsement Template(s), including undertaking technical assessments and analyses that will inform the project design. The consultants are expected to work as a team, with a lead IC (appointed by UNDP-GEF) responsible for synthesis into an overall project document. The ICs will work closely with National Consultants (NC), who will lead the in-country work to develop national ownership of the project, gather all relevant national information and develop technical inputs for incorporation into the full size project document.

The tasks that the consultants will be expected to undertake, under the oversight of UNDP staff who are led by a UNDP-GEF Task Manager, are outlined below.

Duties and Responsibilities
Each IC will be required to lead and support the completion of the following tasks:

    Contribute to the design of and conduct at least 3 national consultations in each country, at the inception, mid-term and conclusion of the project preparatory phase;
    Completion of an inception report and plan for the roll out of activities during the project development phase (scheduled to take no longer than 12 months);
    A stakeholder consultation plan with measures for documenting and including community inputs during the project preparation period;
    Provision of advice and technical guidance to other members of the project design team on key outputs of the project preparatory phase, which feed into the comprehensive project proposal;
    Prepare the drafting of UNDP-GEF/LDCF compliant, full-sized Project Documents and associated CEO Endorsement Templates for submission to the GEF CEO for endorsement (the CEO endorsement will primarily draw on information in the Project Document, with some additional details on budgets and workplans that need to be defined);
    Assess and finalize a report on important lessons following completion of the preparatory phase;
    Prepare a PowerPoint presentation on the final project design including UNDP-fact sheets (3-4 pages) that summarize the expected results of the project.

The project document (Task 5) will cover the following in detail:

Project definition

Based on a combination of desk reviews, in-country consultations as well as consultations with external partners, the ICs will complete a series of assessments that will feed into the design of the project document. These assessments will include:

    The extent to which natural resource planning and disaster management activities use climate information and forecasts for planning;
    A detailed history of past interventions and projects that have introduced observing system infrastructure, built capacity to forecast and provide early warnings, and an assessment of how and why they were either successful or failed;
    An inventory of on-going and planned investments in early warning and climate observing systems including expected/planned/achieved results and outputs;
    A review and capacity assessment of existing climate observing infrastructure, with particular emphasis on identifying, tracking, projecting and conveying current and future climate-related impacts and threats. Identify current technologies, manufacturers and capabilities of existing trained personnel;
    A review and capacity assessment of the current processes and government institutions involved in issuing warnings of severe weather and declaring disasters, and how they serve the information requirements of end-users. This will include a thorough evaluation of the information flow between government departments, systems used for information management related to vulnerability and climate risks, databases on past climate etc. This analysis should include a needs assessment for data sharing and communication protocols between different databases, departments and users of EWS messages;
    Consultations with relevant national and sub-national agencies to determine the most pressing needs in terms of observational equipment and infrastructure, training and capacity building to implement improved forecasting, tailored climate hazard products and their packaging into sectoral specific warnings/actions and delivery;
    The ability of the NHMS and other ministries to budget and plan for the human and technical costs of maintaining current networks and systems;
    Policies, laws, executive regulations and decrees relevant to developing climate observing networks and issuing warnings of severe weather;
    The sectors, locations, communities and private sector businesses that currently receive or would like to receive early warnings of severe weather.

Further requirements include:

    In the context of Task 5, a set of recommended demonstration sites, communities or sectors to receive early warnings, which will be accompanied by clear supporting reports justifying their selection, and a clear definition of the target population. In each case the required additional equipment and/or information will be outlined and the expected cost of delivery;
    Based on the results of the assessment and stakeholder consultations, an articulation of the project’s objective, outcomes, outputs, activities and resource requirements;
    A logframe and description of an M&E system to be applied, including SMART, results-based indicators, aligned to the LDCF/SCCF Results Based Management Framework for Adaptation to Climate Change. The project indicators should measure progress on gender equity and baseline values for the indicators will be gathered and included in the project document;
    Description of additionality which clearly justifies the project rationale and a thorough articulation of the baseline on which the LDCF funds will be put to use. The value of these baseline efforts as well as new initiatives will be aggregated to reflect the co-financing that the LDCF project leverages;
    Cost-effectiveness analysis of the proposed interventions. This should include cost estimates for various combinations of observational equipment that can deliver the identified early warning information, taking into account current equipment, compatibility with proposed additional equipment, land availability and the skills (human capacity) required to maintain both the current and additional equipment. These cost estimates will be compared with current government budgets allocated for installation, operations and maintenance, and any shortfalls in funding identified. A financial plan will be drawn up to ensure financial sustainability beyond the project grant, as well as estimate potential revenue from private and public sector services;
    Identification of private sector clients who can pay for EWS services, what they expect of such a service (delivery formats, lead times etc) and the potential revenue. This information will be used to suggest which types of equipment and locations may be used to develop paid-for services;
    A stakeholder involvement plan for the project and an institutional delivery plan that describes the project management structure and implementation arrangements, including the roles and responsibilities of the main stakeholders;
    A communication strategy to facilitate stakeholder involvement and information sharing during the implementation phase of the project;
    A description of the adaptation learning points that the project will generate e.g. how will the pilot interventions that are to be implemented help Government and other stakeholders build their knowledge and inform decision-making on how to adapt to climate change;
    A detailed analysis of the risks that could affect project success and a mitigation plan for managing these risks.

Project financing plan

This will comprise: a) developing the co-financing, including the value of baseline initiatives, a strategy to leverage new public and private sources of funding and supporting the efforts of UNDP country offices to secure the requisite co-financing letters; b) a detailed sustainability strategy to provide for continuation and replication of the project interventions beyond the period of LDCF support. This will require:

    A project scale-up plan that outlines the actions and milestones for using this proposed LDCF project for catalyzing national-level action;
    Definition of a detailed sustainability strategy in order to ensure the continuation of the project after the four years of project grant. The cost analysis should include a review of options to ensure cost recovery for the continuation of the project interventions beyond the project grant. The NHMS and other stakeholders should be fully involved in the design of the project interventions, to ensure that they are designed in a financially sustainable way;
    A total budget and its distribution in a multi-year work plan.
    Terms of reference for critical project staff

Further details are provided in the PPG request.

Conduct of work:

The ICs will work in partnership with a national consultant, under the guidance of the Steering Committee for the project development phase (including Government Focal Point, UNDP HQ and CO staff, donors and project partners), with technical support provided by UNDP-GEF. The ICs are expected to:

    Communicate frequently and provide advisory services to other team members;
    Undertake project site visits (subject to discussion with and clearance by UNDP-GEF). The purpose of site visits will include:  i. Identification, verification and finalization of project activities (including communication strategies and validating the use of early warnings);  ii. Clarifying the monitoring and evaluation framework, including measurable impact indicators. Terms of Reference for site visits will be prepared by UNDP;
    Draw from existing reports, overviews and information sources including interviews with national, regional and international experts. To the extent possible, information from the NAPA, Government reports and other international documentation must be used. Where necessary, and after discussions with UNDP-GEF, additional technical assessments may be undertaken;
    Maintain a daily dialogue with the NC, UNDP CO and UNDP-GEF, as and when problems emerge during the preparation of the work, especially if they affect the scope or perceived importance of different components of the project design;
    Perform his/her duties from a home office through e-mail, telephone and fax correspondence combined with short, focused in-country missions (as approved by UNDP-GEF).

Timing of Expected Outputs:

The outputs set out below will be produced between July 2012 and July2013. The timing for the production of the project document is as follows:

i. An inception report which sets out the workplan for the project design phase, including consultants and budget lines. (1 week after the conclusion of the inception meeting in each country that the IC covers).

ii. A UNDP-compliant, full-sized Project Document for submission to the LDCF, a GEF CEO endorsement request including report of the project preparatory phase, which will set out the achievements of the project design phase, stakeholders that were consulted and budget spent against amounts allocated at the beginning of the PPG. UNDP will provide the templates to be used for the above.

    A first draft of all documents including logical framework and financing plan (Jan 2013)
    A second draft will be produced (15 March 2013)
    The third and final draft (15 April 2013)
    Revisions to comments made by UNDP-GEF and the GEF Secretariat will need to be completed as required.

iii. A PowerPoint presentation on the final project design including UNDP-fact sheets (3-4 pages) that summarize the expected results of the project. (15 May 2013).

iv. A lessons learned template following completion of the preparatory phase. (15 June 2013).

The ICs will provide additional information as required by the UNDP-GEF until July 2013

Contracting arrangements:

Each IC will be contracted by UNDP-GEF for a period of 12 months (approximately 56 days of work) starting from July 2012. Each IC will be tasked with supporting the development of up to 4 project documents. Payment will be made in 4 installments including an advance and the remainder upon satisfactory completion and submission of outputs outlined in Section 4 and approval by UNDP-GEF New York.

Payment 1: Advance one week after contract signature (20% of total amount)

Payment 2: (20% of total amount)

    Prepare for, guide, and submit a report on the national inception workshop.
    Prepare and submit to UNDP-GEF a work plan and budget for the activities that must be undertaken as part of the project preparation phase.

Payment 3: (30% of total amount)

    Prepare inputs to project document as per Section 2 Tasks outlined above.
    Submit the first draft of the comprehensive project proposal.
    Draft GEF CEO endorsement template under the guidance of UNDP-GEF.
    Draft report of the project preparatory phase. TOC to be prepared under guidance of UNDP-GEF

Payment 4: (30% of total amount)

    Final comprehensive project proposal, CEO endorsement template, report of the project preparatory phase, power point and completed lessons learned template.

Competencies

    Excellent English written communication skills, with analytic capacity and ability to synthesise project outputs and relevant findings for the preparation of quality project reports;
    Ability to understand new terminology and concepts easily and to synthesise information from different sources into a coherent project document;
    Skill in negotiating effectively in sensitive situations;
    Skill in achieving results through persuading, influencing and working with others;
    Skill in facilitating meetings effectively and efficiently and to resolve conflicts as they arise;
    Maturity and confidence in dealing with senior and high-ranking members of international, regional and national institutions;
    Displays sensitivity and adaptability to different cultures, genders, religions, races, nationalities and age groups;
    Good oral communication skills and conflict resolution competency to manage inter-group dynamics and mediate conflicting interests of varied actors;
    Good team player, self starter, has ability to work under minimum supervision and maintain good relationships.

Required Skills and Experience
Education:

    Masters degree in a relevant area such as natural resource management, agricultural development, climatology/meteorology, water resources management, environmental sciences, disaster management.

Experience:

    At least 7 years relevant work experience in climate change adaptation and natural resource management; disaster management and/or operational early warning systems, including implementation at national and decentralized levels;
    Developing operationally viable adaptation projects with financing from the Adaptation Fund, Least Developed Country Fund and/or Special Climate Change Fund;
    Designing projects that focus on the strengthening of functional and operational capacities of Early Warning Systems;
    Developing log-frames and SMART-based indicators;
    Developing adaptation projects;
    Conducting cost effectiveness analyses of alternative adaptation actions;
    Institutional assessment and development at national and decentralized levels;
    Project development and design experience;
    Strong interpersonal and communication skills.

Language Requirements:

    Ability to speak, read and write technical and conversational English and French or Portuguese.

Evaluation method:

Combined weighted scoring (technical/financial: 70/30).

How to Apply:
http://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=30703


Deadline: 25th June 2012