| Overview : IC - International Consultant - Team Leader for the preparation of the UNDP supported GEF funded Medium Sized Project (MSP) titled ‘Mainstreaming Sustainable Land Management and Biodiversity Conservation in the Republic of Mauritius’ project. Project Background Project Description Context and Objectives of Project The objective of the GEF PPG is to develop the project concept into a full project: Mainstreaming Sustainable Land Management and Biodiversity Conservation in the Republic of Mauritius. This project aims to scale up the adoption of sustainable land management (SLM) in production landscapes across Mauritius and Rodrigues. The project will tackle the main drivers of Mauritius’s land degradation and ecosystems services deterioration and loss, including: deforestation and conversion of land for pasture, agriculture and settlement; intensification and adoption of unsustainable agricultural practices; overgrazing of livestock; recurrent wildfires; habitat fragmentation; and climate change. These are being exacerbated by urban expansion and sprawl into rural areas, often accompanied by pollution (affecting soils, vegetation and groundwater). In Rodrigues, where population and development pressure is much lower, the project will seek to reverse, halt and prevent further land degradation, which is caused primarily by poorly regulated pastureland management and the use of unsustainable agricultural practices. Through the adoption of a comprehensive, inter-sector approach to scale-up SLM technologies across all the islands, the project will catalyze improved management and conservation of production landscapes—while providing downstream benefits in riverine, coastal and marine habitats. This will require that SLM considerations be mainstreamed into sector priorities and site level actions, which will generate local and global environmental benefits and increase resilience to the deleterious impacts of climate change. Through this action, Mauritius will aim to achieve land degradation neutrality in productive lands within a wider approach to sustainable landscape management and rehabilitation. The project will be designed to remove the barriers and catalyze the mainstreaming of SLM technologies to reduce, halt or reverse LD and catalyze the adoption of the landscape approach to support effective planning and management of production landscapes in Mauritius and Rodrigues. The aim is to work towards land degradation neutrality – restoring degraded land and preventing new degradation. This will be achieved through three interdependent components, using Land Degradation Neutrality as a lens to foster coherence of national policies, actions and commitments. - Component 1 will strengthen the national policy and legislative framework to enable land use planning and management across production landscapes for the promotion of SLM;
- Component 2 will seek to improve management and conservation of forest, agricultural and pastoral ecosystems through the application of SLM technologies over 2,100 ha, with capacity to implement;
- Component 3 will ensure that the project’s gender strategy is implemented, monitored and reported, that the environmental benefits (local, national and global) are monitored and assessed using appropriate tools and systems, also that the project records and disseminated lessons learned for scaling-up local and more widely to other development projects.
The Project Identification Form (PIF) for the project was approved under the Biodiversity GEF Trust Fund allocation on 26 June 2018 (see annex). In order to reach the stage of UNDP Project Document completion and CEO endorsement, project development includes a preparatory phase, which foresees the collection of information and gathering of useful data for project design, the validation of the indicative outcomes and outputs contained in the PIF, the development of a full M&E plan including appropriate indicators and baseline, a participatory plan to involve communities as well as the identification of implementing partners and negotiation pertaining to implementation arrangements and co-financing. The Project Preparation Grant (PPG) was approved by the GEF Secretariat to prepare a Medium-Size Project Document (MSP) for submission under GEF-6. In this context an International Consultant Team Leader is required to prepare the MSP, focusing on all components proposed in the PIF, and expected outcomes to be achieved, as outlined in the approved Project Identification Form (PIF). The Request for GEF CEO Endorsement and the UNDP Project Document plus ancillary documentation must therefore be nationally validated and finalized for internal UNDP clearance no later than 25 April 2019. It is very important to respect the deadline, because the period for UNDP internal review and clearances may take up to 4 weeks. Scope of Work The consultants’ team is expected to produce, in a timely manner and in full compliance with the set deadlines, all relevant documents and forms completed to a high quality level for submission to the Project Quality Assurance team of the UNDP as well as the normal UNDP-GEF channels. The documentation to be submitted for technical and financial clearance will include: - GEF CEO Endorsement;
- UNDP project document;
- Set of co-financing letters;
- UNDP’s Social and Environmental Screening;
- BD focal area Tracking Tools;
- Budget sheet in Excel;
- Mandatory annexes to the ProDoc, including gender analysis and action plan, and stakeholdeengagement plan, among others, and project specific annexes (e.g. landscape profile, institutional and legal analysis, feasibility studies, etc.); and
- Validation workshop report.
Technical guidance and support pertaining to the GEF modality (project scoping and budgeting, best practices, knowledge management, partnerships etc.) will be provided by the UNDP-GEF Regional Technical Advisor overseeing the project, by the UNDP-GEF Environment Programme Manager, and by the UNDP Office in Mauritius, which will in addition provide operational support for a fast and effective PPG implementation. In conducting the consultancy, The Team Leader will be recruited to ensure delivery of all required project documentation, results and plans, in close coordination with the National Project Coordinator and Project Steering Committee, including: a) baseline and technical analyses of national level capacities related to Integrated Nature Resource Management (INRM) and Sustainable Land Management (SLM) to further identify and cost the actions to be included in the MSP for improving INRM and SLM at the systemic level; b) the definition of demonstration activities to be implemented in the MSP; and c) final preparation of all details of the MSP, including preparation of required documentation; a completed logical framework; monitoring and risk plans; feasibility analyses; budget and financing plans; and implementation arrangements. The deadline for delivery of these tasks and outputs is 25 April 2019. Key responsibilities: - Lead the implementation of the following PPG activities: PPG Inception workshop; Financial baseline assessment; Negotiate and finalize the management arrangement for the project in collaboration with the UNDP Country Office, the government and CSOs; Leverage the project’s co-financing; Compose relevant and required chapters in the PRODOC for national validation; PRODOC Validation Workshop- Completion of project documentation in view of submission to the GEF;
- Preparation and Completion of project documentation in view of submission to the GEF including GEF Request for CEO Endorsement, Finalized UNDP Project Document as per latest template in force;
- Carry out the Technical Review, Develop the monitoring and evaluation plan, total budget and workplan, in coordination with other consultants;
- Coordinate the inputs of and work alongside all other national and international PPG consultants to ensure the timely drafting of all required project documentation and reports (including preparing the full PRODOC, together with the CEO Endorsement request, Tracking Tools, Social and Environmental screening, and Letters of Co-financing) for submission to the GEF, strictly adhering to agreed deadlines and ensuring quality control;
- Draft and finalise the Social and Environmental Screening Procedure as required by UNDP;
- Draft and finalize the Project Results Framework, Replication plan, Adaptive Management Plan and Sustainability Plan;
- Define the schedule, the multi-year Work Plan and budget for the project detailing all expected activities;
- Ensure thorough completion of the SESP and Gender Assessment;
- Preparation of baseline indicators through completion as well as Tracking Tools;
- Address all comments on the Request for CEO Endorsement, Project Document, the project design by the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel, GEF Sec and GEF Council during PPG;
- Prepare the Procurement Plan, which will be confirmed by the Country Office, and facilitate consultations with all relevant stakeholders with regard to the proposal in order to finalise a detailed budget, prepare detailed TORs for all project staff, and set out detailed activity and work plan in line with GEF eligibility principles;
- Conduct detailed stakeholder consultations and analysis, including government agencies, NGOs, the private sector and civil society, to identify key players and ensure inclusive consultation. Define the potential role for different partners in the project and build on the specific linkages with other projects and programmes;
- Clarify the additionality of the proposed outcomes and activities, and ensure that the project approach is the most cost-effective according to GEF guidelines;
- Work closely with the Country Office to select an indicator for one of the outcomes of the UNDP Integrated Results and Resources Framework (IRRF);
- Propose institutional and implementation arrangements in synergy with already existing arrangements for other UNDP-GEF projects in the country.
Expected Outputs and Deliverables - The consultant shall be responsible for the following, in collaboration with the consultants’ team and stakeholders:
- Management of the GEF PPG Team
- Preparatory Technical Studies and Reviews (Component A)
- Formulation of the ProDoc, CEO Endorsement Request and Mandatory and Project Specific Annexes (Component B):
- Validation Workshop (component C):
- Final Deliverables
Refer to Detailed TOR Deadline for Submission: 6 November 2018 on the UNDP jobs on https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_jobs.cfm |
