Consultancy Title:  Team Leader:  Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) /Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICM) Specialist. Mid Term Evaluation of Regional Ridge to Reef Project.

Project Name:  Regional Ridge to Reef Project

Duty Station:  Home-based and selected duty station. Team of consultants are expected visit the following islands: Fiji, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Cook Islands and Palau.  Consultants expected to have briefings with UNDP Pacific Office and Secretariat of the Pacific Community in Suva.

Duration of the Contract:

Duration of contract: 34 days within 16 weeks period                                                                                 

Starting date: 30 January 2019

Completion date: 10 May 2019

Consultancy Proposal should be sent via email to etenderbox.pacific@undp.org no later than 4th January, 2019 (Fiji Time) clearly stating the title of consultancy applied for. Any proposals received after this date/time will not be accepted. Any request for clarification must be sent in writing, or by standard electronic communication to procurement.fj@undp.org. UNDP will respond in writing or by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all consultants. Incomplete, late and joint proposals will not be considered and only offers for which there is further interest will be contacted. Failure to submit your application as stated as per the application submission guide (Procurement Notice) on the above link will be considered incomplete and therefore application will not be considered.

Objectives:

This is the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the UNDP-GEF Midterm Review (MTR) of the full-sized project titled Ridge to Reef - Testing the Integration of Water, Land, Forest & Coastal Management to Preserve Ecosystem Services, Store Carbon, Improve Climate Resilience and Sustain Livelihoods in Pacific Island Countries – Regional Ridge to Reef (R2R) (PIMS#5221) (Atlas#92601) implemented through Pacific Community (SPC) which is to be undertaken in January 2019. The project started on the 31 August 2015 and is in its third year of implementation. This ToR follows the UNDP-GEF Guidance on MTRs. This ToR sets out the expectations for this MTR.  The MTR process must follow the guidance outlined in the document Guidance For Conducting Midterm Reviews of UNDP-Supported, GEF-Financed Projects.  (http://web.undp.org/evaluation/documents/guidance/GEF/mid-term/Guidance_Midterm%20Review%20 _EN_2014.pdf ).  Refer to Annex H for Project Logframe.

NOTE :

The review team will consist of 2 consultants: a Team Leader/Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) or Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICM) Specialist and a Governance and Development Specialist. The Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) or Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICM) Specialist will be the team leader and will be required to work with the Governance and Development Specialist in submitting one combined MTR report. Both consultants will be expected to travel to travel to 3 Pacific Island Countries (PICs) each as agreed between the team members, UNDP and SPC.

Both consultants shall have prior experience in evaluating ‘Ridge to Reef’ promoting programmatic approach to ecosystem governance, or similar projects. Experience with GEF financed projects is an advantage. (The team leader will be responsible for finalizing the report). The evaluators selected should not have participated in the project preparation and/or implementation and should not have conflict of interest with project related activities.

PROJECT BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Given the close inter-connections between land, water and coastal systems in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the integration of freshwater watershed management with coastal area management is considered essential to foster effective cross-sectoral coordination in the planning and management of land, water and coastal uses. In Pacific SIDS, such integrated approaches to freshwater and coastal area management have been termed ‘Ridge to Reef’ to emphasize the inter-connections between the natural and social systems from the mountain ‘ridges’ of volcanic islands, through coastal watersheds and habitats, and across coastal lagoons to the fringing ‘reef’ environments associated with most Pacific SIDS. Inherent in the approach is the philosophy of cross-sectoral coordination in the planning and management of freshwater use, sanitation, wastewater treatment and pollution control, sustainable land use and forestry practices, balancing coastal livelihoods and biodiversity conservation, hazard risk reduction, and climate variability and change. Similarly, the integration of communities, stakeholders, and national governments within such a cross-sectoral planning framework is described by Pacific SIDS as a ‘Community to Cabinet’ approach.

To support the ongoing development of ‘Ridge to Reef’ and ‘Community to Cabinet’ approaches in Pacific SIDS through the abovementioned multi-focal area R2R program, the GEF Council approved the development of an International Waters project entitled “Ridge to Reef: Testing the Integration of Water, Land, Forest and Coastal Management to Preserve Ecosystem Services, Store Carbon, Improve Climate Resilience and Sustain Livelihoods in Pacific Island Countries”. This regional project will be implemented by the United Nations Development Program through the Applied Geoscience and Technology Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community in partnership with the 14 Pacific Island Countries (PICs) to improve the integration of water, land, forest and coastal management required to fashion sustainable futures for island communities. The project also aims to address the recent high-level recognition and calls for results-based approaches to the management of development assistance programmes and projects, and will provide support in areas of coordination, capacity building, technical assistance, and monitoring and evaluation for the operation of the broader Pacific R2R program.

Importantly, the project will build on nascent national processes built in the previous GEF IWRM project to foster sustainability and resilience for each participating island nation through: reforms in policy, institutions, and coordination; building capacity of local institutions to integrate land, water and coastal management; establishing evidence-based approaches to ICM planning; and improved consolidation of information and data required to inform cross-sector R2R planning approaches. These processes are being sustained. It is envisaged that this project will also focus much attention on harnessing support of traditional community leadership and governance structures to improve the relevance of investment in integrated land, water, forest and coastal management. This project will also provide coordination functions and linkages with the national GEF STAR multifocal projects and LDCF project and will facilitate dialogue and action planning through national Inter-Ministry Committees on responses to emerging issues and threats in environment and natural resource management. Similarly, it will facilitate coordinated exchanges of experience and results of the GEF portfolio of investments in a broader regional R2R programme for PICs. Linkages with co-financed activities on water resource and wastewater management, coastal systems and climate adaptation and disaster risk management will ensure more targeted capital investment in coastal infrastructure within an integrated management framework. Similarly, the project will foster solidarity among the PICs, particularly with respect to the political will required to support more integrated approaches to R2R in natural resource management.

The purpose of the project is to test the mainstreaming of ‘ridge-to-reef’ (R2R), climate resilient approaches to integrated land, water, forest and coastal management in the PICs through strategic planning, capacity building and piloted local actions to sustain livelihoods and preserve ecosystem services. This regional project provides the primary coordination vehicle for the national R2R STAR Projects that are part of the Pacific R2R Program, by building on nascent national processes from the previous GEF IWRM project to foster sustainability and resilience for each island through: reforms in policy, institutions, and coordination; building capacity of local institutions to integrate land, water and coastal management through on-site demonstrations; establishing evidence-based approaches to ICM planning; improved consolidation of results monitoring, and information and data required to inform cross sector R2R planning approaches. This project will also focus attention on harnessing support of traditional community leadership and governance structures to improve the relevance of investment in ICM, including MPAs, from ‘community to cabinet’.

Requirement for Qualifications & Experience

Team Leader: International Consultant/ Integrated Water Resource Management or Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICM) Specialist

The required qualifications for the consultant include the following:

Education (10%):

·         At least a Master’s degree (MA or MSc. or higher) in natural resource governance, IWRM, ICM and development studies or closely related field.

Experience (60%):

·         At least 10 years’ experience in evaluating international cooperation projects promoting the Ridge to Reef Approach, integrated water resources management (IWRM), integrated coastal zone management (ICM, natural resources governance or similar programs and projects.

·         Extensive experience in conducting reviews and evaluation following the result-based management evaluation methodologies;

·         Experience applying SMART indicators and reconstructing or validating baseline scenarios;

·         Competence in adaptive management, as applied to climate change adaptation projects and ecosystems management;

·         Experience working in Asia-Pacific and has a good understanding of the environment and sustainable development in the Pacific;

·         Work experience in relevant technical areas for at least 7 years;

·         Demonstrated understanding of issues related to biodiversity conservation, climate change, land degradation, sustainable forest management, international waters, including experience in gender sensitive evaluation and analysis.

·         Excellent communication skills;

·         Demonstrable analytical skills;

·         Experience working with the GEF or GEF-evaluations methodology, preferred;

·         Project evaluation/review experiences within United Nations system will be considered an asset;

PAYMENT MODALITIES AND SPECIFICATIONS

Evaluation

Cumulative analysis

The proposals will be evaluated using the cumulative analysis method with a split 70% technical and 30% financial scoring. The proposal with the highest cumulative scoring will be awarded the contract. Applications will be evaluated technically and points are attributed based on how well the proposal meets the requirements of the Terms of Reference using the guidelines detailed in the table below:

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract may 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 a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

* Technical Criteria weighting; 70%

* Financial Criteria weighting; 30%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the Technical Evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation. Interviews may be conducted as part of technical assessment for shortlisted proposals

Team Leader

6.       APPLICATION PROCESS[1]

Recommended Presentation of Proposal: 

a)       Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the UNDP

b)       Signed detailed CV with contact details of 3 Professional referees

c)       Brief description of approach to work/technical proposal of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a proposed methodology on how they will approach and complete the assignment; (max 1 page)

d)       Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price and all other travel related costs (such as flight ticket, per diem, etc.), supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template attached to the Letter of Confirmation of Interest template.  If an applicant is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the applicant must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP. 

Qualified women are encouraged to apply.