Procurement Notices

Iraq has a geographically diverse environment of high mountains, plains, valleys, desert lands, plateaus, water fountain, rivers, marshes and lakes. It possesses a unique nature as an economic resource of the country. In contrast, it faces great burdens, challenges and enormous future environmental problems. The war and its aftermath and the terrorist operations that Iraq has faced during the past period are a heavy legacy and challenges that have caused environmental problems, as well as the unsustainable use of natural resources, decline of green areas and the expansion of decertified land, insufficient capacity for waste management, water and air pollution and global warming impacts.

The biodiversity and ecosystems in Iraq have suffered, and still, from many problems caused by natural and human factors and wrong policies. Number of the most serious biodiversity losses occurrences have been evaluated for various regions or habitats; like: reduction in freshwater resources, plant cover reduction, wildlife stocks reduction, loss of traditional agriculture and local races, loss of native endemic species and loss of cultural and heritage values. In order to halt the causes behind the biodiversity loss, an urgent need for the preparation of the NBSAP in Iraq has been raised.

On the other hand, natural disasters (e.g. floods, droughts, climate change, etc.) and man-made disasters have significant impacts on society, economy including infrastructure, public facilities and industries, and natural environments including biodiversity. Society and infrastructure usually receive the most immediate attention following a disaster, while impact on biodiversity and natural environment are usually given the lowest priority. National agenda for evaluating and documenting the impact of disasters on biodiversity, and the loss of important ecosystem features is critical, as ecosystems are crucial for food production, water supply and the regulation of climate, water, and nutrient.

Iraq is exposed to a range of disasters that affect the lives and livelihoods of at-risk people. The most important among them are floods and drought that cause severe losses to society and biodiversity. Urgent planning is needed for flood and drought preparedness, which shall address all aspects of society, economy and environment including natural habitats, national parks, and fences.

Under the project Mosul Dam Emergency Preparedness in Iraq, UNDP is helping the Government of Iraq on flood preparedness due to potential failure of the Mosul Dam.  Such a disaster can create tsunami like wave that could threaten lives of 4-6 million people including in Mosul city and downstream up to the capital Baghdad. In addition, it is expected to threaten seriously the flora and fauna along the Tigris flood path contributing to the severe loss of ecological habitats by large scale inundation of the downstream areas in Ninawa, Salah Elden, Baghdad, Diyala governorates.

1.Project Scope of work

UNDP in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Environment plans to develop two new project proposals as follows:

1. Global Environment Fund (GEF) - Project Identification Form (PIF): To address the emerging biodiversity conservation priorities and protected areas management in Iraq targeting the upcoming funding cycle of the Global Environment Fund (GEF). This includes consultation with key stakeholders to identify global environment benefits, barriers and priority interventions, and outlining the intervention strategy using the GEF Project Identification Form (PIF).  
2. Mosul Dam preparedness for biodiversity conservation: Reduce losses and damages to the ecosystems and fauna (wild and domestic animals) including from Mosul Dam flood disaster by adopting effective preparedness approaches for emergencies. The project intends to assess existing status of biodiversity and ecosystems in the flood affected governorates downstream the Mosul Dam on the opposite river banks and inundation area, with preparation of conservation and preparedness plans for the sensitive biodiversity areas in selected governorates like ecological sites, protected areas, national parks, natural museums, animals in cities’ parks and inside fences, considering Key Biodiversity Area (KBA)[1] Report 2017 as the baseline.

In this regards, UNDP Iraq intends to engage an international consultant for the development of the GEF Project Identification Form (PIF), and a concept note and project document for Mosul Dam preparedness for biodiversity conservation.

3.Key Tasks and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of EECC head of Pillar and in coordination with the Environment Sub-pillar team, the International Consultant will assume the lead responsibility for the development of the GEF Project Identification Form (PIF), and a concept note and project document for Mosul Dam preparedness for biodiversity conservation.. The international consultant will be supported by a local consultant to deliver this assignment and is expected to work in close cooperation and liaison with the technical specialist in the Ministry of Health and Environment.

 Specifically, he/she will carry out the following tasks:

• Review reports and materials including relevant legal analysis reports, legal framework & national policy to capture previous experience and baseline related to biodiversity conservation and relevant ongoing/planned activities.
• Identify barriers related to Biodiversity and ecosystem in the flood affected governorates by Mosul dam failure, KBA in Iraq and others.
• Identify detailed information on on-going and future related programmes, projects and activities, which include but may not be limited to the information of project owners, donors, scopes and expected results and impacts, etc.
• Based on the baseline, suggest relevant interventions (i.e. activities) by the project in terms of policy, capacity building, awareness raising, training, technology transfer and pilot, etc. & suggest the change/revision of project goal, objective, components; Support the formulation of the(Project Identification Form PIF) following the supplied template with the components as project framework showing the project components, expected outcomes, expected outputs and financing arrangements, Indicative financing plan summary for the project by source if available, project justification by stating the issue, how the project seeks to solve it, and the expected benefits to be delivered, alignment of the project with national priorities plans and GEF eligibility criteria including incrementality, technical feasibility, mobilization of co-financing, etc. indicating the coordination with other related initiatives, stakeholder analysis and gender consideration, indicating additional cost reasoning, indicating risks that might prevent the project from being achieved and outlining risk mitigation measures and proposed approach for knowledge management, indicating the cost- effectiveness of the project, justifying the comparative advantage of UNDP to undertake the project.
• Develop a concept note and then a project document (using UNDP template) for the Mosul Dam projects
• Proactively liaise with local consultant and technical specialists from MoHEnv and other key stakeholders to collect available data, published literatures, technical reports and Government reports related to Biodiversity and ecosystem in the flood affected governorates by Mosul dam failure, KBA in Iraq and others.
• Present the project proposals to the national stakeholders and get their feedback.
• Conduct a consultation meeting with national experts and seek their inputs for design of the project proposals that meets Iraq’s priority on biodiversity and ecosystem protection from disasters through a multi-dimensional approach while taking into account the economic, environmental and social aspects. 
• Deliver capacity building workshop on the linkages between disasters and biodiversity with the engagement of relevant ministries, academia and NGOs. One of the workshop outcomes is selecting project idea that addresses disasters impact on Biodiversity and open doors for other finance opportunities.

4.Reporting and coordination:                

-        The International Consultant (hired under UNDP’s Individual Contract modality) will report directly to Head of Environment, Energy and Climate Change Pillar of UNDP Iraq.

-        S/he will coordinate with UNDP national consultant, national technical specialists and government counterparts during the consultation and formulation process.

-        S/he will need to work closely with the UNDP Country Office and teams for the technical requirements of the project formulation process; and,

-        UNDP Country Office will provide support for organizing meetings, and provision of other supporting functions and certify the quality of deliverables for payment.

5.Timeline for deliverables

The International Expert is to submit the following deliverables: 

6.Duration

The contract is effective from the date of signature by UNDP Iraq and the International Consultant. Maximum number of working days is 30 days.

The consultant will have one mission to Iraq for one week including travel days to facilitate the workshop and conduct site visit, he will be entitled DSA, travel and transportation cost

7.Selection criteria

The successful candidate will have a multi-disciplinary and professional background including in development, environmental science, biodiversity and natural ecosystem or fields related to disaster preparedness.

The consultant shall have strong demonstrated technical skills in project design, development, and management.

The following attributes are essential:

• Master’s degree, PhD preferred, in environmental management/sciences, geography, conservation biology/ecology, natural resource management, or another related field. (20 points)

Experience:

• At least 15 years of experience in any of the thematic areas on biodiversity and natural ecosystems and disaster preparedness. (20 points)
• Experience in working with international institutions regarding biodiversity-related issues. (15 points)
• Experience in the design and writing of similar programs, including:(15 points)

-        Project design, management, and monitoring and evaluation; CBD reports.

-        Design of Results and Resources Framework with SMART indicators, work plan and budget formulation.

-        Working with multi-disciplinary teams, including local and expatriate technical experts.

• Technical Proposal – (10 points)
• Experience of working in Iraq will be an advantage (5 points)

8.Language and other skills:

• Fluency in English, and high-level writing skill (15 points)

9.Payment

The consultant must send a financial proposal for a total number of 30 working days. The proposed fee shall quote an all-inclusive budget for the contract period. The term “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, consumables, etc.) that could be incurred by the International Consultant in successfully completing the assignment/consultancy.

10.Presence required on duty station/UNDP Country Office 

Ö  NONE                      * PARTIAL                * INTERMITTENT                 0 FULL-TIME  

11.Application

The application should contain:

-        Technical proposal (showing the candidate’s understanding of the assignment requirements, proposed approach, proposed analytical framework or analysis tools);

-        Financial proposal; and,

-        Updated CV to include qualifications/competencies and relevant past experience in similar projects and contact details of 2 professional referees who can certify the candidate’s competencies, professionalism, quality of presentation and overall suitability for this assignment.  

[1] *KBA  report implemented by Ministry of Health and Environment in coordination with Nature Iraq on assessment of 82 Key Biodiversity sites located in all governorates, identifying the state of flora and fauna that have an international , regional and national value based on IUCN standard , with  some threatened factors surrounding  these sites  like pollution, over exploitation, urbanization and others . The book used data from surveys carried out from 2005 to 2010. Currently no available updated data in the Ministry of Environment (a big gap), and the threat of Climate change and Flood disaster are missing in the surveys and KBA book.