Technical Project Advisor: UNDP-GEF Project - Reducing Maritime Trafficking of Wildlife between Africa and Asia

Background

Poaching and illicit trafficking of wildlife is among the five most lucrative illegal trades globally, estimated to be worth around US$10-20 billion annually. UNDP has recognized the growing problem of illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife trafficking and is responding accordingly, both in policy engagement and in UNDP-GEF programming. In June 2015, the GEF launched the flagship “Global Partnership on Wildlife Conservation and Crime Prevention for Sustainable Development” program, bringing together funding from the GEF and a wide range of partners, including the Governments of participating countries, GEF Agencies, bilateral and multilateral donors, foundations, the private sector and civil society. Participating countries include: Afghanistan, Botswana, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Philippines, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe. UNDP is supporting thirteen of the GWP national projects.In addition to national-level projects being implemented in the above-mentioned countries, one global project has been developed to provide coordination support to each of the national projects. It is being jointly led by the World Bank and UNDP, with the World Bank playing the main role. One of the sub-components of this project focuses on combating maritime trafficking of wildlife between Africa and Asia. The GEF has awarded a grant of $2 million for this sub-component which is to be led by UNDP. The objective of the project is to reduce maritime trafficking of wildlife between Africa and Asia through strengthened wildlife law enforcement capacity at ports and improved South-South and institutional cooperation. As this project forms part of the Global Coordination Project of the Global Wildlife Program, preference will be given to ports located in countries that have a national GWP project, and where possible, opportunities will be identified to deliver activities that build on national GWP projects with parallel investment from these projects. Work to strengthen anti-trafficking capacity will preliminarily target the four ports of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Mombasa (Kenya), Surabaya (Indonesia) and Laem Chabang (Thailand). The project will also work on a global level to strengthen the performance of ports and the wider shipping industry in tackling wildlife trafficking in the long term. The project is divided into three components:

• Component 1 - Best practice in combating maritime wildlife traffickingThis component aims to increase awareness, incentives, and capacity for port-based law enforcement staff, port operational staff and the shipping industry, to support the achievement of best practice in combating maritime wildlife trafficking at sea ports. In doing so it directly responds to commitment #10 of the Buckingham Palace Declaration. UfW Transport Task Force members will be engaged in the implementation of this component and it has been designed to build on the efforts of signatories to the Buckingham Palace Declaration.  This component will: i) build awareness among port-based stakeholders and shipping industry to provide a foundation for efforts to achieve best practice in combating wildlife trafficking across the maritime sector; ii) develop a methodology for assessing best practice in combating maritime wildlife trafficking at ports and pilot its use at up to four ports along with targeted capacity-building efforts, and develop a self-assessment monitoring tool for ports to monitor enhanced performance; iii) pilot incentives to engage and reward ports that excel in combating wildlife trafficking, including through exploring the feasibility of a best practice certification scheme.
• Component 2 - Cooperation in combating marine wildlife trafficking Component 2 will focus on bringing together different ports, countries and players to work cooperatively on combating wildlife trafficking across key illicit trade chains. This component works in parallel with the largely national focus and capacity-building in Component 1 to strengthen capacity and willingness to cooperate at an international level. It will also strengthen collaboration between UN entities with a mandate related to combating wildlife crime to leverage the strengths and expertise of different agencies into coordinated, efficient and targeted support to national governments.  Component 2 will build off existing baseline efforts such as the Port Control Units (PCUs) established under the UNODC-WCO Container Control Programme. These provide a strong basis for inter-agency and inter-port communication and the project will focus on strengthening communication between PCUs directly and through joint training establishing personal contacts which is likely to make them more prone to contact and trust each other with news of wildlife trafficking incidents and collaborate on law enforcement. Opportunistic and strategic activities to enhance collaboration on combating trafficking between GWP countries will also be supported.This component will: i) establish and strengthen South-south communication systems, collaboration networks and capacity for international cooperation including the use of specialized investigation techniques in combating wildlife trafficking; and ii) deliver a range of jointly-delivered UN initiatives among member entities of the UN Inter-agency Task Force on Illicit Trade in Wildife and Forest Products. 
• Component 3 - Knowledge management and monitoring and evaluationComponent 3 will focus on knowledge management since it is viewed as critical to the achievement of the project objective. Ongoing learning and adaptive management of the project as well as intra-UN coordination, learning from and sharing  of information with other initiatives working at ports will contribute significantly to ensuring a successful project. This will include internal knowledge management, i.e. monitoring of project progress, as well as bringing in best practice from and disseminating knowledge across the GWP, across other relevant GEF projects, and across projects and initiatives implemented by other players (e.g. the ROUTES partnership). This component will: i) identify, document and disseminate best practices and lessons learned on combating wildlife trafficking; and ii) ensure effective monitoring and evaluation of project results, along with coordination of monitoring and evaluation across the GWP to support a consistent approach to measuring the effectiveness of counter-wildlife trafficking efforts.

Duties and Responsibilities

A Technical Project Advisor is sought to substantively lead the implementation of activities of the Global Maritime Wildlife Trafficking Project, and assist UNDP’s partnerships with other actors working to prevent and combat illegal trade in wildlife.The Technical Project Advisor’s role will be in technical support and partnership consulting as well asproject advisory. S/he will be home-based with international missions to project sites and stakeholder’s offices. The Consultant will be supported by a part-time Project Associate located at the UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub, and a home-based Knowledge Management, M&E and Communications expert. Project Technical SupportThe Consultant provides technical support to the project and consults on various partnerships matters, and it is the responsibility of the Consultant to ensure that, across all components, all awareness-raising, technical and capacity- building activities are tightly aligned with, and complement the work of UNDP’s national projects, and those of other actors working on similar capacity building, particularly within the Global Wildlife Program. As regards specific outputs, the Consultant will have the following responsibilities: Component 1: Best practice in combating wildlife traffickingThe Consultant will be responsible for planning and driving all efforts under this component, with the goal of ensuring maximum impact, complementing the activities already undertaken, ongoing efforts, or planned interventions by others such as by UNODC, WCO and other ICCWC partners, the “Container Control Programme”, the “INAMA” programme, the United for Wildlife Transport Task Force, United for Wildlife, TradeMark East Africa and various NGOs such as TRAFFIC for example. The Consultant shall ensure an effective sequencing of efforts and support the design of the efforts, including awareness-raising campaigns, possible establishment of a new excellence award for ports to fight illegal trade in wildlife, or the inclusion of such components into existing schemes, as well as all training and ensure that relevant gender aspects are included in project implementation . The Consultant will support procurement and cooperation with implementing organizations and consultants to ensure effective implementation. The Consultant shall guide and collaborate with other implementing partners as much as possible to ensure the successful outcome of the project. The Consultant will assess the quality of any proposed training and contribute to make the content of any training specific, relevant and of high quality. This includes ensuring that gender aspects are included in the curriculum, as relevant, and that already existing available courses and resource material are used .The Consultant shall furthermore work closely with the consultant hired for the feasibility study of the Ports of Excellence scheme, especially as regards its possible design and operationalization. The Consultant will support each willing port striving to comply with the requirements, and will lead the preparations for, and organization of, the first Ports of Excellence recognition ceremony, if a new scheme or award is deemed feasibleComponent 2: Cooperation in combating maritime wildlife traffickingThe Consultant will be responsible for planning and driving all efforts under this component, with the goal of ensuring maximum impact, complementing the activities already undertaken, ongoing efforts, or planned interventions by other entities, and integrate gender aspects when relevant. The Consultant will consider the ability and needs of each port, and the policies and regulations of each individual country and overview that the response is designed accordingly. Work under this component may therefore begin with the support of procurement of capacity-enhancing efforts at national level such as the ability to use IT-based communication and information-sharing systems, improvement of national legislation enabling international collaboration etc. Once the national capacity is judged sufficient, implementation should proceed with activities to enhance the capacity of ports to collaborate among the different national actors involved in the fight against illegal maritime trade in wildlife within each country, and the third important step is enhanced international collaboration among the ports involved. However, efforts to enhance the capacity of each national stakeholder, their collaboration at the national level as well as their ability to collaborate at the international level may not necessarily be sequenced, but could run in parallel if such an approach is judged efficient. The Consultant will support procurement and cooperation with  implementing organizations and consultants to ensure effective implementation. The Consultant will also assist UNDP’s efforts to effectively coordinate its various projects within the Global Wildlife Programme (GWP) internally, and with other GWP partners. In addition, the Consultant shall support UNDP to continue to build good working relationships and deepen coordination and collaboration with external actors in general, and in particular with other GWP partners and other UN entities, such as the Members of the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Illicit Trade in Wildlife and Forest Products and FAO and the World Bank. Component 3: Knowledge management and monitoring and evaluationThe Consultant’s input to this component will be accounted for under his/her project related duties.The Consultant should also be ready to provide advisory support and assistance with other tasks related to UNDP’s partnerships and work to prevent and combat illegal trade in wildlife. Such tasks will primarily be related to the Global Wildlife Program and the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Illicit Trade in Wildlife and Forest Products. Project Management Issues ConsultingThe Consultant will be expected to spend around 20% of his/her time on project management related consulting. S/he will have the support of the Project Associate, with whom the Consultant will join forces to fulfil project requirements. The Consultant’s project related duties will include support to administrative management, monitoring as well as reporting and knowledge management duties (as per Component 3 of the Project). More specifically the Consultant shall:   

• Provide technical inputs for monitoring and reporting on implementation progress according to UNDP and GEF reporting requirements, this includes inputs for quarterly and yearly technical and financial progress reports to UNDP-GEF and the World Bank as applicable. These reports shall describe how far implementation has reached, identify successes and challenges, analyze the contributing factors and suggest how to build on successes and address challenges. These reports should also contain information on any major risks, whether risks have materialized or not, propose remedies, and indicate if risk-levels change or new risks emerge,
• Identify if sources of baseline data are available for project indicators, other than those indicators for which partners will provide baseline data, and if necessary collect baseline data him/herself,
• thereafter be responsible to follow-up, on a yearly basis, on progress towards the goals set, using the indicator framework for the project, and report on it,
• Collect lessons learned from project implementation which may be of interest to others and prepare user-friendly presentations of these lessons,
• Collect and consider lessons learned from other similar projects incorporate them into Project implementation, as feasible, 
• Provide recommendations to steer the project in the most effective and efficient way possible towards its intended outcomes, 
• Prepare inputs for three-year, annual and quarterly work plans and budgets for the project;
• Cooperate with project team to ensure the timely adherence to work-plans, the cost-effective use of project funds and the delivery of outputs in keeping with the budgets, efficient and coordinated implementation of all project activities and ensure the achievement of delivery targets and results as outlined in the project work plan.
• Ensure that project outputs are of sufficient quality,
• Ensure communication with all stakeholders as per the communication plan (to be designed during the inception workshop),
• Communicates with ICCWC partners, consultants and focal ports,
• Provide technical inputs for reports on project progress to the Project Board, and seek advice on the strategy forward, as necessary,
• Advise on all procurement processes,
• Consult project activities within the project to ensure maximum cost efficiency with regards to travel, including planning the gathering of data for monitoring and evaluation in coordination with other missions as part of the PM’s technical input above, and
• Communicate closely with other GEF project leaders to align and coordinate project activities so that resources may be shared where possible.

Key performance indicatorsTimely and high-quality production of project outputs, with particular focus on:

• Awareness raising for port stakeholders,
• Capacity enhancement of frontline officers, 
• Collaboration among ports involved in the project,
• Collaboration and information sharing/knowledge management with all relevant stakeholders, in particular within UNDP, the Global Wildlife Program, other UN entities, and the World Bank.

Successful and timely achievement of project indicators as detailed in the Monitoring and Evaluation plan, andTimely submission of all project reports (with support from the Project Associate).Information on working arrangements 

• Estimated level of effort including travel days is up to 660 days; 
• The Technical Project Advisor will be home based with mission travels; 
• The Technical Project Advisor will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment;
• The consultant will report to, and be directly supervised by UNDP-GEF EBD Regional Technical Advisor;
• The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own working station (i.e. laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, etc.) and must have access to a reliable internet connection;
• Given the global consultations to be undertaken during this assignment, the consultant is expected to be reasonably flexible with his/her availability for such consultations taking into consideration different time zones;
• The Consultant will engage regularly with the UNDP Regional Technical Advisor, based in Bangkok, with a periodicity to be agreed upon between the two. In addition, the consultant will also engage, as appropriate, with UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub, other UNDP colleagues based in New York, relevant regional hubs, and country offices, particularly those in Kenya, Indonesia, Tanzania, and Thailand;
• Irrespective of his/her location, the consultant will be expected to be available for at least 2 hours during the regular business hours of the EAT time zone and 2 hours during the regular business hours of the ICT time zone each working day.
• Timeline of deliverables and provided services will be agreed with the supervisor at the beginning of each month.  
• Payments will be made upon submission of a detailed time sheet and certification of payment form, and acceptance and confirmation by the Supervisor on days worked (with a “day” calculated as 8 hours of work).

Mission Travel:

• Travel will be required, and missions may include international travel, at up to 45 days travel a year depending on business needs. Expected mission travel shall be discussed with UNDP’s Regional Technical Advisor upon commencement of the assignment, and thereafter updated quarterly. Travel will be for consultations with the UfW Transport Task Force and maritime transport working group (likely destinations: London, Geneva), and for travel to demonstration ports and countries for project capacity building events. Likely destinations include Thailand, Indonesia, Kenya, Tanzania.
• Any necessary mission travel must be approved in advance and in writing by the Supervisor;
• The  Advanced and Basic Security in the Field II courses must be successfully completed prior to commencement of travel to join the duty station or first mission travel, which ever takes place first;
• Consultants are responsible for obtaining any visas needed in connection with travel with the necessary support from UNDP;
• The Consultant is required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under https://dss.un.org/dssweb/;
• Travel for missions will be arranged by UNDP and related expenses will be supported by the project travel fund and will be reimbursed as per UNDP rules and regulations for consultants. 

Competencies

Corporate:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Technical / Functional:

• Expertise in project structuring; 
• Understands more advanced aspects of primary area of specialization as well as the fundamental concepts of related disciplines
• Ability to oversee timely project implementation and to provide the necessary trouble shooting to keep project implementation on schedule; 
• Ability to formulate and manage budgets, excellent project oversight functions, including audit, accurate and thorough risk assessment and management; 
• Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting: knowledge of project cycle, excellent work/project planning skills, 

Communication:

• Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, in a simple, concise and persuasive manner.

Professionalism:

• Ability to work and build partnerships with multiple stakeholders and partners across a wide range of disciplines;
• Demonstrated ability in strategic thinking; 
• Strong organizational, reporting and writing abilities;
• Able to work independently and remotely with minimal supervision;
• Remains calm, in control and good humored, even under pressure; 
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude; 
• Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback.

Teamwork:

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively as part of a collaborative team and process.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in a relevant field such as law, international development, international trade, natural resources management or biodiversity conservation. 

Experience:

• At least seven years of relevant professional experience related to international trade, maritime sector supply chains, customs and law enforcement, or wildlife management and conservation, and including experience related to combating the illegal trade in wildlife 
• At least five years of demonstrated track record in project management with proven achievement of results 
• At least five years of experience working in developing countries and preferably with experience in Africa and Asia 
• At least two years of experience with developing and delivering capacity building programmes, with experience in law enforcement capacity building an asset 
• At least two years of experience working with governments, inter-governmental organizations, and with the private sector internationally on initiatives and/or partnerships related to combating illegal trade in wildlife is highly beneficial to this role 
• Previous involvement in the implementation of GEF projects is an asset 
• Knowledge of standards and practices in international trade in the maritime sector is an asset 

Language requirements

• Excellent mastery of spoken and written English is an eliminatory requirement 

Evaluation of Applicants

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.The award of the contract should 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 (P11 desk reviews and interviews) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

•  Applicants will be evaluated according to a combined scoring method – where the technical criteria will be weighted at 70% and the financial offer will be weighted at 30%;
• The technical criteria (education, experience, languages [max. 70 points] and interview [max. 30 points]) will be based on a maximum 100 points;
• Only the top 4 candidates obtaining 49 points or more of the review of education, experience, languages will be considered for the interview;
• Candidates obtaining 21 points or higher in the interview will be deemed technically qualified and considered for financial evaluation; 

Technical Evaluation Desk review - max. 70 points:

• Criteria A - Education: Master’s degree in a relevant field such as law, international development, international trade, natural resources management and/or biodiversity conservation. (max. 10 points)
• Criteria B - At least 7 years of relevant professional experience related to international trade, maritime sector supply chains, customs and law enforcement, illicit trade in wildlife and/or other illicit supply chains, and/or wildlife management and conservation (max. 15 points)
• Criteria C - At least 5 years of demonstrated track record in project management with proven achievement of results is an eliminatory requirement (max. 10 points)
• Criteria D – At least 5 years of experience working in developing countries and preferable with experience in Africa and Asia (max. 5 points)
• Criteria E - At least 2 years of experience in developing and delivering capacity building programmes, with experience in law enforcement capacity building an asset (max. 10 points)
• Criteria F – At least 2 years of experience working with governments, inter-governmental organizations, and with the private sector internationally is highly beneficial to this role (max. 5 points)
• Criteria G – Previous experience of managing UNDP-GEF projects is highly desirable for this role (max. 5 points)
• Criteria H – Knowledge of standards and practices in international trade in the maritime sector is an asset (max. 5 pts)
• Criteria I - Excellent mastery of spoken and written English (max. 5 points)

Technical  Interviews – max 30 points.Financial Evaluation - 30% of total evaluation – (max 43 points) shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal of those technically qualified.Application procedures

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain:

• Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application. 
• Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees 
• (blank form can be downloaded from http://www.eurasia.undp.org/content/dam/rbec/docs/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc; please upload the P11 instead of your CV. 
• Financial Proposal* - specifying all-inclusive daily fee in USD.
• Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials

*Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination, personal security needs and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services...). Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner. Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.orgGeneral Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://on.undp.org/t7fJs.Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.