Consultancy – Collaborative process/webinar series on Mining and Intact Forests

Background

Objective:

The purpose of this procurement exercise is to contract an individual consultant to lead the development of a learning/webinar series thematically focused on mining and intact forest landscapes, including issues around artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM).

UNDP is the knowledge frontier organization for sustainable development in the UN Development System and serves as the integrator for collective action to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP’s policy work carried out at HQ, Regional and Country Office levels forms a contiguous spectrum of deep local knowledge to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. In this context, UNDP invests in the Global Policy Network (GPN), a network of field-based and global technical expertise across a wide range of knowledge domains and in support of the signature solutions and organizational capabilities envisioned in the Strategic Plan.

Within the GPN, the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan. BPPS staff provides technical advice to Country Offices; advocates for UNDP corporate messages; represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora, including public-private, government and civil society dialogues; and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas. BPPS works closely with UNDP’s Crisis Bureau (CB) to support emergency and crisis response. BPPS ensures that issues of risk are fully integrated into UNDP’s development programmes. BPPS assists UNDP and partners to achieve higher quality development results through an integrated approach that links results-based management and performance monitoring with more effective and new ways of working.  BPPS supports UNDP and partners to be more innovative, knowledge and data driven including in its programme support efforts.

Nature, Climate and Energy Team

UNDP’s 2018-2021 Strategic Plan emphasizes the critical links between environmental sustainability, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and broader efforts to achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda and Paris Agreement. As part of the Global Policy Network in the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP’s Nature, Climate Change, and Energy (NCE) Team promotes and scales up integrated whole-of-governance approaches and nature-based solutions that reduce poverty and inequalities, strengthen livelihoods and inclusive growth, mitigate conflict, forced migration and displacement, and promote more resilient governance systems that advance linked peace and security agendas.

The NCE Team works with governments, civil society, and private sector partners to integrate natural capital, environment and climate concerns into national and sector planning and inclusive growth policies; support country obligations under Multilateral Environmental Agreements; and implement the UN’s largest portfolio of in-country programming on environment, climate change, and energy. This multi-billion dollar portfolio encompasses: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services including forests; Sustainable Land Management and Desertification including food and commodity systems; Water and Ocean Governance including SIDS; Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation; Renewable and Modern Energy; Extractive Industries; Chemicals and Waste Management; Environmental Governance and Green/Circular Economy and SCP approaches. This work advances crosscutting themes on innovative finance, digital transformation, capacity development, human rights, gender equality, health, technology, and South-South learning.

In addition to UNDP’s bilateral partnerships on natural capital, environment and climate, UNDP is an accredited multilateral implementing agency of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Multilateral Fund (MLF), the Adaptation Fund (AF) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) which  includes the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund (GEF Trust Fund); the Nagoya Protocol Implementation Fund (NPIF); the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF); and the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF)). As part of UNDP’s partnership with these vertical funds, UNDP provides countries specialized integrated technical services for eligibility assessment, programme formulation, capacity development, policy advice, technical assistance, training and technology transfer, mobilization of co-financing, implementation oversight, results management and evaluation, performance-based payments and knowledge management services.

The joint Swedish EPA- UNDP Environmental Governance Programme – Mining is a SIDA-funded global programme that is jointly implemented by the Swedish EPA and UNDP since 2014. It is currently in its second Phase of Programming. (2020-2023). The EGP focuses on preventing and managing the environmental risks and corresponding impacts on human rights so that the mining sector can contribute to positive impacts across a range of SDGs linked to biodiversity, climate change, poverty eradication, health, sustainable consumption and production, inclusive growth and gender equality for current and future generations.  It draws upon the combined governance, environmental and extractive sector expertise of Swedish EPA and UNDP and their partners to support countries to integrate environment and human rights into the governance of the mining sector. It takes a human rights-based, collaborative and multi-stakeholder approach to creating durable, coherent and transformative solutions. Working in collaboration with ministries of environment, mining, planning and finance, as well as civil society and other public and private stakeholders, the programme provides targeted support to ten countries. The programme also work at the global and regional level to strengthen knowledge sharing and innovative policy approaches. It draws on the combined governance, social, environmental and extractive sector expertise of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and partners.

In collaboration with the wider UNDP’s Forest Team and partners, and as part of UNDP’s broader work to implement Goal 3 of the New York Forest declaration, UNDP is now looking to hire an IC to develop a dialogue series/webinars targeting the private sector with a view to sensitize the mining and infrastructure sectors to the urgency of protecting intact forest. This will include understanding how the ASM or informal mining impacts these issues, and what transformative actions and commitments can be taken to address drivers of loss of intact forest in these sectors. The long term goal is to set realistic standards for protection of intact forests jointly with the mining and infrastructure sector, and to develop a bold and ambitious pledge not to mine in intact forests ahead of the 21st UNFCC COP in Glasgow November 2021. 

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will work closely with the global EGP team to provide technical support to the following projects:

1. Collaborative design of, and presentation at 2-3 webinars jointly with many actors (including New York Forest Declaration), thematically focused on intact forest including ASM dimensions.  
2. Draft content for a knowledge product.

No.	Deliverable	Estimated Number of days	% of payment	Target Due Date
1	Design of and presentation at 3 webinars: Focused on the linkages between ASM and deforestation. The audience for all webinars is the private sector (mining industry and infrastructure sector), governments, civil society and UNDP staff and development practitioners.	30	80%	Webinar one: 15th June Webinar two: 15th August: Webinar three: 15th September
2	Develop post webinar knowledge product- a short report and a draft statement for the UNCCC COP 2021 on mining and intact forests for the participants in the webinars and for the UNFCCC audience.	5	20 %	15th October (for both
Total		35	100%

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s vision, mission and values;
• 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 Competencies:             

• Knowledge of extractive industries/ mining governance and deforestation, including ASM aspects of deforestation.
• Knowledge of collaborative process design
• Knowledge of multistakeholder and international policy processes including experience of assessing and/or ensuring compliance with environmental standards in the mining sector.

Functional Competencies:

• Project/Programme Management
• Ability to productively share UNDP knowledge and activities (at UN and other venues).
• Client Orientation, Professionalism, and Communications
• Ability to make new and useful ideas work;
• Ability to listen, adapt, persuade, and transform;
• Capable of working in a high-pressure environment with sharp deadlines, managing many tasks simultaneously;
• Exercise the highest level of responsibility and be able to handle confidential and politically sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic qualifications:

• Master's degree in natural resource management, environmental science or similar discipline Required

Experience:

• Minimum 10 years of previous experience working on international policy making and guidance in the field of mining, including, artisanal small-scale mining and deforestation. Required
• Minimum 7 years of experience of assessing and/or ensuring compliance with environmental standards in the mining sector. Required
• Minimum 7 years’ experience with collaborative design processes from international development setting. Required
• Previous UNDP experience is an asset
• Experience in Private Sector Collaboration is an asset
• Strong oral and written communication skills in English Required.
• Experience of working in Spanish (written/spoken) and in Spanish speaking countries. Required

Language:

• Native level oral and written communication and presentations skills in English required Required
• Demonstrated ability to communicate and present in Spanish Required

Application Procedure

The application package containing the following (to be uploaded as one file):

• A cover letter with a brief description of why the Offer considers her/himself the most suitable for the assignment;
• Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects and specifying the relevant assignment period (from/to), as well as the email and telephone contacts of at least three (3) professional references;
• A copy of previous relevant work samples to be included in your application.

Note: The above documents need to be scanned in one file and uploaded to the online application as one document.

Shortlisted candidates (ONLY) will be requested to submit a Financial Proposal.

• The financial proposal should specify the lump sum payment for deliverables based on an all-inclusive daily fee (based on a 7-hour working day - lunch time is not included - and estimated 21.75 days per month).
• This consultancy is a home-based assignment, there is no envisaged travel cost to join duty station/repatriation travel. 
• In the case of unforeseeable travel requested by UNDP, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.
• Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director;
• Consultants are responsible for obtaining any visas and security clearances 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/;    

The Financial Proposal is to be emailed as per the instruction in the separate email that will be sent to shortlisted candidates.

Evaluation process

Applicants are reviewed based on Required Skills and Experience stated above and based on the technical evaluation criteria outlined below.  Applicants will be evaluated based on cumulative scoring.  When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Being responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation where technical criteria weighs 70% and Financial criteria/ Proposal weighs 30%.

Technical evaluation - Total 70% (70 points):

• Criteria 1: Relevance of experience working on international policy making and guidance in the field of mining and deforestation. Previous UNDP and/or Private Sector experience in collaboration is an asset; Maximum Points: 25;
• Criteria 2: Relevance of experience on collaborative design processes with international organizations in an international development setting; Maximum Points: 15;
• Criteria 3: Relevance of experience assessing and/or ensuring compliance with environmental standards in the mining sector. Maximum Points: 20;
• Criteria 4: Quality and relevance of samples submitted. Maximum Points: 10

Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (70 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

Financial evaluation - Total 30% (30 points)

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

p = y (µ/z), where

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Contract Award

Candidate obtaining the highest combined scores in the combined score of Technical and Financial evaluation will be considered technically qualified and will be offered to enter into contract with UNDP.

Institutional arrangement

The consultant will work under the guidance and direct supervision of UNDP EGP/Sida Programme Project Manager and the Swedish EPA staff on loan and will be responsible for the fulfilment of the deliverables as specified above.

The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own laptop.

Payment modality

• Payment to the Individual Contractor will be made based on a lump sum payment upon successful completion of the deliverables.

The work week will be based on 35 hours, i.e. on a 7-hour working day, with core hours being between 9h00 and 18h00 daily.

Any request for clarification must be sent by email to cpu.bids@undp.org 

The UNDP Central Procurement Unit will respond by email and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.

 

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