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The Black Sea is one of the most vulnerable regional seas in the world given its limited exchange of water with the open oceans and the large area of continental Europe from which it receives the drainage. The four strongly interlinked priority trans-boundary problems of the Black Sea are eutrophication - nutrient enrichment, changes in marine living resources, chemical pollution (including oil), and biodiversity/habitat changes, including alien species introduction - as well as the underlying root causes like industrial activities, agriculture, domestic wastewater, sea transport (oil spills, ballast water), and coastal zone degradation (urbanisation, tourism). The Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution (Bucharest Convention) addresses these problems through enhanced cooperation among its signatories. The development/improvement of a monitoring network and data collection to provide for ecosystem-based and knowledge-based decision-making is considered to be a management target of high priority. Further coordination in policies and legislation between the Black Sea countries is of common interest in the region and specifically to the EU's partners countries – being also members of the Black Sea Commission (BSC) - in so far it influences their own ability to comply with EU legislation and policies, notably the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD).
The overall objective of the project is to help improve the protection of the Black Sea environment. This objective will be pursued through the implementation of those initiatives that were elaborated and planned during the preparatory phase of this project (EMBLAS-I).
The specific objectives are as follows: i) to improve availability and quality of Black Sea environmental data in line with the MSFD and Black Sea Strategic Action Plan 2009 (BS SAP 2009) needs; ii) to improve partner countries' ability to perform marine environmental monitoring along MSFD principles, taking into account the Black Sea Diagnostic Report II recommendations on capacity building.
The following activities are carried out in the Phase 2 of the project – EMBLAS II:
- Project Activity 1: Continue support to the implementation of countries’ obligations under the Bucharest and other related Conventions and Agreements;
- Project Activity 2: Implementation of cost-effective and harmonised marine environmental monitoring programmes in accordance with reporting obligations under multilateral environmental agreements, the WFD and the MSFD;
- Project Activity 3: Large scale implementation of training programmes on monitoring methods and quality assurance adhering to the ISO 17025 standard;
- Project Activity 4: Implementation of Joint Surveys and environmental assessment of the Black Sea along the lines of the WFD and the MSFD;
- Project Activity 5: Operate the web-based Black Sea Water Quality Database;
- Project Activity 6: Dissemination of Knowledge and Best Practices, Public Awareness and Visibility.
The project will strengthen capacities of the respective national authorities for biological and chemical monitoring of the Black Sea, taking into consideration the requirements of EU water related legislation (EU WFD and MSFD). Significant effort will be put into training and other capacity building activities. In order to promote ownership, engagement of local experts and organisations is foreseen.
Location:
Home based, with travels in the Black Sea region: country visits: Ukraine-Odessa 2x3 days/Georgia-Tbilisi or Batumi 4 days /RF-Moscow as needed + UNDP IRH (3 days). The project will be implemented in Georgia, Russian Federation and Ukraine.
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Duties and Responsibilities
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The Economy Expert will support the project implementation in the activities related to economic assessment of the national monitoring programmes and identifying relevant economic instruments and funding mechanisms for these programmes and guide the national economy experts from Ukraine, Georgia and Russian Federation (if needed). He/she will work under the direct supervision of the Project Team Leader and UNDP Regional Technical Advisor for International Waters, who will have the overall supervision role on the project from the UNDP side.
The Economy Expert will closely cooperate with the other international, national experts and partner organizations working on the project, as well as other relevant UNDP staff – project assistant and water programme analyst from UNDP Regional Centre for Europe and the CIS.
The Economy Expert will contribute to the project Activity 2: National Pilot Monitoring Studies (NPMS) - Development and implementation of NPMS for testing and harmonisation, in particular to 'Analysis of options on applying economic instruments and funding mechanisms and cost effectiveness assessment to optimise the national monitoring programmes'. The consultant’s tasks will be related to the transition of the current monitoring programs to the monitoring practices which are fully compliant with the MSFD, WFD and BSIMAP – including cost assessments, economic instruments, funding mechanisms, stakeholders involvement, etc. The consultant will closely cooperate with the national economy experts and also guide their work as needed.
The consultant will work with the available materials – Black Sea Diagnostic Report II (prepared during the first phase of the EMBLAS project), monitoring programmes prepared the by the partner organizations for the National Pilot Monitoring Studies as well as considering other relevant documents. Assessment/evaluation of actual prices for laboratory analyses, consumables and other relevant services including investment costs of laboratory infrastructure, equipment and vessels will be considered.
The consultant will prepare several deliverables in cooperation with the project experts, within the following time frame and payment schedule:
January 2017 (10% of payment)
- Short summary on Analysis of background documents – Black Sea Diagnostic report-II (EMBLAS I) and current contracts with the project partners with regard to the tasks related to the monitoring programmes (assessment/evaluation of actual prices for laboratory analyses, consumables and other relevant services including investment costs of laboratory infrastructure, equipment, vessels etc.).
- A concept/approach for the economic assessment of national monitoring programmes per country, including fine-tuning of the Terms of Reference for the national economy experts and Plan of visits of relevant stakeholders including Ministries responsible for budget lines related to monitoring efforts.
February 2017 (40% of payment)
- Presentation of the draft methodology/approach for the economic assessment of national monitoring programmes per country at the relevant partners’ and stakeholders meetings (Tbilisi).
May 2017 (40% of payment)
- First draft of Cost-effectiveness assessment of monitoring/economic instruments including evaluation of national budgets for Black Sea monitoring and related trends during the last 10 years.
December 2017 (10% of payment)
- Final draft of the Cost effectiveness assessment, including assessment of the current and MSFD- and WFD-compliant scenarios for the national monitoring following a 'realistic' and 'fully compliant' scenarios, identifying funding options to implement them. The assessment will include examples of financing monitoring programmes in other EU countries including (not exclusively) Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia.
The consultant may be asked to make some minor contributions also to the deliverables prepared by other experts, related to other activities arising during the project implementation. The assignment will require travel in the region, upon request by UNDP (to be covered separately as per UNDP rules and regulations). The consultant is expected to work closely with UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub and Country offices, with the staff, responsible for the project implementation.
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Competencies
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Functional competencies:
- Excellent research and analytical skills;
- Ability to work in a team and deliver high quality results under time pressure.
Corporate Competencies:
- Demonstrates integrity by modeling 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.
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Required Skills and Experience
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Academic Qualifications/Education:
- Master degree in one of the fields: economy, finance or environmental management.
Experience:
- Minimum 5 years of experience in transposition and implementation of EU water related directives, in particular Water Framework Directive (WFD) or Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) is required;
- Experience with preparation of cost-benefit analyses in the field of water resources management or waste water treatment is required;
- Experience in national/regional projects focused on the river basin management planning, including preparation of studies and analyses in the field of water economy is an asset;
- Experience as a team leader, or trainer with focus on economic assessment of EU water legislation implementation, cost benefit analysis, etc. is an asset;
- Relevant experience in Ukraine, Georgia, Russian Federation is an asset.
Language skills
- Fluent writing and communication skills in English;
- Knowledge of one of the languages - Russian, Ukrainian or Georgian languages is an asset.
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:
- Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
- Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical (P11 desk reviews) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.
Only those individual consultants who obtained at least 70% of points from technical criteria will be considered for financial proposal evaluation
Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 70 points:
- Criteria A – academic qualification / education – max points: 10;
- Criteria B –- experience in transposition and implementation of EU water related directives, max points: 10;
- Criteria C - Experience with preparation of cost-benefit analyses related to water resources management, - max points: 10;
- Criteria D - Experience in national/regional projects focused on the river basin management planning, including preparation of studies and analyses in the field of water economy, experience in the EMBLAS countries (Ukraine, Georgia, Russian Federation) – max points 10;
- Criteria E – experience as a team leader or trainer on various issues related to the EU water policy, economic assessment, cost benefit analysis, – max points: 15;
- Criteria F – language and writing skills (publications) - max points: 15.
Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 30 points.
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://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc ); please upload the P11 instead of your CV;
- Financial Proposal* - specifying a total lump sum amount in USD for the tasks specified in this announcement. Travel costs for missions cannot be included in the price offer. These costs will be paid separately according to the UN rules and regulations;
- 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 and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services...). Travel costs for missions will be covered separately according to UNDP rules and regulations.
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.org.
General 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.
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