Republic of Moldova

National Gender Consultant (NGC) to support development of a project proposal for the Adaptation Fund addressing extreme climate-induced water-related events in Moldova

Vacancy Number: Pr20/01971

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	02 Mar 2020, 16:00 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	09 Mar 2020, 16:00 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	09 Mar 2020, 16:00 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	16 Mar 2020
Reference to the project:	Advisory Services for Programme Development
Expected Duration of Assignment:	up to 20 working days till December 2020
Supporting Documents: Terms of Reference Individual Consultant Procurement Notice OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP CONFIRMING INTEREST AND AVAILABILITY FOR THE INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTOR (IC) ASSIGNMENT UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Contacts:

Ms. Silvia Pana-Carp.

silvia.pana-carp@undp.org

Background

Republic of Moldova (Moldova) is a small-sized landlocked country in Eastern Europe, exposed to different natural hazards, including floods, droughts and severe storms. In line with climate scenarios, in Moldova the average temperature is expected to increase with 2-3º C, resulting in more acute weather patterns and increased the frequency and magnitude of floods and drought.

Climate change and water resources

Water resources in the Moldova are sensitive to climate change with regards to their quantity and quality. Various emission scenarios and climate models provide different projected values for future water quantity and quality in Moldova; however, they indicate the sign that expected changes will be negative in any case. The natural water regime of the big and small rivers will change by increasing in the instability of annual flow and magnitude of spring and flash floods.

Floods on big rivers

The two big rivers as Prut and Dniester flooding in 2008 and 2010 caused the greatest damage. The 2008 floods on Prut and Dniester Rivers incurred USD 120 million in losses while the 2010 floods - USD 41.92 million which are estimated to have had an adverse economic impact on GDP of about 0.15 percent.  

Flash floods

Heavy rains result in frequent floods, to which over 40 percent of the country’s settlements are exposed. The flash floods occurring within small river basins provoke average annual damage estimated at the level of $5 million. Despite these facts, the system for early detection and warning of flash (rapid) floods was not established in Moldova.

Flood defense infrastructure

Flood is seen as one of the major risks given that almost half of all Moldovan localities are situated in the flood-prone areas and additionally, around 45,000 ha (or 2% of agricultural lands) have a history of being waterlogged. During last decades the risk of floods has increased due to outdated and weak flood protection system mainly inherited from Soviet times. There are also gaps in legislation addressing land relations, use of land of water bodies, commissioning of hydro-technical infrastructure, etc.

Hydrological monitoring network

The exclusive role in monitoring of meteorological and hydrological parameters lies with the State Hydro-meteorological Service. There exists a network of meteorological stations and gauges both on the big rivers Dniester and Prut, and on smaller ones. Currently, up to 50% of gauging stations are not in functioning due to different reasons (stolen, broken, no supplies and/ or poor maintenance). Thus, the hydrological data on smaller rivers and their tributaries are very limited.

Water dependent natural ecosystems

Currently, in Moldova, natural ecosystems are in very poor conditions. Forests cover only a small percentage of the country's territory, and they, with some exceptions, are unproductive and are semi-degraded. Remained wetlands are mainly found in the downstream of the Prut and Dniester Rivers. They are mainly small sized and not healthy being subject of anthropogenic and natural pressures and impacts. According to rough estimate, in Moldova, more than 75% of natural wetlands have been lost.

Thus, the project objective is to improve national and local resilience to extreme water-related events through promotion of sustainable integrated management of flood and drought risks.  International expertise is required to support the project scoping, design the AF Concept and, consequently, develop the AF project Proposal based on thorough situation analysis and extensive stakeholder consultation. During the proposal preparation period, a number of studies and stakeholder consultations will be conducted with the view to further develop a fully formulated proposal. The final output of the international consultant’s work will be the AF project Proposal addressing obtained feedback and ready for submission to the AF. 

To support formulation of the Project Concept and Project Proposal, the UNDP Moldova has prepared a conceptual framework with indicative outcomes and activities listed below, but to be validated after the first in-country mission:

A. Strengthening of the early warning system for extreme water-related weather events at the national and local level and operational support capacity

• A1. Analysis and optimization of hydrological monitoring network towards the appropriate river basin water management and climate change paradigm.
• A2. Establishing of flash flood early detection and warning system
• A3. Improvement of understanding of local water governance institutions and their capacities for flood risk and drought management by better planning at the sub-basin level
• A4. Introduction of flood and hazards risks maps as an instrument for decision making under the climate change adaptation     

B. Strengthening of the flood defense infrastructure

• B1. Inventory of dams and dykes in the central and south parts of Moldova to complete the Register of Hydro-technical Infrastructure
• B2. Dams and dykes safety surveys for identification of higher risks dams and its remediation.

C. Piloted and demonstrated ecosystems-based adaptation to climate change

• C1. Assessment of national potential to implement ecosystems-based climate change adaptation measures (national level)
• C2. Pilot projects for demonstration of ecosystems- based climate adaptation measures.

Scope of work

The main objective of the consultancy is to conduct gender assessment and a gender action plan for the proposed AF project.

The National Gender Consultant (NGC), will work under the overall guidance of the Lead International Consultant and UNDP’s Environment, Climate Change and Energy Cluster Lead and under the leadership of International Environmental and Social Safeguards Consultant (IESSC). The NGC will provide technical support to the Full Proposal development and will ensure full compliance with UNDP’s and the Adaptation Fund’s standards.  

Therefore, the NGC is responsible for the expected outputs and deliverables, as outlined below:

1. To liaise with the relevant experts in Government, NGOs, Local Authorities, Private Sector, Development Partners to obtain critical input, including expert advice, information from relevant documents that can feed into the preparation of a gender assessment and action plan
2. To organize and collate information based on a series of consultations with stakeholders
3. To conduct desk research and synthesize key information from existing documents of relevance, given the scope of the intended project
4. To propose gender related project indicators and targets to be included in the logic framework of the proposal
5. To identify project entry points for gender mainstreaming and conduct comprehensive gender assessment and gender action plan in line with the UNDP guidance and AF requirements
6. To support with substantive inputs towards addressing comments from AF.

 All documentation related to the assignment will be in Romanian and English. This is a part-time consultancy. The timeframe for the work of consultant is planned for February 2020 – December 2020.

The NGC will work under the guidance of LIC, IESSC and UNDP Moldova Programme Specialist/Cluster Lead.

Payments will be disbursed in several instalments, upon submission and approval of deliverables, and certification by UNDP Moldova Programme Specialist/Cluster Lead that the services have been satisfactorily performed.

For detailed information, please refer to the Terms of Reference. 

Requirements for experience

Academic qualifications:

• Master’s degree in economics, social sciences, international development, with specific academic or professional background related to gender studies/mainstreaming.

Experience:

• Substantive experience conducting research and analysis in the area of gender equality and at least one other related theme, including climate change, natural resource management
• Demonstrated experience in gender mainstreaming for international donor financed projects
• Strong understanding of the links between climate change, water and gender issues
• Experience or strong familiarity with the work of UNDP and/or other multilateral, bilateral and civil society development partners
• Excellent analytical, writing, advocacy, presentation, and communications skills
• Demonstrated ability to work in an independent manner,
• Ability to work in diverse cultural context and sensitivity to local issues

Language skills:

• Fluency in English, Romanian and Russian orally and in writing.

Documents to be included

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. Proposal:

• Providing a brief information on each of the above qualifications, item by item
• A brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work

2. Financial proposal (in USD), specifying a fee per day and total requested amount including all related costs, e.g. fees, per diems, travel costs, phone calls etc.;

3. CV and at least 3 names for a reference check.

Important notice:

Incomplete applications not considered.

Financial proposal

Lump sum contracts 

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.

In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including all related costs e.g. fees, taxes, travel, phone calls etc.) and the number of anticipated working days. The consultant shall bare costs for all supplies needed for data collection and data processing including possession of his own personal computer. 

Travel

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. 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.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

 

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