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International Development Jobs and Consulting Opportunities |
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The role of MRC
is to promote and coordinate sustainable management and development of water and
related resources for the countries’ mutual benefit and the people’s well-being
MRC Secretariat
is now recruiting highly qualified consultants for the following consultancies
International Consultant to
support the Preparation of the Basin Action Plan
The job
description and other information can be obtained at MRC website
http://www.mrcmekong.org. Women
are encouraged to apply. Only short-listed candidates will be notified.
Application
procedures:
The application
should include (i)
a cover letter
outlining
clearly
how the
candidate meets the requirements of the position,
(ii) a
detailed CV, and (iii) MRC Personal History Form.
The position title and division/section must be indicated in the cover letter.
The
application should be sent to:
Mekong River Commission Secretariat
Closing date for applications: 22 July 2011
*****************************************************************************************************************
TERM OF REFERENCE
1.
Project Title:
Basin Development Plan Programme.
2.
Title
of Consultancy:
Consultant to support the preparation of the Basin Action Plan.
3.
Duty
station:
MRCS.
4.
Duration:
Maximum 80 working days in the period June 2011-February 2012.
5.
Background and Objective
In January 2011 the
MRC Council approved the IWRM-based Basin Development Strategy. The Strategy
provides initial directions for cooperative and sustainable LMB water
development and management, recognizing data and knowledge limitations and the
imperative for both development action and management care. The Strategy removes
some longstanding barriers to realizing opportunities for sustainable
development of the Mekong River. At the heart of the Strategy are the move
beyond cooperation primarily on knowledge acquisition towards cooperation on
water development and management, and the move beyond national, sectoral
planning towards comprehensive basin planning.
The Strategy
defines a clear Roadmap setting out priority actions, timeframes and outcomes of
Strategy implementation. An early action in the Roadmap is the preparation in
2011 of a Basin Action Plan. The Basin Action Plan will comprise a Regional
Action Plan (principally governing the activities of the MRC Programmes over
2011-2015 and to be ultimately approved by MRC Joint Committee) and four
National Indicative Plans (to demonstrate how each country will respond to the
IWRM-based Basin Development Strategy through a variety of nationally selected
actions).
Since the approval of the Strategy, the BDP2 has supported
the preparation of the Basic Action Plan through:
·
Identification of
the 64 Strategic Actions that are required to address the 15 Strategic
Priorities and the monitoring system;
·
Preliminary
indication of regional and national responsibilities for taking up Strategic
Actions, including their linkage with MRC Programmes;
·
Alignment of the
Strategy with the MRC Strategic Plan 2011-2015 implementation annex.
·
The preparation of
principles, guidelines and examples in support of the preparation of the Basin
Action Plan.
·
An agreed work plan
for the preparation of the Basin Action Plan in parallel with the BDP 2011-2015
inception phase.
All five plans will
be prepared in parallel during the remainder of 2011. They will be summarized in
a coherent and consistent overall Basin Action Plan. The Basin Action Plan will
comprehensively address the Strategic Priorities within the IWRM-based Basin
Development Strategy; 2) lead to a strengthened framework for basin planning and
management; and 3) lay the foundation to a strengthened and broader based
approach to the assessment of scenarios and the updating of the Basin
Development Strategy in 2014/2015. The Basin Action Plan will also highlight
areas where additional funding support is most needed.
The action planning at the regional and national level will
result in defined sets of projects, programmes and activities. Non-structural
and enabling activities could be uploaded to the Project Portfolio. Water
infrastructure projects will be recorded in the Project Master Database. Those
passed through the PNPCA process could be uploaded to the Project Portfolio.
Such a process will facilitate both integrated national planning as well as
support regional overview of developments within the basin and associated water
uses. It may also lead to project proposals being notified under the PNPCA much
earlier in the process. The Project Portfolio would be used for the monitoring
the implementation of the Basin Development Strategy and the promotion of
unfunded regional and national non-structural and enabling activities.
The preparation of both the Regional Action Plan and the four
National Indicative Plans will require technical and advisory support by
National Advisors and a support team of specialists or consultants. The National
Advisors have been selected. They will support the NMCs in the preparation of
the National Indicative Plans in consultation with the responsible national
agencies, and to ensure that any new activities, projects and programmes are
aligned, to the extent possible, with the national sector planning and
management cycles.
The main objective of this advisory support
is to support the BDP team in the preparation of the Regional
Action Plan that is compatible with the four National Indicative Plans, and the
Basin Action Plan that provides a coherent and consistent overview of the
Regional Action Plan and the four Indicative National Plans.
6.
Outputs
The outputs of this assignment are: 1) Regional Action Plan
and 2) the Basin Action Plan.
In addition, after each mission, the consultant will produce
a short trip report summarizing purpose of the trip, technical activities,
places visited, individuals contacted, accomplishments, key issues, and
follow-on activities.
7.
Responsibilities and Tasks
The consultant will conduct the following tasks:
ü
Review relevant documents related to: 1) the MRC IWRM-Basin Development
Strategy, MRC Strategic Plan 2011-2015, and their underpinning documents and 2)
selected documents related to national planning and regulatory systems.
ü
Undertake detailed reviews of MRC Programme Documents and plans, and identify
synergies and gaps in relation to the Basin Development Strategy and the MRC
Strategic Plan.
ü
Discuss the results with MRC Programmes and the MRC Technical Coordination Unit
(TCU) and the International Cooperation and Communication Section (ICCS), with a
view to reaching a common understanding on the options to progressively align
MRC Programmes to the main MRC strategic priorities.
ü
Prepare a draft Regional Action Plan with emphasis on
the major strategic issues in the Mekong Basin that: 1) demonstrates how the
regional components of the IWRM-based Basin Development Strategy will be
implemented over the period 2011-2015, by whom and with what key milestone
dates; 2) demonstrates how the Regional Action Plan will add value to the MRC
Programme work plans through an integrated approach directed at addressing key
transboundary issues; 3) demonstrates how through this process a much improved
knowledge base will be created to underpin the next cycle of basin planning and
update of the Basin Development Strategy in 2015; and 4) highlight where
important components of the Regional Action Plan are not yet funded and/or where
unresolved conflicts in activity timing remain.
ü
Review the emerging
National Indicative Plans[1],
make recommendations on potential synergies between all Plans, interact with the
national Advisors, and facilitate coordination between National Indicative
Planning and Regional Action Planning.
ü
Support workshops to discuss the draft Regional Action Plan and its
compatibility with National Indicative Plan components
with MRC Programmes, NMCs, Line Agencies, RBCs and other stakeholders. The main
aim is to solicit comments and suggestions and for the countries to consider the
implications of the draft Regional Action Plan upon their own emerging National
Indicative Plans in order to flag up any overall potential gaps in addressing
all Strategic Priorities within the 5-year timeframe, as well as any conflicts
between the Regional and National Plans.
ü
Prepare the draft final Regional Action Plan, based on the feedback gained from
discussions above, with clear allocation of responsibilities to each MRC
Programme.
ü
Oversee and review
the preparation (by others) of the proposed “activity description sheets” for
each activity in the Regional Action Plan, outlining the key
design, implementation and M&E information.
ü
Integrate the Regional Action Plan and the four National Indicative Plans in a
Basin Action Plan that provides a coherent and consistent response to the
development opportunities and Strategic Priorities in the IWRM-based Basin
Development Strategy.
ü
Design a simple and practical M&E system for the Basin Action Plan to measure
implementation progress against the milestones established for each activity (on
the activity description sheets) and to assess the achievement of outcomes
against the measurable and/or independently verifiable “indicators of success”
(also established in the activity description sheets).
8.
Itinerary
The services will require three missions to the MRCS in
Vientiane with a duration of approximately 4 weeks in the periods July/August
2011, October /November 2011and January/February 2012. Short trips to the other
MRC Member Countries are envisioned during one or two missions.
9.
Working Principles / Reporting line
The consultant will work under the managerial direction of
the BDP Coordinator and the technical direction of the BDP CTA.
10.
Qualifications / Requirement:
·
Master degree in
water and land related resources planning and management.
·
More than 15 years
of professional experience in supporting the preparation and implementation of
water and land related policies, strategies and plans in international river
basins in a developed and developmental context.
·
Sound knowledge of
the Mekong River Basin and the MRC.
·
Good knowledge of
the latest thinking on IWRM and its application at the sub-basin, national and
basin levels.
·
Good conceptual and
strategic thinking skills.
·
Excellent
communication and writing skills (in English).
11.
Condition of payment
The payment will be primarily based upon completion of draft
and final outputs.
[1]
The National Indicative Planning will focus on changes in: (i) institutional
and regulatory procedures (arising from the review of current national
policies, rules and procedures and their inter-face with MRC aims and
procedures); (ii) sector and/or sub-regional planning to leverage the
development opportunities opened up within the IWRM-based Basin Development
Strategy; and (iii) knowledge management and related capacity building
including but not limited to strengthening of the basin-wide monitoring
systems and the like. Project and activity description sheets will be made
for each identified projects and activities.
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International Consultant to support the Preparation of the Basin Action Plan
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