Iraq: National Consultant for Project Development Specialist for Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services

Mar 7, 2021 | UNDP
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Iraq has a geographically diverse environment of high mountains, plains, valleys, desert lands, plateaus, water fountain, rivers, marshes and lakes. It possesses a unique nature as an economic resource of the country. In contrast, it faces great burdens, challenges and enormous future environmental problems. The war and its aftermath and the terrorist operations that Iraq has faced during the past period are a heavy legacy and challenges that have caused environmental problems, as well as the unsustainable use of natural resources, decline of green areas and the expansion of decertified land, insufficient capacity for waste management, water and air pollution and global warming impacts.

The biodiversity and ecosystems in Iraq have suffered, and still, from many problems caused by natural and human factors and wrong policies. Number of the most serious biodiversity losses occurrences have been evaluated for various regions or habitats; like: re-duction in freshwater resources, plant cover reduction, wildlife stocks reduction, loss of traditional agriculture and local races, loss of native endemic species and loss of cultural and heritage values. In order to halt the causes be-hind the biodiversity loss, an urgent need for the preparation of the NBSAP in Iraq has been raised.

On the other hand, natural disasters (e.g. floods, droughts, climate change, etc.) and man-made disasters have significant impacts on society, economy including infrastructure, public facilities and industries, and natural environments including biodiversity. Society and infrastructure usually receive the most immediate attention following a disaster, while impact on biodiversity and natural environment are usually given the lowest priority. National agenda for evaluating and documenting the impact of disasters on biodiversity, and the loss of important ecosystem features is critical, as ecosystems are crucial for food production, water supply and the regulation of climate, water, and nutrient.

Iraq is exposed to a range of disasters that affect the lives and livelihoods of at-risk people. The most important among them are floods and drought that cause severe losses to society and biodiversity. Urgent planning is needed for flood and drought preparedness, which shall address all aspects of society, economy and environment including natural habitats, national parks, and fences.

Under the project Mosul Dam Emergency Preparedness in Iraq, UNDP is helping the Government of Iraq on flood preparedness due to potential failure of the Mosul Dam.  Such a disaster can create tsunami like wave that could threaten lives of 4-6 million people including in Mosul city and downstream up to the capital Baghdad. In addition, it is expected to threaten seriously the flora and fauna along the Tigris flood path contributing to the severe loss of ecological habitats by large scale inundation of the downstream areas in Ninawa, Salah Elden, Baghdad, Diyala governorates.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of EECC head of Pillar and in coordination of Environment Sub pillar team, the national Consultant will assume to full support the international consultant who are unable to be in Baghdad for security reasons in order to develop  Project Concept Notes and prepare Project Document with any technical and logistics need (like translation). The national consultant will need to work in close cooperation and liaison with the technical specialist and stakeholders in Government of Iraq (GOI). 

 Specifically, he/she will carry out the following tasks:

• Review reports and materials including relevant legal analysis reports, legal framework & national policy to capture previous experience and baseline related to biodiversity conservation and relevant ongoing/planned activities.
• Identify barriers related to Biodiversity and ecosystem in the flood affected governorates by Mosul dam failure, KBA in Iraq and others;
• Provide detailed information on on-going and future related programmes, projects and activities, which include but may not be limited to the information of project owners, donors, scopes and expected results and impacts, etc.
• Support the development of situation analysis of biodiversity and flood disaster impact in the affected governorates, identify the linkages between, that can help the international consultant in forming initial project concept.
• Based on the baseline, suggest relevant interventions (i.e. activities) by the project in terms of policy, capacity building, awareness raising, training, technology transfer and pilot, etc. & suggest the change/revision of project goal, objective, components; Support the formulation of the PIF following the supplied template with the components as project framework showing the project components, expected outcomes, expected outputs and financing arrangements, Indicative financing plan summary for the project by source if available, project justification by stating the issue, how the project seeks to solve it, and the expected benefits to be delivered, alignment of the project with national priorities plans and GEF eligibility criteria including incrementality, technical feasibility, mobilization of co-financing, etc. indicating the coordination with other related initiatives, stakeholder analysis and gender consideration, indicating additional cost reasoning, indicating risks that might prevent the project from being achieved and outlining risk mitigation measures and proposed approach for knowledge management, indicating the cost- effectiveness of the project, justifying the comparative advantage of UNDP to undertake the project.
• Proactively liaise with and technical specialists from MoHEnv and other key stakeholders to collect available data, published literatures, technical reports and Government reports related to Biodiversity and ecosystem in the flood affected governorates by Mosul dam failure, KBA in Iraq and others.
• Coordinate with the stakeholders to get their views and feedback on the Initial Project concept and assist the international consultant in development of final CN.
• Support the development of project proposals and liaise with UNDP staff to ensure all the requirements needed for writing the project document based on UNDP template.
• Support the presentation of project proposals to the national stakeholders and get their feedback.
• Support the international consultant in facilitating capacity building workshop on the linkages between disasters and biodiversity with the engagement of relevant Ministries , academia and NGOs, one of the workshop outcomes is selecting project idea that addresses disasters impact on  Biodiversity that can attract a donor, and assist in the development of new project outlines on  Biodiversity and natural ecosystem degradation impacted by Disasters

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates commitment to the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the mission, vision and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly and with impartiality.

Functional Competencies:

• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Ability to work under pressure and to meet deadlines;
• Demonstrates excellent oral and written communication skills;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
• Self-reliant and able to work as a part of a multi-cultural team in a stressful.

Professionalism:

• Shows pride in work and in achievements; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments; observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; Shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; Remains calm in stressful situations.

Communication:

• Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; Listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; Asks questions to clarify and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; Tailors language, tone, style and format to match the audience; Demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.

Planning and Organizing:

• Identifies priority activities and assignments; allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; Uses time efficiently.

Client Orientation:

• Considers all those to whom services are provided to be “clients” and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view; Establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; Meets time line for delivery of product or services to client.

Teamwork:

• Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; Builds consensus for task purpose and direction with team members; Supports and acts in accordance with final group decisions, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position.

Technological awareness:

• Keeps abreast of available technology; actively seeks to apply technology to appropriate tasks; Shows willingness to learn new technology.

Required Skills and Experience

• MSc in Development, Master’s degree, in environmental management/sciences, conservation biology/ecology, natural resource management, or another related field. PhD is preferable. (20 points)
• relevant technical experience in thematic areas on Biodiversity and natural ecosystem with publishing related academic publications (20 points)
• practical experience in working with Environmental institutions and academia in Iraq and UN agencies;(15points)
• Strong coordination skills on national and international levels. (10 points)
• Practical experience on biodiversity surveys in the selected provinces. (15 points)
• Good skills in reporting and translation. (10 points)
• Fluency in English, both writing and speaking (10points)

The application should contain below mandatory documents:

• The technical proposal should also contain personal CV (Mandatory) , indicating education background/professional qualifications, all experience, furthermore, providing duly filled the form of  Letter of Confirming Interest and Availability (Mandatory) whereby includes financial Proposal (Mandatory) that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per deliverables mentioned in this TOR, in addition to  the contact details (email and telephone number) of the candidate and at least three (3) professional references.