Job: LEAD HYDROMET STATIONS INVENTORY ASSESSOR

Location: Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA
Deadline: Tuesday, 10 September 2013 

Description

LEAD HYDROMET STATIONS INVENTORY ASSESSOR

Location : Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA

Application Deadline : 10-Sep-13

Type of Contract : Individual Contract

Post Level : International Consultant

Languages Required : English

Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start) 15-Sep-2013

Duration of Initial Contract : 30 days between 15 September 2013 to 20 October 2013

Background

Climate change induced events such as floods, cyclones/typhoons and droughts have significantly impacted the region and caused the death of millions of people, infrastructure damage, direct economic losses and health impacts. The damage that was caused by Typhoon Ketsana in 2009 resulted in a loss of US$ 130 m in Cambodia . The flood in 2011 affected 683,498 ha of agricultural land, causing estimated US$ 451 m damage and US$ 174 m in losses thus affecting the Cambodian economy more susceptible to floods and drought. Therefore, it is important to factor in required response measures and cost considerations in long-term planning, and sector decision making processes. The expectation is that if such events are monitored and predicted early, anticipated impacts could be minimized (or opportunities maximised) significantly.

Realising these needs, the Government of Cambodia, together with the support of UNDP is designing an initiative to strengthen the Early Warning and Climate Information Systems in the country. The initiative, to be financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) managed Least Developed Country Fund (LDCF) seeks to, among other things, improve national and sub-national capacities to generate and use climate information in planning processes and management of climate-induced hazards. This is expected to be achieved through a combination of the transfer of appropriate technology(ies), strengthening infrastructure and functional, technical and operational capacities. The latter is to cover monitoring extreme weather and climate, forecasting and customising climate information as needed for national planning processes and production of alerts of climate-induced risks, such as flooding. Key stakeholders the initiative will target include the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology (MoWRAM), Department of Meteorology (DOM) and the Department of Hydrology and River Works (DHRW) in Cambodia.

The project aims to achieve the following outcomes:

• Improved capacity to monitor extreme weather and climate change;
• Increased institutional capacity to maintain EWS related infrastructure;
• Increased national capacity to assimilate and forecast climate and environmental information;
• Customised climate and weather information for national planning and other purposes;
• Increased communication between countries in the context of trans- boundary issues.

The LDCF Council has recently approved a concept for the initiative (the Project Identification Form (PIF)), and UNDP is now commencing a detailed design phase, expected to last no longer than 12 months. At the end of the design phase, UNDP will finalize a UNDP-GEF/LDCF compliant full-sized project document for final approval by the GEF CEO.

During the project design phase, the activities performed will include, among others: assessment of barriers to the proposed solutions identified in the concept; analyses of national and sub-national situation with respect to EWS and climate information requirements for national and sectoral planning; technical assessments including reassessment of baseline (Business-As-Usual) scenario and projects of relevance to the proposed project; detailed design of project components including outputs and related activities; coordination with other on-going and planned initiatives in Cambodia financed from alternative sources of funds of relevance as well as establishing appropriate coordination mechanisms for the implementation phase of the proposed project; definition of project management arrangements; update the Logical Framework Analysis (LFA) with details based on findings during the preparatory phase, and extensive input by key stakeholders in Cambodia; risk analysis; and preparation of project's budget and workplan. At the end of these activities, a UNDP-GEF/LDCF compliant project document and GEF-CEO endorsement request document will be prepared.

During this preparatory phase, two consultants have been recruited, one will be Project Development Coordinator and the other is Project Development Specialist, to produce the results under each activity as per the work plan. The preparatory phase is being led by UNDP in close collaboration with the MoWRAM's DOM and DHRW, relevant National Committees and Technical Working Groups (TWGs) and other key stakeholders identified in the approved PIF. The project inception workshop to kick off the preparatory work was held on 13 August 2013 with participations from relevant government officials, representatives from development partners and civil society organisations. Parallel bilateral consultations with key stakeholders were also made during August 2013. Following these consultations, a need to take stock of and conduct a rapid assessment of the existing hydrology and hydromet stations in Cambodia has been clearly identified in order to ensure value-added project interventions to strengthen such infrastructure in the country.

In this regard, UNDP is seeking to recruit a qualified Lead Hydromet Stations Inventory Assessor to undertake such assessment.

Duties and Responsibilities

The key deliverable of the consultant will be a comprehensive assessment report of the existing meteorology, hydrology and Hydromet stations in Cambodia. In order to deliver this output, the consultant will be required to perform the following tasks, in collaboration with the National Project Development Coordinator:

• Visit the sites of 24 meteorology, 131 hydrological stations, other existing Hydromet stations across Cambodia and assess their working condition;
• In cases where repairs are needed, provide cost estimates and make recommendations;
• In cases where station upgrades are requested by government, or deemed necessary in assessors professional opinions, provide cost estimates and make recommendations, taking into account the needs for equipment standardization to improve and expedite Hydromet data collection;
• In cases where new installations are required, provide cost estimates and make recommendations, taking into account national priorities and needs for equipment standardization to improve and expedite Hydromet data collection;
• In cases where greater care in maintenance is needed, provide cost estimates and make recommendations;

A template form will be provided to facilitate and standardize this work.

Deliverables/ Outputs:

• Draft inventory forms of all the existing stations in Cambodia;
• Final inventory forms and summary assessment report of all the existing stations in Cambodia.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent English written communication skills, with analytic capacity and ability to synthesize project outputs and relevant findings for the preparation of quality project reports

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.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Bachelor's degree, (Master's degree preferable) in a relevant area such as engineering, climatology/meteorology, water resources management, environmental sciences, or disaster management.

Experience:

• A minimum of 3 years relevant experience in conducting similar assessments;
• Experience in conducting cost effectiveness analyses of alternative adaptation actions;
• Experience in institutional capacity assessments.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English.

Important note:

Interested offeror is strongly advised to read the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice, wich can be viewed at http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=19956 for more detail about term of references, instructions to offeror, and documents to be included when submitting offer.

Documents to be included when submitting the application:

Interested offeror/individual must submit the following documents/information:

• Cover letter: Explaining why the candidate the most suitable for the work;
• Offeror's letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the Individual Contractor (IC) assignment and Final all-inclusive price proposal with breakdown of costs as per UNDP template, which can be downloaded at http://www.un.org.kh/undp/media/files/procurement/IC/Form%20and%20Template/Annex%202_Template%20for%20Confirmation%20of%20Interest%20and%20Submission%20of%20Financial%20Proposal.docx;
• UNDP Personal History Form (P11), which can be downloaded at http://www.un.org.kh/undp/media/files/procurement/IC/Form%20and%20Template/Annex%203_P11%20modified%20for%20SCs%20and%20ICs.doc;

Please note that UNDP Online Recruitment System allow only one uploading, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file.

Any request for clarification/additional information on this procurement notice shall be communicated in writing to UNDP office or send to email vannara.chea@undp.org or procurement.kh@undp.org. While the Procurement Unit would endeavor to provide information expeditiously, only requests receiving at least 5 working days prior to the submission deadline will be entertained. Any delay in providing such information will not be considered as a reason for extending the submission deadline.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

More Info and Application