Closing date: Thursday, 30 April 2015
TECHNICAL RESEARCH CONSULTANT FOR UNDP'S 'KEROSENE TRANSITION' INITIATIVE
Location : Istanbul, TURKEY
Application Deadline : 30-Apr-15
Type of Contract : Individual Contract
Post Level : International Consultant
Languages Required : English
Duration of Initial Contract : Estimated May 2015 - February 2016
Expected Duration of Assignment : Approximately 180 working days
Background
Households in developing countries use kerosene widely for lighting and to a lesser degree for cooking. It is estimated that globally between 250 million and 500 million households rely on fuel based lamps which are predominantly powered with kerosene. Due to their significant contribution to the creation of black carbon, poor illumination and efficiency, high costs, and safety concerns, kerosene powered lamps and cook-stoves have far-reaching negative development impacts on their users. In particular, kerosene powered lamps and cook stoves obstruct the human and socio-economic development, cause negative health impacts, contribute to environmental pollution and negatively affect the overall wellbeing of people. For instance, fragile kerosene bottles represent a severe health and safety risk, and, due to their poor efficiency, kerosene-based lamps provide insufficient illumination after daylight for school-going children.
Since there are wide reaching development impacts that are possible when kerosene is eliminated, several policy makers and development actors are tackling aspects of accelerating a transition away from kerosene from different perspectives such as human development, environment, market, consumer or pure economics. However, there is only limited integration of these perspectives in a deliberate and evidence based manner. For this reason, UNDP is proposing a multi-partner advocacy campaign called the Kerosene Transition Initiative which aims for developing, advocating and implementing an integrated programme of accelerating the transition away from kerosene use for lighting and cooking. UNDP's global positioning as well as its strong country presence, enables it to effectively plan and implement the initiative at both the global and national levels. Thus, this initiative will consist of two components mutually reinforcing towards the goal of transitioning policy, markets and consumers away from kerosene to cleaner energy options. A global campaign will present the 'kerosene transition' (KT) opportunity from an integrated perspective, raising awareness and understanding of the negative impacts to human development, health, environment and economic growth and thus position the elimination of kerosene as a global priority. The second component will consist of country-level 'KT' programmes, specifically aimed at joint policy and market development interventions that would accelerate a transition away from kerosene to cleaner and more cost effective energy solutions for both lighting and cooking.
The Consultant will be responsible for supporting the initiative through conducting technical research, such as technical (country-based) baseline assessments on kerosene usage, subsidy levels, energy access situations etc. He/she will also support the preparation of an advocacy plan including the preparation of project proposals for partnership consultation and resource mobilization.
Duties and Responsibilities
The Consultant will be part of the UNDP's Global Energy Policy Team which is based in Istanbul Regional Hub (IRH). The Consultant's responsibilities include the following
Output 1: Detailed work plan with all activities of the assignment
Task 1: In close collaboration with the team and the supervisor, the consultant will develop a detailed work plan outlining in detail all activities and tasks to be completed during the assignment.
Ouput 2: Conduct technical research and situation analysis on kerosene usage and its development and environmental impacts
Task 1: The Consultant will be responsible for conducting technical research on kerosene in several regions and country settings. Specific tasks will involve, inter alia, the following:
Task 2: Based on the research above, the Consultant will be responsible for developing profound situation analyses in, at least, two regions and 6 country settings on the usage of kerosene including suggestions for entry points of future programmatic actions. Specific tasks will involve, inter alia, the following:
Output 3: Develop an advocacy plan and appropriate project proposals for partnership consultation and assisting the dissemination and advocacy of UNDP's EnergyPlus Guidelines
Task 1: The consultant will be responsible for developing an advocacy plan and project proposals addressed to key partner(s) of the KT initiative. Among others, the advocacy plan and project proposals should incorporate policy reforms and market development components for replacing products as well as livelihood assessments of displaced workers along the kerosene supply chain. Both sets of documents should form the institutional basis upon which UNDP formally and publically will take on the kerosene transition issue programmatically including the platform through which it steps forward to lead the initiative. Specific tasks will involve, inter alia, the following:
Task 2: Assist in the dissemination and advocacy of UNDP's EnergyPlus Guidelines. Specific tasks will involve, inter alia, the following:
Output 4: Support the development of resource mobilization and identify potential funding partners for the initiative
Task 1: The consultant will be responsible for supporting the Global Energy Policy Team including the core team which is involved in setting up UNDP's KT initiative in identifying and mobilizing funding partners. Specific task will involve, inter alia, the following:
Travel
Mission travel, if required, will be covered separately.
5-days missions to New Delhi, Jakarta, Abuja and Dakar are planned. Details and exact mission dates will be determined later.
Competencies
Required Skills and Experience
Academic Qualifications/Education:
Experience:
Language skills:
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:
Only the highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.
Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation - max. 70 points:
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:
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: 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.
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.
Application Information: http://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=55626