Vacant at UNDP Indonesia (CONSULTANT: ENVIRONMENTAL LAW/POLICY ADVISER)

Location : Banda Aceh, INDONESIA
Application Deadline : 13-Jan-09
Type of Contract : SSA
Post Level : SSA
Languages Required :
English
Starting Date :
(date when the selected canditate is expected to start) 25-Jan-2009
Duration of Initial Contract : 3 months
Expected Duration of Assignment : 3 months


APPLY HERE

Background

UNDP Indonesia's mission is to be an agent for change in the human and social development of Indonesia. We aim to be a bridge between Indonesia and all donors as well as a trusted partner to all stakeholders. We work in four key areas of development: Governance Reforms, Pro-Poor Policy Reforms, Conflict Prevention and Recovery, and Environment Management, with the overarching aim of reducing poverty in Indonesia. Besides the four priority areas, UNDP Indonesia is also engaged in a variety of crosscutting initiatives focused on HIV/AIDS, gender equality, and information and technology for development.

The Badan Rehabilitasi dan Rekonstruksi (BRR) was established in May 2005 to oversee and undertake reconstruction in the regions affected by the tsunami and earthquake disasters in Aceh and Nias. The Phase II of the “Technical Assistance to BRR Project” continues to provide supplemental technical and operational capacity to BRR during the transition of responsibility from BRR to other actors, primarily local and central government including the UNDP supported Aceh Government Transformation Programme (AGTP).

Phase II C - Support for Implementing Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs)
The USD2.5million EIA sub-programme aims to assist BRR to implement environmental impact assessments (EIAs or AMDALs) for projects to be constructed in 2009. The sub-programme will directly support the consultancy costs to perform the studies and, via Letters or Agreement (LoA), the cost for their administration by the provincial governments’ environment departments (the BAPEDALDA) in Aceh and, potentially, North Sumatra (for Nias). The EIA consultants’ and BAPEDALDA’s work will be assisted, and monitored by an international Environmental Adviser (EA) and a team of Environmental Managers (EMs national) to be provided by the TA BRR project and assigned to work at provincial & district levels through the BRR COO’s and BAPEDALDA’s offices. Support, advice and training in EIA to BAPEDALDA are also to be provided by the national Ministry of Environment (KLH).

The Projects

As of June 2008, BRR & BAPEDALDA have identified a total of 23 projects (17 from BRR’s list for 2009 and 6 from projects identified by provincial BAPEDALDA) that may require EIA in 2008/9 divided into 7 geographical clusters (plus 1 individual project) across Aceh. The projects fall into the following sectors:

* Regional Infrastructure (14 projects); and
* Water resources (9 Projects).

The project proponents are the provincial or district governments concerned. BRR has advised that since all APBN (State Budget Revenue & Expenditures) BRR projects shall be completed by end 2008, some of these upcoming projects will be managed under IREP or ADB, whilst others will transition to/ or are from the provincial or local government budgets (APBD), where support post BRR will be provided by Aceh Government Transformation Programme (AGTP).

Implementing Arrangements
The sub-programme is to be implemented by UNDP in partnership with the BRR Environment Team and executed under Letter of Agreement (LoA) by BAPEDALDA NAD (and SU) with support/guidance/ training in cluster EIA from the Ministry of the Environment (KLH). The actual EIAs are to be tendered out on a cluster basis to independent environmental consultants under UNDP procurement procedures with representatives of BAPEDALDA/KLH on the evaluation
panel.

Duties and Responsibilities

The principal aim of the sub programme is to ensure that the EIAs are conducted in full compliance with the applicable regulations, principally, PreMenLH308/2005. A team of Environmental Advisers (EAs) is to be provided to assist BRR/ BAPEDALDA and financial/ technical support is to be given, through BAPEDALDA NAD, to:

* The Ministry of Environment (KLH) who will facilitate training/ capacity building in Cluster EIA to BAPEDALDA;
* BAPEDALDA North Sumatra; should the project list evolve to include projects in Nias;
* The AMDAL Commission;
* The Technical Team.

The mandate of UNDP includes the strengthening of existing governmental institutions to fulfil their role. Thus, the direct partner for the undertaking of EIAs is the BAPEDALDA. Funds will be allocated to them for scoping of projects, support to implementation, and overall project management. Given the nature and scale of the EIAs to be completed, and the limited capacity (technical and human resources) in BAPEDALDA, the funding for BAPEDALDA will support secondments as required from other provincial BAPEDALDA, and or, the national Ministry of Environment. The Ministry of Environment will also provide guidance and support for the overall implementation of the EIA, while the proponents and the local government (district BAPEDALDA) will provide monitoring and evaluation during the construction of the projects.

UNDP prepared tender documents for the EIAs will be drafted to contractually oblige the EIA consultants to interact with design consultants and provide outputs that can be directly incorporated in detailed design/ construction plans and as clauses that can be directly inserted in construction tender documents. Budgets to ensure implementation of Environmental Management Plans (EMPs or RKL/RPL) will also be provided by the EIA consultant to the design team. Furthermore, the EAs will provide an additional level (to those of the EIA consultant, BRR/local government and BAPEDALDA) of environmental monitoring at district level to ensure EIA requirements are implemented on the ground during construction.

Scope of work:

Under the management of the Environmental Management Adviser in Banda Aceh, the Environmental Law/Policy Adviser will:

* Review relevant project documentation, including that from the previous UNDP funded EIA Bridging Project 2005/6 and other related documents;
* Liaise with BAPEDALDA and BRR staff, and design consultants as needed to obtain required information to advise on the extent and nature of the EIA undertaking for each proposed project based the AMDAL legislation and the current state of progress for each project -- and to use this information to draft the EIA Terms of Reference for inclusion in the EIA RFP packages;
* Conduct i) an inventory of the necessary permits required by all the projects, ii) develop an implementation schedule to acquire these permits; and iii) assist in acquiring the permits.
* Assist KLH and BAPEDALDA in streamlining the EA process for the EIA RFP packages;
* Liaise regularly with EIA Consultants, Design Engineers and Project Proponents to ensure all fulfil their responsibilities with respect to your area of specialization from the preparation of the ToRs through to monitoring and evaluation phases;
* Conduct site visits to the locations of all proposed projects;
* Provide input to ensure that the proposed cluster approach to EIAs is applied correctly;
* Assist BAPEDALDA to ensure that the appropriate process is applied for scoping and adherence to AMDAL legislative requirements, and that robust ToRs are prepared for the projects by the BAPEDALDA Technical Team;
* Assist in preparing budget estimates for the EIAs for each project/cluster;
* Assist in developing Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and revising ToRs where required according to your area of specialization;
* Assist in overseeing the quality of the implementation of EIAs;
* Assist in the evaluation in the EIA documents (including Environmental Management and Monitoring Plans) and ensure mitigation measures take into account other regulatory and legislative requirements where applicable (e.g. Law No. 24/2007 on Disaster Mitigation);
* Assist in analysing results and review of final documents;
* Assist in monitoring and evaluating the cluster process regionally during both design and construction (including checking together with BRR/project proponents that the recommendations of the EIAs are incorporated into design/ tender documents and actual construction), for reporting back to BRR headquarters;
* Attend and update the Environmental Advisory Team at regular weekly meeting regarding your activities, developments in legislative requirements for each project and status of licensing acquisitions;
* Work closely with BAPEDALDA officials and other stakeholders on a daily basis; and
* Perform other tasks as required under the direction of the Environmental Management Adviser

Expected Results/Final Products/Deliverables:

* Area of specialization input in ToRs for EIA RFPs and EIA document review.
* Area of specialization input in EIA documents where required.
* Monthly reports, each month after the inception in a set format covering:

(1) Significant Achievements;

(2) Allocation of Consultant's Efforts;

(3) Challenges and Recommendations;

(4) Lessons Learnt;

(5) Environmental Management Adviser Comments;

(6) Report Approval (by Environmental Adviser); and

(7) Attachments. The attachments include: a log frame of the Environmental Law/Policy Adviser's assigned tasks, activities and output; a time sheet and, if the Environmental Law/Policy Adviser travels outside the duty station, a Return to Station report including any travel claims. This monthly report and its attachments must be submitted by the 5th day of the following month.

Competencies
The Adviser must have at least a minimum of 5 years specialized experience in environmental law and policy analysis, preferably with sectoral expertise in infrastructure, water resources and the AMDAL process in Indonesia.

Required Skills and Experience

* Minimum Master’s degree or equivalent in Environmental Law or related field.
* Minimum 5 years experience in relevant areas.
* Proven experience working within a dynamic international public organization.
* Demonstrated strong analytical and communication skills.
* Ability to work efficiently and independently under pressure, with strong delivery orientation.
* Ability to travel to difficult mission areas.
* Familiarity of UNDP system, rules and procedures is an advantage.
* Fluent in Bahasa Indonesia language, spoken and written with excellent report writing skills.
* Strong reading and reporting writing skills in the English language. Fluency in English would be an asset.

The Environmental Law/Policy Adviser is recruited on behalf of the CPRU/BRR and will be based at the BAPEDALDA office, Banda Aceh. The Specialist is not based at the UNDP Office.