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UNEP CONSULTANCY FOR PREPARING GUIDELINES TO REPORT BIODIVERSITY EXPENDITURES AND NEEDS BY COUNTRIES

CONSULTANCY FOR PREPARING 
GUIDELINES TO REPORT BIODIVERSITY EXPENDITURES AND NEEDS BY COUNTRIES 

Type of Contract: Individual Contract 

Duration: Four months 

Duty Station: Montreal 

Application Deadline: 08 January 2013 

Position: Consultant/Consulting Firm or Organization to prepare Guidelines for reporting biodiversity expenditure and needs 


BACKGROUND 

In decision XI/4, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention at its eleventh meeting, welcomed and decided to use the preliminary reporting framework and methodological and implementation guidance (UNEP/CBD/COP/11/14/Add.1) as a flexible and preliminary framework to report on and monitor the resources mobilized at a national and global level as part of monitoring, including the implementation of national biodiversity strategies and action plans, as appropriate (Decision X/3, Target 20). The decision also invited Parties to submit their information using this framework and the average of annual biodiversity funding for the years 2006-2010 as a preliminary baseline and report on their experiences, success and barriers encountered in reporting on and monitoring the resources mobilized for biodiversity for further review by the Executive Secretary (Decision XI/4, paragraphs 6, 23). The decision further requested the Executive Secretary to elaborate additional guidance for parties to apply the indicators adopted in decision X/3 for national and subnational application, and to undertake an assessment of the indicator framework based on Party experiences. 


The goal is to assist countries build and maintain national accounts of resource availability expenditures, needs and gaps on biodiversity and related matters to constitute a systematic, comprehensive, and consistent monitoring of resource flows. The report by countries is to help policy-makers, nongovernmental stakeholders, and managers to make better and transparent decisions in their efforts to achieve the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. 


In line with this request, the Secretariat is seeking the assistance of a Consultant/Consulting Firm or an organization to prepare the draft guidelines enabling countries to use the preliminary reporting framework to document expenditures on biodiversity as well as make an assessment of future needs and possible gaps. 


About the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 
The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, is one of the key agreements on a comprehensive strategy for sustainable development. The Convention has 193 Parties and three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits from the use of genetic resources. The overarching implementation framework is the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 adopted at the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 10) held in October 2010, in Nagoya, Japan. Further decisions and guidance are also provided at COP-11 meeting recently held in Hyderabad India in October 2012. Additional information on the Convention, COP decisions and documents can be found on the CBD website at: www.cbd.int. 


About the CBD Secretariat 
The CBD Secretariat, administered by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), is located in Montreal, Canada. Its main tasks are to arrange for and service meetings of the Conference of the Parties, including preparation of pertinent documentation, operation of the 
central node of the clearing-house mechanism, and liaison and coordination with other international bodies and processes for the effective implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity. 


RESPONSIBILITIES 
The consultant/consulting firm or organization will prepare a Guide reflecting developments in international standards and best practice experience gained from real-world efforts to mark relevant and useful biodiversity resource flows (domestic as well as international), expenditures, needs and gaps. The Guide including guidelines and directives should be designed for use by analysts who have to estimate the amounts and characteristics of available resources from domestic sources and international flows for biodiversity, spending on biodiversity and needs in their country, and for the senior environmental officials or planners and decision-makers. 

The goal of this Guide is to provide the conceptual and practical information needed to set up and implement a flexible reporting framework on biodiversity and related matters in a country in such a way that each country can readily adapt it to its circumstances and situation. For instance, it should provide clarity on what distinguishes flows to and expenditures on biodiversity from other forms of expenditures with a rigorous classification of the types and purposes of such expenditures. The guide should provide approaches to collecting, categorizing, and estimating all those flows of financial resources related to biodiversity and related expenditure regardless of 
the origin, destination, or object of the expenditure. However, the Guide should be designed in such a way that consistent and coherent information/data are collected and reported by the Parties of the Convention in order to allow various types of regional and global aggregation to have an overview of biodiversity funding situation. 

Under the supervision of the Principal Officer of the Implementation and Technical Support Division, the Consultant/Consulting Firm or Organization will be responsible for the following: 
1. Assess the way countries organize and present data about biodiversity and related issues to facilitate policy evaluation and formulation;
2. Identify how existing accounting systems can provide “hard” financial figures with “soft” estimates and extrapolations of hard-to-measure items; 
3. Identify best practices by countries in recording biodiversity related resource flows and expenditures covering the broad classification detailed in the preliminary reporting framework; 
4. Prepare detailed guidelines for countries to build biodiversity related accounts for the immediate purpose of providing reports to the CBD using the preliminary reporting framework that also allow countries to, at the same time, identify their success and barriers if they encounter any during the reporting; 
5. Test these guidelines in a select group of countries to ensure its relevance, applicability and usefulness in terms of national and international (CBD) policy evaluation and formulation; 
6. Present the draft guidelines to an international group of experts at a workshop envisaged in early March 2013; 
7. Revise the guidelines based on the comment and suggestions provided by the international experts and the CBD Secretariat; 
8. Design and layout the guidelines in a user friendly format for electronic and print versions; 
9. Submission of the final Guide for approval; 
10. Translate the final Guide into French and Spanish languages; 
11. Provide 1000 copies of the printed version in English with additional 500 copies in French and Spanish of the guidelines. 

Expected Deliverables 
1. Draft of the guidelines for discussion by international experts 
2. Final Guide guidelines in a user-friendly format and published in English (1000 copies), 
French (200 copies) and Spanish (300 copies) with electronic copies for web posting


QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES 
Education & Work Experience 
The consultant (s)-shall have a higher degree or extensive experiences in finance and environmental sciences, in particular issues related to biodiversity, or related subjects with a good understanding of knowledge management, data sources and dissemination of key information to enhance understanding for decision-making
Experiences in conducting similar work on building green accounting for environmental organizations or Convention on Biological Diversity or UN Offices is an asset. 


Core Competencies 
Proficiency in the English language (spoken and written); 
Good understanding of written and spoken French and/or Spanish; 
Excellent spoken and written communication skills, including the ability to explain technical information and prepare written documentation in a clear, concise style; 
Good organizational skills and ability to respect tight deadlines and to work with various experts; 
Ability to understand and respond to user needs, and organize information and layouts in a userfriendly way; 
Advanced research, analytical, interview and writing skills; 
Ability to work well in a multicultural team. 


Specific Competencies 
Understanding of the dimensions and challenges linking biodiversity and resource mobilisation; 
Understanding of biodiversity accounting by countries, information sources and key players; 
Strong networks with key experts and relevant organizations on accounting and biodiversity related programs; 
Familiarity with the overall mission and modus operandi of the CBD Secretariat, as well as the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the Aichi Biodiversity Goals and Targets; the CBD Strategy for Resource Mobilization and its financial mechanism; 
Good understanding of the needs of partners involved in this project; and countries that will be selected for testing the guidelines or for identifying good practices; 
Outstanding communication, networking and negotiation skills

TIMEFRAME 
Given the urgency and ongoing nature of the work, the Consultant/Consulting firm or the Organization must be available for a start by mid January 2013 at the latest in order to complete the draft guidelines by 28th February 2013 for comments by Secretariat. The revised draft will then be finalized after incorporating comments and feedback by international experts at a workshop that will be held in early March 2013 where the revised draft will be presented. 
A total timeframe of four months is envisaged for the delivery of the products specified above and detailed below in the table. The consultant/Consulting Firm or organization is expected to work from mid January 2013, right after the signature of the contract, to mid May 2013. 


MODALITIES AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENT 
Please provide quotation for your service. The consultant will be issued an Individual Contract and paid in accordance with United Nations rules and procedures. Do note that for the successful applicant, 50% would be made upon significant work progress while the balance would be upon successful completion and final delivery of the work. 


HOW TO APPLY 
Candidates are requested to submit brief proposals, including details of cost for undertaking the above listed activities, attaching a current Personal History Form (P11), CV or resume to their 
applications for all experts to be involved in this project. Applications should be sent to secretariat@cbd.int no later than 08 January 2013.


For complete information on this vacancy visit:
http://www.cbd.int/doc/vacancies/2012/SCBD/CONSULTANCIES/scbd-2012-Consultancy_TOR_GuidelinesOnReportingFramework2.PDF