1. Background
The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is the operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners' peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Mandated as a central resource of the United Nations, UNOPS provides sustainable project management, procurement and infrastructure services to a wide range of governments, donors and United Nations organizations. With over 8,000 personnel spread across 80 countries, UNOPS offers its partners the logistical, technical and management knowledge they need, where they need it. By implementing around 1,000 projects for our partners at any given time, UNOPS makes significant contributions to results on the ground, often in the most challenging environments.
UNOPS Zimbabwe falls under the purview of the UNOPS KEMC (Kenya Multi Country Office) located in Nairobi, Kenya, the Kenya Multi Country Office manages a growing portfolio of engagements, including associated strategic and operational risks. This includes a large portfolio of Infrastructure, procurement and project management service projects in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and several Island states.
2. Zimbabwe Idai Recovery Project (ZIRP)
Following devastation caused to life, livelihoods and property by tropical storm Idai in March 2019, the World Bank has allocated up to US$75 million to finance a 3 Year Zimbabwe Idai Recovery Project (ZIRP). UNOPS is managing the WB funds for ZIRP and has established a Project Implementation Unit (PIU). The PIU has been established as a facility to support the World Bank fund only. As the Fund Manager/PIU UNOPS is responsible for multiple functions vis-a-vis the ZIRP including the design of an early recovery/emergency response facility, fiduciary management, legal and technical oversight results management, reporting, quality assurance and communications.
Through collaborative multi-agency efforts between UNOPS and World Food Programme (WFP), Food Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and International Organization for Immigration (IOM); ZIRP addresses both early and mid-term recovery needs in multiple sectors (food security and livelihoods, health, WASH, education, and community infrastructure rehabilitation). ZIRP brings together three project components in a complementary effort in programming and engagement using a multi-sectoral approach, which utilizes an integrated and holistic strategy by combining interventions across sectors, requiring active coordination and planning across organizations and components. Activities undertaken through these partnerships are built on World Bank’s, UNOPS and TAs (WFP, FAO, WHO, UNICEF, UNOPS-CI, UNFPA and IOM) expertise and continued learning in the sectors of food security and livelihoods, health, education, community infrastructure and migration.
Project Components
Component 1: Providing Immediate Support for Cyclone Recovery: This component provides immediate and integrated livelihoods and healthcare solutions to cyclone-affected people, including sub components such as:
(a) Restoring livelihoods through conditional cash transfers to provide food assistance and through unconditional cash transfers for most vulnerable groups;
(b) Restoring agricultural crop and livestock production, including distribution of agricultural inputs for small farmer households, and the re-stocking and treatment of livestock and poultry, and;
(c) Accelerating the revitalization of basic health services, including the provision of a basic package of health services and referral pathways related to Gender-Based Violence (GBV)/Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA), and child protection measures. All activities under this component specifically target women and female-headed households.
Component 2: Enabling Medium-term Cyclone Recovery and Resilience-building: This component supports the rehabilitation of critical community infrastructure, such as water and sanitation systems, irrigation networks, community schools, and community roads, as well as community level structural risk reduction and mitigation efforts, such as slope protection and environmental rehabilitation.
Component 3: Providing Project Management and Technical Assistance: This component provides UNOPS Project Management support, for overall coordination and oversight functions and for centralized project services, across all components, such as monitoring and evaluation (M&E), managing and monitoring environmental and social performance, technical quality assurance, grievance redressal, GBV/SEA and referral and protection systems, and for engaging Independent Verification Agents (IVA) for beneficiary verification, technical quality assurances, project results validation; and Technical Assistance (TA) for a range of activities to be progressively determined on a needs basis, to facilitate strengthened implementation. These include, but are not necessarily restricted to: (a) social assessment; (b) supporting community risk assessments, monitoring and preparedness planning; (c) supporting community infrastructure damage assessments; (d) setting up the ZIRP Management information system (MIS); (e) developing health information and epidemic surveillance systems; (f) strengthening project strategic communications, media relations and citizen engagement; (g) building the capacity of the Project’s environmental and social staff.
Over the three years of the project, by working in partnership with TAs, UNOPS Zimbabwe will provide recovery support to 270,000 people affected by the cyclone, based on vulnerability mapping of geographical areas and families and prioritization of investments through community participation. Drawing on the consultative group, ZIRP integrates activities across UN and external partners, assuring coordinated and complementary investments, including the use of a central targeting mechanism.
3. Background Information - Job-specific
As part of the Project Agreement, UNOPS PIU is expected on a bi-annual basis to assess ZIRP project implementation and results through an Independent Verification Agent and report back to the World Bank. The overall objective of the Verification Assessment is to provide review of project implementation and ongoing independent verification of all project results. This includes assessing compliance on all implementation levels to the procedures set out in the Project Operations Manual (POM), Project Appraisal Document (PAD), Project Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF), Environmental and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP) and the relevant project systems and plans as described in the Financing Agreement and the environmental and social requirements, including Environmental and Social Laws, Environmental and Social Authorizations, and the World Bank Environmental and Social Standards. The IVA also provides verification of the citizens engagement process under the project; and the validation of project results and the deeper impact evaluations of each project component.
The IVA serves as a management tool to provide UNOPS with timely third-party information on weaknesses in implementation that require corrective actions to keep the Project on track.
The IVA process includes the following:-
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Document evidence of performance against project Results Framework, PAD, Project E&S Requirements and the ESCP, progress in implementing the ESCP, and implementation of the Project ESMS/ESMF and site-specific management plans. This shall be done through a combination of meetings and interviews, document / record reviews.
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Conduct interviews/focus group discussions with the PIU, project field staff, Technical Agencies, contractors, project beneficiaries and other project stakeholders to gather information about specific project implementation and E&S management practices; and verification of project results.
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Review project monthly progress reports, semi-annual progress reports, annual progress reports and beneficiary list/database, and Environmental and Social Screenings checklists and ESMPs documents / records;
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Hold engagement sessions with targeted communities and beneficiaries to gather information on interactions with the Project, grievance resolution etc. Such sessions shall be coordinated by the PIU and Technical Agencies.
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Provide a report that captures progress and lessons learnt (which include implementation of ESMS, ESMF, LMP, GBV action plan and subsequent management plans, e.g., site specific ESMPs, and compliance with Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) and Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM).
Written findings shall be specific and concise to enable development of appropriate mitigation measures and corrective actions. Once all of the findings have been drafted, they shall be prioritized by the IVA Consultant with support of the Health, Safety, Social and Environmental (HSSE) Associate - Analysis and Reporting in terms of compliance with Project PAD, POM, ESMF and E&S Requirements and progress toward ESCP completion.
The scope of work of the IVA includes, desk-based data and documentation review, and field verification of achievements documented under ZIRP to determine compliance with the World Bank standards and Environmental and Social Safeguards and Stakeholder Engagement.
Due to the COVID-19 context, the first and second IVA assignments were conducted remotely and concluded in May-August 2020. To facilitate efficiency in the IVA process including physical verification of the project processes and results in the ground, UNOPS Zimbabwe is currently seeking a HSSE Associate with an Environmental and Social background; to support the IVA consultant in the implementation of the remaining 4 IVA assignments and any Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) requirements of the PIU as may be needed from time to time. The HSSE Associate will support the IVA Consultant in data collection and physical verification of project processes and results with main focus on the Environmental and Social Safeguards.