“UNOPS plays a critical role in providing management services for our life...
“UNOPS plays a critical role in providing management services for our life-saving, peacebuilding, humanitarian and development operations. I have seen many examples of how these activities help suffering people in troubled parts of the world.”
-Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General
UNOPS mission is to expand the capacity of the UN system and its partners to implement peacebuilding, humanitarian and development operations that matter for people in need.
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International Waters Cluster
The UNOPS International Waters Cluster specializes...
International Waters Cluster
The UNOPS International Waters Cluster specializes in executing projects to prevent and reverse the degradation of transboundary water systems, including multi-country rivers and large marine ecosystems such as oceans, lake basins and shared groundwater resources. The cluster is executing over 30 projects for its partners, helping countries to work together and share knowledge to reduce ecological stress, such as that caused by overfishing and industrial pollution.
General Background
The project’s objective is to spearhead integrat...
General Background
The project’s objective is to spearhead integrated natural resource management of Baikal Lake Basin and Hövsgöl Lake ensuring ecosystem resilience, reduced water quality threats in the context of sustainable economic development. The project has three primary components: elaborating a strategic policy and planning framework; strengthening institutional capacity for IWRM; and demonstrating water quality and biodiversity mainstreaming practice, including groundwater monitoring and protection.
This project builds upon a solid, decades-old baseline of bilateral cooperation between Russia and Mongolia on the transboundary waters of the Selenga River and by extension the Baikal Basin itself. To date, international support for environmental conservation and management in the Baikal Basin has not been transboundary in orientation; little support has been provided the two countries in strengthening their transboundary cooperation to manage sustainably the globally significant environmental benefits represented by the incomparable Lake Baikal and its transboundary Basin, at the top of which lies Mongolia’s aquatic jewel, Lake Hovsgol. In addition to this solid baseline of transboundary cooperation are two rapidly growing economic baselines in mining and tourism, with mining being the biggest and fastest growing economic activity in the Baikal Basin and tourism a smaller but also rapidly growing sector in both the Russian and Mongolian portions of the Baikal Basin. Both of these sectors hold much promise in becoming better stewards of the Baikal Basin’s aquatic ecosystems. In the absence of a GEF investment, these barriers are likely to continue hampering an effective transboundary response to the critical threats that are already impacting the ecosystem health and resilience of the Baikal Basin.
Successful implementation of a regional project like “Integrated Natural Resource Management in the Baikal Basin Transboundary Ecosystem”, to a large degree depends on effective implementation and ownership of project-inspired work at the national and local levels.
Purpose and Scope of Assignment
Lake Baikal and its transboundary basin including Lake Hovsgol represent an unparalleled global benefit in terms of international waters and biodiversity values. While past and current efforts to protect and sustainably utilize the environment and its natural resources are impressive, they are insufficient to the task of addressing the threats to the health of the Baikal Basin’s interconnected aquatic ecosystems. These threats include: climate change, pollution and sedimentation, nutrient loading, and habitat destruction. To address these threats successfully conservation work must move beyond the protected area limits and into the 87% of the Basin that is not protected where natural resource exploitation continues without regard to ecosystem health and biodiversity conservation objectives. Significant barriers hamper both countries’ ability to move ahead both within their national envelopes and jointly on a robust transboundary level. These barriers include: policy and regulatory gaps, institutional weaknesses, poor utilization of BAT/BEP relevant to key issues facing the Basin, and low levels of awareness of transboundary BB issues. The picture of water quality threats from industrial and mining sites remains incomplete; and measures on how best to handle residual pollution problems from abandoned mining sites have not been defined in policies on either side of the border. EIA procedures do not properly address biodiversity risks; and sectoral programs are operating without standards for minimization or reduction of impacts to biodiversity.
Work under output 1.7. «Sub-basin watershed management plans incorporating biodiversity management and ecosystem resilience objectives are in place» will be a demonstration of how to mainstream biodiversity management and ecosystem resilience objectives into sub-basin watershed management plans in both Russia and Mongolia. The Lake Baikal Biodiversity Conservation Strategy established a framework for region-specific watershed-based biodiversity conservation programs in Russia, with three sub-basin programs launched: (Goloustnaya Watershed/Irkutsk, Khilok Watershed/Zabaikalsky Krai, Tugnuy-Sukhara Watershed/Buryatia). One of these three existing programs will be selected as the model for mainstreaming biodiversity and ecosystem health concerns into watershed management plannin
This assignment will assess current basin management strengths and weaknesses and launch capacity building and training programs for sub basin managers on integrated planning, mapping using GIS, andmonitoring of aquatic ecosystem health and biodiversity. Replication of this mainstreaming of biodiversity management and ecosystem resilience objectives into integrated water resource management (IWRM) planning will be replicated in two sub-basins in Mongolia’s Baikal Basin: the Ider and the Egiin.
In order to develop management plans, a baseline study will be conducted on ecological and socio-economic aspects for each sub-basins. This will be followed by drafting the sub-basin management plans, presenting the plans to key stakeholders in workshops, revising and resubmitting the plans for government approval. Training and capacity building will also be launched for relevant resource managers at the state and local levels on the importance of groundwater to the overall health of each watershed, including surface water and plants. Peer-to-peer exchanging of lessons learned between Russians and Mongolians will be critical.
Working under Output 1.7. Sub-basin watershed management plans incorporating biodiversity management and ecosystem resilience objectives are in place.
Consultant will accomplish the following tasks:
Assess current basin ma...
Consultant will accomplish the following tasks:
- Assess current basin management strengths and weaknesses.
- Establish baselines on socio-economic and ecological condition of target sub-basin Khilok Watershed/Zabaikalsky Krai, The Russian Federation for further development of river basin management plans for those watersheds of Selenga basin. Baseline data will be collected on economic activities and their impacts on the environment: (e.g. water quality, aquatic biodiversity).
- Prepare initial draft of sub-basin management plan in cooperation with respective authorities
- Receive endorsement letters from Minister of Natural Resources and relevant authorities of those draft plans.
- Multimedia materials (photo, video, publications made within the framework of the consultancy)
All scientific publications made within the framework of the consultancy must have reference on the project and have to be provided to Project Manager. The assignment is expected to deliver the following baseline data and products:
1. Baseline data shall include description/characteristic of the basin/sub-basin with for each:
- the past,
- the current,
- the most relevant policies/laws, regulations, existing structure and capacity for IWRM
- the future trends/developments (scenario’s)
A. Water system (groundwater and surface water)
- Delineation watershed/administrative/part of the watershed; Eventually zoning the basin or dividing into sub-basins
- Surface water, lakes, rivers
- River-discharge-figures in time; Altitude-scheme from source to end-point;
- Groundwater, permafrost, aquifers
- Evaporation-figures, recharge-coefficients of ground/surface water bodies
- Water balance of water availability
- Polluted areas (soil/water), source of the pollution
- Water consumption figures and water supply/demand figures (each sector), system of water diversion and transport
- Water supply system (domestic and industrial)
- Irrigation system
- Groundwater extraction, wells/pumps
- Sanitation, waste water discharge figures and treatment
- Large manmade water infrastructures (dams, hydropower structures, large extractions, large discharges, canal diversions, aqueducts, etc..,)
B. Ecosystem
- Habitats/natural zones including essential fish habitats (EFH)
- Biodiversity (terrestrial and aquatic)
- Climate condition(temperature, precipitation. clouds)
- Geology, physical geography, soil (maps/description)
C. Socio-economic condition
- Population, ethnic groups., migration
- Urbanisation and settlements
- Economic condition in the region
- Waste disposal management
- Tourism
- Flood management
- Natural disasters (forest fires, droughts, flooding etc)
- land use patterns
- Animal husbandry (herding/farming)
- Agriculture (irrigated and non-irrigated)
- Forestry
- Industry (impact to the environment)
- Mining, Mineral deposits (impact to the environment)
- Main infrastructure (roads, railways, energy supply, pipelines/cables)
- Institutional structure for IRBM in the basin
2. Initial draft of sub-basin management plans based on findings of baseline surveys conducted
Monitoring and Progress Controls
The consultants are expected to deliver the following results:
- Detailed calendar plan for activities at the end of first 15 days;
- Technical progress reports (every 2 months);
- The initial draft of sub-basins’ management plan;
- Endorsement letter from authorities;
a. Education
Advanced university degree (masters or PhD) or equivale...
a. Education
- Advanced university degree (masters or PhD) or equivalent in natural resource management, natural science or other relevant disciplines
b. Work Experience
- At least five years demonstrated and successful experience in preparing and implementing projects which have successfully conserved water ecosystems, with some of this experience in countries with economies in transition;
c. Key Competencies
- Knowledge of hos spot analysis methodologies;
- Highly developed communication skills, including the preparation of high quality reports and the delivery of presentations;
- Ability to work under pressure, sometimes with extended hours, and to meet tight deadlines without compromising the quality of outputs;
- Excellent knowledge of Mongolian required
- Good knowledge of English is an asset
- Computer literacy (MS Word, MS Excel, MS Power Point etc.)
Contract type: Local ICA Specialist
Contract level: LICA 7
Contract duration:12 ...
Contract type: Local ICA Specialist
Contract level: LICA 7
Contract duration:12 weeks (60 working days)
For more details about the ICA contractual modality, please follow this link:
http://www.unops.org/ENGLISH/WHOWENEED/CONTRACT-TYPES/Pages/Individual-Contractor-Agreements-ICAs.aspx
Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time (CET)
Applica...
- Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time (CET)
- Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
- Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
- Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
- UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a level below the advertised level of the post
- The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.