National Consultant on Environment and Social Management Plan (ESMP)

PROJECT CONTEXT

The National Consultant on Environment and Social Management Plan (ESMP) will be recruited under the project “The Project for Promoting Youth Employment through Automotive Maintenance Skills Training” (SAP #: 200286).

Ranking 181st out of 189 countries and territories on the Human Development Index, Sierra Leone remains one of the poorest countries in the world. In a country where youth constitute a third of the population, youth unemployment and underemployment stands at a staggering 70%, with approximately 800,000 youths actively searching for employment daily.

In the automotive repair and maintenance service industry in Sierra Leone, expanding vehicle registrations and increasing vehicle imports point to its potential for growth and job creation. However, the industry struggles to find workers who meet the relevant auto mechanic skills requirements.

One of the root causes for this skills mismatch is the insufficient and defective technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system, which does not correspond to the economic realities outside the school system. Trainings are more theoretical than practical, the knowledge imparted is often outdated and not transferable/relevant to the real-world working environment.

The 3 year-project aims to contribute to closing the skills gap in Sierra Leone’s automotive repair and maintenance service industry in order to support the country’s Medium-Term National Development Plan (NDP) 2019-2023 and to contribute to decent employment opportunities for youth in Sierra Leone. This will be achieved by:

• Developing and accrediting competency-based and demand-driven modern curricula for automotive technician and entrepreneurship training’
• Establishing a regional centre of excellence for automotive technician training,
• Providing vocational training, career services and business coaching to unemployed and underemployed youths

The project document is publicly available from here

FUNCTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

UNIDO recognizes that Environmental and Social sustainability is fundamental to the achievement of its mandate on Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development (ISID). In order to meet this goal, the organization has adopted a set of Environmental and Social Safeguards Policies and Procedures (ESSPP). Mandatory for all UNIDO projects since February 2019, the purpose of the ESSPP is to strengthen UNIDO’s accountability to the countries and communities it aims to support and to assure that its interventions do not have any adverse and irreversible impact on the environment and project affected people. Environmental and social sustainability is systematically mainstreamed into UNIDO project cycle through consistent application of an environmental and social screening and assessment procedure.

As per the UNIDO Environmental and Social Safeguards Policy and Procedures (ESSPP) (AI/2021/03) (publicly available and to be reviewed here) the Project has been categorized as ‘’B’’, which is defined as follows: “The proposed project is likely to have less adverse impacts on human populations or environmentally important areas than those of Category A projects. Likely impacts will be few in number, site-specific, and few if any will be irreversible” (screening result is publicly available here).

In this context, UNIDO is recruiting a qualified national consultant to develop an Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) for Project activities. The expert will work under overall supervision of the UNIDO Project Manager (PM) and other staff of the project management unit (PMU) and UNIDO experts, including UNIDO Environmental and Social Safeguards team, and in consultation with Project national counterparts.

Specifically, the Expert is expected to undertake the following duties:

1 –

• Review the project document and identify any potential social and environmental risks that will require special attention during implementation, identify the level of risk and probability, and propose methodology for developing an ESMP.
• The methodology has to ensure compliance with the relevant Sierra Leonean social and environmental regulatory requirements and UNIDO environmental and social safeguards policies and procedures.
• The methodology should specify the literature to be reviewed, including the relevant national policies and requirements, identify stakeholders to be interviewed/consulted, specify if any site-visits will be conducted, and define timeline of development of ESMP.
• Outputs to be achieved: Environmental and social risks identified and methodology established for the development of ESMP (to be incorporated in the final plan documented in duty 2 below)
  Duration: 8 days

2 –

• Develop an Environmental and Social Management Plan, which should include:
  • A clear description of identified environmental and social risks with indication of impact and probability rating
  • A clear description of environmental and social impact mitigation and management measures/actions
  • Details on environmental and social monitoring to be conducted during project implementation
  • A plan to assess and build capacity to implement the proposed environmental and social management plan
  • A stakeholder consultation and communication plan
• Outputs to be achieved: Full ESMP developed (English; maximum 30 pages, including an executive summary of 1-2 pages)
  Duration: 20 days

3 –

• Recommend any relevant changes to the Project work plan incorporating relevant measures and actions from ESMP
• Outputs to be achieved: ESMP measures and actions are incorporated in the Project work plan.
  Duration: 4 days

4 –

• Prepare a presentation of the main ESMP findings, conclusions and recommendations; deliver the presentation during an online or in person meeting involving the project manager, project experts and other UNIDO personnel.
• Outputs to be achieved: ESMP content shared with relevant UNIDO personnel whose awareness and understanding of project-specific environmental risks is raised
  Duration: 1 day

5 –

• Any other tasks as required by project supervisors related to the development of ESMP, including terminal report preparation and contractual closing
• Outputs to be achieved:
  • Tasks accomplished
  • Terminal report submitted
  • Contract successfully closed
    Duration: 2 days

Location: Freetown, Sierra Leone
Total number of working days: 35 days
Estimated start of the contracts: 15 October 2021

MINIMUM ORGANIZATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Education: Advanced degree in environmental science, natural resource management or equivalent

Technical and Functional Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years of professional experience related to climate change, and/ or social and environmental standards and impact assessment in an international development context as well as in developing Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMP) for development projects
• Demonstrated knowledge of environmental issues and risks prevailing in Sierra Leone
• Excellent knowledge of methodologies necessary for ESMPs; previous ESMP experience in the context of development projects in the education sector would be an asset
• Sound knowledge of environmental mitigation and monitoring measures in development projects

Languages: Fluency in written and spoken English is required.

*Only nationals and/or permanent residents of the country of the duty station are eligible to apply.

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

Core values:
WE LIVE AND ACT WITH INTEGRITY: work honestly, openly and impartially.

WE SHOW PROFESSIONALISM: work hard and competently in a committed and responsible manner.

WE RESPECT DIVERSITY: work together effectively, respectfully and inclusively, regardless of our differences in culture and perspective.

Core competencies:
WE FOCUS ON PEOPLE: cooperate to fully reach our potential –and this is true for our colleagues as well as our clients. Emotional intelligence and receptiveness are vital parts of our UNIDO identity.

WE FOCUS ON RESULTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES: focus on planning, organizing and managing our work effectively and efficiently. We are responsible and accountable for achieving our results and meeting our performance standards. This accountability does not end with our colleagues and supervisors, but we also owe it to those we serve and who have trusted us to contribute to a better, safer and healthier world.

WE COMMUNICATE AND EARN TRUST: communicate effectively with one another and build an environment of trust where we can all excel in our work.

WE THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX AND INNOVATE: To stay relevant, we continuously improve, support innovation, share our knowledge and skills, and learn from one another.