National Consultant _ Project Coordinator – UNDP / Learning from China’s Experience to Improve the Ability of Response to COVID-19 in Asia and the Pacific Region by South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund

In Asia and the Pacific, the rapidly spreading COVID-19 virus is placing significant pressure on countries’ health systems significantly straining the already fragile health facilities of developing nations as they reach capacity limits.
The situation in Lao PDR suggests that there is currently no community transmission of COVID-19. Despite the limited number of cases, the outbreak in the region has significantly affected trade, construction, tourism, and other sectors adversely, which also implies a significant impact on the economy.

The Government of Lao PDR (GoL) formally announced a nation-wide lockdown on March 29th 2020 but eased the regulations on the May 15th 2020. Regardless, the potential for a second wave of COVID-19, especially after the international borders re-open, remains a very real and daunting possibility.

With an increased risk of a second wave of COVID-19 infections, Lao PDR may face significant challenges based on the existing health capacity. To support Lao PDR, the Government of China (GoC) is collaborating with UNDP with the provision of bilateral technical and financial assistance to five countries (Lao PDR Nepal, Myanmar, Philippines, Cambodia).

UNDP China engaged a team of experts from the Solid Waste and Chemicals Management Center, Ministry of Ecology and Environment of People’s Republic of China ( MEESCC) and Tsinghua University /Basel Convention Regional Center for Asia and the Pacific (THU/BCRC China), with hands on knowledge of COVID-19 medical waste management in the epicenter of China. These experts played a key role in assessing the medical waste management capacities, current conditions and the prevention needs in the five project countries.
This regional project aims to strengthen the cooperation between project countries in the region and develop capacities and resources of Lao PDR stakeholders, namely Ministry of Health (MoH), pilot provincial focal department, health facilities (hospitals), and rural and remote communities, in four strategic areas:
-Improving the medical waste management capacity technically and operationally to prevent the further containment of COVID-19 and to respond the increasing medical waste and enhancing the technical capacities of health care workers and service providers to treat medical waste.

• Providing advocacy, information sharing and communication supports on COVID-19 to the poor population and vulnerable groups (including women headed households, persons with disabilities) to ensure they are not left behind and can equally benefit from response, recovery and resilience building interventions for staying safe and healthy.
• Provision of capacity development (technical training materials and courses) on general health precautionary measures to health care professionals, local government staff and others that carry out related medical waste handling services.
• Share practices and experiences at the regional and global level for future responses and preparedness for related pandemics.
A further important lesson from China will be on how best to impart information to the general public. The best time to inform people about the disease is before the epidemic. People need access to the latest updates on government announcements; this includes learning to wash their hands often, to avoid touching their face and what to do if symptoms appear. Also, awareness needs to be raised on the issues related to medical waste at the community level.

In Lao PDR, access to information and communication channels to express opinion can restrict people from participating in the process and being informed. This is most evident in rural populations, particularly illiterate ethnic communities in remote areas living below the poverty threshold. This is partly being addressed by UNDP’s on-going support for the Community Radio network (9 districts in 6 provinces) which has proven to be an effective communication tool for the target populations.
In line with above, UNDP is seeking an experienced project coordinator with a strong background in health, institutional capacity development, project management and implementation.

The project coordinator will work with relevant government and development partner officials to ensure excellent project management skills are applied to all aspects of funded initiatives that includes, but not limited to, supporting ToT of capacity development plan, supporting waste disposal guidelines development, support medical waste management capacity monitoring and evaluation, supporting project implementation; ensuring financial compliance with good budget management; and timely reporting and relevant analysis.
This position is based in UNDP Lao PDR CO. Some travel is expected.

The project coordinator, under the supervision of the UNDP Project Manager, and in consultation with the project counterparts, is required to provide the following services:
Project Implementation
• Effectively implement project initiatives with project counterparts and UNDP by complementing existing capacities and providing oversite and support where needed;
• Facilitate decision making on activity execution, particularly related to planning, budget and implementation issues;
• Provide inputs to strategic planning, achievement of targets and required modification of objectives;
• Facilitate technical trainings and deliver technical presentations during events and other engagements;
• Conduct field visits to project sites for the provision of hands-on support and quality assurance;
• Ensure professional administrative and logistics support is given to the projects; • Represent UNDP at meetings, technical sessions, project events, ceremonies and functions;
Technical Support

• Collaborate with experts and provide technical support on project outputs, especially on ToT of capacity development plan, medical waste disposal guidelines development, and medical waste management monitoring and evaluation; • Provide technical inputs that support achieving project objectives;
• Initiate and assist with the design, organization and facilitatation of trainings, workshops, and other activities;

Coordination and Networking

• Network and foster functional relationships with project counterpart, UNDP, and other key stake holders;
• Represent UNDP as required and promote a strong collaborative, transparent, and sharing environment amongst stakeholders relevant to the project;
• Facilitate or participate in workshops, webinars, and meetings as necessary.
PMER and Learning
• Work in partnership with project counterparts and UNDP for the timely submission of periodic, accurate, and professional (narrative and financial) progress reports to management and other stakeholders as required;
• Ensure adequate tools are in place to track all progress, achievements, challenges, and lesson learned;
• Promote learning and knowledge sharing amongst all related stakeholders;
• Contribute to knowledge sharing, producing documentation for case studies and lessons learned;
• Facilitate after action reviews and evaluation of activities;
• Support with the preparation of program documentation, assessments and studies as required.

Corporate Competencies:
• Commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values including working in a culturally diverse environment;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Demonstrates ability to function in a team environment and shares knowledge and experience.
Functional Competencies:
• Fluency in Lao and English is required, a good working knowledge of Chinese a plus;
• Ability to present coherent and convincing positions both in writing and orally;
• Strong ability to take initiative to move complex processes forward to achieve articulated results, work at varying levels and on different initiatives simultaneously;
• Disciplined and organized with the ability to multi-task;
• Demonstrable networking capability, interpersonal skills and strong ability to promote teamwork;
• High degree of integrity, discretion, and personal conduct;
• Flexible to changing working conditions and willing and able to travel for work purposes;
• Able to prioritize and meet deadlines;
• Excellent analytical thinking skills;
• Professional facilitation and presentation skills;
• Ability to coach, mentor and influence people.

• A Master’s degree preferably from a reputable accredited university in Health, Enviroment Engineering, Social Science, and/or relevant field is required;
• At least 5 years of experience working in the Project Management Field particularly in health, enviroment protection, solid waste management and WASH aspects;
• Experience studying, training and working in several country contexts;
• Ability to design and manage all stages of disaster risk mitigation, preparedness, recovery and rehabilitation projects;
• Demonstrated success in analytical report writing is a plus;
• Experience identifying and establishing institutional capacity building initiatives;
• Experience collaborating with government agencies, international organizations, and community leaders;
• Excellent skills in financial management, problem solving, conflict resolution, advocacy, and stakeholder coordination;
• Proven field work experience is a plus.

RECOMMENDED PRESENTATION OF OFFER:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualification:

1. Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided in Annex III
2. Personal CV or P11 Form, indicating all experience from similar projects as well as personal information including age.
3. Technical proposal (maximum 3 pages), including a) a brief description of why the individual considers her/himself as the most suitable for the assignment; and b) methodology on how s/he will approach and complete the assignment.
4. Financial proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided, as per template provided in Annex III

OFFEROR’S LETTER 

Price proposal could be quoted in LAK or US Dollar.

Incomplete proposals may not be considered.

Instructions for on-line submissions

Step 1:  Please prepare all required documents electronically;

Step 2: Combine all documents in ONE SINGLE FILE (preferably in PDF, but Word format can be also accepted) and upload it to the UNDP Jobs links

Step 3: After that you will receive an auto reply from the UNDP jobs if your offer is received successfully.

Relevant Documents for Individual Contract

IC contract template  &  IC General Terms and Conditions _ Annex II