The National Capacity Self-Assessment for Global Environmental Management (NCSA) Project

EXPRESSION OF INTEREST STUDY TO IDENTIFY NATIONAL CAPACITY TO IMPLEMENT THE KEY RIO CONVENTIONS (CLIMATE CHANGE, DESERTIFICATION AND BIODIVERSITY)

Expressions of Interest from appropriately qualified and experienced Consultants are called for by the Swaziland Environment Authority to contribute to an ongoing project assessing the capacity needs of national stakeholders in implementing the three key Rio Conventions (climate change, desertification and biodiversity).

The Swaziland Environment Authority with support from the UNDP and Global Environment Facility is undertaking a National Capacity Self Assessment (NCSA) with respect to the three Rio Conventions.

The Government of Swaziland has recognised the need for a concerted effort to strengthen Swaziland's capacity to manage the global environment and has thus decided to undertake this NCSA process to identify the gaps and opportunities in building its capacity. Issues such as unused, misused, underused or overburdened capacities need to be identified and gaps or constraints that cut across several sectors need to be addressed as a joint effort by different stakeholders.

The objective of this NCSA study is to identify the national capacity needs to meet binding commitments contained in the Rio Conventions and determine how best to develop this capacity to meet Swaziland's commitment to global environmental management. Capacity assessments will be conducted within and across the thematic area of each convention (climate change, desertification and biodiversity).

Details of the NCSA project as well as Terms of Reference for this EOI are below or from here or from the SEA Offices.

Interested Consultants are requested to submit a brief summary of their experience, proposed approach and methodology that demonstrates their overall understanding of the assignment.

The Expression of Interest must be delivered to the NCSA Project Coordinator not later that 4.00pm on 8 April 2004 to: 

Only short-listed consultants will be contacted for proposals.

CONSULTANCY TO IDENTIFY NATIONAL CAPACITY NEEDS AND PRIORITIES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE KEY RIO CONVENTIONS (CLIMATE CHANGE, DESERTIFICATION AND BIODIVERSITY)

Expressions of Interest from appropriately qualified and experienced consultants are called for by the Swaziland Environment Authority to contribute to an ongoing project assessing the capacity needs of national stakeholders in implementing the three key Rio Conventions (climate change, desertification and biodiversity).

Over the last decade, capacity constraints have been increasingly recognised as a main obstacle to sustainable development in many countries. Accordingly, the development community has paid increasing attention to capacity development and capacity assessment in its policies and projects. In addition, a large number of regional and international agreements and Conventions have come into force over the last two decades. Each places additional demands on the capacity of participating countries. This lack of capacity has been identified as a key obstacle to the effective implementation of the Conventions.

In this context, the Government of Swaziland in cooperation with the UNDP is currently undertaking a National Capacity Self Assessment (NCSA) with respect to three global conventions: UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), UN Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) and UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

The NCSA process provides Swaziland with an opportunity to review her global environmental responsibilities she has assumed since the Rio Earth Summit and determine how to reconcile these responsibilities with national sustainable development priorities. In particular, the NCSA process has three aspects that make it a particularly valuable exercise. First, the NCSA process can carefully examine past capacity development efforts focused on the three thematic areas in order to derive lessons from the successes and failures of specific interventions. Second, the process allows stakeholders the freedom to explore potential "win-win" situations between their global environmental obligations and local and national environmental challenges and opportunities. Third, with its unprecedented focus on analysing issues that cut across the Rio conventions, the NCSA represents a critical step in effective implementation by promoting a more integrated and synergistic approach.

Lessons learned from past projects seem to suggest a need in countries for capacity building measures to strengthen co-ordination of environmental policy formulation and implementation among sectoral authorities at the national (and local) levels for global environmental management.

A key deliverable of the overall NCSA process is an Action Plan for Capacity Development which outlines - for each thematic area of biodiversity, climate change and desertification as well as across the thematic areas - priority issues, capacity constraints and opportunities for capacity development.

Potential Benefits Flowing From a National Capacity Self-Assessment for Global Environmental Management (NCSA)

The Government of Swaziland has recognised the need for a concerted effort to strengthen Swaziland’s capacity to manage the global environment and has thus decided to undertake this NCSA process to identify the gaps and opportunities in building its capacity. Issues such as unused, misused, underused or overburdened capacities need to be identified and gaps or constraints that cut across several sectors need to be addressed as a joint effort by different stakeholders.

The objective of this NCSA thematic assessment study is to identify the national capacity constraints and priorities to meet binding commitments contained in the three Rio Conventions and determine how best to develop this capacity to meet Swaziland’s commitment to global environmental management.

Capacity assessments will be conducted within and across the thematic area of each convention (climate change, desertification and biodiversity).

The assessments will also embrace three levels of capacity issues: individual, institutional and systemic. The consultancy will focus on capacity related issues that are common across the conventions, assessing the capacities needed to address these in a synergistic manner, including needs associated with strengthening existing institutional mechanisms and developing appropriate networks. In addition this study aims to strengthen the dialogue, information exchange and cooperation amongst all stakeholders.

Under the overall guidance of the NCSA Project Management Group (PMG), and the direct supervision of the NCSA Project Coordinator (PC), the Consultancy will assist in conducting cross-cutting capacity assessments of key stakeholders.

It is expected that the successful consultant will undertake this study in a highly participatory manner with detailed consultations with identified stakeholders using methods such as workshops and focus group meetings.

Pending the finalisation of Terms of Reference, the scope of work is likely to comprise of:

1. Collate and review relevant documentation including the text and subsequent modifications/decisions to the three Rio Conventions
2. Review and evaluate relevant strategies, action plans, government policies and thematic assessment reports where they exist.
3. Identify and describe the key capacity requirements or implications of the Conventions
4. Develop a programme of work to identify capacity constraints and priority issues in implementing the three Conventions
5. Identify key stakeholders that are considered to have capacity obligations to implement the Conventions
6. Undertaking a stock-take and gap analysis of existing capacity (systemic, institutional and individual) of key stakeholders to implement the three Conventions. The stock-take should produce a comprehensive overview of the current situation and previous capacity building activities
7. Prepare Thematic Assessment Profiles that describe all the capacity-related issues in a descriptive and neutral manner and determine priorities as distilled from existing studies and analyses
8. Carry out a detailed review and analysis of potential cross-cutting issues and evaluate capacity constraints and complementarities and the means to address them more effectively and efficiently
9. Identify the key priority cross-cutting issues for each thematic area
10. Identify and describe key capacity constraints of the identified stakeholders and suggest minimum and/or optimum capacity levels required for sustainable implementation of Convention obligations
11. Identify the problems faced in addressing the identified priority issues within each thematic area and identify the key or root cause(s) of the problem and at what level these capacity constraints occur (systemic, institutional and individual)
12. Identify opportunities for capacity building or development to address the identified capacity constraints for each thematic area
13. Prepare a final report presenting the findings of the thematic assessments and the evaluation and assessment of the synergy opportunities and cross-cutting issues.
14. Present report and findings to a national stakeholder workshop

To effectively undertake this assignment Expressions of Interest are called for from Consultants (organisations or individuals/teams) that have broad experience and a skill base covering not only capacity assessments but with a detailed knowledge and understanding of capacity issues and synergies relating to biodiversity, climate change and desertification.

Specialists resident in Swaziland are encouraged to form part of the Consultants team.

The Consultant must posses the following:

• Good knowledge on and extensive working experience in capacity assessments/building/development, environmental policy and management related projects/programmes preferably in SADC countries.
• Advanced degree in a relevant field, including public administration, environmental management, economics or law.
• Good knowledge of the objectives of the UNFCCC, UNCBD and UNCCD conventions and new developments in elaboration of synergies between international conventions.
• Working experience with international organisations.

Interested Consultants are requested to submit a brief summary of their proposed approach and methodology that demonstrates their overall understanding of the assignment.

The Consultant is also requested to submit evidence (past assignments) that demonstrates their capability to undertake this assignment and other relevant resources.

CVs of all personnel to be used for this assignment are required.

The Project Management Group reserves the right to only shortlist those Consultants that the Project Management Group consider capable of undertaking this important and multifaceted study.

The Expression of Interest must be presented to the NCSA Project Coordinator not later that 4.00pm on 8 April 2004 and be clearly marked "NCSA Thematic Assessment EOI" to:

Only short-listed consultants will be contacted for submission of detailed proposals.

Home | National Projects | Environmental Legislation | Policies and Action Plans | Documents

This page was last updated on 29 March 2004