REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK
- The African Development Bank hereby invites Individual Consultants to indicate their interest in the following Assignment : Social Safeguards Consultant ;
- The services to be provided under the Assignment, the eligibility criteria and additional details are included in the TORs attached ;
- The Safeguards and Compliance Department invites Individual Consultants to indicate their interest in providing the above-described services. Interested Consultants shall provide information on their qualifications and experience demonstrating their ability to undertake this Assignment (documents, reference to similar services, experience in similar assignments, etc.) ;
- The eligibility criteria, the establishment of a short list and the selection procedure shall be in conformity with the Bank’s procedures for the acquisition of consulting services funded by the administrative or capital expenditure budget. Please, note that interest expressed by a Consultant does not imply any obligation on the part of the Bank to include him/her in the shortlist ;
- Interested Individual Consultants may obtain further information at the address below during the Bank’s working hours: 09.00 am to 05:00 pm ;
- Expressions of interest must be received at the address below no later than 15 October 2021 at 18:00 pm Abidjan time and specifically mentioning : “Recruitment of Social safeguards Consultant ”.
For the attention of : Mr. Issa Maman-Sani, Director With Cc to Mr. Modeste Kinane
E-mail : m.issa@afdb.org; m.kinane@afdb.org
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SHORT LIST :
- A longlist of individual consultants will be established at the end the request of expressions of interest. The applications will be rated as follows:
| Education | 15% |
| General experience in environmental and social management | 15% |
| Specific experience in preparing, implementing, monitoring | 30% |
| and or auditing of resettlement action plans in Africa | |
| Experience in preparing, implementing, monitoring and/or | 30% |
| auditing resettlement action plans in project funded by MDB |
Language capabilities : 10 %
TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR) FOR AN ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL SAFEGUARDS CONSULTANT FOR PROJECTS E&S DUE DILIGENCE ===
- Introduction :
The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group wishes to hire an individual social safeguards specialist to provide E&S safeguards services on projects through the identification, preparation, appraisal, approval, supervision, and completion of projects and programs. The Consultants shall be managed by the Environmental and Social Safeguard and Compliance Department (SNSC). The SNSC Department is responsible for ensuring that all Bank-funded operations, subject to E&S mainstreaming and safeguards, follow the quality and compliance due diligence as required by the Bank’s Integrated Safeguards System (ISS). It assigns E&S specialists as project team members and supervise their works. The consultant’ works fall under this context.
- Duties :
The E&S Consultant will work under the oversight and guidance of the Director Safeguard and Compliance Department (SNSC), and the direct supervision of the Bank’s E&S officer assigned to the project teams, he/she will work on.
In addition to act as the permanent technical E&S adviser/support to the task manager/investment officer, the E&S consultant’s core duties will include the following :
- Project preparation : (i) identify the E&S risk category in collaboration with the borrower/client, and then prepare the categorization memorandum (CM); (ii) advise the borrower/client on the required environmental and social (ESA) documents to prepare in accordance to national legislation and the Bank’s ISS requirements; (iii) review and clear the ESA documents prepared by the borrower/client; (iv) provide the inputs to the readiness reviews and any other quality assurance requirement; (v) Draft and/or contribute to drafting relevant sections of other required risk notes, PEN, PCN, and Project appraisal reports; (vi) prepare the ESCON; (vii) prepare response to any query related to the E&S aspects including early complaint filed through BCRM. At any stage of the preparation phase, the consultant shall make proposal of mainstreaming environmental sustainability in the project design, whenever feasible ;
- Project implementation : (i) provide technical clearance on any condition precedent or document prior to commencement of related activity to allow the task manager/investment officer issuance of no-objection to borrower/client; (ii) Review bidding documents and contracts and provide clearance for commencement of works that are subject to E&S completion; (iii) carry out field mission to support and monitor implementation of E&S measures by the project teams; (iv) request and review the quarterly E&S implementation reports from borrower/client; (v) assist and ensure that borrower/client carries out the annual E&S performance audit of project, and then review and clear; (vi) carry out all the tasks required by a Mandated Lead Arranger (MLA) role, when the Bank is on that role; (vii) participate in transaction meetings/conference calls involving external E&S advisors and E&S specialists from sponsors and other lenders; (viii) prepare the management response to external players’ complaints or internal audits and spots checks carried out by internal stakeholders, related to projects he/she is assigned to ;
- Project completion report : (i) gather and analyse information on project E&S performance; (ii) provide inputs to the evaluation.
- Undertake any other duties as deemed necessary by SNSC Management.
The consultant shall conduct his/her daily work in compliance with all the Bank policies and rules, and using the practical guidance and tools provided in the SNSC Business Standards.
- Identified Deliverables :
Counting on strong analytical and writing skills, the Consultant shall be expected to make review/clearance, written contributions, advice and field visits.
The deliverables are :
- Categorization memorandum ;
- Timely review and clearance of ESA documents (Business standards 3-4 refer) ;
- Timely inputs draft documents and quality assurance review documents ;
- Back-to-Office reports and/or aide-memoires ;
- Reports/templates prepared and shared with sponsors and co-financiers ;
- Management responses to E&S complaints/audits/reviews.
- Selection Criteria :
- At least a master’s degree in social sciences, environment management/sciences or related discipline ;
- A minimum of ten (10) years of relevant professional experience in the areas of environmental and social mainstreaming and safeguards, natural resource management, environmental assessment, environmental monitoring and environmental compliance ;
- Experience in preparing and managing the implementation of environmental and social assessment (ESA) documents ;
- Strong experience in preparing, implementing, monitoring and/or auditing resettlement action plans in line with MDB policies and procedures ;
- Knowledge and experience in multi-criteria assessment, stakeholder engagement and consultation, community participation, with analytical skills in assessing institutional capacities and designing/reviewing practical implementation arrangements for complex projects, especially in Africa ;
- Well-rounded understanding of critical issues in sustainable development, international environment and development policy, climate change, gender, social enhancement measures, labor health and safety, youth employment, etc. ;
- Strong communication and writing skills in English and/or French, with preference for capabilities in both languages. Candidates with Portuguese in combination with both English or French are also encouraged to apply.
- Contract Type and Duration :
The estimated duration of services is 132 days spread over October 2021 to June 2022. The estimated starting date is October 25, 2021. The contract is home-based. The consultant is expected, where possible, to undertake frequent duty travels across Southern Africa.
- Duty Station :
The contract is home-based, but the Consultant should be located within a country in Southern Africa. The consultant is expected to undertake frequent duty travels in Southern Africa (when required and notified) at project/activity locations.