Team Leader (SSAs)

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

Background:

Tajikistan has been implementing water sector reform since 2016 and the OSCE POiD has been supporting the endeavours of the Government of Tajikistan in this key sector.

As part of the implementation of the water sector reform program, the Government of Tajikistan strives to solve several tasks related to legislative and regulatory development, in particular, the development and approval of a concept to ensure the sustainable functioning of Water Users Associations (hereinafter WUAs) in the Republic of Tajikistan. This initiative is dictated by the need to ensure and efficiently use water resources that are in collective or individual use, which is reflected in the amendment of the legislation to the Law on WUAs . The purpose of the changes in the legislation is to safeguard fair distribution of water among the members of the Water Users Association.

WUAs, in accordance with the new law on WUAs adopted as of January 2, 2020, are non-profit and self-governing organization of water users, based on membership, created voluntarily in a certain territory, for the purposes of collective use and maintenance of the reclamation system of the service area, provision of irrigation water, coordination of activities, representation and protection of their common interests.

As of present, there are 416 WUAs registered in the country, which supply irrigation water to 379.43 thousand hectares of agricultural irrigated land, or 50.05% of agricultural land mainly in the zones of gravity irrigation. Over the years, the WUAs were supported by local and central governments, local communities and NGOs through varied projects on water resource management.

Most of the projects aimed at establishing WUAs and focused on building their capacities. There were also projects on rehabilitating irrigation infrastructure. No doubt, significant achievement has been made to strengthen performance of the WUAs in Tajikistan. To this end, there are numerous successful WUAs operating throughout Tajikistan. However, the number of WUAs that are officially registered but not functioning per se or operating but facing various problems such as institutional, socio- economic, technical and administrative ones, is by no means limited.

Few studies were conducted to find out how WUAs have been functioning in the last 5 to 10 years. The existent studies are either limited to specific regions, or areas of project activities of donor organizations or seek to find out the specific capacity building needs of WUAs.

Considering lack of information on the sustainability of WUAs, OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe will undertake a comprehensive study on the WUAs located in Zerafshan river basin as a pilot area in 2022. Five national experts are needed to evaluate the activities of WUAs and Federation/s in Zerafshan River Basin. The assignment is led by one team leader with comprehensive leadership and concept and program development experience, as well as experience in the water sector of the Republic of Tajikistan. The second national expert provides his experience in the field of irrigation and technical knowledge. The third national expert presents his/her experience in the field of institution needs. The forth national expert presents his experience in the field of gender and various categories of social research. The fifth national expert presents his/her experience in data collection, task progress tracking, analysis, and reporting. Separate ToRs for each expert will be prepared. The OSCE POiD plans to commence on the study in October and finish in November 2022.

Objective of Assignment:

The POiD intends to hire a group of national experts to conduct a survey in WUAs and WUAs federation/s located in Zerafshan River Basin to identify gaps, bottlenecks and issues restraining their sustainable operation.

Duration of Assignment:

The assignment shall be carried out during the period starting from 10 October 2022 until 30 November 2022. The total number of working days is 42 days.

Tasks and Responsibilities:

Under the supervision of the Water and Energy Policy Advisor, the Team Leader will perform the following tasks:

1. Development of methodology and analysis tools with the team to identify the main gaps and issues of WUAs;
2. Development of a questionnaire and methodology for collecting data for the initial study on the relevant categories;
3. Providing methodology and questionnaire for OSCE representatives for discussion and approval;
4. Together with a representative of the ALRI (Panjakent) developing a plan for conducting a survey of WUAs in the Zerafshan river basin;
5. Familiarizing the team of experts with their individual tasks and responsibilities within the project;
6. Supervising and guiding the survey team on conducting interviews in an appropriate, respectable, and decent way;
7. Be in charge of fieldwork preparation (organizing schedule, transport, meetings, printed questionnaires, other);
8. Conducting the survey together with the survey team;
9. Ensuring quality of the survey;
10. Organizing and supervising accurate data entry;
11. Preparing a survey draft report that will include: description of survey procedure summary tables, data tables and analysis, findings of the survey, challenges, recommendations, lesson learned ,and so on;
12. Preparing a final report incorporating all the relevant comments received from the POiD;

The expert will work from home and in the fields especially during the survey period.

Deliverables:

• Developed and approved methodology and analysis tools;
• Developed and approved survey questionnaire;
• Conducting a survey in the WUAs in the Zerafshan river basin and WUA Federation/s;
• Reporting of the survey including (statistical data and graphs as well as recommendations, ensure the quality of the survey and accuracy of data entry);
• Poweri point presentation to share the findings of the survey to the OSCE POiD team.

Note: The documents must be prepared and performed in a professional way by adhering to strict quality standards. All deliverables must be submitted in Russian and English.

For more detailed information on the structure and work of the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe, please see: http://www.osce.org/programme-office-in-dushanbe

Necessary Qualifications:

• University degree in one the fields: water resources management, ecology, natural resource management or other related fields;
• Ten or more years of experience in developing methodologies, training concepts and programmes related to agriculture, water and/or natural resources management;
• Five or more years management experiences in teams and organizations/institutions;
• Five or more years of comprehensive experience in the water sector reform process in Tajikistan;
• Strong working relationships with cross-sectoral government officials and international organizations;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills; ability to work in a diverse team and under thigh deadlines; positive, flexible, and adaptable personality;
• Responsible for timely and qualified delivery of requirement documents;
• Business fluency in Russian, Tajik and English;
• Ability to work with the MS Office Suite, incl. MS Teams;
• Demonstrated gender awareness and sensitivity, and an ability to integrate a gender perspective into tasks and activities;
• Ability and willingness to work as a member of team, with people of different cultural, and religious backgrounds, different gender, and diverse political views, while maintaining impartiality and objectivity.

Remuneration Package:

Remuneration will be based on the selected consultant's/expert's qualifications, experience, the tasks and deliverables for this position and in accordance with the OSCE established rates.

If you wish to apply for this position, please use the OSCE's online application link found under https://vacancies.osce.org/.

The OSCE retains the discretion to re-advertise/re-post the vacancy, to cancel the recruitment or to offer an appointment with a modified job description or for a different duration.

Only those candidates who are selected to participate in the subsequent stages of recruitment will be contacted.

The OSCE is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all religious, ethnic and social backgrounds to apply to become a part of the Organization.

Candidates should be aware that OSCE officials shall conduct themselves at all times in a manner befitting the status of an international civil servant. This includes avoiding any action which may adversely reflect on the integrity, independence and impartiality of their position and function as officials of the OSCE. The OSCE is committed to applying the highest ethical standards in carrying out its mandate. For more information on the values set out in OSCE Competency Model, please see https://jobs.osce.org/resources/document/our-competency-model.

Please be aware that the OSCE does not request payment at any stage of the application and review process.

Additional Information

• Issued by: OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe
• Requisition ID: WAT000007
• Contract Type: Special Service Agreement (SSA) / Consultant
• Grade: No grade
• Job Type: Consultant
• Number of posts: 1
• Location: OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe, Dushanbe
• Issue Date: Sep 7, 2022
• Closing Date: Sep 28, 2022