(offre en anglais) L’Observatoire du Sahara et du Sahel recrute un Consultant pour “Implementation of a Survey aimed at national partners and stakeholders on the current state and needs of member countries in terms of natural resources management” عودة إلى الفرص

1. Context and stakes

The Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) is an international, intergovernmental organization operating in Africa’s Sahara-Sahel region. OSS was founded in 1992 in Paris and moved its headquarters to Tunis (Tunisia) in 2000.

OSS members include 22 African countries, five non-regional countries, ten organizations (including sub-regional organizations representing West Africa, East Africa and North Africa), and a nongovernmental organization.

OSS provides a platform for North-South-South partnerships aimed at strengthening the capacity of African member countries to address environmental challenges as part of a long-term, sustainable development vision for the Sahel-Sahara region.

The organization operates as a scientific and technical instrument at the disposal of member countries and organizations. It develops concepts, approaches and methodologies for environmental monitoring, natural resource management and climate change adaptation that can be used and implemented in member countries.

OSS Strategy 2020 is based on 20 years of experiences and aims to consolidate the institution’s achievements, and in so far as possible, fit in with the sectorial strategies of OSS’ sub-regional partners at timeline 2020. It is a continuity to preceding strategies and adopts a strategic framework comprising at the same time a synergistic platform of the three Rio Conventions, NEPAD, and the sectorial policies for the integration of the different economic sub-regions of OSS zone of action (AMU, CEDEAO and IGAD) and considering the MDG1 and the future SDGs as main criteria for development.

The present consultation has been launched within this framework of OSS Strategy 202 and mission in its zone of action.

2. Objective

In order to contribute to the efforts of its member countries in the Sahara and Sahel region and to improve the livelihoods of populations, OSS has set as its primordial objective, for the period 2015-2020, the implementation of surveys in its member countries in the Circum-Sahara region for a better identification of their needs and expectations with regards to natural resources management and the implementation of the Rio Conventions in their national and regional action plans.

This survey concerns the Republic of Egypt.

3. Target fields of survey

• Water Resources
  • Water availability
  • Quantitative and qualitative monitoring of the resource
  • Water demand
  • Techniques and technologies for the resource valorisation
•  Renewable Energy
  • Wind power Potential
  • Solar energy Potential
  • Hydraulic Potential
  • Energy needs and supply
• Ecosystems and Agriculture
  • Land and Ecosystems
  • Degradation and Restoration
  • Impacts of Climate Change
  • Ecosystem services monitoring and evaluation
  • Agricultural and land management practices

4. Duties

In collaboration with the experts of the Water and Environment Programs at OSS and OSS national focal points, the consultant will conduct a study on the current state of natural resources management support tools and mechanisms in fields related to land management, agriculture, water resources and energy.

The consultant will be in charge of:

• The production of a list of major national partners and stakeholders concerned with the various fields mentioned above , including Civil society organizations and regional and academic organizations;
• The elaboration of a questionnaire (to be validated by OSS) indicating:
  • The existence/availability of certain types of information
    • Water resources potential and use;
    • Fauna, flora and ecosystems potential (oases, humid areas…);
    • Global change related risks
    • Products of remote sensing: land use /cover / vegetative cover / vulnerable zones maps, transhumance maps, livestock, pluviometry, evapotranspiration etc;
  • The operationalization of the main natural resources management and assessment tools and mechanisms:
    • Regulations on the above mentioned fields;
    • Inventories and assessment of associated ecosystem services; – In situ Observation mechanisms;
    • Water resources and renewable energy monitoring and evaluation;
    • Agricultural practices and agro-systems management;
    • National information systems on Water and /or Environment;
    • Decision–support tools in the field of the environment ;
    • Information and knowledge dissemination and transfer means;
• The implementation of a survey in collaboration with OSS based on the questionnaire and aimed at the identified targets/persons;
• Analysis and processing of the survey’s results.

5. Expected outputs and Results

Expected results are:

• Analysis of the current state of member countries in terms of natural resources management tools and mechanisms by category of activity. This document will comprise a table for the evaluation and monitoring of the current state ;
• Synthesis of major needs and gaps classified by category of activity: water, ecosystems, and energy;
• Recommendations of actions to respond to reclamations, with a financial evaluation and suggestion of potential partners

The consultant will produce documents in electronic format in which s/he responds to all the duties described in the present Terms of reference.

The results and outputs of the present study will serve to contribute to the achievement of the main objectives of Strategy 2020.

6. Duration

The total duration of this consultancy is estimated at (2) men /month.