Concept on support to Regional Environmental Action Plan in Central Asia
Strengthening political and institutional basis for regional cooperation

Terms of Reference for Regional Consultant

A. Scope of Services
1. A series of regional declarations and agreements on regional cooperation in environment and sustainable development area stressed the importance of regional cooperation in Central Asia (CA). These include: Almaty (1992, 1997), Kyzyl-Orda, Issyk Kul, Nukus, Cholpon-Ata and Ashgabad declarations. A regional institutional structure was established in the region. It includes among others: the International Fund for Aral Sea (IFAS) and its Executive Committee (EC-IFAS); two IFAS divisions: the Interstate Committee for Water Coordination (ICWC) and the Interstate Sustainable Development Commission (ISDC). Both divisions have Scientific Information Centers (SIC) established to provide operation and expert support. Regional Environmental Center (REC) was established to maintain links between the civil society organizations and governments at the regional level.

2. The Ministers of Environment of Central Asian Republics (CARs) have discussed the issues of strengthening regional cooperation at different fora and made several regional statements, including: several joint Statements at the Environment for Europe meetings; establishment of the REC; preparation of the Regional Environmental Action Plan (REAP); organization of the sub-regional consultations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), and request for strengthening regional cooperation mechanisms at several ISDC meetings and joint events.

3. REAP Steering Committee (SC), consisting of the high-ranking government officials and donor partners, was established to monitor the REAP development under ISDC guidance. After preparation of REAP, the mandate of REAP SC was extended to facilitate implementation process. It was decided to strengthen the REAP SC by inviting the civil society representatives. The REAP process has identified potential mechanisms for the implementation of regional programs to address trans-boundary and common issues of concern. Additionally, during the sub-regional WSSD consultations, ISDC proposed the following recommendations: enhancement of ownership by the governments; strengthening of co-ordination between national and regional programmes and projects; clear mandates of the various existing regional bodies; reduced dependency on external financing in the implementation of ISDC decisions; and identification of ways for the governments to meet the financial commitments.

4. On the basis of the recommendations of the Ministers for Environment, experts and civil society representatives the Concept on support to REAP implementation was approved by ISDC at the May 2002 ISDC meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The Concept has the following broad objectives proposed for implementation:

(a) Strengthening of political and institutional basis for regional cooperation;
(b) Strengthening of decision making capacity and process in the region;
(c) Enhanced civil society participation, and
(d) Resource mobilization for REAP implementation (proposed to be changed to "Enhanced regional capacity for REAP implementation").

5. It is proposed to focus the activities under this Concept on the priorities of the existing and planned national strategies and action plans, and the existing regional and national institutional structures, including the REAP network consisting of the government officials, experts and civil society representatives. The proposed objectives of the Concept would be implemented in cooperation and partnership with Governments of CARs, ISDC, REC, REAP network, ADB, UNDP and UNEP. The proposed initiatives will build upon the expert networks, activities and outputs achieved during development of the decision support system and promotion of the REAP projects. The issues related to ownership of the region and transparency would be given a high priority in all the proposed activities.

6. To achieve the first objective -- strengthening of political and institutional basis for regional cooperation in environment for sustainable development, - a detailed assessment exercise is proposed to review the existing regional institutional framework, look at the outcomes of regional agreements, analyze the needs of main stakeholders, identify the links between the national and regional level of decision-making, review and evaluate a status of ratification and enforcement of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), define legal, financial or any other aspects that constrains the effective operation of the existing regional institutional structure, identify ways to further regional cooperation, ensure partnership between Governments and civil society, and provide recommendations for further actions. The analysis of the current status will be done of the basis of the studies of the various institutions in CARs, including the donor agencies, and broad consultations with the stakeholders. On the basis of the assessment, a report on the possible ways and mechanisms to further regional cooperation will be developed.

7. It is intended to include Ministries of Economy and Finance, and other government agencies involved in the policy formulation in the area of environment and sustainable development and REAP implementation. The IFAS/ISDC, SIC of ISDC, and the National Commissions for Sustainable Development will be engaged as well as the other partners, including international and regional programmes.

B. Detailed Terms of References
8. In preparation of the assessment report and report on the mechanisms for regional cooperation, a short-term consultant will be hired to complete the following tasks:

(a) Review and analyze the effectiveness of the existing regional institutions and mechanisms that address issues in the area of environment and sustainable development in CARs. The documentation should include: legal/ institutional arrangements for regional cooperation (policy framework, legal, financial, managerial and administrative arrangements); inventory of successes and failures in the region; experience collected from the regional processes that can be used to draw upon; available information from the donor studies and completed projects, and identify barriers to effective regional cooperation.

(b) Review and analyze the capacities of the national and regional institutions, including the individual capacities in relation to the proposed mechanism for regional cooperation, and assess the institutional strengths and weaknesses in terms of the capacity building needs.

(c) Conduct a desk study and document the successful examples of regional cooperation in Asia and Pacific, Europe and Latin America. The documentation should include: suggested criteria in the success of institutional mechanisms for regional cooperation; samples of legal and organizational successes for reference; factors that contribute to the success of these institutions and steps undertaken by these institutions for establishment. Specific attention should be drawn to the following examples:

o Danube river agreements between 12 countries in Europe;
o Water treaties between India and Pakistan, India and Nepal, India and Bangladesh;
o Transboundary agreement on haze in ASEAN;
o Agreements in Mekong River Commission;
(List of examples - to the finalized after consultations with ADB and UNDP)

(d) Meet with major stakeholders (A detailed list of the proposed stakeholders is presented in the Annex. The list should include: regional and national government institutions, academia, NGOs, youth and women groups) in the region and document the issues, including: level of awareness and expectations; urgent needs, and vision of an institutional mechanism for regional cooperation.

(e) Formulate the annotated outline of the report for preliminary comments and suggestions from the donors and key regional organizations. On the basis of the outline, prepare the draft report for presentation at the national consultation workshops.

(f) For the review and consultations on the report, organise five one-day national workshops and one two-day regional workshop with participation of the major stakeholders. Distribute the documents at least one week before the national/regional workshops for comments and review. Incorporate the comments put forward during the national workshops.

(g) Present the draft final report at a regional workshop and revise to incorporate comments made by participants.

(h) Prepare the final report and proceedings of the workshops.

C. Timeframe and Deliverables:

(a) Annotated outline of the report for preliminary comments and suggestions by the donors and key regional organizations (in English and Russian) - 2 weeks after contract signature;

(b) Draft report for presentation at the national workshops (in English and Russian) - 5 weeks after contract signature;

(c) Circulation of the draft final report for comments and review through different communication tools (web-sites, email, e-lists) before the national and regional workshops - at least 1 week before the workshops;

(d) Draft final report for presentation at the regional workshop (in English and Russian) - 8 weeks after contract signature;

(e) Final report (in English and Russian) - 10 weeks after contract signature;

(f) Proceedings of the national and regional workshops (in English and Russian) - two weeks after the workshops.

D. Contract Period:

9. In delivering his/her services, the short-term consultant will be accountable, and seek advice from the donor coordination body (ADB, UNDP and UNEP). The short-term consultant will complete the assignment during 2 man-months in the period of September 2002 - January 2003.

E. Expected qualifications

14. The following qualifications are required from the short-term consultant:

(a) PhD degree or equivalent in environment or relevant field;
(b) Minimal working experience of 10 years in environment or relevant field;
(c) International experience in development of regional environmental policies and strategies with respect to international environmental and sustainable development processes;
(d) Work experience in the Central Asia and/or CIS region;
(e) Non-affiliation with any involved governmental or non-governmental organizations in CA;
(f) Research and publication activities are welcome;
(g) Excellent knowledge of English and Russian languages with the stress on writing skills;
(h) Full computer literacy.