Local Coordinator

Request for Expressions of Interest
Consulting Services – Individual Consultant
Renewable Annual Contract on a Full-Time Basiss
Local Coordinator

Hebron Area
Country: Palestine

Assignment Title: Local Coordinator for Hebron Urban Area Reference No.: 1.1.2

The Palestine Liberation Organization, for the benefit of the Palestinian Authority has sought financing from the World Bank for the Integrated Cities and Urban Development Project (ICUD). The Project Development Objective is to assist participating urban areas to enhance their capacity to plan for sustainable urban growth. Concretely, the project will strengthen the institutional and technical capacity of participating urban areas (Ramallah area, Nablus area, Bethlehem area, Hebron area, and Gaza City) to plan for sustainable urban growth. The project will be jointly implemented by the Municipal Development and Lending Fund (MDLF) that manage procurement, financial management, safeguard, and reporting for the project and the Ministry of Local Government (MoLG) responsible for technical oversight of the project.

The project will work with the participating local government units (LGUs) to establish or strengthen intra-urban area coordination mechanisms to enable the urban areas to conduct urban growth planning. The objective of the capacity development support for urban growth planning is to respond to the needs of growing population and private sector with more sustainably and efficiently planned urban spaces and infrastructure.
The MDLF, as the delegated procurement, financial management, safeguard, and reporting agency of ICUD, intends to use part of the ICUD Grant from the World Bank (WB) fund to hire an individual consultant to serve as “Local Coordinator: Hebron Area”.

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In order to facilitate the project’s activities in each urban area and to provide the necessary coordination between participating urban areas, MoLG, and MDLF, in addition to providing technical and logistical support for project activities, MDLF will contract a Local Coordinator to be based in Hebron urban area to support the project’s implementation. The Local Coordinator will be based in either the offices of the MoLG Directorate in the governorate or in the premises of the participating LGUs.

The Local Coordinator will work under the supervision of the project’s Technical Supervisor on facilitating the implementation of all project activities at the local level in the respective urban areas. He or She will act as the liaisons between MoLG and MDLF on one hand and the LGUs on the other hand. The Local Coordinator will work with the respective urban area in close collaboration with the staff of the LGUs to ensure that
implementation of project activities advance with satisfactory quality. He or she will be responsible for:

- Working closely with the Technical Supervisor on the design and technical preparation of all project activities, ensuring that local conditions or constraints in the designated urban area are adequately taken into consideration in the project design;
- Facilitating coordination and collaboration mechanisms among project’s participating LGUs;
- Working with the GIS Specialist to identify gaps in the necessary GIS capacity (skills, software, hardware) and data (layer availability, geographic coverage) available for their urban area;
- Working with the LGU staff on gathering and organizing required data for the project’s technical assistance activities;
- Organizing meetings, training workshops, planning sessions, and any other events related to the project on behalf of the LGUs;
- Assisting the Technical Supervisor and the GIS Specialist on adapting training materials to the local context, as needed;
- Providing inputs to the Technical Supervisor on the ICUD Annual Work Plan, Budget, and Procurement Plan;
- Assisting the Technical Supervisor on monitoring and managing project activities, ensuring the LGUs’ adherence to the Annual Work Plan, Budget, and Procurement Plan approved by the World Bank, and raising any potential concerns regarding project progress to the Technical Supervisor in a timely manner;
- Providing inputs to the Technical Supervisor for project reporting purposes, related to project activities and Result Indicator Achievements;
- Coordinating between all participating LGUs within their designated urban area, including facilitating the exchange of data and expertise, organizing meetings, and, should any conflicts or obstacles arise, helping to resolve them or bringing them to the attention of the Technical Supervisor/ MoLG;
- Sharing project-related information with the Local Coordinators from other urban areas;
- Keeping the relevant officials (mayors, department heads) in the LGUs up-to-date on project progress and requirements;
- Preparing any materials regarding the designated urban area that may be requested by the Technical Supervisor,
- Similarly, preparing any materials regarding the project that may be requested by the LGU.
The Municipal Development and Lending Fund (MDLF) invites eligible qualified individuals to apply indicating their qualifications, experience, and appropriate skills to perform the services. The main qualifications of the consultants are as the following:

- A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university in urban planning, architecture, public administration, development studies, or another relevant field to the project. A master’s degree in a relevant field is highly desirable.
- At least, 4 years of previous relevant experience working in the urban development or the local government sectors in Palestine. Or, 3 years of experience for master degree holders.
- Substantial knowledge of the urban and governance context in Hebron area, particularly the functioning of LGUs in that urban area.
- Proven track record in effectively playing a coordinating or facilitating role in a project.
- Excellent communication and facilitation skills.
- Fluency in English and Arabic and strong report writing skills.
- Excellent computer skills. Some knowledge of GIS software is preferred.

The attention of interested consultants is drawn to paragraph 1.9 of the World Bank’s: Selection and Employment of Consultants under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits and Grants by World Bank Borrowers published by the World Bank in January 2011, revised in July 2014 (“Consultant Guidelines”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest.
Individual Consultants shall be selected through comparison of qualifications of those who have expressed interest in this position.
The duration of the assignment is one year on a full-time basis, extendable to the full length of the project (4 years). The expected start date for the position is February 1, 2017

Individual Consultants may obtain further information at the address below from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM from Sunday to Thursday.

Expressions of interests (including CVs) must be delivered to the address or e-mail below by January 2, 2017.

Address is: Al-Amal Tower, Mecca Street, Al-balou', Al-Bireh
Tel: 02- 2426610
Fax: 02-2426617
Palestinian Authority E-mail: [email protected]

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