(TRUST FUND PROJECT EXAMPLE)

REGIONAL PROJECT

 

Project of the Government of YYY

 

Project Title and Symbol:

Capacity Building for Nile Basin Water Resources Management GCP/.../...../... (Regional Africa)

Donor:

Government of YYY

Government Implementing Agency:

Ministries responsible for Water Resources in the participating Nile Basin countries

Duration:

3 years

Estimated Starting Date:

1 October 199-

Brief Description

The Nile Basin, which is getting increasingly water scarce, is experiencing the needs and the pressures for social and economic development to balance demographic change, address environmental degradation and secure growth, food security and stability in the region. To address regional issues of management and utilization of the common water resources the Nile Basin States have adopted a Nile vision for equitable utilization of, and benefit from the common water resources. Recent steps have been taken towards enhanced all-inclusive Nile cooperation under a transitional Nile cooperative framework, with initiation of river basin management and investment development planning. A sustainable Nile cooperation on management, utilization and conservation of the common water resources is constrained by limited capacity, including institutions, social structure and human resources. Capacity building represents a priority requirement and a prerequisite for cooperation on management and development of the Nile resources. The project, as a Second Phase of the FAO/YYY Nile Water Resources Capacity Building Programme, aims to build on and continue to reinforce the capacity building programme initiated under Phase I. The overall objective is to provide capacity in support of the Nile cooperation for management and development of the Nile Basin resources, working under the guidance of the Council of Ministers and the Technical Advisory Committee, in close coordination with other Nile Basin assistance programmes. The emphasis under the project will be on actions leading to significant increases in national skills in integrated management and planning of transboundary water resources through improved information management and decision support systems to assess trade-off's. In particular the project will facilitate the Nile Basin countries to improve capacity in: (a) regional and basin management and planning; (b) legal and institutional development, building of confidence and promoting stakeholder involvement; and (c) in planning and implementing subsidiary, sub-basin action programmes. The project will be focused on regional capacity building and provide the assistance of international experts including a resident Chief Technical Advisor, a Senior Advisor and specialized consultants in various disciplines, including water resources and river basin management, international law on water and information management and national consultants in different fields. The project will provide sub-contracted services and support training in regional and country workshops, specialized courses and distance training in cooperation with regional and international institutes.

Abbreviations and acronyms

CTA

Chief Technical Advisor

DSS

Decision Support Systems

FPI

Focal Point Institution

GEF

Global Environment Facility (World Bank, UNDP, UNEP)

GIS

Geographical Information Systems

HYDROMET

Hydrometeorological Survey of Lakes Victoria, Kyoga and Albert

IGAD (IGADD)

Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Drought and Desertification)

IMS

Information Management Systems

NPC

National Project Coordinator

Nile-COM

Council of Ministers of Water Affairs of the Nile Basin States

NRBI

Nile River Basin Initiative

Nile-TAC

Technical Advisory Committee (of the Nile-COM)

PSC

Project Steering Committee

PDUS

Primary User Data Station

RS

Remote Sensing

TECCONILE

Technical Cooperation Committee for the Promotion of the Development and Environmental Protection of the Nile Basin

TCP

Technical Cooperation Programme (FAO)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I: PROJECT AGREEMENT

PART II. PROJECT DESIGN

ANNEXES:

PART I: PROJECT AGREEMENT

1. Within the framework of its agreement with the Government of YYY (the Donor Government), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will supply assistance for the execution of the following project once it is accepted by the Donor and Recipient Governments.

Project Title: Capacity Building for Nile Basin Water Resources Management

Estimated Costs: Donor Government Contribution US$ 5,250,000

A detailed description of project design, including background, purpose and workplan, is provided in Part II of the present document (attached).

FAO OBLIGATIONS:

2. FAO, in close consultation with the Recipient Governments, shall be responsible for the recruitment, international travel, salaries and emoluments of the international staff (except volunteers) shown in Part II. Appointments of international staff shall be submitted to the Donor Government for clearance. All staff will work under the direction of the Chief Technical Advisor who, on behalf of FAO, is responsible for the technical execution of the project.

3. FAO will provide the equipment and supplies shown in Part II (Annex III). The equipment will remain the property of FAO for the duration of the project. In accordance with standard operating practices of FAO all equipment and facilities of the project Phase I will transfer to Phase II. At the end of the project, in accordance with standard operating practices of FAO all equipment and facilities shall be transferred to national ownership.

4. FAO will arrange for yearly supervisory travel visit to the project, to be financed from project costs as shown in Part II.

5. All FAO's obligations arising under this Project Agreement shall be subject to (i) the decisions of its governing bodies and to its constitutional, financial and budgetary provisions, and (ii) the receipt of the necessary contribution from the Donor Government. Any obligations assumed by FAO may, at any time, be taken over by the Donor Government.

6. FAO may, in consultation with the Donor Government, execute part or all of the project by sub-contract. The selection of the sub-contractors shall be made, after consultation with the Donor Government, in accordance with FAO's procedures.

GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS

7. The Recipient Governments (The Governments) shall take all necessary measures to facilitate the execution of the project and to assist the FAO staff in obtaining such services and facilities as they may require to fulfil their tasks. The Governments shall apply to FAO, its property, funds and assets, its officials and to the persons performing services on its behalf, in connection with the project, the provisions of the Convention of Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies; the currency exchange rate established with the United Nations.

8. The Governments shall deal with any claims brought by third parties against FAO, its personnel or other persons performing services on its behalf in connection with the project, except when it is agreed by FAO and the Governments that such claims arise from gross negligence or willful misconduct of such persons.

9. The Governments shall be responsible for the recruitment, salaries and social security measures of the national staff. The Governments shall also provide the facilities and supplies shown in Part II (E), as and when required for the project.

10. The Governments shall grant to the staff of FAO and of the Donor Government and to persons acting on their behalf, access to the Project site and to any material or documentation relating to the Project and shall provide any relevant information to such staff or persons.

11. The Governments are responsible for the cost of customs and duty clearance of project equipment.

REPORTING

12. FAO will report on the project to the Donor and Recipient Governments as detailed in Part II (H).

13. The Governments shall agree to the dissemination of information like descriptions of the project and of its objectives and results, for the purpose of educating public opinion.

AMENDMENTS AND TERMINATION

14. This Project Agreement may be amended or terminated by mutual consent. Termination shall also take effect sixty days after receipt by any party of written notice from the other party. In the event of termination, the obligations already assumed by the Donor Government shall remain in force to the extent necessary to permit orderly withdrawal of the funds and assets of FAO and of personnel performing services on its behalf.

15. The Project Agreement shall enter into force upon signature by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Water Affairs of the Nile Basin States, on behalf of and duly authorized hereto by the Recipient Governments.

Hon. Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Water Affairs of the Nile Basin States

For the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

..................................................................

.....................................................

Date.:..........................................................

Date.:..............................................

For the Government of YYY

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Date.: ...................................

PART II. PROJECT DESIGN

A. BACKGROUND

A1. Introduction

The Nile Basin

The Nile Basin covers 3.1 million km2 and includes some of the poorest countries in the world. In 1990, the population in the Basin was about 160 million people and projected to increase to 300 million by 2010. Several of the Nile countries are below the poverty line, with limited, or negative, economic growth and most of them are classified as food insecure. Most of the Nile economies depend heavily upon agriculture, for exports and with most of the population relying upon subsistence production for food and income security.

In the past the Nile Basin water resources have been adequate to meet existing and emerging demands for water by the Nile Basin countries. As a consequence of population growth and environmental degradation of the resources, annual water availability per inhabitant in the Nile Basin as a whole and in and the individual countries has declined. With increasing pressures on the scarce common water resources, capacity, at regional and national level, is needed to ensure efficient management and planning for sustainable utilization and conservation of the resources.

Initial Nile Basin Assistance

In 1989, at the request of the Nile countries for a regional assistance with capacity building support covering the entire basin and complementary to on-going FAO/... GCP assistance on Nile Forecasting in XXX, FAO formulated and initiated a programme on resources management for agriculture within the Nile River Basin. A regional TCP-project provided assistance to the nine Nile countries and involved national experts, with support for coordination and review of options for cooperation in the Nile Basin region.

As a result, a regional project was formulated on operational water resources management and information system in the Nile Basin countries. The project aimed at strengthening regional coordination and addressing capacity gaps in water resources management, especially in the upstream Nile Basin countries, for joint management and equitable utilization of the common water resources, and for protection of the environment in the Nile Basin. In 1993, the Government of YYY agreed to support the project under the FAO-YYY Cooperation Programme. The project, GCP/RAF/../... Phase I became operational in January 1996 and was completed in June 1999.

On the basis of a request by the governments the Donor Government was requested to consider an extension of the project to a second phase.

A2. Existing institutional framework of the sub-sector

The existing, all inclusive institutional framework; which is transitional; is pending the outcome of the ongoing projects on institutional framework, is known as the Nile River Basin Initiative.

The institution is composed of the Council of Ministers of Water Affairs in the Nile (Nile-COM), the Technical Advisory Committee (Nile TAC) and the Secretariat (Nile TEC). The Nile TEC with head office in XXX is headed by an Executive Director. The Initiative, endorsed by the governments in September 1998, is designed to secure coordinated external assistance from external support agencies active in the Basin. Other donors beside the government of YYY include the World Bank, UNDP and ... have agreed to provide a coherent assistance programme in support of the Nile Basin Cooperation. It is recognized that a more formal coordinating mechanism linking those donors active in the region needs to be established with regular meetings coinciding with the meetings of the TAC/COM.

An international donor coordinating meeting is scheduled for 2000 under the Initiative. The Government of YYY should participate in this forum. The objective being to support and review individual donor actions to ensure consistency with the principles of the NRBI and to avoid redundancy and overlap.

Under the partnership, the World Bank is focusing on development investments, UNDP is supporting institutional development for cooperative frameworks and FAO, together with its donors- primarily the government of YYY, is expected to continue to focus on the cross-cutting issue of capacity building in water resources management and development planning, legal and institutional aspects and information management. The needs to formulate basin wide and subsidiary action programs have been identified and there is a priority need to provide capacity building support, which is well tuned in support of the basin and sub-basin programmes. Capacity represents the critical constraint to progressing Nile cooperation and is therefore a cross-cutting priority requirement as the foundation for the Initiative.

A3. Prior and On-going Assistance

Prior and Ongoing FAO supported regional projects

The regional projects implemented with the support of FAO, of significance for the Nile Basin, are listed and summarized below:

  • TCP/RAF/.... "Monitoring, Forecasting and Simulation of the River Nile Basin for Agricultural Production", in 1990-91, supported coordination and development of cooperation the Nile region. A project identification mission identified priority 35 projects of relevance to the White Nile sub-basin.
  • The project TCP/RAF/... "Water Resources Management Policy and Institutions in the Lake Victoria Region", 1993-95 aimed at developing and strengthening national water resources policy with legal and institutional aspects in the Lake Victoria catchment.
  • IGAD Early Warning and Food Information System (GCP/RAF/.../...)
    The project, completed in 1993, had the objective to strengthen food security in the IGAD region. The project established the basis for improved regional information flow.
  • Remote Sensing for an Early Warning System in Eastern and Southern
    Africa. (GCP/RAF/.../.. andGCP/RAF/../...)
    The long-term objective was to strengthen early warning system for food security through satellite remote sensing capabilities for the monitoring of precipitation and vegetation in Eastern and Southern Africa. The RAF/... project set up a sub-regional remote sensing unit at the Regional Centre for Services in surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing in Nairobi.
  • Land Cover Mapping of East Africa Based on Satellite Remote Sensing (GCP/RAF/.../...), on-going since 1996 with participation of 10 countries. The project is developing a multi-purpose resource database and commensurate capacity building in mapping and analysis of remotely sensed data. The project provides land cover analysis and mapping tools and has developed a new standard for Land Cover Classification - LCCS and software for Interpretation and Mapping - AIMS. The project has concentrated on institutional capacity building and training of nationals from institutes in the region. The project has generated land cover data sets for Country XXX and will ultimately cover all Nile Basin countries; these outputs will considerably strengthen the availability of data for enhanced hydrological modelling. A second phase of the project has been proposed to concentrate on applications of the database, Information management systems and land dynamics in support of the assessment of land cover change in relation to the UNCED conventions on biodiversity, desertification and climate change.
  • TCP/RAF/... "Water Hyacinth Control in East Africa", in 1993-95 with participation of ..... and the objective to establish technically sound systems for water weed control.
    Water Resources of Lake Victoria (GCP/RAF/.../...),     on-going (completion June 1999); the project is supporting data and information management on water resources, water use and demand and development and application of DSS for formulation by the Lake Victoria countries of appropriate policies and coordinated water management strategies. The project is mutually complementary to the World Bank/GEF-assisted Lake Victoria Environmental Management project.
  • GCP/RAF/.../... - Phase I - Nile Basin Water Resources Project with the title "Operational Water Resources Management and Information System in the Nile Basin Countries". The project was operational from 1996-99, it established the project framework, including the national focal points and provided capacity building in priority areas for water resources management in the Nile Basin.

B. PROJECT RATIONALE AND JUSTIFICATION

B1. THE FIRST PROJECT PHASE

GCP/RAF/.../.. Nile Basin Water Resources Project was formulated in 1992 with the original title "Operational Water Resources Management and Information System in the Nile Basin Countries". The project, formulated under an initial FAO-TCP basin wide assistance in 1989-1991, was aimed at providing complementary assistance in capacity building to the upstream riparian and to be commensurate with the on-going FAO/... assistance to the Government of XXX on Nile Forecasting Systems. In this context the project provided for regional dimension to the assistance for regional water resources management and capacity building support, extended to the Nile Basin countries other than XXX. The purpose was to address the substantial gaps in water resources management capacity that existed in and between in the countries in the Nile Basin. XXX, a recipient of FAO assistance on management of the Nile water resources, had confirmed that with its well established capacity in water resources management, the country would not benefit further from participation in the regional capacity building project. As a consequence project participation in Phase I included all eight Nile countries except ....

During the initial period of project mobilization, from 1993, the Nile Basin countries were briefed on the project and consulted to secure their participation in the project. As a result and over time all the eight countries formally joined the project. The Government of XXX accepted to host the project in the Water Department in ....

The project organization was established with headquarters in ... and with National Focal Points in all the beneficiary countries and, with the arrival of the Chief Technical Advisor, the project became fully operational in early 1996. As XXX joined the project and the mutual confidence, sense of ownership and collaboration of the countries developed, the project made progress and became generally recognized as an important and effective capacity building component seen as a critical component within the framework of the Nile Basin Cooperation.

Project objectives

Initially the first phase of the project was orientated towards assistance for direct Nile Basin management measures, through harmonizing national water policies, establishing international cooperation frameworks, basin management and development plans and monitoring systems. The project objectives comprised regional coordination and building the capacity to negotiate and establish joint management, equitable sharing and utilization of the water resources and protection of the environment in the Nile Basin. The two initial immediate project objectives were directed towards the establishment of:

    (a) conceptual frameworks and mechanisms at regional, basin and national level for water resources and environmental management in the Nile Basin, and

    (b) a regional water resources management and environmental monitoring information system for the Nile Basin.

At the level of implementation these objectives were found to be premature and ambitious going beyond a capacity building scope of the project. With time other parallel assistance programmes were initiated, such as the UNDP assisted "D-3" project started in 1995 with the responsibility to develop a final basin cooperative framework. The project succeeded in the establishment of the Nile-TAC in 1998 assisted by the World Bank with water resources development planning, as the principle task. Considering these parallel initiatives the original FAO project was reviewed and adjusted accordingly in July 1996. It became clear that sustainable management and development of the Nile Basin resources was subject to social and human resources constraints and, as a result the project became fully focused on capacity building with the objectives to:

  1. facilitate adequate, well-harmonized national water policies in the participating Nile Basin States;
  2. provide institutional strengthening and training in legal, organizational and technical issues related to integrated river basin management and the allocation of transboundary water resources;
  3. support development and distribution of tools, and training in their use, for the analysis of the physical, social, economic and environmental impact on each country of existing and future proposals for the development of water resources by the riparian countries; and
  4. provide definition and implementation of an improved and financially sustainable water resources monitoring system.

The project outputs were reduced to realistic levels and adapted to identified priority needs. The change of direction and a number of operational adjustments, mentioned in the following contributed largely to improved performance and progress under the project:

  • strengthened and improved communication support to the national Focal Points,
  • standardized approaches and tools and equal distribution of project inputs and benefits between the participating countries,
  • adjustment of procedures for the Project Steering Committee to enhance the full participation of the countries in decisions on project priorities and allocation of project resources,
  • change from a national to a regional focus with regional capacity building workshops adapted to the needs under the Nile River Basin Initiative; the regional support continued to be supplemented with national water sector policy reviews responding to immediate needs in a limited number of the beneficiary countries,
  • enhanced confidence in the project within and among the riparian countries, with the project recognized by the Council of the Ministers of Water Affairs in the Nile Basin countries (Nile-COM),
  • FAO's active participation in the formulation of the Nile Basin programme, including preparation of background documentation and secondment of individual FAO experts to the parallel Nile Basin activities,
  • capacity building responding directly to needs of parallel Nile projects, e.g. the UNDP-assisted Nile Cooperative Framework (D-3) project and the World Bank supported Nile River Basin Initiative,
  • full recognition by the participating countries of the importance of inclusivity, and as a result participation of all Nile Basin countries in the second project phase,
  • a capacity building strategy with linkages between the project components; the information management activities responded to the subjects of the capacity building workshops and were adapted to requirements defined during these events, and
  • close attention to emerging needs and issues to respond, follow-up and reconcile national priorities, within the longer term Nile cooperation perspectives.

Main capacity building achievements at the end of Phase I:

The achievements in Phase I of the project are summarized as:

  • participation with cooperation of all Nile countries and coordination of capacity building assistance with other on-going Nile programmes established
  • recognition of the project as the main Nile Basin capacity building programme by all parties
  • consolidation of the management mechanism for the project - a Project Steering Committee, with two permanent representatives from each country meeting every six months
  • establishment of institutions, teams and working groups and officials participating in and coordinating project activities at national level, with responsible Focal Point Institutions (FPI) and National Project Coordinators (NPC) assigned by the individual beneficiary Governments
  • national GIS Experts trained in each country on RS for rainfall estimation and GIS and for management and planning of the transboundary Nile Basin water resources
  • National Meteorological Departments, in each country, provided with equipment including satellite images capturing, archiving and processing facilities for provision of meteorological data to the Water Ministries and the FPI's. The FPI's equipped with a vehicle, computer facilities, e-mail communications, GIS facilities and improved information bases on water resources
  • enhanced knowledge of senior water officials of legal, negotiation approaches and technical aspects of transboundary water policy, river basin institutions and investment planning of beneficial use of transboundary water resources
  • visible and recognized sensitizing of high level Nile decision-makers including participation in a ministerial study tour
  • participation of national officials and experts from parallel Nile activities in project regional training events - e.g. of the members of the Panel of Experts
  • bringing national water management capacities to equal level; responding to national needs for national waters policy reviews in specific countries,
  • harmonizing principles and methodology for transboundary water resources management and planning through:
  • identification of pilot basins to initiate application of methodology and tools
  • improvement of hydrological and meteorological databases, focusing on selected pilot basins
  • establishment of compatible GIS centres using standardized hard- and software and classification and storage systems.

Outstanding gaps, at the end of Phase I:

Some of the project outputs foreseen in the project document and the revised work plan could only be partially achieved. Due to limitations in available time and budget the following three major components could not be fully achieved within Phase I and will, in selected parts, to be addressed further in Phase II:

  • basin and sub-basin planning and optimization exercise, through harmonization of the national water policies and implementation of a regional integrated water resources information system. The objective of harmonizing and strengthening national water policy has proven to fall outside the scope of the project as well as being inappropriate as an objective and will be replaced with capacity building on principles for management and planning of transboundary water resources. The project objective of development planning is a major responsibility of the Nile-TAC. The project, within the capacity building objective, has therefore been re-oriented from the production of regional and sub-regional plans towards the improvement and reconciliation of the technical national capacities to focus on establishing necessary capacity for planning and notification of development of the Nile water resources development, at basin- and sub-basin level, and
  • training on the application of Decision Support System (DSS) at national, sub-regional and regional levels and sub-basins.
  • definition with support for the establishment of monitoring hydro-meteorological network.

Main Lessons for Phase-II

Phase II represents a direct follow-up of Phase I to bring the achievements of the first phase to a sustainable level of capacity in transboundary water resources management Based on the experience in Phase I the following aspects need to be recognized to make full use and draw maximum benefit from the capacities established in the first project phase, in Phase II of the project:

  • make maximum use of project position; established capacities, institutional units and investments made in project Phase I
  • maintain the project's capacity building objectives
  • realistic assessment of objectives and outputs to be achieved in Phase II.

The conditions at the start of Phase II are more clearly defined than when Phase I was formulated and initiated. With established and equipped project units in the participating countries and the project fully recognized as an integrated component of the NRBI, conditions are favourable and the success II depends by and large of the capability to: (a) make effective use of the resources established in Phase I; and (b) make capacity building responsive to the requirements of transboundary management and regional development under the NRBI. In this context, and in view of the scope of the task, it will also be important to set realistic and well focused objectives and priorities and define outputs balanced with the project resources. Capacities will be established in the context of inclusivity, with all Nile Basin countries participating in the capacity building process in order to ensure synergy and building of confidence between the countries. The regional approach as reflected in the objectives of the Nile Basin cooperation, regional development provides for optimal use and benefits from the basin resources. Therefore, to ensure sustainability the project should not be diverted to national level, but be focused on the regional capacity:

  • flexibility in project workplans, project steering and management mechanisms and use of project assistance and resources - to respond timely to changing conditions with the variable conditions and needs in the different sub-basins and individual Nile countries
  • equal distribution, within the project objectives responding to the priority needs of individual Nile countries, of project assistance and resources
  • close coordination, and contact with and capacity building support to other Nile Basin programs and activities
  • initiation of the activity on Information Management Systems and Decision Support Systems.

With improved capacities on information management in the individual countries the activity is important to provide necessary linkages and define the objectives and approaches and use of the planning tools introduced in the project.

B2. Situation Expected at the End of the Project

Phase II is aimed at capacity building in support of the wider Nile Basin Initiative. Phase II is designed to fill the gaps, to undertake the activities not previously implemented and to continue the diversified capacity building activities that are expected to substantially improve the capabilities of the FPI. Therefore, the Nile Basin countries will be able to undertake increasingly demanding responsibilities and tasks within the Nile Basin cooperation.

There will specific attention and steps within the project to assure the consolidation of sustainability in Phase I of the project and of the project assistance in Phase II. Specifically these shall include:

  • the project together with the governments of the NRBI will provide solid assistance to establish institutions to accommodate the capacities and skills developed in the project. This development has already been initiated in the focal point institutions in the participating countries.
  • Governments and the Nile Basin Initiative will ensure that staff trained under the project will be made available and remain in the Nile Basin programme
  • To this end the project will constant liase and coordinate with governments and parallel programmes to work towards these sustainability objectives for active application and use, application, maintenance and further development of the outputs of projects and established capacities.
  • In particular the sustainability aspects will be monitored under the training impact system to be established by the project

More specifically, the following improvements towards sustainable capacity are expected at the end of the project:

  • A multidisciplinary team comprised of experts from various institutions will have carried out a case water resources planning study water covers several of the essential aspect of the planning process (resource assessment, analysis of development options, socio-economic and environmental implications and legal and institutional options). The teams and the individual members will be mobilized as established units under the Initiative to be recognized and actively used in the Nile Basin planning activities under the shared vision and subsidiary programmes .
  • A team with participants from each of the participating country is trained in the legal and institutional aspects of transboundary water resources management, for continued dialogue, confidence building and stakeholder involvement and capacity for follow-up and implementation of agreed Nile Basin cooperative and monitoring frameworks. The team and the individual members will fill the present gap of regional expertise in the Nile Basin in these critical areas. The teams will provide the necessary knowledge base for continued dialogue under the Nile Basin cooperative frameworks and to maintain and develop bilateral contact and agreement.
  • Improved ability - at the FPI's - to examine transboundary water issues in a more systematic and efficient manner, with the support of consistent information, improved access and appropriately designed and installed analytical tools.
  • Improved national and regional capacity in planning of water uses at a more sustainable level according to an established national and regional institutional/legal framework. The FPI's will be provided with a computerized, geographically referenced core databases and metadata based on agreed standards. An Information System will be developed for the Basin Initiative and a decision support system based on expert systems developed for selected pilot areas to assist the countries in improved modelling of trade-offs.
  • Trained staff at the FPI's in each country will be handling the Information System and DSS and will be able to apply the methodologies and models introduced for the pilot areas to other areas/applications, and in general.
  • Improved capacity at national and regional level to respond to and support the themes in accordance with the Nile River Basin Initiative, also supporting the activities and planning tasks under the basin-wide and subsidiary programmes.

As a consequence of the above points, the FPI's, and other related national institutions and cooperative frameworks are expected to have improved human resources with fully recognized and institutionalized capacity and skills. This will also provide for technical quality of responsible manager and technical and administrative units to be in a better positions to advise on the effectiveness and trade-off opportunities provided by alternative development scenarios, evaluate environmental and economic implications of water utilization options and to formulate, communicate and negotiate such options at basin and sub-basin level.

B3. Concerned parties and target beneficiaries

The participation of the Nile countries in the project is organized through the FPIs as immediate counterpart units located in the water resources or other departments responsible for water resources in the beneficiary Nile Basin countries. Operational FPIs, exist in the eight countries participating in Phase I and new FPIs are scheduled to be put in place in XXX under the project. The current, immediate beneficiaries of the project assistance are the staff related to transboundary water issues of the Water Ministries in the recipient countries and staff related to the Nile River Basin Initiative. It is expected that the established capacity and skills will be of direct benefit to members and staff of intermediate and final Nile River Basin Organizations.

The long term beneficiaries through this process of planning and development are the Nile Basin countries and their populations.

The project assistance and capacity building activities are expected to involve an extended, number of national water resources officials, from the relevant ministries in the Nile Basin countries and the private sector, of different disciplines (e.g. engineers and hydrologists, data specialists, environmentalists, economists, layers etc.) and representing different sub-sectors (e.g. water resources, irrigation, hydropower, conservation and biodiversity etc.). Other indirect beneficiaries are professionals in private sector entities, who would be involved in and benefit from the planning and implementation activities of trained staff. It can be expected that at the end of Phase II any required additional capacity building will be limited to specific and specialized areas, such as regional economic development and technology.

The Nile Basin cooperation and a regional approach provides for additional social and economic development opportunities that would not be attainable at national levels. In particular the agreed objectives of equitable distribution open the opportunity of redistribution and poverty alleviation in the region. The development of the water sector and the equitable sharing of the resulting benefits will, in the long term, benefit the populations in selected sub-basins, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable groups, under the poverty-alleviation commitment of the Nile Basin states, resulting in enhanced welfare, food security and natural resources conservation thus fulfilling important aspects of the FAO mandate.

Also, the increased establishment of research data and information, an immediate and effective indicator of enhanced cooperation between Nile Basin countries, will facilitate the activities of national and regional research organizations and higher education institutions.

B4. Project strategy

Linkages and directions

The project intends to continue and reinforce the capacity building programme initiated in Phase I. Focus will be given to enhancing the national skills in water resources assessment and planning, with broadened knowledge and experience in the legal and institutional approaches to management, utilization and administration of transboundary water resources. The project will build on and make use of the technologies and skills introduced by the Phase I project. Emphasis will shift further towards a regional approach with development and application of basin initiatives divided along the lines as defined by Nile-COM and Nile-TAC. Further efforts to integrate and standardize planning, institutional and information management approaches with the data sets in the countries will be made. This will establish the principles for management, planning and legal and institutional strategies and create a "common language" on technical matters among the participating countries that will facilitate dialogs based on comparable experiences. This Phase II of the project will be characterized by the integration of the various activities that the project has implemented in the past and the project will benefit from its current position as the principal capacity building component in the Nile Basin.

Sub-basin planning case studies

Sufficient capacity has been established in phase I for undertaking joint studies on selected transboundary sub-catchments. The capacity building in water resources planning will therefore be enhanced through a focus on real case pilot studies concentrating on sub- basins selected by the individual countries. These sub-basins would relate to national priorities, in national basins or basins shared between two or more countries and be located within or outside the Nile Basin. The pilot studies, supported under the project would create an opportunity for the member countries to sustain the initiated dialog on possible solutions of the outstanding issues. The studies might single out alternative interests in using the waters; the project will assist the countries to concur, in a wider regional context to identify solutions based on systematic investigation of the benefits of alternative options. The studies will provide the basis to build capacity to handle issues of presentation of planned measures and their impact, including notification and communication, and enhance the skills to prepare and conduct international negotiations. The related capacities in the Nile Basin are generally weak. As the needs for quality performance develop rapidly and pressures build on Nile Basin water managers and specialist, these capacities can be expected to be in demand for development and negotiation of agreed plans for the use of the common waters.

The sub-Basin studies on pilot areas carried out at the FPI's will represent the elements of cohesion. Each of the various project components (legal and institutions, policy and planning and management, IMS, DSS, national core database development, and remote sensing) will play a role in the analysis and evaluation of the development scenarios identified by the individual national focal points. The results obtained and the experiences will be discussed and compared in regional workshops.

Strengthening of legal and institutional capacity

The project capacity building assistance on legal and institutional aspects of transboundary water resources management will respond to needs for further legal and institutional development and implementation of identified Nile cooperative frameworks and in particular will address gaps and further requirements for this purpose . The project capacity building will be focused on and continue to support an active Nile Basin forum and dialogue and include preparation for negotiations and establishment of negotiation skills, enhanced awareness, mutual confidence building in relation to the training in management and planning including the sub-basin case planning studies. With a project approach directed towards integration of disciplines and activities, the capacity building on basin monitoring will be directly linked with the introduced methodology and capacity on planning, legal and institutional development and information management. The project will assist in extending the number of regional expertise, which is extremely scarce and is a main limitation to progress of the Nile Basin cooperation.

Information management capacity

Improved management of water resources and abilities to simulate a variety of scenarios cannot materialize without an appropriate mechanism to both collect, analyze, and extract materially important information from the envisaged and upgraded data collection networks currently being or already established in the Basin. Currently developed synthetic data sets remain limited in their reflection of reality and data calibration studies and too few to give credible results. A supportive role of the Phase II initiative is to design and introduce an integrated water resources planning capacity, which shall be enhanced and supported through improved information access mechanisms for decision makers and incorporating appropriate advanced decision support systems. Through the development, training and incorporation of these tools into the regular planning, management and monitoring process and integrated with the functional requirements of an improved mechanism for attaining a rationalization in the planning process the countries capacities will evolve to a more sustainable level. It is recognized that improved water resources management, particularly of transboundary water resources, requires that the information systems upon which they are built shall consider the inclusion of essential spatial and tabular layers, remotely sensed data, time series as well as pertinent environmental, natural resources with related institutional and socio-economic data. The data sets, collected through an improvement of the local capacity to collect new hydrological data in countries where the networks have suffered from deleterious effects or be based on enhanced networks incorporating the use of RS data. Information emanating from these approaches shall be prepared using agreed standard formats, that will be applied to guarantee compatibility between information systems in the project countries and applicability to areas of use. Data integrity and confidentiality shall not be impaired and the approaches to integration of applicable data sets will be standardized and core data at the national level supported through the development/adoption of accepted international standards. The management of information, through appropriately designed systems should be constructed in such a way as to provide the basic user interface for the design of a decision support systems; make data accessible to the broad community of potential users at the national level and enhance planning and scenario development for simulating the use, development or storage of transboundary water.

Poverty alleviation, gender issues and environmental conservation.

While national water resources managers, planners, legal and institutional experts and information experts are the main stay of the capacity development programme the project is committed to insert and consistently support the needs of poor populations, gender issues and protection of the environment. As a capacity building project, the above principles will be addressed indirectly. However, the project will, as a matter of principle, consistently address issues related to poverty alleviation, gender issues and environmental conservation and protection as major concerns under the Nile River Basin Initiative.

Regional approach

The project will maintain a balanced focus on regionally relevant activities and capacity for regional cooperation, while limiting its involvement in general national needs. In this context the project will assist in identifying and exchanging within-the-region experience and training capacities in the project areas. Individual countries, including XXX can be expected to be providers to other interested basin countries of training in planning and information management methodology and technology, through the project. While the project will be focused on components of common interest, as identified by the countries, it will also need to be flexible and responsive to addressing the needs of the individual countries. The project will therefore be responsive to, and assist in, identifying capacity building needs that are in support of the Nile Basin Initiative Programme defined by the Nile-COM/TAC for planning and development of the Nile water resources.

Management and technical support

To secure a common approach, the project will continue to be managed by a resident project CTA with project technical and support staff including the services of 2 APOs, in a central project office, established, staffed and equipped in Phase I, in the host country of the project. This is expected to ensure the continuity in providing capacity building support to the individual countries. The Project Steering Committee, established in Phase I, will continue to monitor the progress and provide regular guidance and directives to the project. The capacity building will be provided through the technical project team, which will include a resident CTA, who is a specialist in water resources planning and management, supported by a Senior Advisor consultant and additional specialist staff in other areas as legislation, economic and social development, environmental policy, information management and decision support systems. The constitution of national multidisciplinary teams and the relevant training will be key to capacity sustainability and the promotion of technical cooperation among the riparian countries. Training in specific areas (such as legal and institutions and DSS) will be undertaken in the countries or the region according to the direct needs and applications. Regional workshops and seminars at different levels will contribute to keep all member countries up-to-date on the progress of activities and on issues and problems raised during implementation. Additional training opportunities will be provided by courses on specific topics, and by distance learning arrangements with international institutes specialized in water resources planning and management. The training activities will be thoroughly monitored enabling the evaluation of its impact. A new monitoring system will be designed early in the project.

Sustainability of established capacities

Necessary steps will be taken to secure the sustainability of the established capacities and to ensure necessary linkages and involvement and provide the direct capacity support to coordination through the participating Governments. To optimize project utilization and delivery, the national focal points need to be institutionalized within established structures with clear mandates, staff, organizations and required resources be located in the Departments responsible for water resources in the Nile Countries. The specific steps towards building viable and sustainable outputs are mentioned under sections B2 and B3. The following can be expected to ensure the sustainability of the project outputs:

The Nile Basin cooperation and a regional approach provides for additional social and economic development opportunities that would not be attainable at national levels. Regional capacity is therefore linked and critical to important social and economic development issues and can be expected to be in demand, utilized and well supported by the Nile Basin countries.

The teams and the individual members trained under the project, will be mobilized as established units under the Initiative to be recognized and actively used in the Nile Basin planning activities under the shared vision and subsidiary programmes. They will fill the present gap of regional expertise in the Nile Basin in several critical areas. As one important example the teams will represent the necessary knowledge base for continued dialogue under the Nile Basin cooperative frameworks and to maintain and develop bilateral contact and agreement.

Phase II aims at reaching a threshold for capacity sustainability.

It can also be expected that at the end of Phase II the general capacity has been built, and requirements for additional capacity, if any will be limited to specific and highly specialized areas.

B5. Institutional Framework and Counterpart Support Capacity

Regional Institutions

FAO's counterpart institution for the implementation of the project are the Ministries responsible for Water Resources in the Nile Basin Countries.

The project is endorsed by the Council of Ministers of Water Affairs in the Nile Basin Countries (Nile-COM) as a constituent part under the Shared Vision Programme under the Nile River Basin Initiative. FAO recognizes the Nile-COM, with Nile-TAC and the Secretariat as a transitional regional cooperation agreement at the most senior level in the Nile Basin, endorsed by the Nile countries, with the exception of XXX.

The Nile-COM, through the Nile-TAC, will receives regular reports from the project related to progress, activities, coordination requirements and other matters and issues related to the project.

Project Steering, Coordination and Monitoring Mechanisms

Project Steering Committee

Project coordination will be handled under an advisory Project Steering Committee (PSC), with two members from each of the beneficiary countries, two representatives of FAO, two representatives of the Donor (see Annex IVa; Terms of Reference for PSC).

The PSC meets annually on regular basis and, as extraordinary meetings as justified from special circumstances, at the request of at least two of the three parties (PSC representing the beneficiary countries, FAO and the Donor). The PSC provides advice and recommendations to FAO for execution of the project.

Tripartite Review

The project will be monitored by a three members Tripartite Review team with one representative from each of the three parties: (1) one member representing the beneficiary countries, (2) one member representing FAO and (3) one member representing the Donor. (See Annex IVb Terms of Reference for the Tripartite Review). The joint governance of the project will come into being through the preparation and subsequent endorsement of the global (project) and individual national workplans to be reviewed and endorsed at the first PSC which shall be convened within the first three months of the new project phase. Critical to the process of assessment of the success of project will be an assessment of the deliverable outputs of the project monitored and evaluated through a log- frame approach developed at the time of the preparation of the project workplan.

Project Management and Organization

The project is managed by a resident Chief Technical Advisor (CTA) who shall work closely with national representatives. The project management receives operational support from the Operation Services Branch TCOC and the Country Project Officer responsible in FAO for project execution. The technical level and quality under the project is the responsibility of the project CTA and the two senior FAO HQ officers responsible in the areas of water management and planning and in Remote Sensing, Geographical Information Systems and Information Management. The project will also be supported through the recruitment of two Associate Professional Officers as possible and a United Nations Volunteer.

The execution with regular reporting of project activities at national level is secured through the 10 National Coordinators (NPC) and the staff of the National Focal Point Institutions (FPI) in the Departments of Water Resources. FPIs are established in eight countries under Phase I with two additional FPIs, in XXX as new countries under the project.

Counterpart Support Capacity

The Nile cooperation represents a priority regional programme which is given highest attention and support in the participating countries. Similar to in Phase I the participating countries will assign and provide the services of senior officials and qualified national specialist and provide logistic and institutional support to the project. In this context and as additional resources can be expected to become available under the Nile River Basin Initiative conditions for active follow-up, use and support of project activities and established skills at regional and national level are positive.

B6. Reasons for assistance from FAO-Government Cooperative Programme

Capacity building - a critical development factor

As progress of socio-economic development has remained limited in the Nile region, this can to a large extent be attributed to low capacity, including social, institutional and human resources constraints, to assess, manage and develop the Nile Basin transboundary water resources. Equal level of capacity with common understanding and approaches to the management of the common resources are necessary prerequisites for a sound and unbiased dialogue to progress regional cooperation for joint development and sharing of benefits of the common basin resources. Capacity building, with other requirements including policy and investment, is a critical component for sustainable development and environmental conservation in the Nile Basin. Capacity building is however a long term process, which will require continuous and insistent assistance.

Opportunities within Nile Cooperation

The project, as a second phase of the FAO/YYY Nile River Basin capacity building programme, offers important opportunities to continue to contribute a broadly recognized capacity building assistance. As the Nile cooperation progresses the project assistance represents an important integrated component within the framework of a rapidly emerging, all inclusive regional Nile River Basin Initiative (NRBI). The initiative is based on inclusiveness and carries the requirement, and the opportunity to collaborate with and assist all the Nile Basin countries. The project will benefit from the momentum and respond to immediate and longer term demands for capacity building as the critical requirement for sustainable management and utilization of the Nile water resources. In the context of the NRBI, capacity building forms the foundation for the initiative, cutting across the various Basin-wide themes and subsidiary programme.

Continuity and Linkages between Phase I and the Project

With the capacities, institutional arrangements and investments in equipment in phase I, the conditions for an effective and efficient project assistance under the project are in place. During phase I, impartial and independent assistance from FAO facilitated institution strengthening, data gathering, planning approaches and negotiations - as prerequisites for confidence building and basin-wide cooperation. This approach will be followed and widened and provide maximum linkages with Phase I.

The project will benefit from capacities, counterpart arrangements and institutions, including an active and well functioning Project Steering Committee with qualified, high level participation and existing investments in technical and logistic equipment established in Phase I.

Long-term FAO/YYY assistance in the Nile Basin Region

The project is consistent with and provides continuity to the strong and long-tem presence in the region of FAO/YYY and FAO with consistent assistance to support Nile Basin management. In addition to the phase I project, the FAO/YYY assistance programme includes the recently completed regional project GCP/RAF/.../... on early warning and food security and the on-going GCP/RAF/.../... on the development of a multi-purpose resource database for countries of the Eastern Africa region based on satellite remote sensing.

B7. Special considerations

Phase II, differently from Phase I, is fully focused on regional capacity building in the context of inclusivity, with participation and maximum contact and exchange between all Nile countries. While focused on specific regional capacity building needs, a holistic and multidisciplinary approach, for harmonized planning approaches at an equal strength and active participation of the countries is particularly important for the approach of the project. The assistance will provide direct support to the Nile River Basin Initiative, covering all areas and capacity requirements for the basin wide and the subsidiary sub-basin action programmes (such as optimization, economic analysis, stakeholder involvement and establishment of skills) The approach should secure an equal capacity building support to individual countries, with attention to specific gaps and the different needs of the individual basin countries.

The countries have selected pilot sub-basin to be used as training ground - the capacity building activities will therefore progress with a focus on real cases which might, depending on the choice of the individual countries, will be located outside or within the Nile Basin.

The capacity building programme would also be expected to take on a focal and supporting role to coordinate country programs directly or indirectly linked to capacity building for water resources development and management in the Nile Basin countries. On the other hand the project will also assist the countries to achieve concurrence in the wider regional context in identifying equitable solutions or alternative options for sustainable Nile cooperation in specific sub-basin and basin initiatives on e.g. trade, poverty alleviation and environmental conservation.

In the context of sustainability the project activities will give attention towards enhanced awareness and full recognition of social and environmental issues, including alleviation of poverty, the role of women, food security, conservation and biodiversity.

The project aims to continue and reinforce the capacity building programme initiated under Phase I. Emphasis under Phase II will be on the actions leading to significant increases in national skills in water resources planning and management using technologies introduced by the project.

C. DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVE

The second phase of the project is directed towards sustainable, long-term capacity in transboundary water management, in the Nile Basin Countries and will be focused on supporting the immediate and long term capacity needs related to and emerging from the Nile River Basin Initiative.

The goal of the project coincide with the shared Nile Basin vision "to achieve sustainable socio-economic development through the equitable utilization of, and benefit from, the common Nile Basin water resources", and the related objectives1.

The development objective of the project is to assist in the building of capacity for development and management of the Nile water resources.

D. IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVES, OUTPUTS AND ACTIVITIES

The immediate objectives of the project are consistent with the principles of the development objective and directed towards improved and balanced capacity in transboundary water resources management and planning in support of (a) regional and basin-wide management and planning, including socio-economic and environmental analysis and river basin development and investment planning; (b) institutional development for Nile Basin cooperation, including confidence building and stakeholder involvement; and (c) planning and implementation of subsidiary action programmes, mainly at the sub-basin level. Responding to the three issues the immediate objectives of the project, with the outputs and activities, are the following:

Immediate Objective 1: to facilitate the Nile Basin countries to improve capacity in regional and basin management and planning, including river basin development and investment planning and socio-economic and environmental analysis.

For the achievement of the immediate project objective, the following outputs with related activities have been identified:

Output 1.1: strengthened capacities in water resources planning

The output is to develop enhanced capacities through training in transboundary river basin management planning methodology.

Outputs include established capacity in the following areas: (a) trained staff and guidelines in principles of transboundary water resources planning and management including the concept of sustainable development; (b) developed Information Management and Decision Support Systems and develop trained capacities in their maintenance and application ; (c) improved skills in legal and institutional development; (d) improved capacity through trained staff in socio-economic aspects, including regional development, economic feasibility of a water resources project and water values and costs; and (e) trained staff in environmental aspects, in particular methodology and institutions for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

Activities:

  • prepare guidelines on principles, approaches and methodology for transboundary water resources management and planning; and undertake training on the application of these guidelines;
  • application and on the job training of basin and sub-basin thematic advanced spatial and tabular data analysis using GIS based assessment (e.g. agricultural and irrigation potentials; land capability, environmental conservation/degradation including of upper watershed; social and demographic development)
  • carry out water resources training needs and priorities assessment - on country basis; a regional, basin synopsis report;
  • three in-country short-training-courses (eight participants/two weeks duration), supplemented with distance learning arrangements with international/regional specialized institutes or academic institutions, on selected topics, e.g.: water resources planning approaches; information management systems, socio-economic aspects, environmental management including EIA procedures and methodology; and/or multi-topic courses for specific, targeted (e.g. technician, expert, management) levels,
  • based on the training needs assessment, establish and implement a training impact monitoring systems introducing e.g. log-frames or activity tracking
  • develop a Nile Basin Water resources web site, and agreed communications framework.
  • Complement existing computer and remote sensing and GIS facilities, as and when required, for improvement at the level of FPI's.

Output 1.2 Trained staff and tools for water resources management through improved IMS and DSS

Activities:

  • assess the requirement and establish a regional network of experts from each country experienced in issues of data, information management and needs for improved modelling of trade off's in support of enhanced DSS.
  • training on, with assessment of requirements, selection and application of Information Access and Decision Support Systems (two regional workshops and national level training and follow-up); two regional river basin planning training workshops, and five national, within-country workshops in selected countries.
  • develop approaches and train staff for the preparation of common standards for information management and determination of minimum data requirements for enhanced decision support systems.
  • establish partnership programmes with centres of excellence for the evaluation and further development of optimum IMS and DSS approaches.
  • determine the requirements for further development, transfer and integration of IMS and DSS models for each country based on effective dissemination of knowledge on existing models already used within the Basin.
  • enhance existing remote sensing data collection networks of priority requirement to the country and the DSS models under development. Update existing databases and improve the processing, management and exchange of data at the national level.
  • develop prototype shared vision basin wide Decision Support Systems (DSS) (in conjunction with Output 3.1) to capture the full range of information pertaining to relevant management decisions and facilitate the development of models to derive basin- wide trade offs among various water users.

Immediate Objective 2: to improve capacity for legal and institutional development,

For the achievement of the immediate project objective, the following outputs with related activities have been identified:

Output 2.1: complementary capacity support for continuation of dialogue and follow-up for a Nile Basin Cooperative framework..

Activities:

  • on-going activity: capacity building, in regional meetings, in support of the continued Nile Basin dialogue: (two regional meetings)
  • on-going activity: training in negotiation skills and conflict resolution: (two regional training workshops)
  • application, interaction with and identification of information management procedures and practices (national/regional experts' studies)

Output 2.2: improved skills in international water law and institutions

Activities:

  • assess capacity requirements in international water law and institutions for implementation of cooperative basin, sub-basin and national level frameworks; (report on legal and institutional training needs)
  • one (1) internationally convened, and two (2) within-the-region training courses and two (2) per country in international water law and institutions;
  • one expert consultation on experiences in management and development of International River Basin Organizations (IRBOs); publication and dissemination of the proceedings.
  • compilation and dissemination of guides and procedures in support of implementation of cooperative frameworks.
  • contribute to institutional arrangements with capacity for management of transboundary water resources systems, Output 2.3; case basin planning studies, Outputs 3.1. and 3..2.
  • communications and documentation on international law and institutions. Produce regular project reports and newsletters

Output 2.3: improved transboundary water resources monitoring network

Activities:

  • identification of water resources monitoring requirements and outline design of transboundary monitoring system;
  • implementation of hydro- meteorological data collection network - starting with key stations not exceeding 30.

Immediate Objective 3: to improve capacity in planning and implementing subsidiary, sub-basin action programmes.

For the achievement of the immediate project objective, the following outputs with related activities have been identified:

Output 3.1: implement water resources development planning case studies in selected sub-basins

The capacity to handle practical planning applications will be enhanced through compilation of real case planning studies. The case studies, under the responsibility of the FPI, will provide application of the established skills with material for on-job training in the preparation of a river basin management plan and/or pre-feasibility studies for individual development schemes for or in the selected sub-basins. The plans will apply, make use of and further develop the computerized information management system at the FPIs, initiated in Phase I and developed and strengthened under the project. The planning product, will be used to establish the capacity for compilation and communication of notifications on the planned measures and for preparation for negotiations.

Selection, with purpose and scope of case studies, by the individual countries will depend on their actual requirements and also be linked to practical aspects of availability of required planning information. Depending on these factors the selected case sub-basins could be national or transboundary and located within or outside of the Nile Basin.

Activities:

  • review pilot catchments selected under Phase I and the study objectives,
  • enhanced facilities at FPI's for improved communications, improved information access systems technology, improved information management facilities to effectively store and organize data, maps, documents, etc. and improve telecommunication facilities where necessary.
  • develop a geographically referenced core database for the selected basin/sub-basin using GIS facilities established2 under Phase I. ;
  • develop and design institutional arrangements, including mandates, organization and man-power, for management and operation and monitoring for the pilot area.
  • test and apply tools methodologies required to analyze alternative development options in relevant sectors the socio-economic and environmental impacts, and if applicable, transboundary and regional aspects;
  • select, develop and apply, based on introduced systems and training under Output 1.1 and Output 1.2 , an Information Management System for enhanced information access and a Decision Support System - for trade off analysis - e.g. impact analysis, optimization;
  • compile case study reports.

Output 3.2: developed capacity for preparation on notification of planned development measures.

Activities:

  • training in compilation and communication of notification file on planned measures for communication to related partners: 2 national workshops on compilation and communication of notification and preparation of information base and strategies for negotiation and rehearsal sessions on the negotiation.

Output 3.3: facilitated sub regional consultative framework/forums for deliberation of viable programmes and projects.

In accordance with the spirit of NRBI and the process elaborated for the identification of win - win projects -this output aims at supporting a request from a group of countries to initiate dialogue on sub regional project preparation.

Activities:

  • facilitate meetings of up to two groups of countries, upon their request, twice a year.
  • produce a report reflecting all the meetings and consensus on sub regional programmes

E. INPUTS

The inputs are linked to the project objectives, outputs and activities. The inputs will be distributed equitably also taking into consideration the actual capacity and present availability and equipment level in the individual Nile countries, including in XXX. The resident project staff will be is restricted to one expert as the CTA, who, in addition to project management experience, will have a background in water resources planning and management. Specialized skills will be complemented with short term consultant inputs.

E.1 Governments Inputs

Office accommodation: Initially, the Phase I project's office in the Ministry of Water Resources in Entebbe will continue to be used as the Phase II office, housing the CTA and his staff. As agreed upon, the project might move into the premises of the forthcoming Secretariat of the TAC, at the time when it will be in place.

The FPIs in the participating countries will be provided with appropriate office accommodation for staff and equipment.

National staff: During the Phase II Project, the participating countries should endeavour to assign the same qualified staff as trained under Phase I, unless otherwise decided by the country this includes members of the PSC.

Additional staff can be assigned for in-country training input. In order to achieve the desired training impact, the minimum total number of trainees in different disciplines from each country should be about 12 participants for regional training and about 30 in total, including national on-the-job training. The participating countries will ensure that the project trainees, in due course, become trainers in their own country.

The participating countries should, as far as possible, ensure that the same multi-disciplinary team nominated by the country is trained for the entire duration of the project.

E.2 Donor Inputs

The donor government through FAO will provide the following inputs to the project:

Assignment of international and national staff

(See also Budget section and TORs for the international staff)

Resident staff

  1. International resident Chief Technical Adviser (CTA) Water Resources Planner, for 36 m/m (Duty station...);
  2. If available, two Associate Professional Officers are required with acceptable experience in the following fields : Information Systems, and Legal Officer of water resources. (Duty station ...);
  3. ) UN-Volunteer Water Resources Planning and Management /Hydrologist , for 36 m/m (Duty station: ..);

International Consultants3

(iii) Senior Consultant Water Resources Management

4 m/m

(iv) Socio-economics

3 m/m

(v) Environment Policy Advisor

2 m/m

(vi) International/National Water Law, and Administration

2 m/m

(vii) Organization/Institutions

4 m/m

(viii) IMS system architect

3 m/m

(ix) GIS, database

5 m/m

(x) Communication

2 m/m

(ix) Technical backstopping by FAO-HQ staff:

18 weeks

Administrative Support Personnel

Administrative Assistant (36 m/m), one Secretary (36 m/m) and one Driver (36 m/m), all three in .... at project HQ's.

National Experts & Consultants

The following resources have been allocated for:

each National Coordinator:

3 m/m per year

each National Working Group:

3 m/m per year

each National Modeller/DSS/GIS:

3 m/m per year

each National Information System Expert:

3 m/m per year

each National Legal Consultant

3 m/m per year

to meet the requirement of DRC National modeller will be orientated towards GIS.

  

Duty Travel and Missions Costs

A lump sum (including travel and DSA) is earmarked for each trip of international staff and consultants for within region duty travels, participation to PSC meetings and to particular regional workshops, and HQ backstopping missions.

Contractual services

The following contracts will be established and carried out by the project:

  • Support to the Nile River Basin Information Management System:
  • Upgrading of the remote sensing facilities not delivered in Phase I, namely for and XXX, and compatibility upgrade for DRC;
  • Support for the design, development and application of a Decision Support System;
  • Various publications.

General Operating Expenses

Provision is made for each FPI and for the HQ to cover the following expenses: Equipment and vehicles O&M, Communications Expenses and Office Running Expenses and translation into French.

Non-Expendable Equipment

  • establishment of a new FPI sites in ....: including the upgrading the computer equipment; supply of: 2 new PCs, 1 printer, network connection, and new software, in particular for advanced GIS packages.
  • Remote sensing equipment (in ...): supply of a PC for archiving/processing satellite images, with the additional software and new cards.
  • 3rd party software for support of IMS/DSS
  • Computers and office equipment as proposed in Annex III.
  • Hydro-meteorological equipment
  • Urgently required transportation needs - one county has expressed a priority requirement for this input.

Training

The cost of participation for National Experts and Delegates were earmarked for the 3 years, for the following training activities:

  • Distance learning courses;
  • 1 International Short Training Course - 1week (Legal/Institutional)
  • National Short Training Courses 2 courses x10 countries ( Law)
  • 7 Regional W/S's (IMS, DSS, Legal, Planning methodology)
  • 2 National W/S's in Notification
  • 15 National W/S's (selected countries)- Planning methodology, Planning studies.

F. RISKS

The risks of low involvement and inadequate cooperation and coordination are low in view of the strong momentum of the investment objectives and integration of activities under the recently established Nile Basin initiative. On the one hand the capacity building under the project focused on planning, legal and institutional and information management can progress, independently of any delays under the Nile Basin Initiative. On the other hand some members of the Project Steering Committee are also participants in the Technical Advisory Committee which provides additional guarantee for capacity building that meets the demands and requirements under the Nile Basin Initiative.

One important issue is the relationship at country level with other ongoing activities of the NRBI. Optimum implementation of the project (especially as related to capacity building) can be enhanced through the appointment of the same organization as both National Focal Point Institution for this project and national implementing/servicing agency for activities requested by the TAC.

The risk related to slow mobilization is expected to be minimal at this stage. Basic structures and telecommunication facilities in all countries except XXX are already well established.

The risks of unduly low involvement and inadequate cooperation by the participating countries is also insignificant in view of the strong momentum gained by the project under Phase I and the investment possibilities for development under the recently launched Nile River Basin Initiative (NRBI). The fact that most of the members of the Project Steering Committee (PSC) are also members of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) guarantees continued involvement of all participating countries in the Phase II in the context of NRBI.

The risk and high cost, in budgetary resources and time related to slow mobilization is expected to be less at this stage when basic structure and communication facilities are already established.

The training of project staff, within the context of the project, in disciplines providing a high level of and career development should be retained in their responsible positions for not less than 3 years after completion of the project and perpetuate their knowledge through locally convened national capacity building programmes.

The project includes a multitude of output and activities, covering different fields and subjects, and undertaken at regional and national level involving up to ten countries. Therefore, without careful project planning, management and monitoring there is the risk that the project is beyond the critical mass.

G. PRIOR OBLIGATIONS AND PREREQUISITES

Obligations

The Participating governments shall take all the necessary measures to facilitate the execution of the project and to assist the FAO staff in obtaining such services and facilities as they may require to fulfil their tasks. The project hosting country and countries visited by accredited FAO staff and consultants shall apply to FAO, their property, funds and assets, their officials and to other persons performing services on their behalf in connection with the project, the provisions of the Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies. The currency exchange rate agreed upon by the International Monetary Fund shall be granted.

The Participating governments shall deal with any claims brought by third parties against FAO, their personnel or other persons performing services on their behalf in connection with the project, except when it is agreed by FAO and the country concerned, that such claims arise from gross negligence or willful misconduct of such persons.

The Participating governments shall grant to the staff of FAO and to persons acting on their behalf, access to the project site and to any material or documentation relating to the project and shall provide any relevant information to such staff of persons.

The project document will be signed by, the Government of YYY, the Nile-COM through the Nile-SEC, on behalf of the Participating governments, and by FAO. FAO assistance to the project will be provided only if the prior obligations have been met to FAO's satisfaction.

Prerequisites

The Participating governments shall provide the facilities, manpower and supplies shown under E.1 of the Project Document. The Participating governments shall be responsible for the timely recruitment of national staff or transfer to the project of existing national staff and for their salaries and social security measures.

The following activities have to be undertaken by the Government for efficient and effective project implementation; most of them were carried out before the initiation of the Phase I Project, but their actual implementation should be verified, or required modifications proposed before starting the second phase:

  • Identify, mobilize, and support the national executing agencies, project committees, and representatives responsible for management, supervision, and follow-up of the project.
  • Select counterparts to cooperate and work with the international consultants.
  • Select candidates for participation in in-country and external training programmes and study tours.
  • Host and provide work areas for all national and international staff.
  • Ensure the timely and full provision of government contributions as specified under sections D and E of the project document.

The project document will be signed by FAO and the participating governments. Assistance to the project will be provided, subject to FAO receiving satisfaction that the prerequisites listed above have been or are likely to be fulfilled. When anticipated fulfillment of one or more prerequisites fails to materialize, FAO may, at its discretion, either suspend or terminate the assistance.

Participating governments agreed, in signing the Project Agreement, to cooperate with all intentions to do their utmost in order to achieve the stated development objective under the shared vision developed for the Basin.

H. PROJECT REVIEW, REPORTING, AND EVALUATION

The project will be monitored by a three members Tripartite Review team with one representative from each of the three parties: (1) one member representing the beneficiary countries, (2) one member representing FAO and (3) one member representing the Donor. (See Annex IVb Terms of Reference for the Tripartite Review). The first such review should be held within the first 6 months of the start of full implementation. The PSC reports to the Nile COM through the Nile-SEC as appropriate. The responsible senior officers of the governments and FAO shall prepare and submit to each tripartite review meeting a Project Progress Report.

Progress reports will be prepared every six months by the Chief Technical Advisor for transmission by FAO to the recipient and financing governments. The reports will describe the scheduled activities and provide data on which progress towards the immediate objectives of the project may be evaluated; the reports will also provide the indicators reflecting the impact of the training component, through the monitoring system designed at the beginning of the project.

A project terminal report will be prepared for consideration at the terminal tripartite review meeting. It should be prepared in draft sufficiently in advance to allow review and technical clearance by the executing agency at least four months prior to the terminal tripartite review. An evaluation of the project will be undertaken during the third year of the project's lifetime.

A terminal report should concisely review the extent to which the project's planned outputs have been produced, and the associated immediate objectives were achieved. Shortcomings should be identified and traced back to specific activities in which problems occurred. Recommendations should be included in this report for work to correct these deficiencies and/or to further develop the system to efficiently meet the land and renewable resource information needs of the Nile countries.

I. PROJECT BUDGET COVERING DONOR INPUTS

Annex I

WORK PLAN

ANNEX II

TERMS OF REFERENCE

CHIEF TECHNICAL ADVISOR

Qualifications:

Achieving the capacity building objectives of the project depends ultimately on the quality and effective delivery of the project outputs in close cooperation with the participating countries. This requires good capacity with technical skill and experience in international water resources management and in project management to operate the project and deliver the outputs in accordance with approved workplans. The Chief Technical Advisor, as resident international water resources management and capacity building expert, is responsible for technical level and quality as well as effective project management with operation and timely delivery of project outputs.

Duties:

Under the general supervision of the Chief of the FAO Operation Services Branch TCOC and the Country Project Officer, and the backstopping technical divisions and in close coordination with the Senior Advisor Consultant, the National Coordinators and Focal points and other staff of the project, the Chief Technical Advisor Senior Advisor Consultant has the following duties:

  • Attend to technical responsibilities and functions as resident international water resources management specialist in particular prepare for, manage and participate as a water resources expert in project training events,
  • Manage the project, its resident experts and international and national consultants and the project office with selection and management of support staff; attend to project management matters, including progress and terminal reporting and financial and administrative management and procurement procedures, as required under FAO rules and procedures,
  • Facilitate, all logistical and travel arrangements for meetings and training events under the project, including all arrangements for Project Steering Committee Meetings,
  • Facilitate common work and communication among the participating countries, including between National Project Coordinators and Focal Point Institutions; provide supervision and review of work of National Project Coordinators and National Consultants; review, and comment on reports and other works of consultants,
  • Assist in identification and evaluation of national consultants and sub-contracted institutions and firms and secure all relevant clearance from the Project Steering Committee and in preparation of draft agreements, prior to recruitment and assignment
  • Facilitate and support the work of the Project Steering Committee, and
  • Carry out all other work as required under the project, as requested by FAO and the Project Steering Committee.

Skills and Experience:

A qualified international water resources planner, with a background in river basin management, planning and institutions and related capacity building, with at least fifteen years of relevant professional experience, preferably from international river basin projects or institutions. The incumbent should have documented organizational skills and relevant experience of project management, preferably from regional projects. Knowledge of management of FAO-UN projects is desirable. The incumbent should have high computer proficiency and be fluent in English with working knowledge in French.

Duration: 36 months

Duty Station: ..

TERMS OF REFERENCE

INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT

SENIOR WATER RESOURCES CONSULTANT

Qualifications:

Attaining the vision and achieving the capacity building objectives of the project hinge on the flexibility to respond to actual demand and adapt capacity building activities and inputs to the needs dictated from progress of management and planning of the common resources within the Nile Basin Cooperation. At the same time project success is immediately linked to the capability to keep activities on the right track and ensure progress as delivery and quality, through regular monitoring and re-adjustment. The Senior Advisor will be responsible to review capacity building needs and project progress on regular basis and advise FAO on relevant actions and initiatives for technical and policy related steps for project success.

Duties:

Under the general supervision of the Chief of the FAO Operation Services Branch TCOC and the Country Project Officer, and in contact with the technical divisions and in close coordination with the National Coordinators and Focal points and other staff of the project, the Senior Advisor will act as Project Advisor to FAO. The role of the Senior Advisor will be to:

  • regularly provide independent advice to FAO on project progress, level of delivery, coordination of project activities and the relevance and quality of the project work and outputs.
  • provide independent advice in adjustment of workplans and identifying and suggesting resources required for optimal project implementation,
  • assist FAO and the Project Steering Committee in project monitoring and evaluation, and in preparation for Tripartite Reviews,
  • provide technical input, support and advice to workshops and meetings under the project,
  • facilitate interactions between relevant actors and with institutions, agencies and technical cooperation programmes for coordination purposes,
  • provide independent advice on programming and project formulation work under the project and for supplementary programmes related to the project and the Nile programme, and
  • prepare regular reports related to his/her areas of advice.

Skills and Experience:

The Senior Advisor should be a highly qualified, internationally recognized senior specialist and advisor with at least twenty-five years of experience in water resources and river basin management with capacity building and institutional development and experience of institutional, and development planning in the Nile River Basin and other international river basins. The incumbent should have proven experience in project management and of rules and procedures for formulation, implementation and monitoring of FAO and/or other UN field projects. The Senior Advisor should be fluent in English and French.

Duration: total 4 months; in 4 missions

Duty Station: ... and participating countries

TERMS OF REFERENCE

INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT

PLANNING SOCIO-ECONOMIST
(RIVER BASIN, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING)

Qualifications:

Achieving the capacity building objectives of the project depends ultimately on the quality and effective delivery of the project outputs. These need to be supportive of and closely adapted to emerging needs for social, economic and financial planning, including information management and decision support systems (IMS and DSS), at river basin and regional level and be implemented in close cooperation with the participating countries. This is particularly important in building capacity for regional and basin, macro- and sectoral planning, including trade and other macro- strategic options. This requires technical skill and practical experience in international river basin and regional socio-economic planning. The international consultant is responsible for the technical level and quality of the capacity building in the related areas and for assisting the project management with timely delivery of the related outputs.

Duties:

Under the general supervision of the Chief of the FAO Operation Services Branch TCOC and the Country Project Officer, and under the technical supervision of AGLW, in contact with other related technical divisions in FAO and in close coordination with the National Coordinators and Focal points and other staff of the project, the international consultant/organizations-institutions expert will provide capacity building in organization and manpower planning of cooperative frameworks and river basin organizations at basin, sub-basin and national levels. The role of the international consultant will be to:

  • review on-going and scheduled activities for socio-economic development planning and strategies at regional, basin and national level; assess availability of socio-economic planning information for planning, IMS and DSS;
  • consult with transitional and permanent organizations and Nile cooperative frameworks on short and longer term socio-economic planning capacity requirements;
  • based on the findings, design a planning capacity building programme on: (a) regional and basin, macro- and sectoral socio-economic planning; and (b) investment development planning;
  • provide in-service training and participate as a resource person in the capacity building training events;
  • design and deliver short training courses in socio-economic planning;
  • advice on and support training and application of DSS;
  • support capacity building for compilation of the pilot base case planning studies; and
  • assist FAO with programming and project formulation work of activities related to macro- and sectoral social and economic strategies and options at basin, sub-basin and subordinate levels

Skills and Experience:

The International Consultant - Planning Socio-Economist - should be a senior planning economist, with solid knowledge and experience in river basin and regional macro- and micro; and investment development planning. Prior executive experience from International/Regional River Basin Organizations preferably in the developing world, and from related capacity building and supportive programme are desirable qualifications. The International Consultant/Organizations-Institutions Expert should be fluent in English with working knowledge in French.

Duration: total 3 months; in 2 missions

Duty Station: ...... and participating countries

TERMS OF REFERENCE

INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT

ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISOR
(RIVER BASIN, REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING)

Qualifications:

Achieving the capacity building objectives of the project depends ultimately on the quality and effective delivery of the project outputs. These need to be supportive of and closely adapted to emerging needs for environmental management and biodiversity conservation planning, with related legal, and institutional and information management and decision support systems (IMS and DSS), at river basin and regional level and be implemented in close cooperation with the participating countries. This is particularly important in building capacity for managing the management of the environment and conserve biodiversity to ensure sustainable development at regional and basin level. This requires technical skill and practical experience of environmental planning and management of international river basin. The international consultant is responsible for the technical level and quality of the capacity building in the related areas and for assisting the project management with timely delivery of the related outputs.

Duties:

Under the general supervision of the Chief of the FAO Operation Services Branch TCOC and the Country Project Officer, and under the technical supervision of AGLW and SDRN, in contact with other technical divisions in FAO and in close coordination with the National Coordinators and Focal points and other staff of the project, the international consultant/organizations-institutions expert will provide capacity building on environmental management and biodiversity conservation in transboundary river basins, at the basin, sub-basin and national levels. The role of the international consultant will be to:

  • review on-going and scheduled studies and conservation priorities and activities for environmental management, including natural resource degradation and health aspects, and biodiversity conservation in the Nile Basin, including review of national environmental strategies and institutional capacities; assess availability of environmental information to support management, with IMS and DSS;
  • consult with transitional and permanent organizations and Nile cooperative frameworks on short and longer term environmental planning and management capacity requirements;
  • provide a draft guide on environmental management requirements, including procedures for EIA of policy and development programmes;
  • based on the findings, design an environmental management and biodiversity conservation capacity building programme;
  • provide in-service training and participate as a resource person in the capacity building training events;
  • design and deliver short training courses on relevant aspects of environmental management;
  • advice on and support to training and application of environmental issues in DSS;
  • support capacity building for compilation of the pilot base case planning studies; and
  • assist FAO with programming and project formulation work of activities related to environmental management and biodiversity conservation

Skills and Experience:

The International Consultant - Environmental Advisor - should be a senior environmentalist knowledge and experience of environmental management and biodiversity conservation, and monitoring in transboundary river basins. Prior executive experience from work with International/Regional River Basin Organizations preferably in the developing world, and from related capacity building and supportive programme are desirable qualifications. The International Consultant should be fluent in English with working knowledge in French.

Duration: total 2 months; in 1 mission

Duty Station: ... and participating countries

TERMS OF REFERENCE

INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT

INTERNATIONAL EXPERT ON WATER LAW
River Basin Organizations

Qualifications:

Achieving the capacity building objectives of the project depends ultimately on the quality and effective delivery of the project outputs in close cooperation with the participating countries. This is particularly important for the implementation and establishing requires superior technical skill and experience in international water law and institutions. The international consultant/international law expert on water is responsible for technical level and quality and for assisting the project management with timely delivery of the related outputs.

Duties:

Under the general supervision of the Chief of the FAO Operation Services Branch TCOC and the Country Project Officer, and under the technical supervision of LEGN, FAO, in contact with other technical divisions and in close coordination with the National Coordinators and Focal points and other staff of the project, the International Law Expert on Water will provide capacity building in international water law and institutions. The role of the International Law Expert on Water will be to:

  • review work carried out and recommendations made for a Nile Basin cooperative framework;
  • assess and fine-tune the complementary capacity-building requirements in international water law and institutions, emerging from proposed cooperative frameworks and their implementation;
  • assist in the design and delivery of training courses in international water law and institutions by the sub-contractor and, in particular:
  • identify a suitable sub-contractor,
  • assist it in the preparation of required training modules, and
  • act as a resource person in selected training events;
  • assist in the delivery of the Expert Consultation on International River Basin Organizations (IRBOs) and, in particular:
  • prepare a list of representative IRBOs to be invited,
  • prepare a topical programme and a list of invited keynote speakers,
  • ensure the quality of the papers prepared by the keynote speakers,
  • participate as resource person in the Consultation, and
  • collate and prepare the relevant proceedings for publication; capacity building legal consultants;
  • follow-p missions to selected countries
  • assist FAO with programming and project formulation work under the project.

Skills and Experience:

The International Law Expert on Water should be a senior legal specialist and adviser with solid and proven experience in international water law and institutions, not confined to academia. Prior experience in the developing world is a desirable qualification. The International Law Expert on Water should be fluent in English and French.

Duration: total 2 months; in 3 missions

Duty Station: .... and participating countries

TERMS OF REFERENCE

INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT

ORGANIZATIONS EXPERT
(RIVER BASIN ORGANIZATIONS)

Qualifications:

Achieving the capacity building objectives of the project depends ultimately on the quality and effective delivery of the project outputs. These need to be supportive of and closely adapted to emerging needs to fulfil technical, operational and administrative management functions and be implemented in close cooperation with the participating countries . This is particularly important in building capacity for meeting the multi-functions of and establishing organization and manpower to implement approved Nile cooperative frameworks. This requires technical skill and practical experience in the organization, management and operation of river basin organizations. The international consultant/organizations-institutions expert is responsible for the technical level and quality of the capacity building in the related areas and for assisting the project management with timely delivery of the related outputs.

Duties:

Under the general supervision of the Chief of the FAO Operation Services Branch TCOC and the Country Project Officer, and under the technical supervision of AGLW, FAO, in contact with other technical divisions and in close coordination with the National Coordinators and Focal points and other staff of the project, the international consultant/organizations-institutions expert will provide capacity building in organization and manpower planning of cooperative frameworks and river basin organizations at basin, sub-basin and national levels. The role of the international consultant/organizations-institutions expert will be to:

  • review work carried out and recommendations and approved schemes made for Nile Basin cooperative framework;
  • prepare an outline organization and manpower planning study to handle the functions and tasks under the cooperative frameworks;
  • liase with and support existing transitional frameworks - Nile-TAC, through the Executive Director and Secretariat, on detailed requirements and operational constraints; provide in-service training in organization and manpower planning of the staff of transitional regional and national water resources institutions;
  • carry out a manpower study for alternative proposed cooperative framework;
  • liase with and review the recommendations of the International and the National Law Experts on cooperative frameworks and river basin organizations;
  • assess and fine-tune the complementary capacity-building requirements in organization and manpower planning emerging from proposed cooperative frameworks and their establishment and operationalization;
  • design and deliver training courses in organization and manpower planning and institutions;
  • assist it in the preparation of required training modules, and
  • act as a resource person in the training events;
  • assist FAO with programming and project formulation work under the project.

Skills and Experience:

The International Consultant/Organizations-Institutions Expert should be a senior organization and management consultant, with solid, proven in organization, manpower planning and operation. Prior executive experience from International/Regional River Basin Organizations preferably in the developing world, and from related capacity building and supportive programme are desirable qualifications. The International Consultant/Organizations-Institutions Expert should be fluent in English with working knowledge in French.

Duration: total 4 months; in 3 missions

Duty Station: ... and participating countries

TERMS OF REFERENCE

INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ARCHITECT

Qualifications

Building the Nile Basin Resources Information Management System (NRBIMS) will require expertise in designing complex geographically based information systems that can support the information needs of a broad range of end-users and organizations. This person will work with all the stakeholders to define the overall system solution and manage its design, development and implementation.

Duties

Under the general supervision of the Chief of the FAO Operation Services Branch TCOC and the Country Project Officer, and the technical supervision of the Technical Backstopping Officers in FAO-HQ, and Direct Supervision of the FAO Chief Technical Advisor and in close coordination with the National Focal Point Institutes and officers and other staff of the project the consultant will:

1. Information Requirements Definition

  • Working with local project staff and organizations to identify the information needs which should be part of the project scope;
  • Reviewing existing reports and documents on the project to make themselves conversant with past and current activities, objectives and other related information.
  • Analyzing the requirements and defining an overall solution to the needs;

2. System Design

  • Defining specific system components/modules and their functional requirements;
  • Creating a system design document to be used as a blue print by the system development team;
  • Defining the system technology requirements for hardware, software and telecommunications;

3. Database Construction

  • Reviewing what supporting data is available and its current state;
  • Identifying data gaps, data preparation and new data collection requirements;
  • Designing data coding schemes and validation processes;
  • Designing the structure of the overall database;

4. System Development and Implementation Planning and Management

  • Defining a system development and implementation plan;
  • Managing the system design and development process;
  • Defining end-user and system management skills and training requirements;
  • Working with the CTA to direct/oversee the implementation of the system components;

5. Communications and Reporting

  • Working with the Communication Specialists to prepare presentations and materials on the project plan, system design, its delivery and use;
  • Reporting to the CTA and project management on the proposed solution, status of development activities and issues requiring their attention.

Skills and Experience

  • Advanced degree in system engineer/computer science;
  • Good understanding and experience in earth sciences, especially geography;
  • Minimum of ten (10) years experience in system design and development using modern system engineering methods and tools;
  • Strong background and understanding of Geographic Information Systems and Relational Database Management Systems;
  • Minimum of five (5) years information systems project planning and management; and,
  • Excellent verbal and written communications ability.

Duration: 3 months in 3 missions

Duty Station: ... and participating countries.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT

DATABASE MANAGEMENT / COMPUTER SPECIALIST

Qualifications:

The consultant must have a degree in environmental sciences, and he should have at least 7 years of computer specialization or in technical sciences with experience in development of application programming, preferably in the field 'of natural resources. He should have experience in the use of GIS. Fluency in English is essential.

Duties

Under the general supervision of the Chief of the FAO Operation Services Branch TCOC and the Country Project Officer, and the technical supervision of the Technical Backstopping Officers in FAO-HQ, and Direct Supervision of the FAO Chief Technical Advisor and in close coordination with the National Focal Point Institutes and officers and other staff of the project the consultant will:

In collaboration with the other project staff Specialists, he will conduct a Requirement Analysis to identify user needs and document in a report with findings/recommendations, including a proposed hardware/ software specification, in detail and fully justified, which can be used as a basis for FAO Headquarters procurement procedures.

  • He will be responsible for the design and definition of the database for water resources management.
  • Under the supervision of the CTA, he will further develop and structure the existing project computerized database and develop further suitable software according to a standardized approach for all participating countries.
  • He will be responsible for the data storage, retrieval and interpretation for all data bases of the project.
  • He will be responsible for the maintenance of the database and computer system.
  • He will train counterparts and other local staff in all aspects of the database management.
  • On completion of his assignment he will prepare a report setting out his findings and recommendations for further action needed in this specific field of activity.

Duration: 5 mths - 3 missions

Duty Station: ...

TERMS OF REFERENCE

INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT

COMMUNICATION/GIS TRAINER

Qualifications

Attaining the vision of the project will rely significantly on the quality and quantity of the communications and training programs delivered. The Communications/Training Officer will be primarily responsible for the communications and training programs and therefore will be an important member of the Nile River Basin Information Management System (NRBIMS) Team.

Duties

Under the general supervision of the Chief of the FAO Operation Services Branch TCOC and the Country Project Officer, and the technical supervision of the Technical Backstopping Officers in FAO-HQ, and Direct Supervision of the FAO Chief Technical Advisor and in close coordination with the National Focal Point Institutes and officers and other staff of the project the consultant will:

The Communications / Training Officer will work closely with the NRBIMS project manager and System Architect as a key member of the NRBIMS team. As a member of this team, he / she will be primarily responsible for:

1. Communications / Training Planning

The Communications / Training Officer will be responsible for preparing strategic plans for the project's communications and training programmes. This will include an identification of the primary audiences and the appropriate methods and messages for communications. Note some of the technology training will be done by product specialists, e.g., ArcView GIS training, which will be contracted to appropriate product specialists. The Communications / Training Officer will be responsible for defining the course requirements, scheduling the courses and recruiting the appropriate specialists.

2. Communications Materials Production

The Communications / Training Officer will be responsible for the planning, writing, and production of regular and individual communications materials - such as an NRBIMS Newsletter and other NRBIMS Updates.

3. Training and End User Support

Although some of the training and most of the system manuals and the online help documentation for the system will be developed and delivered as part of the NRBIMS implementation, the Communications / Training Officer will have ongoing training responsibility. This will primarily involve providing new users the training they need to use the systems and access the database once the system components are in place. It will also involve the procurement and management of specialized technology product training acquired from the product vendor.

The Communications / Training Officer will also support the implementation of the NRBIMS and the on-going user support. This will involve answering basic questions and providing solutions and examples for using the system components.

4. Web Site Management / Document Management

Several Secretariats and organizations will be involved in the NRBIMS - both as users of the systems and data, and as contributors to the system. The web site will reflect this broad national effort. As a result, it will be the host for information and communications materials (such as annual reports and newsletters) from a number of these organizations along with providing access to specific data sources and information. The Communications / Training Officer will be responsible for establishing and managing a "team" approach to the development and maintenance of the web site - with members on the team from several of the organizations participating in the web site.

The Communications / Training Officer will ensure materials posted on the web site reflect the overall "look and feel" of the site and are maintained within the overall navigational framework and strategic direction of the site. This position will be the focal point and primary contact for both users of the web site (the public and agencies from Nile River Basin countries and around the world) and for contributors of the web site.

The Communications / Training Officer will be responsible for the ongoing management of the Document Management System from a content perspective - ensuring partners / agencies understand its availability and usefulness.

Note: the scope of the web site depends on the easing of government restrictions on communications -- a process that is ongoing.

Note: an initial web site / document management system will be developed and delivered as part of the early NRBIMS demonstration phase by the consultants. This is intended to form the basis / template for the ongoing web site.

5. Committee Work

The NRBIMS project will be supported by the work of the PSC with representation from the involved organizations to help tackle many of the technical and standards-related issues. The Communications / Training Officer will support this group by preparing presentation materials and documentation.

Skills and Experience

Excellent verbal and written communications ability along with some understanding of and experience with the Internet; web page building and design; delivery of training; and the preparation of multimedia programs and communications programmes.

In addition, the Communications / Training Officer should have some familiarity with:
the environmental, natural resource and agricultural management, economic and social issues affecting the Nile Basin;

  • the various agencies involved in development and implementation of alternative water resource development and land use decisions;
  • other audiences interested or involved in the success of the NRBIMS.

News media experience an asset.

Duration - 2 months - 2 missions

Duty Station -.... and participating countries.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

UNV

Water Resources - Hydrology

Qualifications:

The progress of the project will require active supervision and on-the-job training of the capacity building in water resources management and hydrology. There is the constant need of review and assessment of the work of the national experts and the performance and output under the Focal Point Institutions.

Duties

Under the general supervision of the Chief of the FAO Operation Services Branch TCOC and the Country Project Officer, and the technical supervision of the Technical Backstopping Officers in FAO-HQ, and Direct Supervision of the FAO Chief Technical Advisor and in close coordination with the National Focal Point Institutes and officers, and other counterpart staff and other staff of the project the UNV will:

  • review, assess the work of national experts and counterparts,
  • provide training in his/her area of speciality,
  • assess requirements and supervise procurement and installations of hydro-meteorological equipment
  • participate in the organization and delivery of the training events under the project,
  • provide necessary assistance for implementation of all project activities,
  • carry out other services as required.

Skills and Experience

A degree in water resources and/or hydrology. Good relevant knowledge and at least 5 years experience in water resources - and hydrology. Fluent in English with some knowledge in French.

Duration - 36 months

Duty Station -... and participating countries.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

ASSOCIATE PROFESSIONAL OFFICER

GIS/RS/DATABASE SPECIALIST

General Information

Title: GIS/RS/DATABASE SPECIALIST

Sector: GIS/Remote Sensing/Database

Location: ....

Languages: Working knowledge (level C) of English, and limited knowledge (level B) of French

Duration: 24months

Supervision

Under the general supervision of the Chief of the FAO Operation Services Branch TCOC and the Country Project Officer, by project CTA in the field and the Technical Officer SDRN.

Content and methodology of the supervision:

The content of the supervision will be based on the duties of the post (below), with particular emphasis on data analysis and processing, and drafting with the focus on an Information Management Policy, data management, data standardization, administration and project management.

The methodology will be day to day discussion (with the CTA), assignment of specific background reading (by project CTA and by FAO HQ) and detailed technical reviews of written work (by FAO HQ).

Duties and responsibilities and output expectations

Duties:

Under the general supervision of the CTA and the Technical Officer Environment and Natural Resources Service, and the direct supervision of the appropriate technical officer SDRN, while progressively acquiring experience in an assigned area of Information Management ,GIS and Remote Sensing, the Associate Professional Officer will:

  • Assist the FPIs in the maintenance and update of the databases currently under preparation for the pilot areas. Supervise the data input process, verify the quality of the data sets and assist in organizing the GIS workspaces.
  • Provide technical assistance for the maintenance of the hard-software equipment at project HQs and at the single FPIs. Help the national staff in solving problems related to system installation and setup, hardware repair and system upgrades.
  • Assist, in collaboration with the international consultants, in the preparation of the social, environmental and economic databases needed for the water resources planning exercises on the pilot areas.
  • Assist the countries in the maintenance and updating of the communication facilities (fax, e-mail, and telephone lines) installed in the FPIs.
  • Assist the FPI and the MDs in updating the hydro-meteorological databases. Establish procedures for efficiently exchange data among the two institutions when agreeable by the Government.
  • Participate in the preparation of the data sets according to the structure defined for the Information Management System and help formatting the data to be used in the Decision Support System.
  • Assist the CTA and the National Coordinator of XXX in the periodic distribution of the Cold Cloud Duration (CCD) images to Country Z and XXX which are not provided of a PDUS for capturing Meteosat digital data.
  • Assist the CTA and the international consultants in the organization of training courses on specific subjects related to the preparation of the data sets and use of the GIS/database software.
  • Assist the CTA in preparing and monitoring contracts in each country for national consultants and for collecting, compiling and processing data for the water planning exercises.
  • Participate in updating information related to the project, including the Internet Page on the FAO HQs main Server.
  • Prepare periodic technical progress reports according to FAO procedures.
  • The APO is expected to travel to other basin countries for participating in discussion, workshops and training programs and assist the FPIs in their activities.
  • The APO will also manage day to day project activities in the absence of the CTA if required.

Responsibilities:

The RS/GIS/DataBase Specialist Officer will have the responsibilities of the above duties, gradually carrying them out more independently. By the end of the assignment, it is expected that he or she will have primary responsibility for operating projects and for conducting advisory missions including drafting of proposed Information Management strategies.

Output expectations:

Technical reports and drafts IMS, GIS, RS strategies for governments, correspondence and decisions, Information management strategies and research reports.

Qualifications and experience

Qualifications: University degree in geography or a natural resources discipline specialization in Remote Sensing, Geographical Information System.

Skills: Ability to draft technical texts in the disciplines described above; ability to carry out research, analyses and studies and to write reports clearly and concisely; initiative and capacity to work under pressure; ability to work in harmony with staff of different cultural backgrounds; fitness and willingness to reside and carry out missions in developing countries; willingness to use word-processing equipment.

Working experience: Desirable 1 or 2 years experience.

Learning Elements

The learning elements result from the tasks the RS/GIS/DataBase Specialist Officer has to carry out during his/her assignment. After the assignment the Officer should be able to carry out such tasks with only minor supervision. He/she will be given language training as necessary.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

ASSOCIATE PROFESSIONAL OFFICER

LEGAL OFFICER

General Information

Title: Legal Officer

Sector: Water and Environmental Development Law

Location: ...

Languages: Working knowledge (level C) of English, and limited knowledge (level B) of French

Duration: 24 months

Supervision

Under the general supervision of the Chief of the FAO Operation Services Branch TCOC and the Country Project Officer, by project CTA in the field and the Chief Development Law Service at HQ.

Content and methodology of the supervision:

The content of the supervision will be based on the duties of the post (below), with particular emphasis on legal analysis, and drafting with the focus on International water law and administration and project management.

The methodology will be day to day discussion (with the CTA), assignment of specific background reading (by project CTA and by FAO HQ) and detailed technical reviews of written work (by FAO HQ).

Duties and responsibilities and output expectations

Duties:

Under the general supervision of the CTA and the Chief, Development Law Service, and the direct supervision of the appropriate senior legal officer, while progressively acquiring experience in an assigned area of law, the Associate Professional Officer -

  • carries out legal research;
  • analyses, selects and summarizes legal texts for recording and publication;
  • responds to requests from the project Governments for information on national and international law relating to the management of water resources;
  • helps in the planning/operation of the legal advisory/capacity building components of the project and the review of legal consultants' reports;
  • provides the project Governments with advice, information and assistance on the legal and institutional capacity building aspects of the management of the Nile Basin water resources;
  • participates as required in project training events, working groups, meetings, seminars and conferences;
  • performs other duties as required.

Responsibilities:

The Legal Officer will have the responsibilities of the above duties, gradually carrying them out more independently. By the end of the assignment, it is expected that he or she will have primary responsibility for operating projects and for conducting advisory missions including drafting of proposed legal texts.

Output expectations:

Technical reports and legal drafts for governments, correspondence and decisions, legal research reports.

Qualifications and experience

Qualifications: University degree in law; desirable: higher degree, specialization in comparative and/or international water, natural resources or environmental law.

Skills: Ability to draft legal texts; ability to carry out legal research, analyses and studies and to write reports clearly and concisely; initiative and capacity to work under pressure; ability to work in harmony with staff of different cultural backgrounds; fitness and willingness to reside and carry out missions in developing countries; willingness to use word-processing equipment.

Working experience: Desirable 1 or 2 years experience.

Learning Elements

The learning elements result from the tasks the Legal Officer has to carry out during his/her assignment. After the assignment the legal Officer should be able to carry out such tasks with only minor supervision. He/she will be given language training as necessary.

Background information

The Legal Office - Development Law Service

The Legal Office comprises two Services: The Development Law Service (LEGN) and the General Legal Affairs Service (LEGA), both under the management and supervision of the Legal Counsel.

The Development Law Service is concerned with delivering policy advice to Member Nations. The Service is designed to improve the legal and institutional framework for agricultural development and natural resource management in Member Nations. It is concerned with devising legal regimes and structures that, in the circumstances of each country, are practical to administer, that reduce conflict and that facilitate decisions and actions that take account of relevant factors as dictated by the policies of the country. Particular problems with which the Service is concerned include the relationship between customary and statutory law in regard to land and other natural resources, facilitation of public (individual and community) participation in natural resource management, the increasing privatization of traditionally public functions, environmental requirements for agricultural legislation.

ANNEX III

EQUIPMENT LIST

List of equipment for PDUS installation

( XXX & , & & DRC compatibility upgrade)

1.9 m aerial, including stand, central support, hook pole and hook pole support

Low noise amplifier (LNA)

*Low noise amplifier (LNA)

30 m Aerial cable

*30 m Aerial cable

PDUS receiver

PDUS receiver power supply

Dell Optiplex GN5200M PC [Service tag: MIMOJ], (for Meteosat HRI data reception and processing) including:

  • 1.5 Gb hard disk, 200MHz Pentium CPU, 16 Mb RAM, Windows 3.11 / MS-DOS 6.20
  • 3Com Etherlink XL3C900 PCI Combo LAN card
  • MS Workgroup Add-on for MS-DOS
  • BURS satellite i/o card
  • BURS decryption card
  • 17" SVGA monitor

*BURS satellite i/o card

*BURS decryption card

6" phono to phono cable

BNC to phono receiver cable

HP DeskJet 690C printer and printer cable

20 m Thin Ethernet cable with BNC connectors

2 ( Thin Ethernet cable terminator plugs with earthing straps

Consumables (2 ( HP colour cartridge, 2 ( HP black cartridge, 20 ( 3½" diskettes)

APC Smart-UPS 1400 KVA uninterruptible power supply (UPS) [Serial no.: GS9736013191]

Test meter

Inclinometer

2 ( spanners, 1 ( Allen key, Nuts & bolts

PDUS Manuals

Meteosat Operations Manager (MOM) package, including manual

- procured by FAO Project GCP/RAF/304/JPN:

Dell Optiplex GN5200M PC (for Meteosat processed data archiving) including:

  • 4.0 Gb hard disk, 200 MHz Pentium CPU, 32 Mb RAM, Windows NT 4.0
  • 17" SVGA monitor
  • 3Com Etherlink XL3C900 PCI Combo LAN card
  • Adaptec AHA-1510 SCSI host adapter
  • Matrox Millennium II 4 Mb SVGA display card
  • CD-R drive

System to be compatible with that installed in XXX under Phase I.

LIST OF EQUIPMENT

IMS/DSS

PROJECT SITE

SUGGESTED HARDWARE CONFIGURATION COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

Main Office

  • 1x Main Office IMS Server
  • Pentium 450+ MHz
  • 256+ Mb RAM,
    20+ Gb SCSI HD
  • 4+ Mb SVGA
  • 17" Monitor
  • High-Speed Ethernet Card
  • Connection to VSAT Network
  • High Speed Connection to Internet
  • UPS (30 Minute Capacity)
  • Backup Unit (20 Gb Capacity)

1x Main Office Data Server

  • Pentium 450+ MHz
  • 128+ Mb RAM
  • 12+ Gb SCSI HD
  • 4+ Mb SVGA
  • 15" Monitor
  • UPS
  • High Speed Ethernet Card

UPS (30 Minute Capacity)

Backup Unit (20 Gb Capacity)

3x Colour Ink Jet Printers (Letter size) - 1x M/S Windows NT Server v.4

1x M/S Internet Information Server v.3

1x M/S Proxy Server

1x ESRI Internet Map Server v.2

1x M/S Office'97 Professional

1x Arc/Info v. 7.2 (Windows NT Version)

50x ESRI MapObjects End User Licenses

2x ESRI ArcView v.3

1x ESRI ArcView Spatial Analyst Extension

1x ESRI Internet Map Server v.2

1x ESRI ARC/INFO Basic Module for NT

Additional Office sites (assuming 8 sites)

  • Standalone Scenario

DB is only for regional portion of the country_8x Hugh End Client Workstations

  • Pentium 450+ MHz
  • 64+ Mb RAM,
  • 7+ Gb HD
  • 19"/21" Monitor, 4+ Mb SVGA

8x D Size Colour Plotters

8x Laser Printers

8x UPS (30 minute capacity)

8x Backup Units (10 Gb Capacity)

8x 28.8+ Kbaud Modem

8x UPS (30 Minute Capacity)

8x Colour Ink Jet Printers (Letter size)

8x M/S Windows'95/NT Workstation v.4

8x M/S Office'97 Professional

8x ArcView v.3

8x Netscape Navigator v. 4+

8x ESRI MapObjects End User Licenses

ANNEX IV:

IVa: TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR PROJECT STEERING COMMITTEE

1. The Project Steering Committee (PSC), shall be comprised of two members assigned from each of the beneficiary countries, two representatives of FAO, two representatives of the Donor. The Executive Director of Nile Secretariat of the Nile Basin Initiative (Nile-SEC) will also participate in the capacity of an observer.

The CTA, who is not a member, will act as secretary to the PSC. The CTA will prepare draft workplans, summary reports and other project management documents , as required. The Senior Advisor Consultant will participate in the Project Steering Committee Meetings in the capacity of a resource person. As required, FAO, as executing agency, will bring additional resource staff to participate in the PSC meeting.

2. The PSC provides regular advice and recommendations on project related matters to FAO, as executing agency. The PSC, among other responsibilities, reviews project workplans, monitors project progress and provides coordination between the project activities and with other Nile Basin programmes. The PSC, reports regularly, to the Nile-COM through Nile-TAC on project progress and coordination issues. The PSC makes recommendations on action for project monitoring and evaluation to the Tri-Partite Mission

3. The PSC shall meet annually on regular basis. When justified from special circumstances, at the request of at least two of the three parties (The PSC representing the beneficiary countries, FAO and the Donor), extra-ordinary Project Steering Committee Meetings will be held. The PSC meeting will, to the largest extent possible, coincide with regional workshops or other regional meetings in the Nile Basin.

IVb: TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE TRIPARTITE REVIEW.

The Tripartite Review with equal representation from the three parties is responsible for monitoring including regular evaluation of the project. The Tripartite Review team is composed of three members, as the representative from each of the three parties representing: (1) the beneficiary countries, (2) FAO and (3) the Donor. The Tripartite Review has the following responsibilities:

  • To assess project progress on behalf of the three parties, and provide guidance in problem areas
  • To evaluate project progress and achievements; including two evaluation missions, as mid-term review and end-of project evaluation.
  • To review, assess and initiate executive action by FAO based on recommendations of PSC and the monitoring and evaluation conclusions of the Mission.
  • Provide continuous advice, to the recipient governments, FAO and the Donor on necessary adjustments in the project set up and approaches.

1 with reference to the Policy Guidelines for the Nile River Basin Strategic Action Plan, adopted by the Council of Ministers of Water Affairs of the Nile Basin States in 1998, presented in Chapter 1.

2 For XXX, the facility is to be established under Phase II with in-service training in Year 1.

3 The Short-term consultants and the FAO-HQ expertise will ensure quality expert support to the project, in the technical areas of the project, minimizing project overhead costs. However the balance between short-term and resident project staff need to be carefully reviewed at the time when the workplans are finalised and initiated.