Technical Assistance (TA) for the Development of an Environmental Action Plan as Part of the 5 Year PSME Plan of SocTrang Province

I. INTRODUCTION
The province of SocTrang with the aid of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is developing and will implement a 5 year plan to help SMEs.
As a contribution to the provincial planning and goals the SME project will ultimately contribute to “expanded economic opportunities for poor rural men and women (including ethnic groups) in SocTrang province”. A stable and sustainable economic development in SocTrang province, whereby  SMEs are thought to play a key role, with activities that can accommodate people looking for employment in terms of stability and better pay.

II. OBJECTIVE(s)
One important activity for 2012 is the development of a 5 year provincial SME plan for 2012-2016, the development of an environmental action plan that has to be mainstreamed into the overall 5 year SME development plan of the province.

III. SCOPE OF THE ENVIRONMENT SPECIALIST ASSISTANCE:
Prepare an environmental action plan for integration into the 5 year SME plan of SocTrang province and implementation.

This planning comprises:
- Preventive measures designed to reduce, eliminate or control potential negative impacts and promote positive impacts. When both negative and positive consequences may occur in the project, the following measures will be performed:
- Identify areas for project staff and relevant units to get specialized support in terms of environment and assess the environmental impacts;
- Identify how best to improve capacity of environmental assessment for province, districts and communes as well as SMEs
- Raising awareness of linkages between the environment (including climate changes and disaster risk reduction) and poverty reduction (including economic growth) at the province, districts, communes and SMEs
- Ensuring that environmental assessment is done under current regulations and process of environmental impact assessment that has been defined.
- Integrating concerned elements about the environment into SME development strategy and environmental action plan - one of the priority activities of the project.

Environmental impact evaluation:
- The environmental factors need attention based on Canada Environmental Assessment Act (EAA Canada)1.
- To address this limitation, the project will support the capacity building of environmental impact assessment at the provincial, district, and communal level, and will encourage consideration of calculating cumulative effects clearly.
- Process of evaluating environmental impacts in Vietnam will be made to meet the requirements of EAA Canada, provided that the DPI will integrate environmental factors into project activities; implementing environmental assessment of projects and sub-projects has to be in accordance with the assessment of environmental impacts of Vietnam. Moreover, DPI will emphasize the cumulative effects clearly in this assessment. The project will be closely monitored to ensure that these conditions are met.
   
IV. ORGANIZATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TA
1. The technical assistance will be supervised by and collaborate with the PMU.
2. The PMU wants the technical assistance to be carried out in close collaboration with DONRE.
3. The PMU needs the technical assistance to be carried out in March, April 2012, with a final presentations and submission of the report and action plan both in English and Vietnamese no later than Monday April 30 for the environment action plan (EAP).
4. As the project follows the Program Based Approach (PBA) the technical assistance is obliged when and where possible to collaborate and make use of present and existing skills and experience of provincial staff and offices, in particular members of the project’s Task Force.

V. REPORTING
- Report and Action Plan have to be submitted both in English and Vietnamese.
- - In collaboration with the PMU, the TA will assist in organizing the consultation and feedback workshops for presentation and validation of the EAP done.
- The Action plan has to be done according to the agreed format with the PMUand the PMF in use.
- The report includes a description on the actions and contributions of the TA for
plan development and the integration of environment cross cutting theme;
development of the EAP;

VI. QUALIFIED APPLICANTS:
- 5 years relevant SME/Environment consultancy experience in/with SocTrang or Mekong delta area;
- Relevant University degree in related topics;
- Good communication and intercultural skills for collaboration with different stakeholders
- Proficiency in Vietnamese and English for the core consultancy team;
- Familiarity in addressing/incorporating other cross cutting issues (gender, and Ethnic minorities);
- Knowledge of RBM
- Demonstrated analytical and reporting skills

V. APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Qualified candidates are invited to submit their application documents (in English and Vietnamese) consisting of:
1. CV
2. Application letter
3. Detailed proposal for Action Plan development:
Methodology
Action Plan structure
Fees and expenses
Timing (within set duration);

Applications submit on/before April 4 to: SocTrang SME Project Management Unit <[email protected]>