Preparation of Project Implementation Manual

CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT

Preparation of the Project Implementation Manual for the Third South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Governance and Shared Growth Project (SWIOFish3)

• Background

Seychelles’ comparative advantage lies with its natural capital as the country is endowed with an extremely rich marine and terrestrial biodiversity. It is one of Conservation International’s designated biodiversity hotspots and has exceptionally high endemism, at over 60% for animals in general and 50% for plants. Seychelles is one of the world's most environmentally conscious nations, having officially protected more than half of its total land area from development and with strong marine environmental protection measures in place. The two most important sectors of the Seychellois economy are tourism and fisheries, both strongly tied to the country marine endowment and biodiversity. Fisheries are of considerable economic, social and food security importance to the country. However, the management of Seychelles marine ecosystems and fisheries is hampered by insufficient legal and institutional frameworks, human capacity and infrastructure.

The Republic of Seychelles is currently preparing an investment in the framework of the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Governance and Shared Growth Program (SWIOFish). A long term, regional program, the SWIOFish program aims to increase the economic, social, and environmental benefits to the countries of the south west Indian Ocean from sustainable marine fisheries. Within this program, Seychelles is preparing the Third South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Governance and Shared Growth Project (SWIOFish3). SWIOFish3, which is financed primarily by the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility, will support country-level investments in Seychelles over 6 years and is expected to become effective around September 2017. The project will be further financed by proceeds of Blue Bonds (including a Blue Grants Fund and Blue Investment Fund) that will be issued by the Government of Seychelles on private investment markets. The project development objective of SWIOFish3 is to improve management of marine areas and fisheries in targeted zones and strengthen fisheries value chains in Seychelles. The project will be implemented under 4 components, namely:

• Component 1: Expanded sustainable-use marine protected areas;

• Component 2: Improved governance of priority fisheries;

• Component 3: Sustainable development of the blue economy,

• Component 4: Project management and coordination.

Draft descriptions of the project and implementation arrangements can be found in annexes 1 and 2, respectively.

• Objective of the Consultancy

The primary objective of this assignment is to support the Ministry of Finance, Trade and Economic Planning (MFTEP) in the preparation of the Project Implementation Manual (PIM) for the Third South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Governance and Shared Growth Project (SWIOFish3). The World Bank will review and approve the PIM before the project can become effective.

The PIM will be the key reference document describing the SWIOFish3 project operations to various stakeholders and project implementers at various administrative levels. The overall objective of the PIM is to provide clear guidance on how the project’s components will be implemented and operationalized as well as to describe the institutional set-up and management of the project.

• Scope of Work

The consultant will draft the Project Implementation Manual for the SWIOFish3 project, which will include the following:

• Provide an overview of the overall project, including project objectives indicators, project components, project beneficiaries, and safeguard issues, building upon documents already prepared or in preparation[1];

• Provide a detailed description of project components, sub-components and planned activities, and detail the institutional and implementation arrangements of each component/sub-component;

• Describe the overall institutional and implementation arrangements, including those relating to use of the proceeds from the Blue Bonds;

• Describe the detailed arrangement and procedures for (i) procurement; (ii) financial management, disbursement and accounting; and (iii) auditing, encompassing funding streams derived from the World Bank and GEF financing and the proceeds from the Blue Bonds,

• Describe the arrangements for performance management as well as monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and specify the agreed reporting requirements.

• Methodology

The tasks described above will be undertaken based on: a desk-top study of the relevant SWIOFish3 project preparation documents; the drafting of the PIM in close collaboration with the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) in the MFTEP and Department of Blue Economy; and finalisation of the PIM based on reviews by the PIU and the World Bank.

• Expected outputs and deliverables

The expected outputs of the assignment are:

• An inception report containing a short description of the proposed approach and work plan for completing the assignment;

• A draft PIM taking into consideration tasks described in the scope of work, and

• A final PIM incorporating comments received from the PIU and World Bank.

All outputs and reports are expected to be completed and delivered by the Consultant to the Project Implementation Unit no later than 3 months after the signing of the contract. All outputs and final reports should be in English.

• Responsibilities of the contracting party

The PIU will be responsible for compiling all relevant literature and documentation for use by the Consultant.

• Timing and Reporting

The assignment is expected to require forty (40) working days input by the Consultant and be delivered by the Consultant 3 months after the signing of the contract. The detailed schedule for delivery is as follows: