International Consultant – Consultancy to develop the Business Information Platform for Blue Economy and Circular Economy at UNECA – United Nations Economic Commission for Africa: (Deadline 8 April 2024)

Result of Service

This project shall have 4 main deliverables: (i) An inception report detailing the structure of the website (ii) Draft main textual and motion content of the website (iii) Successful launch of the website (iv) Handing over report

Work Location

Home Based

Expected duration

4 months

Duties and Responsibilities

PROJECT BACKGROUND: The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Sub-Regional Office for Eastern Africa (SRO-EA) has benefited from the support of the United Nations Joint Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Fund to further the sustainable development agenda of Seychelles, by focusing on capacitating its circular economy sector. The UN Joint SDG Programme aims to service this demarche through a gender-responsive and evidence-based approach. Being a small island developing state whose land area extends over a total of 455km2, Seychelles has limited capacity to handle the solid waste generated by its population and industries. At present, it is estimated that Seychelles produces 80,000 tons of solid waste annually, out of which 90% are landfilled. The amount of waste generated is expected to increase by 50% by 2030. While the circular economy is still a new concept in the policy realm of Seychelles, pressured by this imminent environmental threat and crisis, Seychelles developed a Solid Waste Management Strategy 2020-2035. This plan emphasizes a need to practice waste sorting and segregation, develop the recycling sector, and encourage private sector investment in “critical waste management infrastructures”. All three recommendations require the critical “agency” of the private sector– either as a contributor at the bottom of the scale: as an operator, or as a driver of waste management practices. While the activities and contribution of large enterprises which operate in the circular economy in Seychelles is documented, information about micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) of the same sector is limited. Furthermore, there is no insight into the role of women in this sector. With an Exclusive Economic Zone of 1.35 million km2, Seychelles’ expansive seas also carry potential to contribute to circular symbiosis activities. The Blue Economy allows the optimization of unutilized or underutilized sea-based resources which could act as alternatives to polluting materials. In 2020, the Blue Economy contributed to only 27.4% of Seychelles’ GDP and yet 41% of its employment. An activation of Blue Economy activities will increase its contribution to national revenue, employment, as well as reduce dependence of the country on the use of other imported entrants to manufacturing processes as well as in energy production. Currently, the majority of Seychelles’ energy is generated through solid biofuels. A liberalization of the continental market under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will create new opportunities for MSMEs. For operators of the circular and blue economies, along with opening doors to new markets for their services and for their transformed products, the AfCFTA is also a platform to source intermediate goods/waste for transformation, and thereby develop regional value chains. A key component of the efforts to scale up investment in the circular economy and blue economy sector in Seychelles is to equip them with a Business Intelligence Platform which will act as a one-stop-shop for information regarding doing business in the two sectors. Currently, the Department of Blue Economy of the Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy has a website which provides for visibility and communication about the activities and developments in the industry and has links to other related agencies such as Seychelles Fishing Authority, Seychelles Aquaculture, SeyCCAT, Seychelles Maritime Safety Authority, Seychelles Port Authority, Seychelles National Parks Authority, Seychelles Marine Spatial Planning Initiative, and Nature Seychelles. The Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment also has a website providing for visibility and communication of the Ministry’s activities. The latter’s website is not connected to other agencies. The Department of Blue Economy, acting as the focal point for this project, in consultation with the technical committee, seeks to enhance the current website of the Department of Blue Economy, and integrate within it, updated information about both circular economy and blue economy. Under the UN Joint SDG Programme and with the support of the Fund thereunder, UNECA SRO-EA seeks to recruit an International Consultant to update the existing website of the Department of Blue Economy. The purposes of the platform are: 1. Provide an overview of blue economy and circular economy activities in Seychelles to any website user 2. Present strategic information pertaining to blue economy and circular economy to users 3. Make the blue economy and circular economy information more accessible to all users The basic requirements of the upgrade are: • Compatible with the current platform • Compatible to all the browser like Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, Opera • Web pages should be responsive i.e. compatible to Mobile, Tabs, i-Pad • Security provisions should be maintained • All the code, plugins and modules will be owned by the Department of Blue Economy, Seychelles. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: Under the general supervision of the Head of Cluster of the Sub Regional Initiative section, and the direct supervision of the Economic Affairs Officer, the successful International Consultant will have the following list of duties and responsibilities: • Work with the Department of Blue Economy, Seychelles to agree on the content and structure of the updated website • Work with the National Content Developer to plan the integration of texts on the website, and ensure that the content is well presented on the website. Text will be provided by the Department of Blue Economy and the National Content Developer. • Work in consultation with the National Content Developer to design adequate graphic representations (infographics, animations, page background, buttons, icons, etc.) of data required. The infographics should serve to enhance the communication of the content to all users. • Produce promotional videos on various blue and circular economy businesses, such as marine biotechnology for integration on the website • Develop inception report to reflect the content and structure agreed with UNECA and Department of Blue Economy. • Design client-side and server-side architecture components as required to meet the needs of the Department of Blue Economy Seychelles and SROEA team. • Development using current technology available, including PHP, (.) NET, Java, SQL, JSON, REST and XML to develop an efficient system. • Plug in content (text and pictures etc) on the website. • Troubleshoot, debug and upgrade software as required for a period of six months from successful launch • Purchase necessary licenses, security certificates, public IP address (if applicable) and any such service which are required for smooth running of the platform. All third party costs (domain, hosting, licenses, etc) involved in the development of this website will be borne by the consultant. • Conduct full-fledged technical validation of the website through necessary tests to ensure the website is fit for use on the Internet including performance load tests, system tests, security and vulnerability tests among others. • Provide technical support to Department of Blue Economy on the web-based application and associated components for 6 months following the commissioning of the system. Technical support should include, inter-alia: administration of hosting infrastructure and technical component of the platform; technical assistance to designated staff of Department of Blue Economy for customizing content and layout in the platform; system and performance monitoring; system maintenance and optimization; identify, analyse, troubleshoot and fix issues, errors and bugs; apply upgrades, patches, bug fixes and releases; manage and track incidents and problems; perform system backup and, if required, recovery to ensure uninterrupted service. • Knowledge transfer and handing over of all components and dependencies of a web-based application to the Department of Blue Economy including complete updated documentation, source code in working condition, source computer files (HTML pages, graphics, databases, programs, etc.) in working condition, valid licenses, administrator accounts and latest credentials, and any other information or artifact to ensure the Department of Blue Economy can take up the administration, management, customization and technical maintenance of the Application and website independently of the service provider after the contractual period. The service provider should submit the components in 3 SSD hard disk drives. • The consultant shall be available for a period of 6 months post successful launch of the website to for 1 set of updates. • Any other relevant activities as assigned by the supervisor

Qualifications/special skills

Academic Qualification: Qualifications: Masters degree in computer science, engineering or information systems is preferred. A first level university degree in a combination of additional two years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the master’s degree. Experience: Five years of experience in building responsive data-driven websites using Drupal/WordPress. Extensive experience in CMS, PHP, HTML/HTML5, CSS/CSS3, ASP.Net, NodeJS, React, and JavaScript/jQuery/AJAX/JSON to support advanced features and have consistent style across platforms and browsers An understanding of the entire web development process, including design, development, and deployment, with independent-level front-end and back-end knowledge. Ability to design custom-tailored Drupal solutions including data, display, and information architecture Advanced site-building experience including deep familiarity with Drupal modules Ability to convert comprehensive layouts and wireframes into working HTML pages Experience of producing high quality videos and graphics

Languages

Language: English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this post, English is required.

Additional Information

Not available.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.