Local Consultant to Monitor and Analyze the Progress of the Sustainable Development of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) Project
BACKGROUND
While artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is often associated with social and environmental degradation, it is in fact recognized by many countries and multilateral international development agencies, such as the United Nations and World Bank, as a significant poverty relief mechanism and an important opportunity for development. Artisanal and small-scale gold mining is an excellent mechanism for transferring wealth from the urban wealthy to the rural poor where there are few other economic opportunities.
In Indonesia specifically, ASGM is an important income-generating activity that is present in almost all provinces. ASGM is the primary source of livelihoods for approximately one million men and women, while an additional five million people derive livelihoods from secondary activities such as tools manufacturing, agriculture, and merchants. While regulations are in place to establish licensed formal ASGM operations in Indonesia, ASGM activities also occur informally within the country, the sector is still largely informal; Indonesia's Ministry of Environment and Forestry/MoEF (KLHK) and Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources/MoEMR (ESDM) have reported that there are approximately 300,000 artisanal gold miners working at 1,000 informal sites across the country.
The Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources estimates that in 2012, formal industry produced 66 tons of gold while informal ASGM produced between 65 to 135 tons. The informal portion of the sector has tended to thrive due to the challenges of corruption, the underground economy (e.g. illegal mercury trade and gold sales), and decentralized regulation. Formalization efforts face a variety of challenges such as inconsistent regulations, overlapping jurisdictions, corruption and governance issues, an established underground trade of mercury and gold, decentralized regulation, and Indonesia's diffuse and disconnected island geography.
Throughout Indonesia, mercury amalgamation has been the preferred technology for the primary stages of the gold recovery process because it is fast acting and easily accessible at a relatively low cost. Poor processing practices and challenges to formalization of miners, combined with poor mining infrastructure and technology, have led to dangerous working conditions and discharge of toxic waste into rice paddies, rivers, and oceans in many mining regions. Rice, plants, and fish bio-accumulate the mercury, creating great environmental and health risks for associated communities.
In October 2013, Indonesia, with support from the UN, the World Bank, and other international bodies, joined 146 governments, including Canada, as a signatory to the Minamata Convention on Mercury. In September 2017, Indonesia ratified the Minamata Convention. To achieve the Convention's commitments on ASGM, signatory countries must conduct research to identify sustainable solutions for how the sector can reduce, and where possible eliminate, mercury use without negatively impacting the livelihoods of people living in ASGM communities. Solutions are then implemented via a combination of the following avenues, customized to the specific context of the country's ASGM activities and distribution: changes to policy; formalization efforts; regulation measures; delivery of education on best practices, health, and environment; improved health services; introduction of alternative mercury-reduced and/or mercury-free technology; and provision of alternative livelihoods where necessary.
Prior to ratifying the Convention, Indonesia confirmed the direction of its policy on mercury. On 9 March 2017, President Joko Widodo of Indonesia presided over a special coordinating meeting of the cabinet. A top agenda item was the excessive use of mercury in the ASGM sector. The President was briefed on the impact of mercury use on human health as well as the environment. Considering the global concerns around the safety of mercury, the President issued seven orders as positive steps toward addressing mercury use in the sector:
- Improve the management of ASGM located inside and outside of forest areas;
- Stop the use of mercury in ASGM;
- Closely monitor the use of mercury;
- Control mercury supply and distribution in Indonesia, including imports;
- Educate people on the dangers of mercury use;
- Provide alternative livelihoods to illegal miners whose mines are closed by the government; and
- Instruct Ministry of Health on how to provide health care for those who have been exposed to or contaminated by mercury.
The Presidential Orders provided more direction for various ministries, including MoEMR, MoEF, and Ministry of Health/MoH, to focus on efforts that can be translated into legal or formal regulations for addressing both mercury use and ASGM. On 22 April 2019, President-elect Joko Widodo elaborated on the Presidential Orders by signing the Presidential Regulation Number 21 of 2019 on the National Action Plan for Reduction and Abolishment of Mercury Use (PR NAP).
The PR NAP covers strategies, activities, and targets for reducing and eliminating mercury use in key areas, one of which is on ASGM. The new regulation also functions as clear orders for the various Ministries to meet reduction targets and strengthen coordination between related ministries and between national and local governments towards abolishing mercury use in Indonesia. The PR NAP will be carried out within the period of 2018-2030 and constitute as basic data to measure the success of Indonesia's National Action Plan on Mercury.
The Presidential Orders and PR NAP taken collectively reflects a substantial improvement over the earlier efforts of the GoI on mercury.
To support the Government of Indonesia in addressing the challenges described above, Global Affairs Canada is supporting a development project called Sustainable Development of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) in Indonesia. This CDN$7,377,602 million project is implemented by the Canadian NGO Artisanal Gold Council (AGC) for six years, from 2015 until 2021.
The Project adopts a three pronged approach, presented as three supporting conceptual pillars:
Pillar 1: Aims to improve mining practices carried out by men and women in three ASGM communities in the selected project areas in the provinces of North Sulawesi and Central Kalimantan. Improvements are targeted at technical, environmental, health, gender-sensitive, and business management aspects of the artisanal mining process. The activities of this Pillar are centered on installing three pilot mercury-free processing plants in three different ASGM communities, along with associated training centres, which offer a concrete convening point, a demonstration site, and a hands-on learning opportunity for ASGM stakeholders to learn about improved practices.
Pillar 2: Aims to enhance policy and strengthen government support to the ASGM sector in Indonesia. The objectives are to increase the capacity of the district, provincial, and central governments to implement policies related to ASGM and to improve access of ASGM stakeholders to pre-existing government support services in their communities.
Pillar 3: Is a logical and concrete complement to the first two pillars of the Project. It helps to better understand and then works to build legal and transparent supply chains that bring responsible artisanal gold from the community to the national market.
The activities of the three pillars are carried out within three Project Areas (PAs): Tatelu Village (PA-1) in North Minahasa District (MINUT), North Sulawesi Province (SULUT); Tobongon Village (PA-2) in East Bolaang Mongondow District (BOLMONGTIM), North Sulawesi Province (SULUT); and Parenggean Village (PA-3) in East Kotawaringin District (Kotawaringin Timur), Central Kalimantan Province (KALTENG).
PROJECT EXPECTED OUTCOMES:
The Project seeks to develop models of responsible artisanal and small-scale gold supply in three diverse mining and cultural ASGM sector settings (project areas) in target provinces of Indonesia to demonstrate that gold can be mined profitably and in accordance with good practices relating to legality, environment, gender equality, and health and safety. It seeks to embed the model institutionally by enhancing the government's ability to design a road map for formalization of the ASGM sector at a national level and in the provinces that are home to pilot sites. The Project also identifies the marketing channel that would welcome the 'responsible gold' increasingly produced through the improvement of practices. At project end, Indonesian actors (principally mining communities and their representatives, local NGO partners, and subnational governments) will have the capacity needed to accelerate the formalization of the ASGM sector in the provinces of North Sulawesi and Central Kalimantan where the project is operating.
The Project Logic Model could be found in Annex 1 of this TOR (attached).
OBJECTIVE(S)
Global Affairs Canada (GAC)/Indonesia Development Program requires the services of a Consultant to monitor and analyze the progress of the project against the project plan and targets. The objective of the monitoring is to inform the Program on the progress of the project by assessing its result achievements to date, analyzing them and offering relevant recommendations to ensure the project is meeting its intended goals and objectives.
An assessment needs to be done in accordance to the three pillars of the project to see the detail progress of the project compared to the intended targets by the end of the project. The Project Performance Management Framework (Annex 2 - attached) provide a tool to structure the monitoring. A particular interest to GAC is to see the evidence that the business model in the three sites are viable i.e. if the artisanal and small miners using the facilities would generate enough profit to cover their operational, production and marketing costs. As the increase of profit is considered one of the main incentives for miners to shift toward mercury-free practices and it is key to ensure the continuity of the use of the facilities after the end of the project and to ensure the sustainability of GAC's investment.
DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES
The scope of work will include:
- Preparing a Work Plan for the duration of the contract to be reviewed and approved by GAC/Canadian Embassy in Jakarta.
- Reviewing selected relevant project materials, including but not limited to: Project Implementation Plan, Annual Work Plans, Semi-Annual, Annual Reports and Project Sustainability Milestones, as well as other relevant Global Affairs Canada programming policies, including but not limited to: Feminist International Assistance Policy and Gender Equality Policy.
- Collecting relevant data from project beneficiaries and stakeholders in order to validate the progress of the project.
- Identifying problems and constraints hampering the effective implementation of the project and provide recommendations for improvement.
- Providing recommendations to improve the performance of the project, proposing adjustments and corrective action, as required.
- Preparing three draft monitoring reports, which will include the results of the monitoring and validation on the progress of the project and recommendations for the actions to be taken. It is envisaged that there will be three monitoring activities to be conducted. After each monitoring activity, a report will be submitted to GAC and it is not to exceed 15-20 pages.
- Revising draft reports based on comments from GAC/Indonesia Development Program.
- Submit Monitoring Reports to the GAC/Indonesia Development Program.
- Ad hoc requests that could include participation in meetings, where a read out of these meetings will be required.
ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Consultant must provide GAC/Canadian Embassy in Indonesia with the deliverables within the timeline established in the Deliverables section below.
DESCRIPTION OF THE CONSULTANTS'S PROFILE
GAC Indonesia Development Program needs a consultant/expert in project monitoring, a good knowledge of Indonesia context and ASGM sector, general knowledge of official development assistance principles, and a knowledge of the Feminist International Assistance Policy.
The consultant/expert is responsible for the quality of the three monitoring reports.
PLACE OF WORK
The work will be performed primarily from the Consultant's office but the Consultant will be required to travel to project sites/regions in Central Kalimantan and North Sulawesi, as well as meeting with Global Affairs Canada/Canadian Embassy in Jakarta.
LANGUAGE OF WORK
All Individuals provided by the Consultant must possess the following levels in English:
- Oral = 4 – Advanced Professional Proficiency
- Reading = 4 – Advanced Professional Proficiency
- Writing = 4 – Advanced Professional Proficiency
DURATION AND VALUE OF THE PROJECT
The total expected duration of the assignment is up to 120 days. The Consultant is expected to start on or around April 2021 and the contract will be completed before October 31, 2021. All reports must be finalized and submitted within this period. The total value of the contract is up to CAD$75,000. This includes all fees and travel costs.
DELIVERABLES
List of deliverables
|
Deliverables |
Due Date |
|
1 week after contract signature |
|
2 weeks after the Work Plan received by GAC |
|
Last week of May 2021 |
|
Last week of July 2021 |
|
First week of October 2021 |
|
To be discussed |
Unless otherwise stated, the Consultant will, to the extent possible:
- Use both sides of the page when producing printed documents, reports, etc.;
- Use recycled paper to print and produce reports and other documents;
- Given the current restrictions due to COVID-19 pandemic, electronic copy of the reports (in Word and PDF) is recommended.
HOW TO APPLY:
Interested individual consultants must include the following documents when submitting the applications to admin@fssproject.com latest by 20 April 2021:
- CV indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references.
- Brief statement as to why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment.
- Financial Proposal shall be submitted in the following format:
- The financial proposal should specify an all-inclusive daily rate for up to 120 working days;
- The financial proposal must be all-inclusive and take into account various expenses that will be incurred during the contract, including: the daily professional fee and when applicable any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services under the contract, including travel expenses.
Qualified women are encouraged to apply.
Due to the large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidate(s) about the outcome or status of the selection process.
ABOUT US
With more than 35 years' experience, Cowater International is Canada's global leader in management consulting services specializing in international development and has managed the implementation of over 800 projects in more than 80 countries around the globe. We work with governments, partner organizations, communities and civil society to design and implement sustainable solutions that generate lasting social, financial and environmental impacts. Our adaptive approach to management has led to our award-winning work and recognition as one of Canada's Best Managed Companies in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, Cowater International also has corporate offices in Montreal, Quebec; London, United Kingdom; Nairobi, Kenya; and Brussels, Belgium, in addition to project offices in a wide variety of other locations across Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
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