Background

The Laboratory and Scientific Service (LSS) of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is implementing a technical cooperation project to develop and strengthen national interagency work-plans for the safe handling and disposal of seized drugs and precursor chemicals in select countries of Southeast Asia, including Lao PDR. The objective of the project is to strengthen the capacity of national institutions in these countries to enable:

• Safe and cost-effective handling, transportation, storage, and final disposal of seized chemicals and chemicals, including chemical precursors used in their manufacture.
• Reducing the risk of reintroduction of seized narcotic and psychotropic drugs and chemical precursors into the illicit market, including by maximizing the use of local and regional resources and improving local capacities.
• Strengthening support for national administrative, interdictory and judicial institutions, during the seizure and in the subsequent phases of the investigation.
• The promotion of enhanced public-private partnerships, where appropriate, to support the reuse/recycling for fair use, safe handling and disposal of chemicals.

The project will develop and provide training to officials of the relevant national agencies, on safe handling and disposal methods and a menu of disposal options taking into account the national legislative and regulatory framework. As a prerequisite, an analysis of the national legislative and regulatory framework for the storage, handling and disposal of seized drugs and precursor chemicals in Lao PDR is required, considering all relevant aspects of regulatory control, including the environment

OBJECTIVE:

Under the supervision of the Scientific Affairs Officer (Crime Scene Management) based at ROSEAP, Thailand, and with substantive guidance from other LSS experts, and the overall supervision of the Regional Representative based at ROSEAP, the consultant will provide an analysis of the current national legislative and regulatory framework, capacities and other relevant information on safe handling and disposal of seized drugs and precursor chemicals used in their illicit manufacture in the Lao PDR.

Duties and Responsibilities

The successful applicant will be expected to be responsible for the following:

The scope of work will encompass the production of a report about relevant national laws and regulations as well as other relevant information. More specifically, the consultant will:

• Perform an analysis of the current regulations procedures and protocols on precursor chemicals used in their illicit manufacture in or seized in Lao PDR.
• Identify strengths and weaknesses, gaps and opportunities in the current regulatory framework for the disposal of the seized drugs and precursor chemicals, including disposal options, which may currently not be used such as repurposing and/or public-private partnerships.
• Identify the environmental regulations, related to the disposal of hazardous materials and the emission standards/criteria that apply within the country, as well as relevant transport regulations.
• Identify name, type, and location of relevant domestic enterprises handling chemicals.
• Identify government and commercial capabilities and infrastructure relevant for the disposal of hazardous chemicals.
• Compile annual volumes of chemicals imported used for the legal purposes in the country as well as other statistical data including but not limited to amounts of drugs and precursor seized.
• Formulate recommendations to improve the regulatory framework for disposal of seized drugs and chemicals in the country where appropriate.

Competencies

• Good inter-personal skills
• Excellent communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in public law in the Lao PDR is required.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in international public law, forensics, criminology or a related field is required.
• Experience in writing academic articles/papers preferably in the field of international law, is required;
• Experience with law analysis of legal systems or regulatory frameworks of chemicals, is desirable.
• Excellent research and drafting skills are desirable.

LANGUAGE : Fluency in written and spoken Lao English are required

Requirements for submission of proposals

All interested and qualified International or National Individual Consultants should apply online using the following links:

UNDP Lao PDR Country Office website at https://www.undp.org/laopdr/jobs

In order to make your submission, please read the relevant documents available at the links below

1. TOR (Annex I)

2. General Terms and Conditions (Annex II)

Interested Individual Consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. Technical Proposal

Explaining why you are the most suitable for the work;

2. P11 Form Education and work experience, including past experience in similar projects and contact references of at least 3 references for whom you have rendered preferably the similar services;

3. Financial proposal: Detailed financial proposal: Lump sum offer with clear cost breakdown against each deliverable. Please use this template Offeror’s Letter to UNDP (Annex III)

Instructions for online submissions:

• Step 1: Please prepare all required documents electronically;
• Step 2: Combine all documents in ONE SINGLE FILE (preferably in PDF however Word format can be also accepted) and upload to the UNDP Jobs using the links above;
• Step 3: After that you will receive an auto reply from the UNDP jobs if your offer is received successfully.

Incomplete proposals or proposals received after the deadline will be rejected.

Note: Any request for clarification must be sent in writing before the submission deadline to the following emails: surith.sengsavang@undp.org