TERMS OF REFERENCE KIRIBATI OUTER ISLANDS TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT PROJECT (KOITIIP) OUTER ISLANDS IMPLEMENTATION UNIT (OIIU) Position: OIIU CHIEF TECHNICAL ADVISOR (International) Duty Station: Full-time in OIIU Project Management Unit, Ministry of Finance & Economic Development Start date: As soon as possible Duration: Three year period with possible 1 year extension (initial contract to be offered up to June 2020 to coincide with project preparatory funding) Reporting to: [OIIU Project Manager] Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Economic Development 1. BACKGROUND 1. The Republic of Kiribati is one of the most remote and geographically dispersed countries in the world. It comprises three island groups, namely; the Gilbert Islands Group, Phoenix Islands Group, and Line Islands Group (refer to Annex 2). The country’s inhabited islands include 33 low lying atolls and one raised limestone island. The islands are scattered over an ocean area of 3.5 million km 2 of the central and western Pacific with approximately 3,200 km separating the eastern and western-most outer islands. The atolls are generally less than 2 km wide and not more than 6 m above sea level. Kiribati is constrained by geographic isolation, high transport and shipping costs and a low population base. The nature of the relative infertility of its coral islands prohibits agricultural production on a large scale. 2. Twenty-one of the islands are inhabited by the national population of around 114,0001, with the majority residing on the Gilberts group of islands. The outer-islands population ranges from a few thousand to less than a hundred across the different island chains, with approximately 51% of the country’s population living in the capital on South Tarawa (within the Gilberts)2. Its population is majority rural and growing, with a fertility rate of 3.7 children and life expectancy at 66.1 years (2015) 3. South Tarawa is a magnet for internal migration from the outer islands as it provides opportunities for employment and consumption, as well as access to higher education and specialist social services not available elsewhere in Kiribati. 3. Kiribati’s low-lying atolls are at the forefront of climate change. Kiribati is highly exposed to the effects of sea level rise, storm surge, coastal erosion and saltwater intrusion. Access to fresh water is particularly challenging, as saltwater intrusion and drought increasingly affects Kiribati’s very limited groundwater supplies. Between 2005 and 2015, 94% of household in Kiribati report having been impacted by environmental hazards. In this same period, 81% report having been World Bank Open Data, 2016. Government of Kiribati, Population and Housing Census, 2015 3 International Labour Organization, Employment and Environmental Sustainability Fact Sheets 2017 1 2 Page 1 of 13 impacted by rising sea levels4. Saltwater intrusion impacted just under half of all households. All of the other hazards (storm surges, floods, cyclones and droughts) were reported more frequently in the outer islands than in South Tarawa. 2. DETAILED PROJECT COMPONENTS AND ACTIVITIES 4. The following project components and activities are being considered as part of the US $ 42 million KOITIIP project. Component 1: Safe Inter-Island Navigation. This component will finance hydrographic surveying (by Airborne Laser Bathymetry [ALB] and vessel-based Multi-Beam Echo Sounder [MBES] surveys) and maritime charts focusing on the four target islands to significantly improve the safety of navigation.5 In addition to hydrographic surveying services, the component will finance contractor management services, as well as seabed-mounted tide gauges and current meters in certain locations on each target outer island. The component is especially important as it is a precursor to, and will directly inform, the design of the maritime works in Sub-Components 2.1 and 2.2. Component 2: Resilient Outer Island Access Infrastructure. Activities to be financed under this component include: (a) technical engineering studies, including climate resilience measures, and preparation of bidding documents for project related activities; (b) preparation of environmental and social safeguards instruments; (c) execution of civil works; (d) supervision of civil works; (e) maintenance of project assets; (f) third-party technical audits; and (g) third-party environmental, social, and security audits of the civil works. Activities will include on-the-j