Monitoring for Environment and Security in Africa (MESA)
EUROPEAID/132517/D/SER/Multi
TERMS OF REFERENCE
Service Development Consultancy work
Monitoring for Environment and Security in Africa (MESA)
EUROPEAID/132517/D/SER/Multi
TERMS OF REFERENCE
Consultancy to undertake translation of some key MESA documents from English to Portuguese
1 BACKGROUND
1.1.
Beneficiary countries
The 48 ACP countries of the five Regional Economic Communities (RECs) of sub-Saharan Africa, namely
CEMAC, ECOWAS, IGAD, IOC and SADC.
1.2.
Contracting Authority
The Commission of the African Union (AUC).
1.3.
Relevant background and rationale
The Monitoring for Environment and Security in Africa (MESA) programme intends to contribute to
poverty eradication and sustainable development by addressing the need for reliable, timely and
accurate land, marine and climate data and information for Africa, fully exploiting Earth Observation
(EO) data and technologies.
The programme is implemented in 48 countries and 5 Regional Economic Communities (RECs) with 6
Regional Implementation Centres (RICs) and 1 Continental Implementation Centre (CIC). The
programme aims at five result areas and has some clear objectives in the area of policy formulation for
environmental management, using environmental monitoring bye earth Observation.
The program has so far produced a number of documents and visibility materials in English. There is now
a need to translate some of these documents from English to Portuguese to allow the Portuguese
speaking MESA stakeholders to access these documents and fully benefit from them. The documents to
be translated include the continental environmental bulletins and briefs, service development
guidelines, brochures and other visibility materials, and others to be determined.
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2 OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTED RESULTS
2.1
Overall Objective
The overall objective of this consultancy work is to translate MESA documentation from English to
Portuguese.
2.2
Specific objectives
The specific objectives are as follows:
1. As a preparatory work, the Consultant will agree with the MESA Team Leader and Technical
Development Specialist on a weekly work plan of translation based on an average number of
words of 2,000 per day. Format of the documents will also be agreed.
2. The Consultant will liaise with the MESA Team Leader and the MESA Technical Development
Specialist in relation to the technical language of some documents to make the translation more
effective. There may also be collaboration with the MESA team in SADC on technical vocabulary
used by Portuguese speaking countries in the SADC region.
3. The Consultant will liaise with the MESA Communication Officer to translate the MESA visibility
materials under the supervision of the Team Leader.
2.3
Results to be achieved by the Consultant
1. Key documents translated in line with the requirements of MESA stakeholders.
2. Communication to a wider group of stakeholders will be improved.
3.0
Target Groups
Portuguese speaking MESA stakeholders, and the Portuguese speaking MESA audience, particularly in
the SADC and ECOWAS regions of Africa.
4- REQUIREMENTS
4.1
Qualifications and skills
1. English and Portuguese at a proficient level.
2. Bachelor in languages or other related topics.
3. Knowledge of computer software in particular Microsoft Word to be able to write high quality
documents.
4. Capacity to work under pressure and to meet deadlines.
5. Knowledge of Earth Observation, environmental monitoring and food security is considered an
additional asset.
Professional experience
- At least 5 years of translation and interpretation from English to Portuguese and vice versa.
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1.2 Facilities provided by the MESA TAT
Office space at MESA premises in Addis Ababa.
4.3
Equipment
No equipment is to be purchased. The consultant will use his /her own laptop.
4.4
Reimbursable
The reimbursable covers the eligible travel and transport costs and incidental expenditures incurred
under this contract. It cannot be used for costs which would be covered by the Consultant as part of
his/hers fee rates.
5- LOGISTICS, TIMING AND REPORTING LINE
5.1
Location
The consultancy will be executed in Addis Ababa at the AUC headquarters in Ethiopia and the Technical
Assistance Team (TAT) headquarters, and following the MESA office working hours. The Consultant will
be given an office space and he/she will be working at the MESA Office. Any travel in relation to this
contract need to be authorised by the Team Leader of the TAT and the Contracting Authority. The
mission should not be split so no interruptions are allowed.
The Consultant will report to the MESA Team Leader.
5.2
Commencement Date and Period of Implementation
The intended starting date of this consultancy is 20th of April subject to the signature of the contract.
Total working days for the contracting period: 20 working days. Working days are from Monday to
Friday. Weekends are not considered working time.
6- REPORTS
The Consultant will produce a work plan at the beginning of the assignment.
The Consultant will be required to submit, together with the corresponding invoice, a final report of no
more of 3 pages in which he/she will summarise the work done.
The language of the report is English.
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