Background

UNDP Country Office in Belarus has started preparation of the next National Human Development Report (NHDR) which will be devoted to exploring the sources of regional competitiveness in the Republic of Belarus. The project will facilitate the elaboration of the national concept of regional economies’ competitiveness, perform a comparative analysis of the socio-economic context in the regions, identify the regional economic and social “growth points”, and develop recommendations for enhancing the regional economies’ effectiveness and reducing the disparities in the quality of life in the regions of Belarus.

The NHDR will create a uniform approach to analyzing and assessing the factors, which are driving the competitiveness of the regions in the country. Within the NHDR framework the multifaceted nature of regional competitiveness will be explored with the focus on inter-linkage and interaction of its aspects (economic, social, and environmental). While studying the local development factors and the resource endowments in each region, and while developing  regional  development policy recommendations, special attention will be paid to their impact on the local quality of life, including demographics, gender aspect, the influence on the vulnerable groups’ situation, etc.

Enhancing the national/regional competitiveness is not a goal in itself, but rather a powerful tool of achieving a higher standard of living and social welfare. At the same time, empirical evidence proves that economic growth alone (GDP per capita) does not always translate into better quality of life for the general population, and is not necessarily positively correlated to human development.  Therefore, along with measuring economic dimensions of competitiveness, the NHDR will pay close attention to non-economic factors of regional attractiveness, such as, for example, access of population to social services, favourable  demographic and ecological environment, well-developed social infrastructure, general quality of life.

The team of experts will collect existing and new data on a regional basis and through these data explore a number of important aspects, including resource endowment; industrial output; SME development; innovation and technological development; availability, access and quality of public services; agriculture production; mono-company towns; the level and quality of available infrastructure for production and for supporting quality of life; closeness to capital/regional growth centers; real incomes; employment; demographic composition; mobile phone and internet penetration; and other factors for marked differences in the set of options faced by inhabitants and businesses in the various regions. The results could be presented in the forms of comparative and dynamic figures with titles that could summarize the main analytical findings.

Taking into consideration all of the above, the general objective of the NHDR will be to analyze the regional competitiveness factors in close connection with the human dimension and the quality of life in respective oblasts of the country. In addition, the research will address the issue of long-term affordability and sustainability of the socio-economic development processes, based on efficient use of the local economic, human, and natural resources, involved in the development cycle.

More detailed information could be found in Procurement Notice.
 
 

Duties and Responsibilities

MAIN OBJECTIVES, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ANALYTICAL WORK

Develop the methodology for measuring and assessing the competitiveness of the regional economies in Belarus in cooperation with the national Team Leader. The methodology should include the definition of regional competitiveness, which should incorporate the human development aspect in it; the concrete factors of competitiveness to be measured, their interaction, and their relative weight in the assessment. The methodology should be applicable in the socio-economic contest of Belarus and rely on the available statistical data.
 
  • Home-based assignment with one travel to Belarus for 5 days.
SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ANALYTICAL WORK
The international expert, in cooperation with the National Team Leader, will lead a team of local experts who will be working on this assignment in the following interrelated stages:
Initiation Phase (April – May 2012)                                                                                                  
Expected outcomes:
  •  A summary of the national context and challenges related to regional competitiveness and its assessment in Belarus is produced as a result of the national round table.
  • National Team Leader and the International Expert are selected and contracted.
  • A seminar on NHDR preparation is conducted for the involved national partners.
       (carried out by UNDP)
 
Stage 1. The concept of the Report is elaborated and the related work plan is prepared (June-September 2012)
 
The concept of regional competitiveness in Belarus with the link to human development, as well as the methodology for its assessment is developed and endorsed by the key national partners.
 
The concept includes:
  • the definition of regional competitiveness;
  • the relevant factors of regional competitiveness and their interaction;
  • the methodology for measuring and assessing regional competitiveness based on existing comparable models.
 
Development of the Report’s structure and the work plan including:
  •  the structure of the Report;
  • the work plan, and the terms of reference for the local specialists/experts required to perform the data collection/assessment (tentatively about 4 of them);
  • the specifications for the required new data to be collected.
 
(Carried out by the International Expert (involves a trip to Belarus) and the National Team Leader)
 
  • the local experts are hired
(Carried out by UNDP)
Stage 2. A draft version Report is produced and submitted for further consultations with the national stakeholders (October 2012-March 2013)
 
The draft should be in line with the following requirements:
  •  the competitiveness analysis of each of the 6 regions of Belarus is performed and the recommendation for each region are formulated;
  • the draft text is edited for data and messages consistency;
  •  the text is supported by the graphical illustrative means and annexes.
 
(Carried out by the International Expert and the National Team Leader with the assistance of the national experts/specialists)
 
Stage 3. The draft Report undergoes public discussions (round tables) and the Advisory Board review(April - May 2013)
 
Expected results:
The feedback from the national stakeholders as well as relevant reputable national and international organizations, represented in Belarus is collected.
 
(carried out by the National Team Leader with UNDP support)
 
Stage 4. The final version of the Report is completed and ready for publishing (June-July 2013)
  • All substantive comments from reviewers are reflected in the final version
  • Accompanying annexes and data bases are consolidated and submitted for production
  • Report layout is agreed.
 (Carried out by the International Expert and the National Team Leader with the assistance of the national experts/specialists)
 
Stage 5. The NHDR is published and launched (August 2013)
 (Carried out by UNDP and National Team Leader, with the International Expert’s contribution for promotion- an additional trip to Belarus if necessary will be agreed on in advance between UNDP and  IC and reimbursed separately)
 
 

Competencies

  • Proven expertise in socio-economic development issues, competitiveness analysis and its measurement, private sector development, local/regional development;
  • Outstanding analytical, data-processing, statistical, and numerical skills;
  • Expertise with general competitiveness assessment models and ability to adjust them to concrete settings and formulate new approaches;
  • Experience in developing successful measurement/assessment methodologies in the areas related to competitiveness and/or socio-economic development is an advantage;
  • Excellent writing skills in either English or Russian (both are preferable)
  • Awareness of the socio-economic context in Belarus is a solid advantage.
 

Required Skills and Experience

Education:
  • Advanced university degree in economics, social science, human development, or other related field;
  • Proven expertise in competitiveness issues and related models.
Experience:                                                                                                                
  • At least 10 years of relevant work experience;
  • Having authored and/or edited published analytical works on socio-economic issues is a strong asset;
  • Experience with consultancies in the countries of the former Soviet Union and countries with their economies of transition is an advantage;
 
DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS
Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:
  • Proposal:
(i) Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work
(ii) Provide a 1-page outline on how regional competitiveness in connection with the human development can be defined and measured in Belarus (or a country with similar characteristics).
  • Financial proposal – please fill in Annex II (Finance Proposal)
  •  Personal CV including past experience in similar projects and at least 2 references (or contact info of 2 reference people). 
 
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.
 
 FINANCIAL PROPOSAL
 
 
 Lump sum contracts
 
The financial proposal shall specify a lump sum split in 4 installments for the successful completion of each stage specified as per TOR (Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 4 and Stage 5) . Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. 
 
Travel
All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket.
This assignment includes 1 trip to Belarus (approx. 5 days duration)
 
EVALUATION
Cumulative analysis
When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria:
Total score=Technical Score + Financial Score

  • Technical Criteria weight; [70%], maximum 700 points
  • Financial Criteria weight; [30%], maximum 300 points
 
All the offers of individual consultants who scored 490 (70% from 700) and more points during the desk review/interview are acceptable for financial evaluation. The lowest technically qualified proposal receives 300 points and all the other technically qualified proposals receive points in inverse proportion according to the formula:

P=Y*(L/Z), where
P=points for the financial proposal being evaluated
Y=maximum number of points for the financial proposal
L= price of the lowest price proposal
Z=price of the proposal being evaluated
ANNEXES:
More detailed information about the assignment could be found in Procurement Notice.