Background

The European Commission and the United Nations launched a Joint Migration and Development Initiative (JMDI) in 2009 that reflects the emerging acceptance of a strong nexus between migration and development. The programme, fully funded by the European Commission and run out of UNDP Brussels, also represents a major innovation as a first joint UN project of its kind not only with the European Commission, but also in its approach to inter-Agency working. Four agencies – IOM, ILO, UNHCR and UNFPA - are directly engaged in the management and direction of the programme and contribute their institutional knowledge, expertise and extensive networks to ensure its success.

• Migrants’ remittances (their facilitation, reduction of transfer costs, productive investment etc.);
• Migrants’ communities (capitalization on diaspora professional networks etc.);
• Migrants’ capacities (use of migrant skills for development in countries of origin, support to their professional and socio-economic reintegration, mitigation of brain drain etc.);
• Migrants’ rights (their promotion, their application, the protection of vulnerable migrants etc.).

The Joint Migration and Development Initiative (JMDI) has reached some interesting findings which have shown the centrality of the role of local authorities in the field of migration and development. The programme was built on the premises that it was important to generate a solid evidence base for better planning and management in this field, in order to know what works, under what conditions, in which transnational spaces, and why. This has been achieved through the codification of the practices of civil society organizations and local authorities and synthesized in the JMDI handbook ‘Migration for Development: A Bottom-Up Approach’. The JMDI also commissioned a specific research to capture local authorities’ practices in this field: ‘From Migration to Development: Lessons Drawn from the Experience of Local Authorities’.

The good practices identified by the JMDI showed the importance of efficiently linking civil society initiatives with local development agendas in order to reach sustainability and development impact. Successful local authorities’ interventions were the results of strong partnerships with a range of stakeholders from the civil society, including the social partners and the private sector. In countries of origin of migration, local consultative processes played an important role in promoting the integration of migration issues into local and regional development policies. When local authorities share a common vision with partners, they can develop a sense of ownership over projects that will lead them to commit time, energy and resources. This process enhances their own role as decision makers in migration related affairs. The experimentation of (often) small scale initiatives have had positive consequences and contributed to change the degree of activism of local administrations[1]. Some creative local authorities have put in place innovative projects, often in anticipation of national and international debates. Unfortunately, their involvement remains for the time being largely underdeveloped and many obstacles exist as evidenced by the findings of the JMDI, such as a lack of efficient and effective coordination within local authorities’ administration and with other stakeholders. To a large extent, migration and development remains a new field of action for local administrations and targeted support is necessary to fully harness the potential local authorities can bring in this field.

In light of these findings, the JMDI is engaged in deepening its outreach, knowledge and working relationships with local authorities in order to fully capitalize on their positive contribution in the field of migration and development. As a first step, the JMDI is seeking the support of a consultant/team of consultants to map and conduct a thorough analysis of practices of local authorities in partnership with civil society organizations in various countries[2], in order:

1. To acquire a comprehensive understanding of the methodologies local authorities have developed to link migration and development, with a focus (but not exclusive) on the ones developed in partnership with civil society organizations. In this respect, the research should examine the modalities used by local authorities to work with and capitalize on the assets of diaspora associations and other relevant civil society organizations, including the private sector and the social partners.
2. To identify the practices which are the most successful[3] and the factors of their success.
3. To examine the policy and regulations side influencing the development of migration and development initiatives by local authorities (for instance constraints/opportunities related to the state of decentralization, the rules and regulations that improve local development etc.). Local to local exchanges (e.g. decentralized cooperation) and vertical exchanges (local, national) should be factored in the analysis.
4. To conduct a thorough analysis of the training needs of local authorities to efficiently link migration and development at operational and policy levels. Training needs of civil society organizations to engage and link up their M&D activities with local authorities should also be factored in the analysis.
5. Based on the practices which have been identified as successful, to issue programmatic and policy recommendations for better capitalizing on the potential of migration for local development.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Generation of a methodological framework to support the identification and analysis of practices and training needs of local authorities in the field of migration and development;
2. Mapping and analysis of M&D practices and the institutional and regulatory context in which they take place in the countries selected for the research to facilitate targeting under a potential second phase of the JMDI and enrich the database of projects available on the JMDI M4D Net;
3. Identification and analysis of the training needs of local authorities and civil society organizations to effectively capitalize on the potential of migration for local development;
4. Production of a detailed report presenting the overall results of the research and including programmatic and policy recommendations, based on the analysis of the commonalities identified between the practices which have been identified as good practices.

Elaboration of a methodological framework:

• In close coordination with the Head of the PMU and the Evaluation Committee of the JMDI, the selected consultant/team of consultants will be required to elaborate the methodological framework for the mapping and research undertaking. The selected consultant/team of consultants will prepare an inception report presenting the methodological framework and justifying the choice of countries selected for the research (country selection will be made in close cooperation with the Evaluation Committee of the JMDI). The inception report should also contain a detailed workplan.

Mapping and analysis of M&D practices implemented by local authorities in partnership with civil society organisations:

• The selected consultant/team of consultants will undertake a desk review to collect relevant information as well as field trips to conduct interviews with relevant stakeholders within national and local governments, relevant local authorities’ networks, decentralized cooperation actors working in the field of M&D, with selected civil society organizations and with UNCTs, EU Delegations and local offices of the Swiss Development Cooperation;
• The selected consultant/team of consultants will conduct a thorough analysis of the policies and regulations influencing the development of migration and development initiatives by local authorities (for instance constraints/opportunities related to the state of decentralization, the rules and regulations that improve local development etc.). Local to local exchanges (e.g. decentralized cooperation) and vertical exchanges (local, national) should be factored in the analysis;
• The selected consultant/team of consultants will conduct the mapping and analysis in the target countries, in close coordination with the UN country teams in view of gathering relevant information on on-going activities in related fields of work such as local governance and local development.

Identification and analysis of the training needs of local authorities to capitalize on the potential of migration for local development:

• Through conduction of interviews, the selected consultant/team of consultants will produce a thorough analysis of the training needs of local authorities to capitalize on the potential of migration for local development. The analysis will evidence the different needs which may exist in relation to specific national contexts and will examine the best modalities to deliver targeted training.  Training needs of civil society organizations to work effectively with local authorities will also be analyzed in order to define the best ways to nurture a multi-stakeholder approach to migration and local development.

Production of a detailed report including programmatic and policy recommendations:

• The selected consultant/team of consultants will provide to the Head of the PMU regular reports highlighting progress made country by country against the agreed upon workplan as well as preliminary findings;
• The selected consultant/team of consultants will be responsible for drafting a report combining the results of the analysis of M&D practices at local level as well as of the training needs. The report should contain case studies of successful practices identified. It should also include a list and short description of M&D practices at local level surveyed by the research in view of feeding into the existing database available on line on the JMDI M4D Net;
• Based on the successful practices identified and of the analysis of the institutional and normative set-up in which they operate, the selected consultant will be responsible for drafting programmatic and policy recommendations to establish an enabling environment to better capitalize and link initiatives arising from civil society organizations and local authorities;
• The selected consultant/team of consultants will include the comments received from the JMDI Evaluation Committee and the EC until the final endorsement of the report by the JMDI Steering Committee.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goal of the UN system;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensibility and adaptability.

Functional Competencies:

• Strong academic and operational knowledge of the migration and development nexus;
• Strong knowledge of local governance and local development;
• Strong experience in analyzing training needs at local level;
• Experience in designing efficient methodologies to aggregate data coming from different data sources;
• Experience in writing research documents for an international audience demonstrating excellent analytical and drafting skills;
• Experience in working at international level with people from different cultural backgrounds;
• Experience using knowledge networks and/or communities of practice;
• Experience in the use of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel,etc). Experience in handling of web-based management systems. Experience in using SPSS;
• Prior experience in working with the UN system a strong asset.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Masters degree in political science and/or a development-related field. Research background a strong asset.

Experience:

• At least 8 years of relevant experience in the areas of migration and development, including concrete experience in implementing migration and development initiatives and in working with local authorities or at the local level.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in written and spoken English;
• Fluency in French and/or Spanish a strong asset.

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

2. Financial proposal – please fill in Annex II (Finance Proposal)

3. Personal CV including past experience in similar projects and at least 2 references. 

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.

The financial proposal shall specify a lump sum for the successful completion of the entire assignment. Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. 

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.

Evaluation:

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:

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: