UNDP Jobs - 39189- Individual Consultant (Ugandan Nationals Only): D

Individual Consultant (Ugandan Nationals Only): Development of a Tourism Social Media Platform

Location :

KAMPALA, UGANDA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

16-Aug-2013

Application Deadline :

08-Aug-13 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

45 working days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Travel & Tourism continue to be one of the world’s largest industries. In 2012, the sector contributed 9% of global GDP, (US$6 trillion) and accounted for 260 million jobs- 1 in 11 of the world’s jobs. International tourism arrivals grew by 4% in 2012 surpassing a record one billion tourists globally. Currently, tourism is Uganda’s fastest growing industry with an average annual growth rate of 21%. The sector’s contribution to GDP was UGX 2,132.6bn (3.7% of total GDP) in 2012, and is forecast to rise by 2.8% in 2013. The Government of Uganda recognizes that in the short to medium term, the tourism sector will be one of the key drivers in the country’s efforts to reduce poverty, and has great potential for foreign exchange generation, job creation, and provision of livelihoods to a significant proportion of the population. However, the growth and performance of the sector is constrained by, inter alia, the existence of fragmented information and the absence of a harmonized, well-concerted and tourism-focused approach to communication with stakeholders.

The Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities is with support from UNDP implementing a project aimed at improving the policy, legal and regulatory framework for the development and management tourism sector. A key challenge faced in an effort to make Uganda a competitive tourism destination is the lack of social media presence – an internet based mechanism used to exchange information and ideas with vast networks of stakeholders. Globally, social media platforms have become a reference point and central tool in the sharing and dissemination of information and interactive communication with stakeholders. In order to improve information dissemination and align with the current trends, the Ministry intends to develop a robust social media platform to communicate with the tourism stakeholders more directly. In that regard, the project is seeking the services of a national consultant to undertake the development of a tourism sector social media platform.

Duties and Responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities:

The objective of the assignment is to develop a robust social media platform for information sharing between MTWA and tourism stakeholders. The platform will enable MTWA engage and exchange information and ideas with tourism stakeholders through an interactive platform.

In that regard, the consultancy is aimed at:

Review the tourism sector’s social media structure in terms of market outreach, relevance and effectiveness in relation to the best practices from other countries which have demonstrated successful social media tourism stakeholder engagement;
Design and develop a robust social media platform with online event calendar and capacity to link, collect and communicate tourism information, events and programmes to the stakeholders. It should also include a mechanism to respond and update stakeholder inquiries or concerns in good time and monitor key tourism media sites;
Develop an administration and content management framework for the media platform and build the followership and utility of the site.
Train key ministry and Uganda Tourism Board officials on the use of social media platforms for communication and provide them with basic technical skills to manage the platform.

Deliverables:

The consultant will be expected to undertake the assignment following this schedule;

An inception report on the assignment within five (5) work days of signing of the contract, which articulates the understanding/interpretation of the TORs; provides the methodology of carrying out the assignment; work plan and implementation schedule;
Detailed comprehensive analysis of the tourism sector’s social media structure including market outreach, target audiences, relevance and effectiveness; best practices from other countries which have demonstrated successful social media tourism stakeholder engagement within fifteen (15) work days of signing the contract;
Design site architecture for an interactive social media platform with appropriate security architecture for user approval within twenty five (25 days) of signing the contract;
Robust social media platform with online event calendar and capacity to link, collect and communicate tourism information, events and programmes to the stakeholders within thirty five (35) days of signing the contract. The platform should be populated site with initial content and popularized amongst target audiences;
Training and assessment report on staff trained to effectively manage, update and maintain the platform within thirty nine (39) work days of signing the contract;
Monitor and evaluate performance of the site against the agreed parameters and provide continuous mentoring and supervision of the users for six (6) work days spread over three months scattered within 15 working days. A monthly monitoring and evaluation report is expected during this period.

Institutional Arrangement

The consultant will work closely with the project team and shall report to a committee led by the Project Manager and including the Communications Analyst and three representatives from the Ministry, Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) and Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) who will be responsible for assuring the overall technical quality of the deliverables, and compliance with the terms of the assignment.

The required format for all the reports generated shall be agreed upon during the inception of the assignment.

All costs needed to achieve the deliverables set forth in this RFP are to be included in the financial proposals from the offerors (transport, professional fees, communication, consumables, living allowances, etc.) except logistical costs related to the organization of the learn shops.

Duration of the Work:

The expected duration for the assignment is forty five (45) work days equivalent from date of approval and acceptance of contract by both parties.

Duty Station:

The consultant is duty station shall be Kampala. The contractor shall be expected to report on the progress of the assignment on a bi-monthly basis.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Excellent analytical skills;
Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;
Ability to act professionally and flexibility to engage with government officials, development partner representatives and the private sector.

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Minimum of a Degree in Communication, Marketing Communication or ICT.

Experience:

5 years solid experience in developing IT solutions and web based communication platforms;
International experience in conducting similar assignments is desirable and understanding of the global tourism industry and trends in context of the East African region;
Proven experience in report writing and drafting and excellent ability to communicate in English both written and spoken.

Language requirements:

Fluency in written and oral English.

Schedule of payments:

All costs needed to achieve the deliverables set forth in this RFP are to be included in the financial proposals (professional fees, communication, transport, living allowances, etc.) except logistical costs related to the organization of the validation and learning workshops.

Notes:

The term “All inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel costs, living allowances, communications, consummables, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the proposal.

All living allowances required to perform the demands of the TOR must be incorporated in the financial proposal, whether the fees are expressed as daily fees or lump sum amount.

Inception report: 15%;
Submission of acceptable detailed comprehensive analysis of the tourism sector’s social media structure; and design of site architecture for an interactive social media platform with appropriate security architecture: 30%;
Submission of acceptable robust social media platform with online event calendar and capacity to link, collect and communicate tourism information, events and programmes to the stakeholders: 25%;
Submission of acceptable training and assessment; and final M & E reports: 30%.

Evaluation Method and Criteria:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Criteria weight: 70%;

Financial Criteria weight: 30%.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Technical Criteria – Maximum 70 points

Criteria A. Relevance of Education – Max 10 points;
Criteria B. Demonstrated experience in undertaking similar assignments – Max 20 points;
Criteria C. Description of approach/methodology to assignment – Max 30 Points;
Criteria D. Demonstrated experience in report writing and drafting- Max 10 points.

Application procedure:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document:

Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP (Annex II);
Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
Technical proposal: Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment; A methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment; work plan;
Financial proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price in Ugandan Shillings, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided (Annex II).

Annexes (to be downloaded from UNDP Uganda Website, procurement notices section: www.undp.or.ug) :

Annex I - Individual Contractor General Terms and Conditions;
Annex II – Offerors Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual Contractor Assignment.