Background

Avoidable illness and death resulting from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) is a development challenge whose impact threatens human well-being in countries at all levels of development. Lower and middle-income countries – home to more than 80% of NCD incidence – are particularly vulnerable, as they face double burdens of rising NCD prevalence and continuing high levels of infectious diseases.
 
In September 2011, Heads of State and Governments adopted a Political Declaration at the High-level Meeting of the UN General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of NCDs. The Declaration offered a paradigm shift in thinking about NCDs as one of the major challenges for development in the 21st century, whereby Governments assume a primary role and responsibility and adopt approaches to policy development to address NCDs that involve all government departments.  Accordingly, the Declaration included recommendations to establish multisectoral national policies and plans for the prevention and control of NCDs.
 
In May 2013, the WHO World Health Assembly adopted the WHO Global NCD Action Plan 2013-2020, which comprises a set of actions which, when performed collectively by Member States, UN agencies and WHO, will contribute to the achievement of the nine global targets for NCDs by 2025, including a 25% reduction in premature mortality from NCDs by 2025, and attain the commitments in the Political Declaration. The implementation will be supported by the UN Interagency Task Force on NCDs, as well as the Global Coordination Mechanism on NCDs which will facilitate engagement among Member States, UN agencies and non-State actors. Monitoring of progress made will be guided by 25 action plan indicators. The UN General Assembly will hold a comprehensive review on 10 and 11 July 2014 to take stock of the progress made in implementing the commitments in the Political Declaration with participation from Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Health, Planning and Development.
 
Within the division of tasks and responsibilities of the UN Task Force on NCDs, WHO and UNDP will co-convene the work of the UN Task Force to strengthen national capacity, leadership, governance, multisectoral action and partnerships to accelerate country response for the prevention and control of NCDs. In February 2014, the WHO Director-General and UNDP Administrator wrote to United Nations country teams to reiterate the importance of continuing to mainstream NCDs into UN Development Assistance Frameworks (UNDAFs). The letter also requested the: (i) acceleration of the development of multi-sectoral joint programmes on the prevention and control of NCDs with a clear determination of financing, agency roles and coordination in the UNDAFs; (ii) support to governments to develop national targets that build on the WHO Global Action Plan, including the nine voluntary global targets to be attained by 2025; and (iii) assistance to governments in the development, implementation and monitoring of national multisectoral policies and plans to achieve their national targets, in line with the WHO Global NCD Action Plan 2013-2020.
 
A workplan for 2014-2015 has been developed by the UN Task Force on NCDs that is in line with the WHO Global NCD Action Plan 2013-2020. As part of this, UNDP and WHO are committed to develop and disseminate a Note on how to integrate NCDs into UNDAFs roll-out processes. These Terms of Reference are for a consultant to develop a joint UNDP/WHO Guidance Note for UN Country Teams on how to incorporate NCDs into UNDAFs.
 
The WHO Programme Budget for 2014-2015 includes a budgetary provision of US$192 million for technical assistance to developing countries in their efforts to set national targets and develop national multisectoral action policies and plans to attain them. Output indicators include: (a) the number of countries that have established national multisectoral action plans for the prevention and control of NCDs; (b) the number of countries that have integrated work on NCDs into their United Nations Development Assistance Framework; and (c) the number of countries reporting on the nine global targets for NCDs. WHO’s Departments for Prevention of NCDs (PND) and Management of NCDs (MND) provide the backbone for WHO’s global practice. Technical support will be provided through WHO’s 125 Country Offices.
 
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. UNDP is on the ground in 177 countries and territories, working with governments and people on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As governments develop local capacity, they draw on UNDP and its wide range of partners.  
 
The Bureau for Development Policy (BDP) is UNDP’s Policy Bureau and backbone for global practice.  BDP has a key role to play in helping country offices to accelerate human development through strengthening the practice areas within UNDP’s programmes.  BDP supports the development and design of projects that are responsive, effective and contribute to the national-level policies and results. Driven by demand, BDP provides tools, analysis and capacities for country offices to make a real difference in UNDP’s practice areas.
 
BDP supports UNDP’s 2014-2017 Strategic Plan, focusing on three thematic areas: Sustainable Development Pathways, Inclusive and Effective Democratic Governance, and Resilience.
 
UNDP’s work on HIV, health and development leverages the Organization’s core strengths and mandates in human development, governance and capacity development to complement the efforts of specialist health-focused UN agencies.  UNDP helps countries mainstream attention to HIV and health into action on gender, poverty and the broader effort to achieve and sustain the Millennium Development Goals. UNDP also addresses the interactions between governance, human rights and health responses, as well as supporting countries in the effective implementation of complex, multilateral and multisectoral health projects, while simultaneously investing in capacity development so that national and local partners can assume these responsibilities over time.
 
The emergence of NCDs as a development concern also presents governance, gender and human rights challenges that UNDP is well placed to help address, in collaboration with WHO, as the primary specialized UN agency for health. The Political Declaration on NCDs highlights WHO’s leadership and coordination role in relation to the work of other UN agencies, development banks and other intergovernmental organizations, along with governments, civil society and private sector partners as appropriate.
 
UNDP’s 2014-2017 Strategic Plan and Global Programme contains multiple entry points for UNDP’s engagement on NCDs: 
  • Strengthening institutions and sectors to progressively deliver universal access to basic services;
  • The importance of social, economic and environmental co-benefit analysis and planning;
  • Inclusive social protection; and
  • Whole-of-government /society initiatives and addressing inequalities.
Objective of the assignment
 
To strengthen the response of the UN Country Teams regarding the prevention and control of NCDs through the UNDAF mechanism.
 
The output will be a joint UNDP/WHO Guidance Note on the Integration of NCDs into UNDAF’semerging work will be shared in a side meeting at the UN General Assembly NCD Review on 10 July 2014.
 
In order to develop the Guidance Note, UNDP and WHO will support a 25-day consultancy to manage the needs assessment and development of the Note, working with the HHD Group and WHO in Geneva and New York.  The Guidance Note will cover UNCTs in all country contexts in line with the WHO Global NCD Action Plan 2013-2020 and the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The Note will provide guidance on how UN Country Teams can ensure that NCDs are included in the four mandatory steps for UN Country Teams in the process of developing an UNDAF: 
  • Road map outlining the preparation process of the UNDAF;
  • Country analysis to inform the strategic planning steps of the UNDAF;
  • Strategic planning, including: (a) priorities, i.e. which national development priorities are supported for UN action? (b) set of outcomes to support each national development priority; and (c) a results matrix (i.e. indicators, baselines, targets, means of verification, risk and assumptions, role of UN partners, and resources);
  • Monitoring and evaluation.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Cluster Leader, HIV, Health and Development Group/BDP, and in consultation with the Senior Health Adviser to the Assistant Director-General, NMH in WHO, the Consultant will be responsible for:
 
Activities: 
  • Development of a detailed annotated outline for the Guidance Note to be agreed with both UNDP and WHO;
  • A review of good practices regarding guidance notes for UNDAFs and associated evaluations thereof;
  • The alignment of the content of the Guidance to NCD-relevant Frameworks, Commitments and Plans as advised by WHO and UNDP;
  • Thorough interviews with relevant UN Development Group and UNDP staff and review of pertinent documents and guidance, ensuring the Guidance note aligns with the vision and evolving position of UNDAFs as they pertain to UN system support to Member States regarding UNDAF Development Guidelines, Quadrennial comprehensive policy review (QCPR) recommendations, and Delivering as One modalities;
  • Collating case studies of good practices of UNCTs and UNDAFs addressing NCDs in a multisectoral manner (building on surveillance and case materials already collected by UNDP); and
  • Understand key processes and success factors in shaping national development planning, UNDAFs and/or country governance structures related to the integration of NCDs prevention and control, particularly the measures laid out in the WHO Global NCD Action Plan 2013-2020. Use the analytical work to generate lessons, best practices, key challenges and guiding principles for the integration of NCDs prevention and control in national development planning, UNDAFs and governance structure.
Reporting:

The Consultant will report to UNDP´s Cluster Leader HIV, Health and Development who will consult with the Senior Health Adviser to the Assistant Director-General, NMH in WHO. Both UNDP and WHO will need to provide final approval for the Guidance Note.
 
Travel:

The consultant is expected to work from home but be in New York for at least 5 days of the assignment.
 
Applicants should quote all-inclusive lump sum cost for each of the travel in their applications below in the payment section. In case of additional/unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP HHD Team and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be covered and paid by UNDP. The fare will always be “most direct, most economical” and any difference in price with the preferred route will be paid for by the expert.
 
Evaluation:

Applicants will be screened against qualifications and competencies specified below through a desk review or an interview process. Applicants will be evaluated based on cumulative analysis based on a combination of the Technical and Financial Scores.
 
Technical Evaluation Criteria:  70%
Financial Evaluation Criteria: 30%
 
Timeline, activities and deadline for deliverables:
  • Agreed work plan and timeline - 28 May 2014;
  • Draft outline agreed upon (1 day) - 2 June 2014;
  • Initial assessment of country UNDAFs (5 days) - 9 June 2014;Data collection and analysis (including trip to New York) (5 days) - 16 June 2014;
  • Annotated outline finalized (1 day) - 23 June 2014;
  • First draft for comment (8 days) - 14 July 2014;
  • Second draft for comment (3 days) - 4 August 2014;
  • Finalization of the Guidance Note (2 days) - 18 August 2014.
Payment schedule:
  • 20% on deliverable 2 and 80% on deliverable 8.

Competencies

Organizational Competencies:
  • Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
  • Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP and WHO; and
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
Functional Competencies:
  • Strong analytical, negotiation and communication skills, including ability to produce high quality practical advisory reports and knowledge products;
  • Excellent writing, research, analysis and presentation skills;
  • Good knowledge of NCDs, particularly the best buys for the prevention and control of NCDs as set in the NCD Action Plan 2013-2020; and
  • Understanding of the need for multisectoral responses to health challenges, the key multisectoral responses recommended and what sectors should be involved.
Project and Resource Management:
  • Ability to produce high quality outputs in a timely manner while understanding and anticipating the evolving client needs;
  • Ability to focus on impact and results for the client, promoting and demonstrating an ethic of client service;
  • Strong organizational skills;
  • Ability to work independently, produce high quality outputs;
  • Sound judgment, strategic thinking and the ability to manage competing priorities; and
  • Ability to produce outputs in tight deadlines.
Communication and Advocacy:
  • Strong ability to write clearly and convincingly, adapting style and content to different audiences and speak clearly and convincingly;
  • Strong presentation skills in meetings with the ability to adapt for different audiences;
  • Strong analytical, research and writing skills with demonstrated ability to think strategically;
  • Strong capacity to communicate clearly and quickly; and
  • Strong inter-personal, negotiation and liaison skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Advanced Degree (at least honors level) in Social Science, Public Health, Law, Economics, International Development or other related field, or equivalent professional experience.

Experience:

  • Minimum of 10 years of national/international professional experience in the practice area with policy or programme management experience;
  • Professional and/or academic experience in one or more of the areas of the Development or knowledge management field;
  • Knowledge or expertise in the following areas (please be specific): (a) UN planning, coordination, (B) management and (c) Public health.
Language:
  • English Required.