UNDP Jobs - 49801- International Consultant to Conduct Training on Pr

International Consultant to Conduct Training on Project Identification and Formulation for Development Cooperation Providers in Europe and the CIS

Location :

Home-based with one mission to Prague, Czech Republic

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

29-Sep-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Estimated October – 31 November 2014

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Approximately 6 working days

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

The UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS is looking for a Project Formulation and Identification Trainer with experience in development cooperation to conduct a training course for development assistance providers in Europe and the CIS - mostly for the staff of Ministries of Foreign Affairs, development agencies, and line ministries from Europe and the CIS (a limited participation is expected from the civil society).

Many of the countries in the region have recently emerged as donors and providers of development assistance. Several target countries, such as the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Poland, have also recently joined the OECD/DAC. In order to meet the high standards of aid delivery, UNDP (along with other international partners (1)) has been providing capacity building support to these countries in their new role as providers of ODA. During the technical workshop jointly organized by UNDP, the World Bank Institute (WBI), and the European Commission in partnership with the Corvinus University of Budapest (June 13-14, 2012), a thorough assessment of existing capacity building practices and needs of European emerging donors was carried out. The assessment revealed a strong demand to further support building the capacities of new donors in the region, by conducting practically oriented trainings on selected topics. See more in Annex I Concept Note.

Target countries

In 2014, UNDP is planning to design and conduct six on-demand capacity building activities for emerging development cooperation providers in Europe and CIS. The participants will primarily include staff of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, line ministries, and development cooperation agencies. The need for such activities has been expressed by two development cooperation providers from among the EU Member States (Czech Republic and Romania), but the activities will be open to representatives from other countries as well, including but not limited to Azerbaijan, Croatia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Poland, Russia, Slovak Republic, Turkey. The activities will also include representatives of traditional donors. To date, three capacity building activities were conducted in 2014.

General training description

The envisaged capacity building activities will comprise of thematic modules identified in consultation with participating institutions and based on a review of needs and existing practices in management and programming of official development assistance in the participating countries, as well as on the basis of feedback from preceding training activities. Each activity will consist of a technical training conducted by the consultant and/or other experts (resource persons) and a knowledge exchange/peer-learning component with development agencies, ministries and non-state entities, particularly from among the more experienced development cooperation providers. Each activity should be intensive and practical in nature and be carried out in 2.5 days with approx. 30 participants.

The list of thematic modules to be addressed by the set of capacity building activities in 2014 is as follows:

Introduction to Project Cycle Management, Prague, January 2014 (See Annex I – Mini-Summary report on feedback on Training (http://dl.undp.sk/43dmtt));
Strategic Programming in ODA, Bratislava, April 2014 (See Annex II – Mini-Summary report on feedback on Training 2 (http://dl.undp.sk/43dmtt));
Communicating Development Results, Bucharest, June 2014;
Project Identification and Formulation, Prague, November 12-14, 2014;
Monitoring and Evaluation, Bucharest, est. January/February 2015;
Knowledge Management/ Mechanisms for Knowledge Sharing, Istanbul, est. April 2015.

Project Identification and Formulation Training:

The two-and-half-day training (scheduled for November 12-14, 2014) will provide participants with the necessary knowledge and relevant tools for project identification and formulation within the project management cycle. An important part of the success of any project comes from these stages. This requires a cooperative dialogue with beneficiary countries/institutions to clarify the objective of the development support and to promote local ownership. It also requires a sound technical knowledge of the areas of intervention and of the specific methodologies for programme and project identification and formulation.

The training should introduce good practices, case studies and international standards in project identification and formulation. The training is expected to facilitate knowledge exchange/peer-to-peer learning between development agencies, ministries and non-state entities, both from the more experienced development cooperation providers and from the recipient countries). The consultant will be responsible for identifying relevant best practice countries as well as for communication with/and coordination of the resource persons.

At the end of the training, participants should be able to:

Have a clear picture of the methodologies and steps of project identification and formulation processes;
Improve their call for proposal design skills (grant schemes) and stakeholders mentoring capacities;
Clearly understand the importance of problem analysis and stakeholder analysis before their institutions engage in project/program identification and formulation, in order to ensure the projects/programs are need based and respond to the development priorities of the partner countries;
Improve their ability to use logframes and results-based management;
Learn new modalities of sustainable procurement for the project implementation services;
Learn from the best practices and peer to peer exchanges facilitated by the training.

The following selected capacity building activities have been conducted in the past targeting the countries of the region: CIDA/ODACE Programme (2001-2008); ADA´s Regional Partnership Programme (2005-2007); USAID Emerging Donors Initiative (2006-2009); SIDA Partnership Programme (2009-ongoing); World Bank’s Russia as a Donor Programme (2007-2013) and WBI’s ODA Curriculum Development Initiative (2011-ongoing).

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will work for 6 days between October 2014 until end November 2014 and will have the following tasks:

Conduct a needs assessment of the participant institutions (the MFA/Agency in the Czech Republic, Romanian MFA, Slovak MFA/Agency, Russian MFA). The needs assessment will be based on desk review of the ODA implementation modalities in the participant countries. The activity will be home-based. Interviews and consultations with the project team will be performed via Skype or e-mai;
Develop the detailed training programme for module: Project Identification and Formulation. This will include the structure of the technical training (agenda) and suggested content of knowledge exchange/peer-learning component, facilitation method; suggested training materials (please note that printed handouts are required). The activity will be home-based. Consultations with the project team will be performed via Skype or e-mail. Logistical note will be elaborated by the UNDP New Partnerships Emerging Donors team;
Conduct the capacity building activity on Project Identification and Formulation as a trainer, in close coordination with the other resource persons, using latest methodologies to ensure achievement of expected outcomes and outputs;
Gather participants’ feedback and elaborate a mini-summary report on the training in order to ensure training effectiveness (including recommendations for following activities/modules).

Outputs/deliverables

Needs assessment report and prepared questionnaire for participants to map level of knowledge/specific interests before the training (up to 10 pages);
Training agenda;
Mini-summary report on capacity building activity no. 4 (up to 5 pages), incl. evaluation forms filled by participants (evaluation forms should be ideally created online by the consultant, to be filled-in by participants during/after the training) and Contractor´s recommendations.;

Competencies

Excellent communication, facilitation, presentation and training skills in English;
Strong organizational awareness;
Client orientation and government advisory skills;
Strong drafting and reporting skills in English (familiarity with MS Office is required);
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty..

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced (MA) university degree (or equivalent) in the area of social sciences, international relations, international development, education, public administration or relevant field;
Training in Results-Based Management and Project Cycle Management; other relevant trainings will be an asset

Experience:

Direct experience in the design, leading and facilitation of trainings, workshops and capacity building activities in the field of international development related to Project Cycle Management, Results-Based Management (Proven track record of at least 3 similar assignments);, own experience as practitioner in Project Identification and Formulation will be an asset (At least 5 years of experience in project and programme management;
At least 3 years of experience in development cooperation; previous experience in working with UN agencies will be an asset.

Languages:

Proficiency (verbal and written) in English is required, other ECIS languages will be an asset.

Duration:

Approx. 6 working days (3 days preparation of training, 2.5 days training, 0.5 day of feedback analysis).

Payment:

A single payment after successful completion of all deliverables. Travel costs are to be included in the lump sum payment.

Evaluation of Applicants:
Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.
The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

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

Only the highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.
Technical Criteria: 70% of total evaluation – max. 35 points:

Education in the area of social sciences, public administration, international relations, international development, or relevant field - max. 5 points;
Training in Results-Based Management and Project Cycle Management; other relevant trainings and certification will be an asset - max. 10 points;
Direct experience in the design, leading and facilitation of trainings, workshops and capacity building activities in the field of international development related to Project Cycle Management, Results-Based Management (Proven track record of at least 3 similar assignments);, own experience as practitioner in Project Identification and Formulation will be an asset - max. 10 points;
At least 5 years of experience in project and programme management and at least 3 years of experience in development cooperation (experience from ECIS will be an asset); previous experience in working with UN agencies will be an asset. - max. 5 points;
Language skills - max. 5 points.

Financial Criteria: 30% of total evaluation – max. 15 points

Application procedures

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain:

Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application;
Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank form can be downloaded from http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc); please upload the P11 instead of your CV;
Financial Proposal* - specifying a total lump sum amount in USD for the tasks specified in this announcement. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (number of anticipated working days, travel costs, per diems and any other possible costs);
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials

*Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination, travel costs and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services...).

Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.

Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org
General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://on.undp.org/t7fJs.
Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.
Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.

Annex I - Mini-Summary report on feedback on Training (http://dl.undp.sk/43dmtt).
Annex II - Mini-Summary report on feedback on Training 2 (http://dl.undp.sk/43dmtt).