UNDP Jobs - 49851- Consultant for Formulation of Social Inclusiveness

Consultant for Formulation of Social Inclusiveness and Social Entrepreneurship Strategy

Location :

Port Louis, MAURITIUS

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

06-Oct-2014

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

22 days in October 2014

Languages Required :

English French

Expected Duration of Assignment :

22 days in October 2014

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

Project Title

Planning and Resource Management for Inclusive Growth.

Funding Agency
UNDP Project on Planning and Resource Management for Inclusive Growth

Project Description

Background and rationale:

As stated by the Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mauritius is now resolutely embarked upon a major transformation agenda underpinned by the attainment of the following three overriding and interrelated objectives namely High Income, Inclusiveness and Sustainability. The ultimate purpose is to better serve the people, ensure their well-being and further improve their quality of life.

The challenge faced by Mauritius to move to a high-Income, inclusive and sustainable country is to develop an incentive framework conducive to acceleration of growth through increased human capital, better policies and processes, as well as policies and schemes to promote inclusiveness and empowerment in a sustainable and equitable way. The transformation agenda aims at addressing all these facets.
Inclusive growth constitutes a strategic priority area in the new UNDP Strategic Plan 2014-2017 endorsed by the UNDP Executive Board. In Mauritius, UNDP supports Government through several projects promoting inclusiveness, including technical assistance for the design and implementation of the Social Register of Mauritius, formulation of policy options on social aid reform and community development in poor areas.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

The consultant will provide direct support to the team at Ministry of Finance and Economic Development in charge of coordinating the formulation of the transformation agenda to be implemented by 2020.

The consultant is expected to formulate an innovative and implementable strategy to promote and strengthen inclusiveness and social entrepreneurship through a suite of policies and services to be implemented by 2020, including short-term proposals for 2015, 2016 and 2017 which will include problem statement, description of initiative, purpose and expected output, proposed innovation, cost estimates and implementing arrangements.

The expected contribution will focus on 2 specific issues (social inclusiveness and social entrepreneurship), while (optional) additional inputs on social housing policies will be sought in collaboration with UN Habitat consultants.

Social inclusiveness:

The expected contribution on social inclusiveness will specifically address the issues of women participation in the labor force, gender equality and social mobility.

Women participation in the labour force and promotion of gender equality

To make an assessment of women participation in the labour force;
How to encourage/help women especially those above 30 years of age to reintegrate the world of work to increase their participation in the labour force;
Specific policies and programmes to promote gender equality and improve Mauritius ranking in the gender equality index.

Social mobility (with emphasis on the issue of income disparity, inequality and inclusiveness)

Analyze trends in income levels of different groups;
Make proposals to bridge gaps in income disparities and to promote social inclusion;
Overall assessment of current programmes and policies on social protection and social inclusion.

Social entrepreneurship (with emphasis on empowerment of Civil Society and Vulnerable groups/disability):

Formulate policies and programmes for the promotion of social entrepreneurship in Mauritius (including use of CSR Fund) and the creation of a social entrepreneur sector;
Provide an assessment of various models of social entrepreneurship – to build a model for Mauritius;
Prepare budget proposals for developing social entrepreneurship on a grand scale, starting with a couple of concrete projects;
Formulate proposals on basic principles of social entrepreneurship to be included in Mauritius secondary and tertiary curricula;
Formulate a plan on how to build capacity in that area for the future - for example, the role of universities and other tertiary institutions;

In the context of the Blueprint formulation, consultants hired for the Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme (UN Habitat) to define a strategy to improve in a sustainable way the living conditions of people living in slums in Mauritius will be working on social housing policies. The UNDP consultant for the formulation of the social inclusiveness and social entrepreneurship strategy will be invited to collaborate with the UN Habitat consultants to provide (optional) inputs on assessment of the existing social housing strategy and programme, identifying alternative funding and subsidy mechanisms to implement social housing projects and identifying measures that would sustain investment in the social housing sector, improve access of social housing units for vulnerable and low income groups and encourage social mobility and income development.

Expected Outputs and Calendar:

Inception report outlining the work plan of the assignment, elaborating on the terms of reference by describing how the assignment will be carried out and specifying the methodology (deadline 8 October);
Workshop organized on mission findings and proposals – to disseminate the preliminary findings; to have consultations with the stakeholders; and to share the findings/observations/recommendations of the assignment, and to propose the way forward (deadline: 24 October 2014);

Final report to be submitted to UNDP, UN Habitat and MOFED (deadline: 30 October 2014) presenting:

A strategy to strengthen by 2020 social inclusiveness and social entrepreneurship;
Short-term proposals (for 2015, 2016 and 2017) for programmes and policies to promote social inclusiveness and social entrepreneurship.

The initiatives presented in the report will need to be specific and clearly formulated and indicate in what way they will contribute towards the achievement of the high-level inclusiveness objective.

Institutional Arrangement:

The consultant will report:

For MOFED: to the Ag Deputy Financial Secretaries and to the Senior Adviser coordinating the Blueprint formulation;
For UNDP: to the UNDP Technical Adviser (PFM) based at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development;
For UN Habitat: to the national UN Habitat Technical Adviser based in Mauritius.

Duration of Support:

22 days in October 2014 (19 days in Mauritius from 6 October to 24 October + 3 home-based days for mission preparation and report finalization).

Competencies

Required Skills

Autonomy and leadership skills required to perform research, thorough analysis and reporting;
Able to work in a team and collaborate with various Government institutions, as well as international agencies based in Mauritius and abroad.

Functional competencies

Strong leadership, communication and interpersonal skills;
Excellent organizational skills;
Strong oral and written communication skills - use of simple and clear language;
Demonstrated ability to work in a team (strong task management and team leading competencies);
Ability to work under pressure and in a politically sensitive environment;
Demonstrated cultural sensitiveness and sound judgment;
Proven success in working collaboratively with a number of different stakeholders;
Ability to assess the effectiveness and sustainability of programme structure and implementation modalities;
Thorough understanding of key elements of results-based programme management;
Strong capacity for data collection and analysis, as well as report writing;
Sound knowledge and understanding of gender sensitivity and social inclusion in middle income countries.

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

At least a Master degree in Economics, Development Studies or a related field.

Experience

At least 10 years of experience in the formulation, design, implementation and evaluation of social development policies and programmes, including employment, gender and social entrepreneurship policies and frameworks;
Experience in design and implementation of social housing policies is optional but would be an asset;
10 years of experience in interacting and collaborating with Government institutions, private sector and NGOs.

Language

Excellent spoken and written English required;
Spoken French would be an asset.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

Financial proposals must be “all inclusive” and expressed in a lump-sum for the total duration of the contract. The term “All inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel costs including travel costs to destination, living allowances, communications, consumables, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the proposal.

Payment will be made based upon successful completion of the deliverables as per terms below:

20% upon submission of the inception report (expected by 8 October 2014);
30% upon presentation of preliminary proposals through a workshop and submission of the draft report (expected by 24 October 2014);
50% upon submission and approval of the final report (expected by 31 October 2014).

Recommended Presentation of Offer:

For purposes of generating Offers whose contents are uniformly presented and to facilitate their comparative analysis, it is best to recommend the preferred contents and presentation of the Offer to be submitted, as well as the format/sequencing of their presentation. The following documents are requested:

Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
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;
Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, if applicable, on how they will approach and complete the assignment. A methodology is recommended for intellectual services, but may be omitted for support services [Note: this is optional for support services];
Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided. If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer:

A Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a max. of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a max of 30%;
The key criteria for rating the qualification and methodology, together with their equivalent percentage weight, will be as follows:

Key Criteria: At least a Master degree in Economics, Development Studies or a related field.
Weight (%): 10%.

Key Criteria: At least 10 years of experience in the formulation, design, implementation and evaluation of social development policies and programmes, including employment, gender and social entrepreneurship policies and frameworks.
Weight (%): 30%.

Key Criteria: 10 years of experience in interacting and collaborating with Government institutions, private sector and NGOs.
Weight (%): 15%.

Key Criteria: Autonomy and leadership skills required to perform research, thorough analysis and reporting.
Weight (%): 10%.

Key Criteria: Language.
Weight (%): 5%.

Key Criteria: Financial Proposal.
Weight (%): 30%.

Key Criteria: Total.
Weight (%): 100%.

Important note:

Interested offeror is strongly advised to view the general terms and conditions of IC and templates to be included when submitting offer from the CO website at http://www.mu.undp.org/content/mauritius_and_seychelles/en/home/operations/procurement/;
Interested offerors above the age of 62: UNDP regulations require, at their own cost, to undergo a full medical examination including x-rays. Medical evaluation documentation does not need to be submitted with the other requested documents listed above, but will be requested should the candidate be chosen;
Interested offeror is required to submit application via UNDP jobsite system, because the application screening and evaluation will be done through UNDP jobsite system;
Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file. Your on-line applications submission will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an e-mail acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary.