UNDP Jobs - 50444- International Consultant in Aid Effectiveness and

International Consultant in Aid Effectiveness and Results Based Management

Location :

Tashkent, UZBEKISTAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

22-Oct-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

30 working days, including 5-day mission to Tashkent

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

Recognizing importance of the development assistance in building its institutional capacity as well as to address aid coordination issues more effectively UNDP jointly with the Government of Uzbekistan (represented by the Ministry of Finance) is closely working on incorporating the following components:

Build partnership and regular dialogue platform among relevant government institutions involved in aid coordination and development partners;
Improve Aid effectiveness at sector level through enhanced capacity in formulation and management of project portfolios, better prioritization and improved results based orientation;
Establish an Aid Information Management System (AIMS) in line with international standards to allow recording, financial and thematic tracking, results monitoring of projects and programs and transparent sharing of aid related information.

The aforementioned components will be implemented by UNDP’s “Uzbekistan Aid Effectiveness” Project in close cooperation with the Department for coordination and control over the targeted use of humanitarian aid and technical assistance under the Ministry of Finance (here and after referred as “Department”).

Best international practices in aid management shows that one of the pivots of productive and successful cooperation between Government and Donor community is to establish streamlined partnership dialogue between them. The success of such dialogue platform depends on how thoroughly and well Partnership principles were developed.

Based on the aforementioned information, it is required to hire international expert in aid effectiveness and resource mobilization issues to address better understanding between the Government and Donor agencies operating in Uzbekistan.

Based on the best international practices, additional clarifications and country context, International consultant should submit a Report on Aid Effectiveness and Resource Mobilization in Uzbekistan with concrete recommendations on and lessons learned in implementing Partnership Principles (PP), signing Partnership Agreement (PA), as well as TOR for Dialogue Platform (TOR-DP).

Job Title - International Consultant in aid effectiveness and results based management

Project Title/Department - Uzbekistan Aid Effectiveness Project

Duration of the assignment - February/March 2015 (30 working days, including 5-day mission to Tashkent). 10 w.d. desk work in a country of residence (February 02-13, 2015).

5 w.d. mission to Tashkent (February 16-20, 2015).

15 w.d. desk work in a country of residence (February 23 – March 13, 2015).

Duty station - Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Expected places of travel - Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Reports to - Project Manager

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Project Manager/Project Specialist, International Consultant will be responsible for the satisfactory achievements of the followings:

Stage I (15 working days that include 5 w.d. visit to Tashkent) February, 2015:

Get familiarized with the country context, rules and regulations governing aid, previous experience and current problems and issues of aid coordination hindering resource mobilisation in the country;
Liaise with the project team to formulate the list of necessary requirements of stakeholders on improvement aid coordination system;
Taking into account country’s current situation, the information collected and own experience that based on best International practices identify missing mechanisms in aid effectiveness of the country and indicate potential threats it may cause in future;
Collect, Identify, analyze and synthesize the best international practices and lessons learnt from other countries, to best address the gaps in aid effectiveness area, taking into account the local context, with emphasis on Partnership Principles (PP), Partnership Agreement (PA), TOR for Dialogue Platform (TOR-DP);
Conduct international analysis of developing and introducing PP, PA and TOR-DP including reviewing country examples possessing economic, social, political, and/or administrative similarities with Uzbekistan.

Stage II (desk-based 10 working days) starting from February/March, 2015:

Based on collected information, provide detailed recommendations on how to fix existing problems in aid effectiveness area with concrete examples of countries and their success stories where the mentioned recommendations worked and why;
Taking into account local context and best international experience identify the ways of better improvement of resource mobilization;
Identify mechanisms and steps applicable for Uzbekistan to improve aid management situation in the country. While drafting the mechanisms, experience of developing countries should be taken into account and the most successful cases with clarification why and how they achieved such results must be distinguished;
Analyze long and short term value for the government (and side effects, if any) through implementing recommendations on the new ways of cooperation with donors including, but not limited to signing Partnership Agreement, Partnership Principles and TOR on Dialogue Platform;
Provide thoroughly developed documents including (but limited to) PP, PA, TOR for Dialogue Platform that will serve as a basis to improve aid effectiveness in the country;
Present the main findings of the work and validate recommendations, feedback and comments (where appropriate) received from the Department, UNDP or major stakeholders.

Stage III (desk-based 5 working days) March, 2015:

Referring on conducted survey/research, systemize the steps Uzbekistan should take to improve aid management, and prioritize them starting from the most important one;
Based on own professional experience and international best practice develop detailed recommendations with concrete steps on how to implement recommendations developed on the second stage of the mission (i.e. steps how to fix existing problems in aid effectiveness area; concrete steps to introduce certain mechanisms applicable for Uzbekistan that will improve aid management system);
Give guidelines on how to maintain sustainability of the Document/s that will serve as a base to improve aid effectiveness in the country (PP, PA, TOR for Dialogue Platform etc.), with clear indication of validation (signing) period, as well as managerial level (by whom) the documents should be signed.

Deliverables and Deadlines

The following tentative schedule of deliverables is expected under the current assignment. The project reserves the right, if necessary, to amend the terms of reference of an expert upon a written agreement. The final schedule will be agreed upon in the beginning of the assignment. All deliverables should be submitted to UNDP project in electronic form by the Consultant in English or Russian.

First part of the report on detailed current situation country analysis in aid effectiveness and resource mobilization.

Due date: February 20, 2015; Installment: 1st installment: (30%):

Second part of the report with concrete recommendations on how to fix existing problems in aid effectiveness and resource mobilization, including mechanisms and steps applicable for Uzbekistan to improve aid management is developed based on best international practices and their success stories; and
Documents that will serve as a basis to improve aid effectiveness in the country (PP, PA, TOR for Dialogue Platform etc.).

Due date: March 06, 2015; Installment: 2nd installment: (40%):

Third part of the report on what steps Uzbekistan should take to implement the mechanisms and recommendations indicated on the 2nd stage of the mission, including how to implement Documents that will serve as a basis to improve aid effectiveness in Uzbekistan (PP, PA, TOR for Dialogue Platform etc.) and uphold their full and accurate execution;
All the three parts of the report are compiled into the final Report on Aid Effectiveness and Resource Mobilization in Uzbekistan* .

Due date: March 13, 2015; Installment: 3rd installment: (30%):

This is a lump sum contract that should include costs of consultancy and other related costs, if any, required to produce the above deliverables.

Remarks

*The final Report on Aid Effectiveness and Resource Mobilization in Uzbekistan with concrete recommendations on and lessons learned in implementing Partnership Principles (PP), signing Partnership Agreement (PA), as well as TOR for Dialogue Platform (TOR-DP) should consist of (but not limited to) the following:

Part I:

Executive summary;
Introduction;
Detailed current situation country analysis in aid effectiveness and resource mobilization.

Part II:

Concrete recommendations on how to fix existing problems in aid effectiveness and resource mobilization, including mechanisms and steps applicable for Uzbekistan to improve aid management (using best practice and lessons learned);
Development of Principles of Partnership, Partnership Agreement, TOR for Dialogue Platform (will be given in Annex).

Part III:

Future perspectives with regard to the outcomes, and what steps Uzbekistan should take to implement the mechanisms and recommendations indicated in the 2nd part of the report, including how to implement Documents that will serve as a basis to improve aid effectiveness in Uzbekistan (PP, PA, TOR for Dialogue Platform etc.) and uphold their full and accurate execution;
Conclusion, including further suggestion;

Annexes:

Principles of Partnership, Partnership Agreement, TOR for Dialogue Platform, people met and interviewed during the assignment, documents reviewed, useful links, and information etc.

Monitoring and control

Contract will be completed after the submission of final drafts of deliverables defined by the current TOR in three stages and upon acceptance by EGU of UNDP Uzbekistan after consultation with the Ministry of Finance

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Familiarity with aid coordination issues in the World;
Excellent written and oral communication skills;
Understanding PDI principles, development issues and donor assistance etc.;
Excellent skills in project planning, management and evaluation;
Excellent time management and organization skills;
Knowledge of local context or previous experience in Uzbekistan will be an asset;
Initiative, analytical judgment, ability to work under pressure, ethics and honesty;
Self-motivated, well organized and a problem solver;
Ability to use information and communication technology as a tool and resource;
Ability to meet deadlines and prioritize multiple tasks.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree or PhD in Economics, International Economic Relations, Development Economics, Law, Social sciences or other relevant areas.

Experience:

At least 5 years of increasingly responsible experience in aid coordination, development and/or management of projects/programmer;
Experience in drafting PAs and development of TOR for dialogue platforms will be an asset.

Language:

Excellent oral and written English;
Knowledge of Russian will be an asset.

How to apply:

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

P-11 form;
Offeror’s letter.

Applicants are required to fill and sign a P11 Form and Offeror’s Letter and apply through UNDP job online system. You will be asked to upload your P11 Form and Offeror’s letter on the second page of the online application form. Please note that the system will not accept the uploading of more than one document so please merge or scan all your documents into one prior to uploading.

Only Shortlisted candidates will be requested to provide financial offer.

Financial Proposal:

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount. Payment will be made in lump sum in three installments upon completion of the tasks/works indicated in the present TOR and their acceptance by the Supervisor as well as submission of payment documents (PEF, CFP etc.). In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days).

Travel

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. In general, UNDP does not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Individual consultant will be evaluated based on the following methodologies

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 would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

Individual Consultant General Terms and Conditions (available at http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf).