UNDP Jobs - 50978- Consultant - Expert in Natural Resource Funds

Consultant - Expert in Natural Resource Funds

Location :

Home-based

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

03-Nov-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

25 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

Natural Resource Funds are a subset of sovereign wealth funds, which contain public funds from the extraction of non-renewable resources, including gas, oil and minerals. Natural resource funds can be used to cover budget deficits when resource revenues decline to save for future generations, to earmark for social, environmental or development projects or mitigate volatility of prices.

With regard to the establishment of natural resource wealth funds, Parliament has a very important role to play that goes well beyond its task of overseeing the government. It is, for instance, important in setting the objectives of the fund and identifying whether the fund should earmark expenditures to specific social or environmental projects. As more and more funds are established through legislation, members of parliament have an essential role to play in passing the required legislation and amending it allowing for more transparency and accountability in the management and expenditure of these funds. Moreover, oversight of these funds is of paramount importance. Parliamentarians are key in this regard as they can monitor fund operations and management, as well as scrutinize their activities and performance. Finally, some funds transit through the budget process, in which parliament also has an important role to play in terms of budgetary oversight. By scrutinizing the expenditure proposals of these funds, and by overseeing their implementation, Parliament verifies that resources are being spent as designated in the approved budget. Unfortunately, more often than not, government allows for these funds to be managed completely outside of parliamentary scrutiny, which undermines parliamentary accountability and allows for corruption, especially when expenditures do not respond to established public procurement and regulatory requirements.

The main objective of this research is to guide parliamentarians in better defining their role in legislating and monitoring natural resource funds.The consultant will also explore examples and good practices when money from natural resource funds was earmarked to fund specific projects on the environment or promoting renewable energy.

The research will be conducted within the framework of the Parliamentary Action on Renewable Energy (PARE) project, which aims to build the capacity of parliamentarians to strengthen their advocacy and monitoring of the development of renewable energy sources to fight climate change. The target audience for the research will be parliamentarians.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

The consultant is mandated to take on the following tasks:

Review examples where natural resource funds have earmarked resource revenues for specific projects linked to climate change and in particular renewable energy;
Identify key role(s) for the parliament in the operation, earmarking and management of natural resource funds;
Identify entry points for parliament in decision to earmark resource revenues for projects linked to climate change and renewable energy, monitor expenditure and analyze opportunities and challenges;
Explore and discuss whether natural resource funds could be used to leverage private investments for climate finance.

Expected deliverables:

The consultant will be responsible for producing the following deliverables:

Preparation of Work Plan and content of the study;
Preparation of the study.

The deliverables must be reviewed and approved to meet the minimum qualifications in advance of concluding the assignment and final payment.

Competencies

Core Values / Guiding Principles:

Integrity:

Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UNDP in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity:

Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;
Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN's values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP and the UN;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional Competencies:

Technical/Functional:

Substantive knowledge and understanding of natural resource management as well as democratic governance more broadly;
Ability to carry out research independently, to contribute to the formulation of recommendations and guidelines;
Excellent writing, communication and organization skills;
Ability to function independently with minimum;
Solid IT skills: proficient use of MS Office required.

Management and Leadership:

Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced University Degree (Masters) in Political Sciences, Social Sciences, Law, International Relations or related field.

Experience:

5 years experience in international development, extractive industries management and governance;
Knowledge of natural resource funds;
Preferred previous examples preparing similar research;
Experience or training in fiscal policy and/or tax law would be an asset;
Computer proficiency, including strong knowledge of MS Office products (Word, Excel, Powerpoint).

Language:

Excellent command of English.

Application Submission Process:

Please submit the following to demonstrate your interest and qualifications:

Price proposal (All inclusive daily fee);
Interested individuals are kindly requested to submit an all-inclusive daily consultancy fee;
Personal CV and/or P11.

Interested individuals must submit their applications online through UNDP Online Recruitment System. Correspondence (either in hard or soft format) will not be considered until the advance stage of the selection process. Applicants are encouraged to fill and sign a P11 Form and submit it on the online application, although regular CVs are also acceptable. The P11 Form can be obtained at http://sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc

Application Evaluation Process

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the Cumulative Analysis methodology [weighted scoring method], where the award of the contract will 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 technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Criteria weight; [70%]

Financial Criteria weight; [30%]

The following criteria will be used in Technical Evaluation:

Demonstrates proven achievements and substantive knowledge and understanding of extractive industries, governance and natural resource funds;
Strong research background;
Fluency in English.

Only Individual Consultants obtaining a minimum of 70% of the obtainable points of 100 points in technical evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

UNDP is applying fair and transparent selection process that would take into account both the technical qualification of Individual Consultants as well as their price proposals. The contract will be awarded to the candidate obtaining the highest combined technical and financial scores.

UNDP retains the right to contact references directly.

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.