UNDP Jobs - 55112- Consultancy Services for Development of a National

Consultancy Services for Development of a National Quality Strategy

Location :

Lilongwe, MALAWI

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

28-Apr-2015

Application Deadline :

14-Apr-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

30 days to be completed over a period of 8 weeks

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

Malawi, like any other country, needs to import and export products and services in order to accelerate economic and social development. To access foreign markets, Malawian products and services must demonstrably meet the quality and regulatory requirements of such markets. Also, Malawi must ensure that products supplied to the local market, whether imported or locally manufactured, meet quality, safety, health and environmental requirements. To ensure that these requirements are met, a functional technical regulatory framework and an effective national quality infrastructure have to be in place.

The technical regulation framework and national quality infrastructure can noticeably advance only if relevant policies are developed and supported by appropriate government actions and private sector participation. It is undisputable that the national quality infrastructure is an indispensable asset for a country and there is no specific organization nor person that can be considered the sole beneficiary of the same. Long-term government commitment and active continued support is therefore required. At the same time, it is essential to establish a culture of “Quality” within the country so that all efforts converge towards pursuing quality as everyone`s endeavor.

The Government of Malawi ratified a National Quality Policy (NQP) in 2014. Through this policy, Government commits to develop the national quality infrastructure and implement a technical regulation framework to be compliant with by all the Ministries and their regulatory agencies.

This framework will meet Malawi’s obligations in terms of the WTO TBT Agreement as well as the TBT Annex to the SADC Trade Protocol and Article 49 of the COMESA treaty, and it will be structured in a way acceptable to the country’s main trading partners. Also, through this Policy, the Government of Malawi commits to review, re-engineer and strengthen the national quality infrastructure in accordance with international best practices to gain the required recognition for its services which is necessary to demonstrate compliance of products with technical regulations and purchaser requirements in the export and local markets.

In line with this commitment, the NQP is an important complement to Malawi`s Growth and Development Strategy II (MGDS II), which runs from 2011 to 2016. The MGDS II is the country's medium term strategy, which is designed to ensure the attainment of the long term aspirations of Malawi as outlined in Vision 2020. The ambition articulated in the MGDS II is to transform Malawi from an importing country to a producing and exporting one.

The Government of Malawi has also developed the National Export Strategy (NES), which was launched in 2012 and which is a key strategy to attain the goals of the MGDS II. The NES focuses on building Malawi’s productive base to generate sufficient exports to match the upward pressure on its imports.

Hence, the National Quality Strategy (NQS) should serve as a catalyst and compass for a nationwide focus on quality improvement efforts and approach to measuring and improving quality. The National Quality Strategy should be guided by the aim to improve efficiency and customer satisfactions with the goods and services provided and in so doing will lead to more affordable products domestically and internationally.

To achieve these aims, the National Quality Strategy must identify and elaborate on those priorities that address the range of quality concerns that affect most Malawians. These priorities have the potential to rapidly improve manufacturing and services outcomes and increase the overall competitiveness of the “Be Malawian Buy Malawian” brand’s effectiveness on consumer protection. Achievement of the National Quality Strategy can only occur if consumers, producers, employers, and other relevant stakeholders work together.

The process of development of the National Quality Strategy is undertaken and supported in terms of the “Development of a robust Standardization, Quality Assurance, Accreditation and Metrology (SQAM) infrastructure in Malawi” project, funded by the European Union (EU), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Malawi Government, hereafter referred to as “the SQAM Project”. The National Quality Policy was developed with financial support from the Norwegian Development Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and with the technical assistance of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

Duties and Responsibilities

Prepare an overall Implementation Plan following the guidelines of the National Quality Policy 2014 to address the nine policy priority areas:

The Malawi National Quality Infrastructure;
The Malawi Technical Regulation Framework;
The National Quality Movement;
Involvement of the Private Sector and Civil Society;
Capacity Building;
Regional and International Liaison.

Establish Regulatory Agency for Technical and Compulsory Standards;

Consumer Rights Protection;

Improvement in Productivity and Competitiveness

Develop specific quantitative goals and measures for each policy priority;
Prepare a specific roadmap for the establishment of a holistic technical regulatory framework for Malawi that all Ministries and regulatory agencies shall follow and that is fully compliant with WTO TBT Agreement and the TBT Annex to the SADC Trade Protocol requirement and obligations. An essential component of this work will be to provide for the establishment of a regulatory agency under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, separate from the re-engineered Malawi Bureau of Standards that will administer technical regulations and compulsory standards as promulgated by the Ministry;
Identify deficiencies of other bodies involved in testing, certification and inspection activities and prepare recommendations for implementation of a harmonized approach that converges towards a nation-wide Quality framework;
Identify limitations of producers and service providers in delivering Quality products and services. Within this context, review the effectiveness of the “Buy Malawi” campaign and provide recommendations on best practice models Malawi could implement;
Identify channels to promote effective communication and coordination of a Quality-Conscious culture in Malawi.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UNDP;
Demonstrate integrity by modelling the UN's values and ethical standards;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional Competencies:

Thorough knowledge of policy/strategy issues relating to trade, private sector-led growth, with particular emphasis on national quality infrastructure, and ability to undertake institutional and economic analysis both quantitative and qualitative;
Ability to apply judgment in the context of assignments given, plan own work and manage conflicting priorities and shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results;
Shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations;
Demonstrates a thorough understanding of the issues and challenges related to Quality Infrastructure.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

The successful candidate is expected to possess a minimum of Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Strategic Management, Public Policy, Economics, or other relevant areas of specialization.

Experience:

Minimum of 8 years professional experience;
A proven track record of conducting similar assignments in the Southern Africa region, preferably relating to policy research and implementation.

Language:

Fluent in English.

Note:

Detailed Terms of Reference can be accessed from http://www.mw.undp.org/content/malawi/en/home/operations/procurement/

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications by 14th April 2015, before 5 pm to the following email address: procurement.mw@undp.org.

Technical Proposal:Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work;
Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work;
Personal CV (P11 Form) including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references;
Proposals must include all four documents. Proposals not meeting this requirement will be rejected.

Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

Financial Proposal

Contracts based on daily fee.

The financial proposal will specify the daily fee, travel expenses and per diems quoted in separate line items, and payments are made to the Individual Contractor based on the number of days worked.

Travel:

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station in Lilongwe /repatriation travel.

Evaluation:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:

Cumulative analysis

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should 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.

Criteria A: Educational background - maximum points 10;
Criteria B: Proven knowledge of international trade agreements and protocols, national quality infrastructure and national regulatory authorities maximum points15;
Criteria C: Established track record of conducting similar assignments maximum points 20;
Criteria D: Demonstrated knowledge in Policy and Strategy Development maximum points 25.

Financial maximum points 30

Combined score maximum points 100

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70 points in the Technical Evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

The financial score for the financial proposal will be calculated in the following manner:

Sf = 100 x Fm/F, in which Sf is the financial score, Fm is the lowest price and F the price of the proposal under consideration.

Total Financial Maximum points - 100 points

Total Score

The technical score attained at by each proposal will be used in determining the Total score as follows:

The weights given to the technical and financial proposals are: T= 0.7, F=0.3

The Total score will be calculated by formula: TS = St x 0.7 + Sf x 0.3

TS - Is the total score of the proposal under consideration?

St - is technical score of the proposal under consideration.

Sf - is financial score of the proposal under consideration