Background

The United Nations Millennium Declaration was adopted in 2000 by world leaders, committing their countries to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out time-bound goals on meeting the needs of the world’s poorest. These goals, to be achieved by 2015, formed the basis for what are now known as the eight Millennium Development Goals, which have been broken down into 21 quantified targets that are measured by 60 indicators. As was outlined in the report of the Secretary to the General Assembly in September 2011, the UN system’s process of developing a new framework post-2015 is likely to have the best development impact if it emerges from an inclusive, open and transparent process with multi-stakeholder participation.

For the past 12 years, the UN Millennium Campaign has led UN efforts to build partnerships with civil society, private sector, academics and citizens to contribute to the achievement of the MDGs. This has been done through the use of innovative communications campaigns, advocacy, social mobilization and policy dialogue. The focus has been to seek to influence policy, the generation, allocation and effective use of resources, ways of working and the democratic governance environment to accelerate the progress toward MDG achievement. In this regard, the UN Millennium Campaign is taking the lead in designing and implementing a strategy for outreach to stakeholders; both within and outside the UN including key leaders across civil society. Our post-2015 outreach is an attempt to bring the voice of individuals, civil society and the myriad of other stakeholders directly into the debates and conversations that will shape the development agenda.

In this regard, the United Nations Millennium Campaign is leading on a multi-stakeholder process to generate some ideas and lessons, from the Asia-Pacific Region, to contribute to the global dialogue on the financing and implementation of the post-2015 sustainable development goals being negotiated under the auspices of the UN system. The reflections to this effect should draw, from among others, the principles outlined in the 4th High Level Forum on aid Effectiveness: “The Busan Partnership on effective Development Cooperation” and the “Busan indicators”.

Whatever the final shape of the post-2015 sustainable development agenda will take, the likelihood is that the level of ambition will be high, even if its focus is eradicating extreme poverty rather than the broader issue of poverty; and even if its target for reducing inequalities is “growing the incomes of the bottom 40%”. To achieve these alone will require significant investments in financial, human and technological resources and shifts in the pattern of income distribution. In the case of low-income developing countries, it will probably take transformational change in the social and economic structures to achieve. Development cooperation will remain crucial to the ability of low-income developing countries in particular to finance their post-2015 commitments especially given the open nature of these economies and their dependency on the global market for goods, services, capital and technology, and the limited scope for mobilising domestic resources for development. For emerging and middle income economies, a fair and balanced global trading system, stable international finance, effective cooperation in exchange rate management and a conducive international political environment are all crucial preconditions for sustainable and inclusive growth. These are all elements of effective international development cooperation.

The objectives of the framing paper are:

  • To put in context, the nature of the development cooperation and development effectiveness landscape upon which a post-2015 implementation framework will be built;
  • To assess, in particular, the evolving nature of the development partnership framework and the opportunities and risks for a post-2015 financing and implementation framework;
  • To briefly assess, in this context, the contribution of Busan in the past in the future to a post-2015 financing and implementation framework;
  • To provide guidance for specific case studies, drawing in particular form the Busan indicators, as an assessment framework.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision and guidance of the Project Manager, the consultant will:

  • Undertake a desk review and analysis of the state and evolving nature of development cooperation in the context of the changing global economy (4-5 pages). Deadline: 15 April 2015;
  • Undertake a desk review and analysis of the evolving nature of the partnership framework and implications for a global deal on, and implementation of, the post-2015 development agenda (3-4 pages). Deadline: 20 April 2015;
  • Undertake a brief analysis of the continuing relevance of the Busan indicators for assessing the effectiveness of development cooperation and for the post-2015 implementation (4-5 pages). Deadline: 4 May 2015;
  • Draw lessons based on above that are relevant for a successful agreement and financing of a post-2015 sustainable development agenda. Deadline: 11 May 2015.

Deliverables:

Based on the above activities the following will be delivered by the consultant (by 5 June 2015):

  • Draw up a framework for mapping key players in the Asia-Pacific region who have been and will be critical for a successful agreement and financing of a post-2015 sustainable development agenda;
  • Draw up a TOR for 3-4 case studies of multi-partnership initiatives in the development and environment fields, based on the Busan indicators and other indicators relevant for the GPEDC in order to draw good, bad, effective and ineffectual partnership practices;
  • Draw a TOR to common an analytical paper on the global economic and political environment for a successful financing of a post-2015 development agenda;
  • A TOR for the hosting of 2 high-level roundtables on effective development cooperation for post 2015: an Asian pacific roundtable and a global experts’ forum;
  • Draft final report to be submitted to Project Manager based on the above deliverable, Deadline: 12 June 2015;
  • Final report on completed work to be submitted to Project Manager based on the above (1-5), Deadline: 30 June 2015.

Competencies

Functional

  • Demonstrated ability to interact with individuals of different national and cultural backgrounds and beliefs, which includes the willingness to understand different views and opinions; 
  • Proven written ability in English;
  • Ability to work under pressure, to prioritize and to show a spirit of initiative and a capacity to work in an independent way with limited supervision; 
  • Self-management and emotional intelligence; 
  • Excellent communication skills;
  • High degree of organization and initiative; 
  • Ability to multi-task and work independently;
  • Excellent writing and presentation skills;
  • Excellent research and analytical skills;
  • Strong networking and facilitation skills;
  • Good team player and ability to work within tight deadlines and under pressure;
  • Excellent knowledge of current trends and debates in development financing;
  • Knowledge of the MDG framework and the post-2015 discussions currently underway at the international level;
  • Sound understanding of UN system.

Corporate

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

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Masters’ degree in economics and finance, international relations, business administrations or related field.

Experience:

  • At least 10 years work experience in a position directly related to the area of FfD;
  • Experience in policy research and advocacy;
  • Strong publications and/or writing record.

Language:

  • Fluent in English;
  • Working knowledge of another UN language.

Evaluation:

Applicants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal. Only the highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

  • Responsive/compliant/acceptable;
  • Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical evaluation criteria  –  maximum of 35 points of total obtainable scores:

  • Solid experience in a position directly related to the area of FfD especially within Asia and the Pacific region context - 15 Points;
  • Experience in policy research and advocacy - 10 points;
  • Strong publications and/or writing record -  5 points;
  • Excellent communication skills - 5 Points.

In case if interviews are also conducted, evaluation criteria will be based on the competencies and qualifications requirements in this Terms of Reference. Only applicants meeting all minimum requirements and obtaining a minimum of 70% (or 24.5 points) on technical evaluation will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Financial evaluation criteria  - 30 % of total obtainable scores – maximum 15 points.
The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposals:

p = y (µ/z),

where:

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated
y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal
µ = price of the lowest priced proposal
z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Application procedure:

The application is a two-step process. Failing to comply with the submission process may result in disqualifying the applications:

Step 1: Interested individual consultants must include the following documents when submitting the applications in UNDP job shop by clicking “Apply” button below and following subsequent instructions for applications

Step 2: Submission of Financial Proposal

Applicants are instructed to submit their financial proposals in US Dollars for this consultancy to bpps.procurement@undp.org using the financial proposal template available here: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=45780. The proposals should be sent via email with the following subject heading: “Financial Proposal for Lead author for Asia Financing for Development Framing paper, Home-based" by the deadline for this vacancy. Proposals to be received after the deadline may be rejected. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal should be all-inclusive and include a breakdown. The term ‘all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel related expenses, communications, utilities, consumables, insurance, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the financial proposal.  

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

The price offer should indicate a total lump sum amount, based is on an all-inclusive daily processional fee in US dollars. The payments will be linked to deliverables.

Missions (Duty Travels):

There should not be cost of official missions associated with this assignment and therefore should not be factored in the financial proposals of the applicants.   

Contracts will be based on daily fee in US dollars:

Payments are made to the Individual Consultant based on the number of days worked, and certification of payments by Project Manager (Supervisor).