UNDP Jobs - 55424- International Expert on Poverty Reduction (Project

International Expert on Poverty Reduction (Project: Support to the Social Sector Reform in Ukraine)

Location :

Home-based

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

27-Apr-2015

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

5 months (up to 30 working days)

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

Positive trends in poverty reduction were observed in Ukraine until 2014. The poverty rate according to the absolute criterion (the share of the population whose daily consumption is below US$5.05 (PPP)) was reduced from 11.9 percent in 2000 to 1.9 percent in 2013, and the poverty rate according to the relative criterion (the share of the population below the national poverty line) decreased from 26.4 percent in 2000 to 24.5 percent in 2013.

However, almost every third family with children was classified as poor (32.6 percent), as was every fifth working person (20.0 percent).

The groups with highest levels of relative poverty were households with many children (61.7%), households consisting of employed and unemployed members (36.6%), and households with children younger than three years old (35.7%).

Groups that are at high risk exclusion in Ukraine are people with disabilities, pensioners, households with many children, working people with low income, orphans, the homeless, and residents of small cities or villages. For example, the rural poverty rate (34.8%) was 1.7 times higher than the poverty rate in large cities (20.9%).

The current crisis, including the armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine, and the worsening economic situation overall, has stopped the positive trends and increased risk of extreme poverty and social exclusion. It has also created new challenges for poverty reduction and social inclusion.

The first new challenge is the sudden poverty of displaced households from the East and Crimea. As of 16 February, the Ministry of Social Policy reported 1,042,100 internally displaced persons (IDPs). Many of the IDPs from the East lost all their property.

A second challenge is associated with the sharp devaluation of the Ukrainian hryvnia (UAH), the exchange rate for which has dropped from 08 UAH/USD to more than 23 UAH/USD. This has resulted in official inflation rates rising to 24% at the end of 2014; according to unofficial estimates, inflation is much higher. Rising inflation is depressing real household incomes and consumption, increasing poverty. Real household incomes fell by 9% in 2014, while realwages fell by 6.5%. The minimum wage, which is fixed for January-November 2015, is 1,218 UAH, which is around 53 USD (less than 2 USD a day at March exchange rates). Moreover, 80-90% of Ukraine’s 13.5 million pensioners receive the minimum pension,, which is fixed for January-November 2015 at 949 UAH, which is 41 USD (1.36 USD a day).Increasing poverty of the working population as well as of pensioners is to be expected.

Currently, Ukraine is implementing the State Social Program to Overcome and Prevent Poverty up to 2015 http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/1057-2011-%D0%BF. According to the Action Plan for the Implementation of the EU Association Agreement for 2014–2017 (item 391, articles 419-425) http://zakon2.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/847-2014-%D1%80 Ukraine should develop a new Poverty Reduction Strategy (hereafter – PRS) by the end of 2015. For this purpose the Ministry of Social Policy has formed the interagency Working Group, which is designing the new PRS.

The Ministry has requested that UNDP mobilize international expertize to provide technical assistance.

UNDP is therefore seeking an international expert (hereafter –Expert) in the field of poverty reduction to provide expertise, advice and recommendations to the draft PRS. This includes proposals for effective poverty reduction in Ukraine, and to harmonize Ukrainian policies with European policy on poverty alleviation and social exclusion (in light of Ukraine's international commitments in this area).

Duties and Responsibilities

Overall Objective of the Assignment

The overall objective of the assignment is to provide advisory support to the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine and the Working Group for the design of the PRS. The consultant will review and comment on the draft PRS, and provide recommendations for its harmonization vis-à-vis European policy.

Description of Responsibilities/Scope of Work

The consultant will perform the following activities for the successful completion of the assignment:

Review the first draft of the PRS developed by the Working Group, with a particular focus on its compliance with Ukraine's international commitments—in particular the EU Association Agreement for 2014–2017 (items 21 and 23); http://zakon2.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/984_011/page12, the European platform against poverty and social exclusion, and relevant EC directives;
Prepare expert notes with comments and proposals to the first draft of the PRS. The expert notes should also include references to key relevant directives or conventions, European policy papers etc.;
Participate in the presentation and discussion of the draft PRS in Kyiv at the meeting of the Working Group. Make a presentation on the key points of the European platform against poverty and social exclusion, and proposals for the first draft PRS. The date and time of the presentation will be discussed with the Expert separately (tentatively end of April 2015);
Hold face-to-face consultations and provide advisory support to representatives of the Ministry of Social Policy and Working Group members during the mission to Kyiv. Translation will be provided by the Project if needed;
Prepare written recommendations to the first draft of the PRS, taking into account the results of the discussion at the Working Group meeting and the consultations conducted;
Review the draft PRS revised by the Working Group and prepare an expert opinion letter with final comments and suggestion (if needed).

Deliverables

Upon the completion of the assignment, the Expert should provide the Project Manager with the following products:

An inception report with comments and proposals to the first draft of the PRS. The inception report should be submitted to UNDP no later than 20 days after receiving the first draft of the PRS;
A midterm report with a summary of the work carried out during the mission in Kyiv and proposals on ways forward. This report should be submitted to UNDP no later than 15 days after the mission to Kyiv;
A final report should include an expert opinion letter with final comments and suggestions (if needed) to the revised draft PRS. The final report should be submitted to UNDP no later than 15 days after receiving the revised draft of PRS.

Proposed payment schedule:

UNDP will pay the negotiated amount in three tranches according to the following payment schedule:

The first payment upon approval of the inception report (40%);
The second payment upon approval of the midterm report (40%);
The third payment upon approval of the final report (20%).

Copyright

All information and products produced by the Expert under this assignment will remain the property of UNDP-Ukraine.

Monitoring, Progress Control and Coordination

The Expert will work under the supervision of the Project Manager. Electronic and paper versions of the reports should be prepared and submitted for clearance by the Project Manager no later than the abovementioned fixed dates. It is expected that the Expert will be closely collaborating with the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine during the assignment.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

In-depth knowledge of poverty reduction policy and strategies in Europe;
Excellent analytical and report writing skills;
Strong communications and presentation skills.

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 displays zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree in Social Sciences, Humanities, Economics, or International Development or other relevant fields, PhD would be an advantage.

Experience:

At least 10 years of experience in the field of social policy/sustainable development;
At least 7 years of experience in analyzing, preparing reports, developing policy papers in the poverty reduction area.

Languages:

Fluent English with excellent writing skills;
Knowledge of Russian would be an advantage.

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals

Applicants shall submit the following documents:

Personal CV, including information about past experience in similar projects / assignments and contact details for referees;
Financial proposal.

Financial proposal

Lump sum contract

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. 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 number of anticipated working days).

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. In general, UNDP should 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.

Expected Places of Travel

One trip to Kyiv.

Administrative arrangements: the consultant will have to arrange his/her own workplace. The consultant shall be responsible for managing the process of the task, its logistics and expenditures related to the task and travel in terms of time and adequacy. Travel costs should be included into the financial proposal.

Evaluation criteria:

Educational background – 10 points max (10 pts – PhD; 8 pts – Specialist/Master’s degree);
Experience in the field of social policy/sustainable development – 25 points max (25 pts – 13 years and more; 20 pts – 11-12 years; 10 pts –10 years);
Experience in analyzing, preparing reports, developing policy papers in the poverty reduction area – 25 points max (25 pts – 10 years and more; 20 pts – 9-8 years; 10 pts – 7years);
Language Skills (English Language) – 10 points max (10 pts – fluent English and knowledge of Russian; 10 pts – fluent English).

Maximum available technical score - 70 points.

Evaluation method

Cumulative analysis

The contract award shall be made to the candidate whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
b) having received the cumulative 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 70% from the maximum available technical score would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal and will equal to 30. All other price proposals will be evaluated and assigned points, as per below formula:

30 points [max points available for financial part] x [lowest of all evaluated offered prices among responsive offers] / [evaluated price].

The proposal obtaining the overall cumulatively highest score after adding the score of the technical proposal and the financial proposal will be considered as the most compliant offer and will be awarded a contract.

Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org

General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://jobs.undp.org.

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.

Due to a large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.