Background

UNDP, the global development network for the United Nations system, is present in 166 countries and territories and is uniquely equipped to help developing countries build sustainable capacity to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In support of this, UNDP offers a wide range of solutions to global, regional and national development challenges through a comprehensive knowledge network, expert practitioners and focused strategic areas of support.

The Effective Development Cooperation (EDC) Team, under the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) is the institutional anchor of UNDP’s work on development cooperation, focusing on the comparative advantages of UNDP in strengthening country capacities to manage and coordinate development cooperation and to strengthen peer-learning, South-South Cooperation and knowledge sharing as a tool for capacity development.  It also assists countries in shaping and participating in the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC), as part of the OECD/UNDP Joint Support Team. This includes supporting global policy dialogue and mutual learning on effective development cooperation as well as leading country support in implementation and monitoring of the effective development cooperation principles. It also leads the coordination of the International Aid Transparency Initiative, including Secretariat services to the Chair, Vice Chair and 63 member states and organizations, drawing on UNDP’s track record to date in supporting cross-UNDP initiatives and global processes on transparency, mutual accountability, and national ownership of development cooperation.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision and guidance of Global Policy Adviser, the Consultant will focus on the following:

  • Prepare briefings, meetings, incl. gathering in-house and external information and knowledge, seeking inputs from relevant colleagues. Substantively review and analyze the key documents to ensure that all are accurate and complete.
  • Liaise with the Regional Service Centres to coordinate various GPEDC and IATI related activities including support for country outreach and compilation of country policy briefs and relevant knowledge products as assigned.
  • Ensure necessary follow ups with OECD Joint Support Team, IATI Secretariat, UNDP units and external partners are made on time and feedback to the team provided.
  • Support the preparation of GPEDC Steering Committee background documents as assigned by the Joint Support Team.
  • Prepare publicity and outreach material including brochures, presentations, fact-sheets and other communication with internal and external partners on EDC / DIG events, services and products.
  • Support research activities, including initiating, coordinating or conducting research in priority thematic areas as well as facilitating institutional processes of production of analytical products, as needed.
  • Support preparation and updating of budget spread sheets and preparation of annual and quarterly progress / monitoring reports.
  • Support the logistical preparation of regional/thematic technical workshops including travel facilitation for Steering Committee meetings of GPEDC and IATI.
  • Assist project management related activities, such as monitoring of activities, logistical/procurement processes.
  • Support Global Partnership’s online Community of Practice (CoP) including through general strategy and management/updating, facilitating e-consultations (including producing final synthesis documents), monitoring the usage, responding to queries (Global Partnership Community Space, UNDP Lyris Email list on Aid Effectiveness and UNDP LinkedIn Page on Aid Effectiveness), etc.
  • Support the production of a roster of EDC experts for use by UNDP Country Offices.
  • Recruit and supervise the EDC team intern, including day to day management.
  • Present on EDC work (GPEDC and IATI) to relevant stakeholders, as assigned.

Deliverables:

  • Prepare at least 20-25 briefs / background document on substantive priority areas in GPEDC and IATI (depending on the confirmation of key events) (spread out over 12 months depending on the confirmation of key events);
  • Organize at least 3-4 events for multi-stakeholder engagement (depending on the confirmation of key events) (spread out over 12 months depending on the confirmation of key events);
  • Produce 3 publicity and outreach materials (Spread out over 12 months depending on the confirmation of key events);
  • Contribute to at least 2-3 research priorities (TBC);
  • Prepare UNDP’s Annual Status and Financial Report for GPEDC Joint Support Team (March 2016);
  • Develop and conduct at least 4-5 thematic e-discussion(s) on effective development cooperation (including transparency), which includes follow-up with contributors and final compilations of contributions and key points from e-discussions (spread out over 12 months depending on the confirmation of key events);
  • Prepare background papers on 4-5 specific thematic areas in preparation for one regional and two global IATI, two GPEDC Steering Committee/annual Seoul workshop, or other possible development cooperation-related events (spread out over 12 months depending on the confirmation of key events).

Competencies

Core:

  • Excellent intercultural communication skills;
  • Sensitivity to cultural differences and understanding of political and ethical issues in different contexts.

Respect for Diversity:

  • Understanding of the United Nations system, operations and structures, this includes demonstrating keen political awareness, particularly in relation to the principles of development effectiveness and transparency.

Corporate:

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

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Master’s degree in Public Administration, International Relations, Economics, and the broad social sciences or other related disciplines.

Experience:

  • Minimum 3 years of work experience, with increasing independence. Those candidates with experience in an international organization will have a distinct advantage;
  • Substantive exposure to and understanding of inter alia development at large, and development drivers such as, effective development cooperation, knowledge management and innovation for development, etc.;
  • Knowledge and experience with UNDP is an asset.

Language:

  • Proficiency in written and spoken English;
  • Good working knowledge of another official UN language, in particular French is an asset.

Selection Process

The award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Application Procedures:

The application is a two-step process. Failing to comply with the submission process may result in disqualifying the application. Interested individual consultants shall submit their application through the UNDP job shop and include:

Financial Proposal:

  • Only applicants meeting all minimum requirements and obtaining a minimum of 70% on the technical evaluation will be approached for submission of financial proposals and considered for the Financial Evaluation;
  • Financial proposals must be all inclusive and must be expressed on the basis of a daily fee in USD (United States Dollar);
  • Payment will be made upon monthly submission of a certificate of payment request, indicating outputs achieved and days worked to be verified and cleared for payment by the supervisor.

Selection Criteria for the Best Offer:

Only those candidates who meet the minimum level of education and relevant years of experience requirements will be considered for the technical evaluation.  The technical evaluation will include a desk review and  interviews with shortlisted candidates;

Evaluation Criteria for Desk Reviews and Interviews:

  • Relevant education, with a Master’s degree in Public Administration, International Relations, Economics, and the broad social sciences or other related disciplines (10 points).
  • Experience working with and knowledge of the effective development cooperation arena (including the GPEDC and IATI) (30 points);
  • Relevant experience in providing project-level policy, editing, and general administrative support (10 points);
  • Experience developing and maintaining Communities of Practice (CoP) for knowledge sharing (20 points).
  • Since interviews are also conducted, evaluation criteria will be based on the competencies and qualifications requirements in this Terms of Reference;
  • Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% on technical evaluation will be considered for the Financial Evaluation;

For the financial evaluation (30% of total obtainable scores) the following formula will be used:

  • 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.

The selection of the best offer from the shortlisted candidates will be based on a Combined Scoring method – where the technical evaluation (desk review and interview) will be weighted a maximum of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a maximum of 30%.

Other Important Considerations:

  • UNDP Personal History Form; 
  • In addition, applicants will be requested to fill and sign a PH 11 Form and submit it together with Curriculum Vitae on the online application portal. To note, a completed PH 11 Form will be required at the time a selected applicant signs an Individual Contract (IC) or his/her employer, if employed, signs a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA) for work associated with this assignment.
  • UN Personal History form (UN PH11) can be downloaded from here(http://sas.undp.org/documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc

Office and equipment:

  • Consultant will bring his / her own computer to the office..

Travel :

  • There is no anticipated travel for this assignment at the moment, but this is subject to change should the need arise based on the approval of supervisor. In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between EDC Team and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be covered and paid by UNDP. The fare will always be “most direct, most economical” and any difference in price with the preferred route will be paid for by the expert. UNDP will not cover any costs associate with moving to the duty station (New York, USA).

Annexes and References: