UNDP Jobs - 56939- International Consultant for Completion of Final P

International Consultant for Completion of Final Project Report - UNDP/MBAW

Location :

Kabul, AFGHANISTAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

10-Jun-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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

Public finance management system in Afghanistan has made remarkable progress over the past few years. The UNDP funded ‘Making Budgets Work’ project, which has been implemented since April 2004 as the successor project of the ‘Aid Co-ordination’ project, has effectively contributed to strengthen the Ministry of Finance in its ability to support the unified national budget process as well as the nationally-led aid co-ordination process. Since the introduction of the concept “Core Development Budget” in 2004, significant achievement in building capacity in budget formulation has been made, and the national budget is becoming its core policy and aid co-ordination instrument to achieve the national development goals.

In order to have more effective and credible budget implementation, the Ministry of Finance, with the support from UNDP and other donors, has taken several actions including weekly monitoring and reporting system, introduction of budget calendar, developing a Medium Term Fiscal Framework, piloting of programme and provincial budgeting, providing technical guidance and close support to line ministries, use of Consultative Group and Working Group to discuss priority, benchmarks related to ANDS and establishing Aid Effectiveness Working Group as a forum to improve use and co-ordination of aid. More experienced national staff team was also built into the Budget Department.

However, there is still a shortfall – low budget implementation and expenditure that falls greatly short of the target. Budget implementation is not even across the sectors and provinces, either. There is a need for more systematic budget preparation and capacity building support to line ministries as the weak capacity of line ministries in formulating good and realistic proposals, poor co-ordination, low implementation capacity hinder the good execution of the proposed budget. Building a sustainable institutional capacity within the Budget Department at MoF is crucial as higher skill gaps have been largely filled by project staff.

The project therefore had three main output areas as stated bellow:

Strengthen the unified national budget process at national and sub-national levels based on the transparency and accountability as an effective policy and co-ordination tool to achieve ANDS;
Improved alignment and effectiveness of external assistance in line with the Paris Declaration and the Afghan Compact to support ANDS priorities implementation;
Build sustainable institutional capacity within the MoF, line ministries and other GoA agencies.

The project new phase, ‘Making Budgets and Aid Work’ MBAW project started in May 2007 shall continue to June 2015 and further enhanced its partnership approach, whereby the inputs and integration of the operational capacity, technical advisory support and capacity building support are co-ordinated and monitored on a regular basis by the MoF and other funding and advisory donors supporting the Budget Department (DFID, ADB, CIDA, GTZ, WB and IMF).

The current phase of the project also made significant achievement with financial support of donors like CIDA, Germany, DFID, Japan, USAID, Afghans Government and UNDP. Therefore, it is critical to stocktake and document achievements of the project for any possible interventions of UNDP and other Development partners in this area.

The main government counter part of the project is ministry of finance and through this ministry project support was also extended to other line ministries and budgetary units of the Government of Afghanistan at national and sub-national levels.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work, Expected Outputs and Deliverables

Scope of work

The consultant will fulfil the following tasks during this assignment

The overall objective of this assignment is to review progress towards the project’s objectives and outcomes, assess the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of how the project has moved towards its objectives and outcomes, identify strengths and weaknesses in project design and implementation, and provide recommendations on design modifications that could have increased the likelihood of success, and on specific actions that might be taken into consideration in designing future projects of a related nature.

The key references for this assignment are existing periodic project reports, donor updates, sector document, as well as inputs and feedbacks from existing and past project partners and beneficiaries.

In pursuit of the overall objectives, the following key issues will be documented and assessed as part of final report of the project:

Asses weather project objectives and key deliverable were achieved throughout life spam of the project based on the agreed project Results and Resources Framework;
Asses if project resource were utilized in accordance with the agreements of donors as well as the project the project document
Document project achievements and positive changes in the capacities of the project target groups;
Document and record key challenges faced by the project and how these challenges impacted project progress;
Prepare a final report of the project in accordance with UNDP standards meeting reporting requirements of project donors;
With support of UNDP CO prepare final project financial report and pending balances of donors in accordance with donor cost sharing agreements.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

Review and all project reports and updates and prepare a summery for the final report;
Conduct partners and beneficiary interviews and document their feedback;
Prepare a final project report in accordance with UNDP standards meeting reporting requirements of project donors;
Prepare a comprehensive result log against existing project RRF and Annual work plans;
Prepare a final project financial report with support of UNDP CO;
Incorporate suggestions and feed backs of project stakeholders in the DRAFT report;
Submit a complete final report of the project.

Payments under the contract shall be made on submission and acceptance / certification of the deliverables by the Direct Supervisor/Portfolio Manager, CO in accordance with the schedule of payments.

Working Arrangements

Institutional Arrangements

The consultant with be directly contracted by UNDP Country office with Direct report line to the portfolio manager and assistant country director of National Governance unit.

All reports of the contractor will be reviewed and cleared by the portfolio manager as specified in the table above.

All arrangement for meetings and consultants with project partners and beneficiaries will be coordinated by the programme officer.

The consultant must adhere to all UNDP security rules and regulations regarding office and accommodations as well as transport for official purposes will be provided by the office. However, the consultant will be responsible for payment of his/her accommodation in UNDP recommended guest houses.

Duration of the Work

The whole assignment is foreseen for a period of 30 days with specific deliverable and the assignment should completed before 31 July, 2015

Duty Station

The assignment is both home based and in country work:

5 days at the inception (home based;
15 day in Kabul;
10 days Finalization of the Report ( home based).

Competencies

Core competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by and adherence to 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.

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning;
Promotes a knowledge sharing and learning culture in the office;
In-depth knowledge on public financial management issues;
Ability to advocate and provide policy advice.

Practice Areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills:

Development and Operational Effectiveness;
Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
Ability to lead formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development;
Programmes and projects, management;
Good knowledge of the Results Management Guide and Toolkit;
Strong IT skills;
Ability to consolidate inputs from various partners and sources into one document.

Management and Leadership:

Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors;
Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

Master’s degree In economics, preferably including PFM studies, development studies, public policy, public administration.

Experience:

At least 10 years of working experience in project management, reporting with at least 5 years working with developing countries and a demonstrated understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by post conflict countries;
Strong analytical and research skills with sufficient understanding of survey design, quantitative/qualitative methods and data analysis;
Experience in managing projects/programmes of UN agencies (preferably UNDP);
Familiarity with UN (preferably UNDP) evaluation guidelines and processes is a plus;
Experience on PFM related projects;
Experience working with the UN and with multi-stakeholders: governments, NGOs, the UN/ multilateral/bilateral institutions and donor entities;
Outstanding interpersonal skills, teamwork, and competency to operate in a multi-cultural and diverse environment;
Public sector management experience in a post-conflict setting is preferred;
Past experience in quantitative and qualitative reporting to various audiences.

Language:

Fluent in English.

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

The contractor shall submit a price proposal as below:

Daily Fee, The contractor shall propose a daily fee which should be inclusive of his professional fee, local communication cost and insurance (inclusive of medical health insurance and evacuation). The number of working days for which the daily fee shall be payable under the contract is 30 days;
The contractor shall propose a Living allowance at the Kabul applicable rate of USD 181 per night for his/her stay at the duty station. The number of nights for which the Living allowance shall be payable under the contract is 17 night @ full rate. The contractor is NOT allowed to stay in a place of his choice other than the UNDSS approved places. UNDP will provide MORSS compliant accommodation in Green Village (GV) to the contractor. The payment of GV accommodation shall be made directly to GV by the contractor;
Travel & Visa – The contractor shall propose an estimated lump-sum for home-kabul-home travel (economy most direct route) and Afghanistan visa expenses.

The total contract price, inclusive of the above elements, shall be converted into a lump-sum contract and payments under the contract shall be made on submission and acceptance of deliverables under the contract in accordance with the schedule of payment linked with deliverables.

We prefer the lump sum method for the payment is this assignment is highly dependent on the deliverables

Evaluation Method and Criteria:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract shall 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. Example 70%-30%.

Technical Criteria weight; [To be determined] – Example 70%

Financial Criteria weight; [To be determined, minimum 30%] – Example 30%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

Technical Criteria, Maximum 70 points:

Criteria A Eg. Relevance of Education – Max 5 points;
Criteria B Eg. Special skills, Language & in country Experience, etc.- Max 5 Points;
Criteria C Eg. Relevance of experience – Max 30 points;
Criteria D Eg. Description of approach/methodology to assignment.(if applicable) – Max 20 Points.

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information:

Personal CV and P11, including at least three professional references; (Annex);
Technical proposal describing his or her approach, methodology and timeline to achieve the deliverables (to be included in the online submission);
Financial proposal that indicates thefixed total contact price for a six-month assignment, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per the template provided.

Note:

Only one document can be uploaded and hence it is suggested that the CV, P-11, financial proposal and sample writing/editing/publication are uploaded as one document;
Only 3-5 best candidates would be invited to the interview and be requested to submit financial proposals.

Annex (to be downloaded from UNDP Afghanistan Website, procurement notices section.

http://www.af.undp.org/content/afghanistan/en/home/operations/procurement.html