UNDP Jobs - 57792- International Consultant Reporting & Communication

International Consultant Reporting & Communication - UNDP/NABDP

Location :

Kabul, AFGHANISTAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Seven months (with maximum 152 working days, 5 days per week)

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

UNDP Global Mission Statement

UNDP is the UN’s global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with national counterparts on their own solutions to global and national development challenges.

UNDP Afghanistan Mission Statement

UNDP supports stabilization, state-building, governance and development priorities in Afghanistan. UNDP support, in partnership with the Government, the United Nations system, the donor community and other development stakeholders, has contributed to institutional development efforts leading to positive impact on the lives of Afghan citizens. Over the years UNDP support has spanned such milestone efforts as the adoption of the Constitution; Presidential, Parliamentary and Provincial Council elections; institutional development through capacity-building to the legislative, the judicial and executive arms of the state, and key ministries, Government agencies and commissions at the national and subnational levels. UNDP has played a key role in the management of the Law and Order Trust Fund, which supports the Government in developing and maintaining the national police force and in efforts to stabilize the internal security environment. Major demobilization, disarmament and rehabilitation and area-based livelihoods and reconstruction programmes have taken place nationwide. UNDP Programmes in Afghanistan have benefited from the very active support of donors. UNDP Afghanistan is committed to the highest standards of transparency and accountability and works in close coordination with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the UN system as a whole to maximize the impact of its development efforts on the ground.

National Area Based Development Programme (NABDP)

The National Area-Based Development Programme (NABDP) is one of the national priority programmes of the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD), supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). NABDP commenced as a joint initiative of the MRRD and UNDP in 2002, with the goal of contributing to a sustainable reduction of poverty and an improvement of livelihoods in rural Afghanistan. NABDP Phase II focused on support to local governance, poverty reduction, and institutional capacity development, whilst linking with the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS) and the Agricultural Rural Development Sector Strategy (ARDSS) frameworks.

NABDP Phase III began in July 2009, was recently extended by one year and will now run until June of 2015. The three main thrusts of Phase III are: (i) Institutions strengthened at the district level to independently address priority local needs; (ii) Rural poor have improved access to key services; and (iii) Stabilization in less secure regions. The design builds upon the successes of the first two phases and is flexible enough to take on an experiential learning approach in response to the constantly changing development landscape and development space.

In regards to the implementation of NABDP, UNDP employs a National Implementation Modality (NIM) with MRRD being the Implementing Partner. There is a National Project Director from the Government side who has oversight responsibility and the National Project Manager who reports to both the National Project Director and UNDP Senior Deputy Country Director. There is also a Project Management Board, consisting of the leadership of both UNDP and MRRD as well as all the project donors and this is the overall body that provides guidance and leadership to the project.

The project falls under the UNDP Afghanistan Sub National Governance (SNG) Cluster and a respective UNDP CO Programme Unit provides oversight and support to the project implementation.

Objective of the Assignment

During the last seven months of the project implementation the Consultant will provide assistance to NABDP project management in developing quarterly, annual and terminal reports and promoting project achievements.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work, Expected Outputs and Deliverables

Scope of work

Information and data from the field is captured, documented, analyzed and reported in a results-based and timely manner:

Monitor implementation of the Annual Work Plan through regular collection and analysis of information;
Prepare briefing notes and reports, using relevant information available from project when required;
Encourage common data collection approach within projects where appropriate;
Continuously review information available on indicators and targets to assess progress and identify constraints and gaps in implementation.

Effective communication, knowledge management and story-telling efforts ensured, focusing on achievement of the following results:

In coordination with the UNDP Communication Unit identify, document and disseminate success stories, achievements, lessons learned and document recommendations to be integrated into broader knowledge management efforts;
Liaise with development partners, especially government stakeholders and partners for exchange of information and promote partnership;
Create, maintain and update the project summary in accordance with the standard template;
Supervise and prepare the content for the project web site, ensuring consistency of the materials;
Use social media to reach out the stakeholders to share projects results and achievements;
Prepare press-releases, video documentaries and other visibility materials.

Standardized reporting mechanisms implemented and effective & timely reporting ensured with due consideration to the quality assurance of donor reports:

Under the guidance of Project Manager and in coordination with the project team review, assess and report on all dimensions of project components;
Facilitate compilation of data and information from different project components for development of comprehensive project reports;
Ensure that programme and donor-funded project reporting processes are systematized;
Ensure that all project periodic reports i.e. quarterly, annual, final and donor specific reports comply with the standard formats;
Ensure that reports are developed using the most professional business writing and formatting with comprehensive analytical presentation of information;
Develop clear and concise reports and power-point presentations for various meetings, workshops, conferences, etc., including the Project Board meetings and donor briefings;
Develop different standard reporting formats for collection of project related information from the field, including project progress and monitoring reports besides formats for collection of project success stories in consultant with UNDP.

Communications Unit:

Communicate with donors for collection of feedback on quality of reports for future quality improvement, in coordination with the project and UNDP Programme Unit;
Build capacity of national staff in reporting and communication.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

Deliverables/outputs, Estimated Duration to Complete/Target due dates, Review and Approvals required

Analytical papers, briefing notes, presentations prepared as and when required - through out the contract - NABDP project management/UNDP Sub-National Governance Unit;
Third quarter project progress report and donor specific reports prepared & finalized for distribution to donors and stakeholders - End of September - early October 2015 - NABDP project management /UNDP DCD/P;
Annual project progress report and donor specific reports prepared & finalized for distribution to donors and stakeholders - January 2016 - NABDP project management /UNDP DCDP;
Terminal project report prepared & finalized for distribution to donors and stakeholders - End of March - UNDP/DCDP.

Payment to the consultant will be based on the completion of the deliverables specified in the ToR, which will be reported as part of a timesheet approved and signed by the Programme Manager.

Working Arrangements

Institutional Arrangements

The International Consultant will work under direct supervision of NABDP Project Manager. The Consultant will also liaise closely with MRRD, UNDP, donors and other rural development stakeholders to build strategic partnerships.

NABDP project will provide office space and internet facility, logistical and other support, including transportation. The project will also provide the consultant with laptop and mibile phone with a local pre-paid sim card. Cost for arranging meetings, workshops, travel costs and DSA during field visits, if any, will be covered by the project.

Duration of work

The performance under the contract shall take place over total contract duration of 7 months (total 182 days minus 14 days of two R&Rs, 116 working days), excluding joining and repatriating travel days . The target day for the start of work is 1 September 2015.

Duty station

The duty station of the consultant is Kabul, Afghanistan forte entire duration of the contract. The consultant will follow the working hours and the weekends as applicable for NABDP project. At all times the consultant is required to observe UNDP security rules and regulations.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards (human rights, peace, understanding between peoples and nations, tolerance, integrity, respect, results orientation (UNDP core ethics) impartiality;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback.

Functional Competencies:

Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills with proven ability in report writing;
Ability to work both independently and in a team and ability to deliver high quality work on time;
Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting from a risk management perspective.

Behavioural Competencies:

Comfortable working in dynamic environments that change frequently;
Able to perform in a high-stress and difficult security environment, with basic accommodation choices;
Ability to manage relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders and incorporate diverse points of view.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree or equivalent in Communication, Economics, Political Sciences, Social Sciences or related field.

Experience:

5 years of professional work experience at the national or international level in monitoring, reporting and communication in large scale development projects;
Experience of working in post-conflict, fragile environments;
Strong analytical capacities and strong ability to communicate and summarize this analysis in writing;
Experience of working in Afghanistan.

Language:

Fluency in written and spoken English is required;
Knowledge of a local language would be an asset.

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 152 working 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 212 nights (191 nights @ full rate and 21 nights @ half rate for 3 R&R). 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 contractor shall be entitled for R&R - 7 calendar days (USD 2,606) for every six weeks during the course of the assignment. During these 7 R&R days when the contractor is away from Kabul, the contractor shall be paid the LA at half rate (USD 90.50 per day) and the contractor is required to retain his/her room in GV for these 7 days for which the cost recovery shall be affected. After the last R&R, the contract should mandatorily stay in country for minimum of 30 calendar days.

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.

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.

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. Relevance of experience – Max 35 points;
Criteria C Eg. Description of approach/methodology – Max 15 Points;
Criteria D Eg. Experience in Afghanistan – Max 15 points.

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document:

Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP (Annex II).

Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references.

Technical proposal:

Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment;
A methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment;
Financial proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided (Annex II).

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

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