UNDP Jobs - 57793- International Consultant- Co-Author of the 5th Na

International Consultant- Co-Author of the 5th National Human Development Report (NHDR)

Location :

Vientiane Capital, LAO PDR

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

27-Jul-2015

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Five (5) months (50 working days)

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Five (5) months (50 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

Human development is about people, about expanding their choices to live full, creative lives with freedom and dignity. Economic growth, increased trade and investment, technological advance – all are very important. But they are means, not ends. Fundamental to expanding human choices is building human capabilities: the range of things that people can be. The most basic capabilities for human development are living a long and healthy life, being educated, having a decent standard of living and enjoying political and civil freedoms to participate in the life of one’s community.”

For more than a decade, UNDP’s national and regional Human Development Report (HDR) teams have been supporting national actors to advance the human development conceptual framework and apply it to the most pressing development challenges of the day. They aim to generating lively debates around the policies and actions needed to accelerate human development and achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

In Lao PDR, 4 NHDRs have been published over the period 1998 to 2009. The most recent report was on Employment and Livelihoods, So far the 5th NHDR preparations are underway for 2016 with a focus on LDC graduation and human development. This report will be the first to be produced under the leadership of the National Economic Research Institute (NERI), Ministry of Planning and Investment which has in the past supported the Lao Statistics Bureau in undertaking this leading role.

Lao PDR aims to graduate from its current LDC status by mid-2020s. This requires sustainable economic growth and human development. Despite significant economic growth in recent decades, the country has been facing several development challenges including high level of poverty and vulnerability, rising inequality between urban and rural areas, among provinces and between majority and minority groups of population. Moreover, there is a sense that the rapid economic growth may not been translated into human development. The provinces where income poverty has declined substantially are still marred with high level of under-nutrition and low level of educational status.

LDC graduation is not an end in itself; rather it is part of a larger development agenda, on the journey towards improving human development – the ultimate purpose of development. In view of this, the report will analyse development issues and suggest policy measures from human development lens.

Against the above backdrop, the 5th edition of Lao PDR human development report, among others, will: (i) observe and analyse national development trends along the three LDC graduation criteria (ii) identify specific vulnerabilities to be addressed to ensure sustainable and inclusive graduation; (iii) examine the possible costs and benefits of LDC graduation for Lao PDR and its population from the human development perspectives (iv) assess the effectiveness of socio-economic policies and provide recommendations and guidelines in terms of specific policy measures to be adopted. This will contribute to drafting a roadmap towards achieving graduation in the 2020s and identifying roles and responsibilities of actors from the government, civil society as well as development partners and other stakeholders.

In this regard, UNDP is seeking a qualified international consultant to be the NHDR Co-author and quality assurer. The consultant will work closely with the national lead authors team and NERI during the process of writing the NHDR by providing guidance and supervision to the writing team in terms of research methods, data analysis and report writing. His or her role will be to ensure high quality, accuracy and consistency of the work throughout the preparation, includes adherence to the HDR guidelines

Duties and Responsibilities

The main objective of this assignment is to assist NERI and coordinate with the lead national author to ensure quality assurance and guide the team throughout the writing process as well as revise, incorporate comments and finalize the report. The primary responsibilities of the selected consultant include:

Preparatory Phase.

Co-lead the process of preparing the 5th NHDR in close cooperation with the national author team:

Outline table of content and advice on production plan;
Design research and data collection methods.
Research and Writing Phase;
Coach and guide the national author team and refine the report chapters, ensure their consistency with the HDR rationale;
Write the executive summary in collaboration with the national author team;
Work with and assist the national authors team on reviewing and streamlining chapters and on writing the introductory and concluding sections, to ensure quality, consistency and fluidity within the report;
Promote a participatory approach to the preparation of the report, and actively provide technical support in the promotion and dissemination of the 5th NHDR;
Production Phase;
Review and ensure the final draft NHDR to submit for the NHDR Board’s approval and also professional editing;
Communication and Advocacy;
Prepare advocacy materials and facilitate during the launch preparation.

To fulfill the primary functions above, the consultant shall:

Ensure an efficient and effective division of labor among the team (Lead National author team and the associated members). This includes allowing all team members to focus on their discipline and the specific approach required by various sectors, while facilitating brainstorming, joint reviews and a collaborative approach to work;
Ensure all team members respect standards and procedures as codified by the NHDR Concept Note and the NHDR Toolkit.
Support preparation of an outline of the NHDR in a logical and coherent manner;
Provide training to the team of authors and relevant stakeholders on NHDR’s theme and on human development concept, measurement and policy implication;
Ensure quantitative/qualitative data are sufficient to support the arguments and messages of the report and back them up with credible references;
Provide guidance, advice and substantive comments to the contributions at all stages of the process, and ensure adequate reviews and consultations, particularly on sensitive topics and materials;
Review and finalize the various drafts of the NHDR in close cooperation with the national author to ensure consistency throughout the report and to include comments and suggestions received during the consultation process to the extent possible;
Actively participate in the consultation process organized throughout the preparation of the report;
Ensure knowledge transfer and capacity building throughout the production process;
Draft messages for the report launch in consultation with lead national author team and UNDP.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Demonstrates leadership, team building and coordinating skills;
Demonstrates commitment to human development principles and values;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Shares knowledge and experience;
Provides helpful feedback and advice;
Strong analytical skills;
Strong knowledge of, an experience with conducting research and data collection;
Plans and produces quality results to meet established goals;
Generates innovative, practical solutions to challenging situations;
Conceptualizes and analyzes problems to identify key issues, underlying problems, and how they relate;
Demonstrates substantive and technical knowledge to meet responsibilities and post requirements with excellence.

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
Responds positively to critical feedback and differing points of view.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Recognized postgraduate degree (Masters or PhD) in Social ciences, Economics, International Development or other relevant field.

Experience:

At least 10 years of relevant experience in the Academia or research institutions, with a focus on socio-economic analysis;
Experience with writing NHDRs or other similar reports is desirable;
Working experience in Asia and the Pacific, and in particular in Lao PDR, is much desirable;
Experience with coaching and building capacity especially in the research area is an asset.

Languages:

Excellent command of written and spoken English.

Requirements for submission of proposals

All interested and qualified candidates should apply on-line using the following links:

UNDP Lao PDR Country Office website at http://www.la.undp.org/content/lao_pdr/en/home/operations/jobs/

Or UNDP Jobs at http://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_jobs.cfm

In order to make submission please read the attached relevant documents which are also available on our website:

TOR (Annex I;
Individual Contract & General Terms and Conditions (Annex II);
Offeror's letter to UNDP to UNDP confirming interest and availability(Annex III).

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

Technical and Financial Proposal as per Annex III “Offeror's letter to UNDP confirmin interest and availability”;
Explaining why you are the most suitable for the work;
Providing a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work including the work schedule for the delivery of outputs/deliverables;
Some samples of teaching syllabus that you have used in the past;
CV including past experience in similar projects and contact reference of at least 3 references for whom you have rendered preferably the similar services;

Note:

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 travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days). All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. UNDP accept travel costs not exceeding of an economy class air ticket.

Please kindly refer to the Terms of Reference Annex I for detailed information on:

Project’s background

Scope of work and Responsibilities

Deliverables

Requirements for Experience and Qualifications

Evaluation of Proposals:

Cumulative analysis: The award of the contract will be made to a consultant who offer has been evaluated and determined as Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and

Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria:

Technical Criteria weight; [0.7];
Financial Criteria weight; [0.3].

Only a consultant obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) in the technical rating would be considered for the financial evaluation.

Note:

Any request for clarification must be sent in writing to the following e-mail:anongly.phimmasone@undp.orgwith CC to phadthakone.sophavilay@undp.org.

UNDP Lao PDR will respond in writing by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all consultants.

The copies of the response will be also placed on our web-site at: http://www.la.undp.org/content/lao_pdr/en/home/operations/jobs/ and linked to the current Procurement Notice.

All interested candidates are encouraged to visit the above web-site for updates.

Please note that only short-listed candidates will be notified.

Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

For more detailed information about UNDP Lao PDR please visit our website at http://www.la.undp.org/lao_pdr/en/home.html