UNDP Jobs - 58479- Scoping the UNDP Oslo Governance Centre’s Work on

Scoping the UNDP Oslo Governance Centre’s Work on Governance of Extractives in Crisis and Transition Contexts.

Location :

Oslo, NORWAY

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

17-Aug-2015

Application Deadline :

05-Aug-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

25 days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

6 weeks

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

The UNDP Oslo Governance Centre [OGC] was established in 2002 to support to the operational work of UNDP in assisting partner countries in developing more democratic and effective forms of governance for sustainable peace and development. Within the framework of a vision to eradicate poverty and significantly reduce inequalities and exclusion within and among societies, the 2014-2017 UNDP Strategic Plan sets out a plan of action with three core work areas; one of these areas is the building and/or strengthening of inclusive and effective democratic governance.

As a result of a forward-looking assessment (2014) of the OGC over the next Strategic Plan period, the Centre has a specific mandate to work on the governance and peacebuilding pillar of UNDP’s work by focusing on the distillation of existing global knowledge, expertise and perspectives, to develop innovative policy solutions that promote effective and accountable governance and to contribute to conflict prevention and peacebuilding.

The newly revamped OGC aims to become a global Centre for policy development and applied research with an overarching focus on democratic governance and peacebuilding in crisis, conflict and transitional contexts. It will engage and strengthen ties with Norwegian, Nordic and other partners from the South in undertaking applied research and developing policy options and tools for governance support in post-crisis and post-conflict environments, in order to find practical solutions on the ground which address the following thematic areas:

Governance and democratic challenges in countries that are transitioning out of crisis and conflict towards more inclusive institutions and more peaceful, prosperous equal and resilient societies;
Governance of extractive industries in post-crisis and post-conflict settings and its impact on sustainable development pathways and progress towards more inclusive institutions;
Governance of inclusion, and in particular how societies evolving from crisis and conflict address gender equality and the political and economic empowerment of women in a conflict sensitive manner;
Measuring governance for development results to inform and influence the contributions of UNDP and partners in the discussions on the post-2015 agenda and the measuring and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

To ensure results, the OGC will rely on strategic partnerships in the Nordic countries and beyond, strengthen internal coordination and bolster its role as a knowledge broker through a clear knowledge management and communication strategy. The Centre will also build on OGC’s prior work on measuring governance for development results to influence the contributions of UNDP and partners in the discussions on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the post-2015 agenda.

Duties and Responsibilities

The purpose of the consultancy is to contribute to the framing of the OGC’s program of work on Governance of Extractives in Crisis and Transition contexts. The main output of the consultancy is a framing paper which will:

Taking into account UNDP’s existing work in this field and the activities of other partners in Norway and beyond, recommend options for situating OGC’s work (2015-2017) in this area;
Highlight the opportunities, constraints and risks in the proposed programme of work;
Provide a Theory of Change for the proposed work;
Identify appropriate indicators for the results framework for the programme;
Suggest key partners and actors for the implementation of the propose programme.

In undertaking the assignment the consultant will conduct:

A comprehensive desk review of available literature on UNDP’s Strategic Plan and other relevant documents to be proposed by UNDP OGC relevant to the development of the framing paper;
Draw on the provisional mapping of UNDP’s work in this area to be produced in New York in August, and liaise with New York based staff and consultants as appropriate;
Work closely with the OGC Director and other OGC staff in developing the paper;
Accompany OGC staff to possible partner organisations, including Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norad and others, as appropriate;
The Framing paper will be subject to comment by Senior UNDP officials who will provide substantive comments on the draft document.

Expected Outputs and deliverables of this consultancy include:

An inception meeting with outline activities to be discussed with the OGC Director and Policy Specialist within the first three days of the assignment;
Frist draft of the framing paper will be submitted 2 September, 2015;
Final draft , incorporating comments , will be submitted by 20 September, 2015

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Proven experience in the field of Governance of Extractives in Crisis and Transition contexts;
Excellent written and verbal communication skills (oral, written and presentation) in English;
Demonstrated ability to produce high quality reports for publication in English.

Compliance to UN Core Values:

Demonstrates integrity by modelling 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 favouritism; and
Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

A master’s degree in Natural Resources Management, Governance, Development Economics, Public Policy, International Development, Public Administration, and Management or any other related university degree.

Experience:

At least 10 years of experience in working with regional and international organizations and donors;
Strong research and advocacy skills (collating, analysis and reporting);
Familiarity with the work of Norwegian and Nordic institutions working in the field of the governance of extractives;
A knowledge of UNDP’s work in the area of extractives.

Language:

Fluent in English.

Special considerations

The consultant will indicate the cost of services for each deliverable in US dollars all-inclusive 1 lump sum contract amount (i.e. including all costs such as; professional fees, travel costs, living allowances, communications, consumables, etc.) when requested to submit a price quotation.

The Individual Consultant shall not either during the term or after termination of the assignment, disclose any proprietary or confidential information related to the consultancy service without prior written consent.

Proprietary interests on all materials and documents prepared by the consultants under the assignment shall become and remain properties of UNDP.

Criteria for selcection

Combined Scoring method will be used. When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose 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 specific to the solicitation.

In this regard, the respective weight of the proposals are:

Technical Criteria weight is 70%;
Financial Criteria weight is 30%.

Criteria Weight

Technical Competence (based on CV, Proposal and interview (if required) = 70%:

Criteria a. Understanding the Scope of Work (SoW); comprehensiveness of the methodology/approach; and organization & completeness of the proposal. 40%;
Criteria b. Sound experience at least 7 years of specific experience related to undertaking technical policy-focused research related to Governance of Extractives in Crisis and Transition contexts, economic development and governance and economic recovery 15%;
Criteria c. Ability to carry out research, to contribute to the formulation of policies, processes and guidelines for development and governance systems. 15%.

Financial Proposal total weight = 30%

Application procedure:

Interested applicants are requested to submit their applications by 5 August 2015, by using the Apply now button. The application should contain a duly completed UNDP Personal History Form (P11).

Only the short-listed applicants will be contacted and requested to submit a letter of interest including a price quotation indicating the lump sum (in USD) requested for the work envisaged in the section "Description of Responsibilities.