Background

The planned Workshop is the concluding event of the broader knowledge sharing initiative - Emerging Donors Capacity Building Series, organized by the UNDP New Partnerships and Emerging Donors team (Istanbul). The Series started in 2014 and builds on the results of: 

• the conference “Sharing Transition Experience among the EU Member States, the Balkan Countries and the Commonwealth of the Independent States” held in Bratislava in June 2009; 
• the technical workshops in Budapest in June 2012 (Building Capacity of Emerging European Donors: Assessing Existing Practices and Needs) and Prague in November 2012 (Sharing knowledge and transition experience for development: the view of New European Donors), organized jointly by UNDP, the World Bank Institute and the European Commission. 

The Series follows requests from the Czech Republic and Romania and address capacity gaps identified among other new and emerging donors in the Europe and CIS region.  The objective of the series is to strengthen the capacities of selected new EU member states and emerging donors in Europe and the CIS to manage their development assistance within knowledge areas where UNDP has a clear added value and can play a facilitation role. The series, seen as an open platform for peer-to-peer learning, rely on experienced trainers as well as resource persons from traditional donor countries such as Switzerland, Austria, and the Netherlands.

Specifically, the Series consists of six training and peer-to-peer learning events in 2014-2015:

• Introduction to Project Cycle Management (Prague, Czech Republic, January 2014)
• Strategic Programming for Official Development Assistance  (Bratislava, Slovakia, April 2014)
• Communicating Development Results (Bucharest, Romania, June 2014)
• Identification and Formulation of Development Projects (Prague, Czech Republic, January 2015)
• Monitoring and Evaluation of Development Projects (Bucharest, Romania, October 2015)
• Knowledge sharing and knowledge management / ensuring knowledge continuity (Istanbul, Turkey, planned for November 2015)

Scope of the Workshop

The Workshop will focus on critically reflecting on existing knowledge sharing mechanisms used by emerging and established donors in the Europe and CIS region and their evolution in recent years. It will also serve to evaluate the Capacity Building Series and identify the future capacity needs of donors on their way to provide more effective development assistance and share transition knowledge. 

For the first time during the Capacity Building Series, recipient/partner countries will join the new donors in dialogue and knowledge fair settings, which will provide an opportunity to perform a reality check of development assistance on the ground.  

A special session will be organized in partnership with the leading UK-based think tank working on development and humanitarian issues – the Overseas Development Institute (ODI). First, the session will analyse what the changing landscape means for development agencies as well as what features development agencies should implement in order to address the challenges and harness the opportunities of the new development agenda. It will provide a platform for discussion between development agencies in the region on these issues, including the beyond-aid agenda.  Second, ODI researchers will evaluate what developing countries’ perspectives on development finance are, notably their priorities and preferences.  The discussion will be supported by findings of ODI research across selected country case studies from Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa looking at the challenges and opportunities for partner countries in managing the new development finance landscape – in particular beyond Official Development Assistance (ODA) – and what it means for the post-2015 development agenda, national financing strategies and providers of development assistance. 

In addition, the participants will take part in the introductory training (pre-event) on knowledge management combined with a practical discussion on ensuring knowledge continuity in an environment of high staff turnover. The easy-to-use IT solution for managing a database of national experts, called the “Expertise Locator”, will also be presented and discussions on using and fine-tuning of the platform will be conducted. 
Finally, interested participants will share their skills and expertise by leading hands-on learning sessions based on the demand from their peers. Dedicated skills demand-supply questionnaire will be circulated beforehand to select the most relevant topics and gauge interest in this type of peer-to-peer learning. 

The event will aim to reach three specific objectives:

1. Critically reflect on existing knowledge sharing mechanisms of the participating countries and obtain a perspective from the recipient side;
2. Identify further capacity building needs and an appropriate course of action to address them (including areas of further support by UNDP);
3. Strengthen cooperation and dialogue among emerging donors and recipients through peer-to-peer learning and networking.

Participants (number expected: approx. 35-60 depending on the day):

• Government officials from emerging donor (Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Ministries of Finance, development cooperation agencies) and partner countries (aid coordination bodoes, selected beneficiaries)
• UNDP staff

Location: Home based with one time travel to Istanbul, Turkey  (5 days spent on mission) 

Duties and Responsibilities

The International Facilitator, under direct supervision of the Team Leader, Emerging Donors and New Partnerships, will be responsible for the following:

• Design the overall workshop structure (based on draft agenda provided by UNDP) and develop an appropriate facilitation methodology that delivers the objectives;
• Provide overall facilitation during the workshop (two full days and half a day on the last day of the event), including but not limited to framing and group discussions.
• Produce a final report from the workshop of max. 5 pages, with the main findings of the event including recommendations for future capacity building interventions to be facilitated by UNDP.

The Facilitator will work closely with the UNDP Partnerships Team, UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub.

Deliverables:

Specific deliverables of this assignment are as follows:

• Structure of the event, detailed agenda, session design, facilitation methodology (timeline: estimated  7 November 2015);
• Facilitation of the event following the agreed event structure and facilitation methodology (estimated end November 2015);
• Final report from the event (draft: estimated 10 December / final report: estimated 20 December 2015).

Payment schedule will be agreed with the selected consultant prior the contract issuance.

Competencies

• Ability to effectively facilitate and moderate international conferences, workshops, side events and/or seminars;
• Ability to be flexible and able to innovatively and constructively adapt to a changing event environment whilst working in a team;
• Well-developed interpersonal skills, including the ability to liaise effectively at senior levels and in multi-cultural environments;
• Excellent presentation and public speaking skills;
• High level teamwork, planning and time management skills, including flexibility, attention to detail and the ability to work under pressure to meet changing deadlines.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in social sciences, political sciences, international development, communication, or related field.

Experience:

• Experience in conference/event facilitation at the national and international level (at least 5 similar consultancies);
• At least 5 years of relevant working experience in the development cooperation field ((development institution of a donor country or in professional services for development providers will be considered an asset);
• Demonstrated experience in transition and structural transformation processes; 
• Experience in presentation and public speaking.

Language skills:      

• Excellent speaking and writing skills in English. 

Evaluation of Applicants:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.

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.

Only the highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 35 points:

• Academic qualifications – max. points - 5;
• Experience in conference and event facilitation – max. points - 10;
• Relevant working experience in the development cooperation area – max. points - 10;
• Demonstrated experience of transition and structural transformation processes – max. points - 5;
• Language skills – max. points - 5.

Application procedure:

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain:

• Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position (please, review your past experience against all qualification requirements of this announcement) and a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application;
• Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank form can be downloaded from http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc ); please upload the P11 instead of your CV;
• Financial Proposal* - specifying a total lump sum amount in USD for the tasks specified in this announcement. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (number of anticipated working days, travel, per diems and any other possible costs);
• Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.

*Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services...). All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. 

Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner. 

Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org
General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://on.undp.org/t7fJs

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.
Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.