UNDP Jobs - 61981- Consultant, Economist: Financing for Development

Consultant, Economist: Financing for Development

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

15-Dec-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

3 months (60 working days)

Languages Required :

English French

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support is seeking a consultant to conduct research and prepare analytical inputs to a UNDP-AFD (Agence Française de Développement) paper on financing instruments that can be made available to or scaled up in the Least Development Countries (LDCs) to support them to finance their development as well as help them manage various sources of volatility and shocks.

Over the last decade, some LDCs have recorded considerable improvements in human and social development, especially in the areas of health and education. Many have also enjoyed robust and sustained economic growth. The ability to mobilize more domestic resources for development and to leverage private external finance, such as foreign direct investment and bond financing has increased for some countries. One of the core objectives of the Istanbul Programme of Action for the LDCs is that half of the 48 LDCs meet the criteria for graduation from this category by 2020. At the same time, LDCs’ economies remain highly vulnerable and are subject to numerous risks, such as international financial and economic instability, extreme weather events, terms of trade shocks and climate change.

The development financing landscape has evolved considerably over the last decade. New technologies and innovations in financing engineering have expanded the tool-box of both public and private financing options now available to developing countries. Examples include: blended finance; green and blue economy financing; local currency lending; countercyclical lending instruments; GDP-linked linked lending and sovereign insurance schemes, amongst others.

A considerable body of experience and evidence now exists of various ‘innovative’ financing instruments and approaches. However many of these financing initiatives remain small in scale or are limited to certain countries (predominantly middle-income countries) or sectors (e.g. infrastructure). LDCs have traditionally relied on grant financing from donors as a major share of external finance. Grant financing will continue to play a key role in LDCs’ development in the post-2015 period. However as they continue to make development progress and move towards graduation, it will be valuable to examine in more depth what kinds of financing instruments could feasibly be expanded to LDCs in the future, and which ones may be best suited to support specific development sectors or investments. This must be done in ways that do not accentuate their vulnerabilities.

This research aims to explore what kinds of financing instruments could be made available to or scaled-up in LDCs to help them more effectively manage an external volatile environment, while supporting their development. Specifically the consultant will explore what financing instruments could help LDCs more effectively manage various sources of risk and volatility, and assess their feasibility as well as what barriers may need to be overcome in order to make their adoption more widespread.

The UNDP and AFD analytical paper will explore recent developing country experiences with a variety of these financing instruments and provide empirically-grounded policy options for scaling-up some of these approaches to LDCs. The joint paper will be launched at the Midterm Review of the LDC Istanbul Programme of Action, in June 2016, in Antalya, Turkey for discussion by policymakers.

Duties and Responsibilities

Conduct research, as directed, on financing instruments that could be expanded to LDCs to support them to better manage shocks and a volatile external environment;
Provide empirically-grounded policy options for scaling-up these approaches to LDCs, including an assessment of pros and cons, and feasibility etc.;
Carry out a literature review of selected development financing instruments, as agreed with the Director;
Conduct interviews with key experts (donors and developing countries) for their experiences with different financing instruments;
Compile data on the use of different financing instruments;
Provide selected case studies on countries’ use of different financing instruments and approaches; and
Provide recommendations as to when it may be appropriate to use different financing instruments in LDCs, assessing the opportunities and risks of doing so, as well as the kinds of interventions these financing instruments might fund.

Deliverables:

Written analytical inputs (30-40 pages) within 3 months that contribute to the UNDP-AFD analytical paper; and
The consultant will send to the supervisor inputs on a monthly basis.

Competencies

Functional/Technical:

Excellent knowledge of current trends and debates regarding development financing issues;
Strong record in advising international institutions and/or governments on economic policy and financing for development;
Strong publications and writing record;
Excellent analytical skills;
Excellent writing and presentation skills; and
Good team player and ability to work to work within tight deadlines and under pressure.

Corporate:

Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UNDP; and
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

A Master’s degree or PhD in economics or related field

Experience"

At least 10 years of progressively responsible work experience in a position directly related to economic development;
Experience in policy research; and
Strong publications and writing record on economic development and financing for development.

Language:

Fluent in English and French.

Institutional Arrangement:

The consultant will report directly, and will seek approval of outputs from the Director of the Strategic Policy Unit and will work closely with other members of the Strategic Policy Unit;
The consultant will be given access to relevant information and data necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment;
Payments will be made upon submission of a detailed time sheet and certification of payment form, and approval and confirmation by the Director of the Strategic Policy Unit. The work on and acceptance of deliverables will be preceded by agreement with the Director of the SPU on the outline of each deliverable, methodology, and the sources of information.
The Consultant will be expected to have her/his own laptop and software to be used, and have access to communication facilities (emails, telephone, access to internet, etc.); and
While the consultancy is home-based, the consultant is expected to travel to New York twice and be available for regular teleconferences with the Director of the Strategic Policy Unit and the team.

Travel:

The consultant is expected to undertake 2 short missions to New York, USA in early February 2016 (3 days) and in mid-March 2016 (3 days). The consultant is expected to arrange her/his own travel and be responsible for ticketing, visa and accommodation.
The fare will always be “most direct, most economical, and changeable” at no additional cost to UNDP and any difference in price with the preferred route will be paid for by the consultant; and
Travel costs (fixed and non-negotiable) for above mission travels shall be included in financial proposal of applicants. For more information, please read the below Application Procedures.

Application Procedures:

The application is a two-step process. Failing to comply with the submission process may result in disqualifying the applications:

Step 1: Submission of Technical Proposals:
Interested individual applicants must include the following documents when submitting the applications in UNDP Jobsite (Please note that only 1 (one) file can be uploaded therefore please include all documents in one file):

CV or Personal History Form (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 (the template can be downloaded from this link: http://sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc
Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable candidate for the assignment; and
Please provide access or reference to the publications and writing records related to economic development and financing for development authored by the applicant.

Step 2: Submission of Financial Proposals
Applicants are instructed to submit their financial proposals in US Dollars for this consultancy to bpps.procurement@undp.org, using the financial proposal template available here: http://procurementnotices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=45780. The proposals should be sent via email with the following subject heading: “Financial Proposal – IC Economist: Financing for Development" by the deadline for this vacancy. Proposals to be received after the deadline may be rejected. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal should be all-inclusive and include a detailed breakdown. The term ‘all-inclusive’ implies that all costs (professional fees, assignment- and mission- related travel expenses, communications, utilities, consumables, insurance, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the financial proposal. The cost of the assignment shall be linked to the deliverables specified above and reflected in the Section B. of the Financial Proposal template.

Criteria for Selection:

Only those candidates who meet the minimum level of education and relevant years of experience requirements will be considered for the technical evaluation. The technical evaluation will include a desk review and may also include interviews with shortlisted candidates.

Combined scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a maximum of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a maximum of 30%.

Technical criteria weight: 70 (70% of total obtainable scores). Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 (70%) points on technical part will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Financial criteria weight: 30 (30% of total obtainable scores)

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will 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.

Technical Evaluation:

The technical evaluation will be based on the following criteria with the corresponding points (out of a total of 70 points):

Professional experience in advising international institutions and/or governments on financing for development and sustainable development issues – 25 points;
Knowledge of current trends and debates regarding development financing – 25 points; and
Strong publications and writing records on economic development and financing for development - 20 points

The technical evaluation will include a desk review and may also include interviews with shortlisted candidates. In case if interviews are also conducted, evaluation criteria will be also based on the competencies and qualifications requirements in this Terms of Reference.

Only Individual Consultants obtaining a minimum of 49 of the obtainable points of 70 points (70%) in technical evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Financial Evaluation
The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

p = y (µ/z), where
p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated
y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal
µ = price of the lowest priced proposal
z = price of the proposal being evaluated

UNDP applies a fair and transparent selection process that takes into account both the technical qualification of Individual Consultants as well as their price proposals. The contract will be awarded to the candidate obtaining the highest combined technical and financial scores.

Annexes and References:
Individual Consultant's General Terms and Conditions are provided here: http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf.

UNDP Personal History Form (P.11) - www.sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc The recommended candidate will be requested to duly complete and sign the above form.