UNDP Jobs - 63839- Consultant - Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Consultant - Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Location :

Home-based with Several Missions

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

04-Mar-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Estimated April 2016 - November 2016

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

app.70 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

At the UN Sustainable Development Summit (25-27 September 2015), Member States of the United Nations adopted Agenda 2030 with a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at its core. It officially comes into effect upon expiry of the Millennium Development Goals on 1 January 2016, is a universal agenda which voluntarily will apply to every country until 2030. The Agenda strives for a world that is just, rights-based, equitable and inclusive. It commits stakeholders to work together to promote sustained and inclusive economic growth, social development and environmental protection and to benefit all, including women, children, youth and future generations. It is to be implemented in a manner consistent with existing obligations of states under international law. This new universal agenda will require an integrated approach to sustainable development and collective action, at all levels, to address the challenges of our time, with an overarching imperative of ‘leaving no one behind’ and addressing inequalities and discrimination as the central defining feature. Some national governments, institutions and organizations have already started to translate the new agenda into their development plans, strategies and visions. The results framework of The 2030 Agenda includes 17 SDGs with 169 targets. The SDGs seek to build on the Millennium Development Goals and complete what these did not achieve. Additionally, the SDGs are integrated and indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental.

For more information about SDGs, please see https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld
UNDP works in more than 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. We support countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build resilience in order to sustain development results.

Inclusive growth, better services, environmental sustainability, good governance, and security are fundamental to development progress. We offer our expertise in development thinking and practice, and our decades of experience at country level, to support countries to meet their (sustainable) development aspirations and to bring the voices of the world’s peoples into deliberations.
To support the rollout of the SDGs the mainstreaming, acceleration, and policy support (MAPS) approach is being adopted across the UN Development Group (UNDG).

The scope of the work is wide ranging, with each covering a set of activities and tools that support SDG localization and achievement including:

Mainstreaming: Landing the SDG agenda at the national and local levels, such as through integration into national and sub-national plans for development and into budget allocations;
Acceleration: Focus will be on identifying priority areas in respective countries along with support for accelerating progress. Specific support activities likely to include, for example, bottlenecks assessment, financing and partnerships, and measurement;
Policy Support: Pooling together the skills, knowledge and experience of respective UN agencies to support policy formulation and implementation.

In 2013, UNDP with support of partners entered into the use of UN My World Survey, which targeted to improve citizen contribution in shaping the global post-2015 development agenda. Over 1.5 million votes collected in the campaign by the end of 2013 indicated that people around the world prioritized the following ten topics as the most critical areas of sustainable human development: 1) Good Education; 2) Better Healthcare 3) Better job opportunities; 4) Honest and responsive government; 5) Access to clean water and sanitation; 6) Affordable and nutritious food; 7) Protection against crime and violence; 8) Protecting rivers, forests and oceans; 9) Freedom from discrimination and persecution; 10) Equality between men and women.

From this initiative the “New World: Inclusive Sustainable Human Development Initiatives” Project has developed two main intervention areas to address five of these ten priority areas (Numbered 1, 3, 5, 8 and 10):

Increasing access to safe drinking water and sanitation services and improving water resources management through inclusive and practical community based approaches;
Empowering women and youth through improved education and job creation for more resilient communities.

The project has started with New World 1st Generation in 2014 and launched the 2nd Generation Projects in December 2016. The project countries include Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Palestine, Russia, South Africa, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe.

The project now seeks and international consultant to help further refine the support of the project to integrated implementation of projects around SDGs related to water, gender and livelihoods to determine how results affect the lives of people at the local level. It will work on integrating key water targets into local development initiatives that can be supported by local governments, NGOs and the UN system.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

The objective of the assignment is to strengthen the linkages of women/youth empowerment and access to safe drinking water and sanitation projects with the Sustainable Development Goals. The consultant will investigate the links and introduce strategies to strengthen the linkages. The projects under New World Project (NWP) will be analyzed but the linkage will be in a broader context and not limited to the projects supported by New World Project.

The consultant is asked to prepare three reports. The first report will be an analytical exercise that will review the relevant information on goal 5 (Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment) and goal 6 (Water and Sanitation). It will look at the available literature to see how these two goals are linked to other goals and targets, especially health, poverty and inequality.

The second report will be an analysis of all the NWP proposals and to determine which targets of which Sustainable Development Goal are the most applicable across all NWP. This will need to also determine the indicators that support the various targets that are included in the SDGs and to see how they relate to the results framework for NWP and associated country projects. Recommendations for how to modify the modality of the NWP will also be included in this task.

The third report will consist of 10 country case studies, 5 of which including the site visits, that the consultant will undertake which will analyze the primary and secondary impact of NWP on local communities, undertake a mapping of activities and numbers of beneficiaries with a limited data collection exercise that will collect some of the socio-economic data with a specific focus on water related projects. It will seek to analyse the community benefits of the NWP with adequate data analysis. An assessment will be made of the feasibility of including SDG in the results frameworks of the NWP projects.

The content of the reports should contain but not limited to the answers of the following questions:

To what extent do the results of the projects contribute to the SDGs?
How the results of the New World Objective 1 projects contribute to the SDG #5? What are the other SDGs that this objective can contribute?
How the results of the New World Objective 2 projects contribute to the SDG #6? What are the other SDGs that this objective can contribute?
To what extent the projects has attained development results to the targeted population, beneficiaries, participants whether individuals, communities, institutions, etc.;
The extent to which the objectives of a development intervention are consistent with the needs and interest of the people, the needs of the country and the Sustainable Development Goals;
What can be done to disseminate the results of the projects to contribute to the SDGs in a local, national and global level?
To what extent these kinds of projects are the best option to respond to development challenges?
To what extent the modality of the New World Project is the best option to respond to community needs?
To what extent and in what ways has community ownership or the lack of it, impacted the efficiency and effectiveness of the projects and is there a reflection of the community ownership to the Sustainable Development Goals?
To what extent private sector partnerships can contribute to the SDGs?

The interim/final reports from the projects will be shared with the selected consultant at the start of the assignment.
The Consultant will report to the New World Project Manager and to the New World Steering Committee.

Travel

The consultant is expected to be home-based and conduct analysis through desk review and key informant sessions via skype sessions and phone calls.

The consultant is expected to undertake three 10-days missions to Istanbul, Turkey, the dates of which are to be determined. The consultant is expected to arrange her/his own travel and be responsible for ticketing, visa and accommodation. Travel costs (fixed and non-negotiable) for above mission travels to Istanbul shall be included in financial proposal of applicants.

In pursuit to the country case studies, the Consultant is expected to travel to 5 Project areas/sites and offices. UNDP, in consultation with the consultant, will be responsible to arrange consultant’s 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.

Expected outputs and deliverables:
30% of payment upon submission of following deliverables:

Draft Report 1: Linkage between SDG#5, SDG#6 and other SDGs by 31 May 2016;
Final Report 1: Linkage between SDG#5, SDG#6 and other SDGs by 30 June 2016.

35% of payment upon submission of following deliverables:

Draft Report 2: Linkage between NWP and SDGs by 15 August 2016;
Final Report 2: Linkage between NWP and SDGs by 15 September 2016.

35% of payment upon submission of following deliverables:

Draft Report 3: Case Studies by 10 October 2016;
Final Report 3: Case Studies by 10 November 2016.

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

Extensive knowledge of UN System and UNDP mandate;
Comprehensive knowledge of Sustainable Development Goals (MDGs);
Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional Competencies:

Strong interpersonal and communication skills;
Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities skills;
Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines;
Outstanding communication, project management and organizational skills;
Excellent presentation and facilitation skills;
Positive, constructive attitude to work.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Masters degree in economics, social sciences, international development or closely related fields.

Experience:

At least 7 years of experience working on economic and social development issues;
At least 2 years of experience with working on MDGs or development of SDGs;
Hands-on experience working in a development setting;
Experience in working with, and analyze data, using relevant tools/computer programs (Excel, online survey tools) to present findings;
Water/gender expertise in development projects would be an asset;
Experience working in the Europe and CIS region in relevant areas would be an asset.

Language:

Excellent command of English both written and spoken.

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 (P11 desk reviews and interviews) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only candidates who will receive at least 70% in each step of the process (desk review and interviews) will be considered for financial evaluation.

*Written samples of previous work should be provided

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

Working on economic and social development issues: max. 10 points;
Water/gender expertise in development projects: max. 5 points;
Experience in working with MDGs/SDGs: max. 5 points;
Working in the Europe and CIS region in relevant areas: max. 5 points;
Interviews - Prior project/programme/policy evaluation experiences with focus on synthesizing complex issues drawing synergies and linkages between development issues: max. 5 points;
Interviews - Excellent command of English (evaluated based on provided written documents and interviews): max. 5 points.

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 15 points

Application procedures:
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 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 announcementconsisting of a) all-inclusive professional fee and b) travel costs for three missions to Istanbul, Turkey in duration of 10 working days each (including costs for flight tickets, per diem, terminals);
Written samples of previous work relevant to the assignment should be provided either attaching the document or providing the link;
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials. Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

*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.