UNDP Jobs - 66041- Accountability and Budget Transparency Expert

Accountability and Budget Transparency Expert

Location :

Home-Based with Travel to Asia and Pacific countries including India, Philippines, Bangladesh and Nepal

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

09-May-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

15 May 2016 - 31 October 2016

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

60 days over the period of 5 months

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 regional programme on the “Governance of Climate Change Finance to Benefit the Poor and Vulnerable in Asia-Pacific” based in the UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub (UNDP BRH) focuses on the budget process to integrate climate change concerns into decision-making that translates into investments to tackle the challenges posed by climate change.

The programme uses the budget cycle as the entry point for driving the integration of climate change finance into country planning and financial management systems. In supporting and advocating for a whole-of-government approach toward this reform process, UNDP addresses the issue from both policy and technical angles in order to maximize the potential for success. Program interventions fall under three key main areas or components, including: i) The Budget process; ii) Sub-national processes; and iii) Accountability mechanisms. In addition to the integration of climate change finance in the budget and planning process to enable these allocations, the programme also emphasizes that the resources that are spent should be targeted to areas and populations that are the most vulnerable to climate change.

Monitoring and evaluating the impact of public budget relies among others on actors such as Parliamentarian Committees, Auditor Generals, Civil Society Organizations as well as the media which have distinct formal and informal oversight roles and responsibilities, especially with regard to public funds, to ensure effectiveness, efficiency and transparency in the use of these funds.

The program is seeking an accountability and budget transparency consultant to develop and complete an assessment of the accountability landscape of countries within the region to improve its understanding of the role currently played by these actors in the Asia-Pacific region regarding the oversight of domestic and international climate change finance in order to support the enhancement of this role and design concrete interventions that would help strengthen national ownership and demand for more climate change responsive budgeting.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective:

The consultant will help the regional program assess the role played by accountability actors (e.g. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Parliamentarians, Auditor Generals) in select countries in the Asia-Pacific regarding the integration of climate change related finance into the budgeting processes and their needs in terms of capacity building and technical tools and the policy environment in which they operate and to which extent it is conducive to further enhancement of such role. Based on the assessment, the consultant will make recommendations as to how CSOs capacity to play a catalytic role in improving the quality of climate change finance governance and its targeting towards the most climate change vulnerable segments of society and in particular low income groups and women could be strengthened by the regional program. The findings and recommendations of the accountability landscape assessment will help shape the design of the new phase of the program through the provision of options and proposals for join interventions with accountability actors at the regional and national level.

Scope of Work:

Key Tasks include:

The accountability landscape assessment (e.g. CSOs, Parliaments, Auditor Generals and Media) in the Asia-Pacific region will cover India, Nepal, the Philippines, and Bangladesh and is expected to assess:

The role that accountability actors have been playing in the budget formulation process in general and in ensuring that climate change priorities are actually translated into budget allocations in particular in countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the challenges they are facing, their needs in terms of capacity building and tools and what could the regional program undertake to enhance their role. The assessment will try to understand whether this role has led/could lead to the provision of feedback to the government for better climate change policy making and budgeting and improved targeting to those who are the most vulnerable to climate change;
The role that accountability actors are playing in the reporting of budget execution and in ensuring that climate change related allocations are credible and actually spent in the countries, the challenges they are facing, their needs in terms of capacity building and tools and what the regional program could undertake to enhance their role;
The role that accountability actors are playing in the monitoring and evaluation of budget execution and in ensuring that climate change related allocations are spent effectively in the countries assessed and are targeted at the climate change vulnerable segments of the population (poor, women, children etc.), the challenges they are facing, their needs in terms of capacity building and tools and what the regional program could undertake to enhance their role;
The role that accountability actors are playing in the monitoring and evaluation of overseas development assistance with climate change co-benefits and whether these funds have been reaching the climate change vulnerable. What are the findings and lessons learnt from these experiences and how could they influence the role accountability actors could play vis a vis domestic climate change finance as well;
What is the perspective of accountability actors regarding greater integration of ODA with climate change co-benefits and additional international climate change finance into the national public finance management systems.

In parallel to the 5 areas of investigation above, the assessment will look at the overall policy environment to evaluate whether it is conducive to joint interventions between UNDP and the accountability actors. Policy environment assessment will look among other things at the availability of relevant public documents and data, formal and informal spaces that the government provides for the accountability actors to engage in public policy and budget formulation etc.

The assessment will also investigate whether:

Accountability actors are collaborating to ensure that climate change related policies and financial issues are discussed during the key steps of the budget approval process in the countries. What are the challenges they are facing, their needs in terms of capacity building and tools and what the regional program could undertake to support better collaboration;
Accountability actors are engaging with Auditor Generals to advocate for climate change related performance audits in the countries. What are the challenges they are facing, their needs in terms of capacity building and tools and what the regional program could undertake to support better collaboration;
Accountability actors are engaging with the media to advocate for better coverage of climate change finance related topics in the countries, as well as initiate broader public debates around climate change finance issues. What are the challenges they are facing, their needs in terms of capacity building and tools and what the regional program could undertake to support them to better approach the media.

Finally, the assessment will make recommendations regarding possible joint interventions between the regional program and the accountability actors at the regional and national level aiming at strengthening the governance of climate change finance and it targeting of vulnerable groups in order to help shape the design of the next phase of the regional program.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

The deliverables will be the following:

An inception report by 15th June 2016, which should include the key concepts and questions that the study will be addressing, literature review, accountability actors in the countries covered, stakeholders to be consulted and the work plan;
Stakeholder consultation report that will include the outcomes of all the interviews and discussions conducted with all the stakeholders by 15th August 2016;
A first draft report on “regional accountability landscape assessment” by 12th September 2016
Draft Final Report by 31st September 2016;
Final report on “”regional accountability landscape assessment” by 31st October 2016.

All deliverables are subject to the Approval of the Governance and Public Finance Specialist and the Governance, Climate Change Finance and Development Effectiveness Advisor.

Institutional Arrangement:

The consultant will work under the overall supervision and guidance of BRH’s Governance, Climate Change Finance and Development Effectiveness Advisor and will be directly supervised by the BRH Governance and Public Finance Specialist. She/he is expected to closely coordinate her/his activities with the PFM, climate change finance and local governance specialists working on the accountability framework for the Governance of Climate Change Finance Team. She/he will also coordinate with the consultant who will be drafting the next phase of the regional programme. The inception and subsequent reports submitted will be peer-reviewed by an internal UNDP review group. The final report will be reviewed by an external peer-review group.At least seven working days of review time required prior to approval of payments.

Duration of the Work: The assignment is for a total duration of 60 days over the period of 5 months between 15 May 2016 – 31st October 2016 in part-time basis

Duty Station: Home based

Expected places of travel: : Travel is required to India, Philippines, Bangladesh, and Nepal. The consultant is expected to spend approximately 6 days per each country. Travels will be arranged by the consultant under UNDP’s travel rules and regulations.

Competencies

Strong interpersonal and communication skills;
Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities skills;
Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
Ability to plan, organize, implement and report on work;
Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines;
Comprehensiveness knowledge of government reforms;
Proficiency in the use of office IT applications and internet in conducting research;
Outstanding communication, project management and organizational skills;
Excellent presentation and facilitation skills.
Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;
Positive, constructive attitude to work;

Required Skills and Experience

Accountability and Budget Transparency Expert shall have the following qualifications:

Education:

Master’s in Economics, Public Finance, Public Administration, Public Policy or other related fields.

Experience:

At least 7 years of progressive experience in supporting national level governance reform including public financial management, accountability, transparency and institutional reform;
Work experience with accountability actors such as civil society organizations, parliaments, auditor-generals and media in promoting transparency and accountability for government policy and programming is a must;
Provision of support to UN agencies on accountability actors’ engagement is a distinct advantage;
Work experience in supporting better integration of the needs of vulnerable groups (low income households, women) is an asset;
Experience working in the international organization or UN family is an advantage;
Full computer literacy in internet searching and Microsoft Office programmes i.e. MS-Word, MS-Excel and MS-Power Point. Website management experience is an asset.

Language requirements:

Proficiency in English with advanced command of speaking and writing. Fluency in other languages spoken in the region is an asset.

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Lump Sum Amount.

The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below percentages:

Deliverable 1/ An Inception Report: 25% of total contract amount;
Deliverable 2/ A First Draft Report: 25% of total contract amount;
Deliverable 3/ A stakeholder consultation report: 25% of total contract amount;
Deliverable 4/ Final report: 25% of total contract amount.

All deliverables are subject to the approval of the Governance and Public Finance Specialist and the Governance, Climate Change Finance and Development Effectiveness Advisor.

In general, UNDP shall not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Evaluation Method and Criteria:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology

Cumulative analysis

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 (70%) and financial criteria (30%) specific to the solicitation.

Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment. Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 350 technical points would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 500 points) :

Criteria 1 : Education : max 75 points;
Criteria 2 : Technical experience in government reforms : max 100 points;
Criteria 3 : Technical experience working with accountability actors: max 100 points;
Criteria 4 : Support UN system on accountability actor's engagement : max 100 points;
Criteria 5 : Technical experience in supporting better integration of the needs of vulnerable groups : 50 points;
Criteria 6 : Availability : max 50 points;
Criteria 7 : Language : max 25 points.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 350 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Documentation required:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document:

Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided in Annex 2;
Personal CV and 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;
Financial proposal, as per template provided in Annex 2.

Incomplete proposals may not be considered.

All required documents can be downloaded by clicking on the below link :

http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=29641

For any clarification regarding this assignment please write to brh.gef.procurement@undp.org