Background

Investment needs in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are estimated in the range of 3-5 USD trillion a year in developing countries alone. The challenge for many countries is to identify and operationalise solutions that can help mobilize resources and deply them effectively in support of the SDGs.

The international development finance landscape is much more sophisticated and diverse than 10-15 years ago; sources of finance have multiple (e.g. South South Cooperation, vertical funds, philanthropists and impact investors have become more prominent); financing instruments are also more sophisticated (e.g. blended finance, green bonds, diaspora investment schemes, social impact bonds, payment for ecosystem services and more).

UNDP programmes in developing countries meet with significant demand for guidance on demystifying the financing for development landscape and seek support to maximise the oppotunities presented by new sources of finance and financing models.

In response, UNDP provides support to policymakers and practitioners to critically review and operationalise different financing solutions in support of the SDGs. It also offers support to help countries manage different financing flows more effectively and to strengthen the linkages between spending and ‘results’.

To deliver on the above, UNDP offers assistance in catalysing investment into development projects, utilising new technologies and practices that will pave the way to sustainable development.  It also works to align public and private capital with the SDGs. Furthermore, UNDP works to responsibly expand the frontier of economic opportunities generated by markets. Examples include green lending facilities and challenge funds for small and micro enterprises, the promotion of environmental and social certification for premium products and the development of innovative financial products, such as impact investment and social impact bonds.

The Bureau for Policy and Programme Support has the responsibility for developing policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan. BPPS staff provides technical advice to Country Offices; advocates for UNDP corporate messages; represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora, including public-private dialogues, government and civil society dialogues, South-South and Triangular cooperation initiatives, and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultancy will produce quality and user-friendly technical inputs for:

1. The finalization of a UNDP Guidebook on Financing for Development (circa 30 percent of time allocation);
2.  Upgrade of the content of the online platform “Financing solutions for sustainable development” (circa 70 percent of time allocation).

UNDP’s Guidebook on financing for development (under elaboration) aims to support UNDP’s country office to better understand a dynamic development finance landscape and to enable them to explore new financing opportunities at the country level in support of the SDGs. It provides an introduction to the development finance landscape; assesses the implications of changing patterns of resource flows for the SDGs; outlines options for providing country-level support on financing for development; details countries’ experiences with using different financing instruments and strategies; concludes with a list of UNDP services and projects related to development finance.

The Guidebook is complemented by the on-line Financing Solutions for Sustainable Development Platform (BETA version online: www.undp.org/content/sdfinance). The platform provides guidance for policy makers and practitioners to critically review and operationalize financing solutions needed to implement sustainable development strategies. It is a compass to navigate across those solutions. It describes the potential, advantages, disadvantages, risks and characteristics of different financing models and approaches. It profiles case studies and refers to external sources, including e-learning and advanced guidance material.

The consultant will contribute to the development of the above two knowledge products:

•Draft short technical inputs (circa one page each) for the 16 SDGs-connecting the solutions profiled in the online platform;

•Expand the “how to” section of the online platform by upgrading the content and linking it better to the Guidebook;

•Conduct selected-research to finalise the Guidebook;

•Profile case studies for the Guidebook and liaise with country teams and regional hubs accordingly;

•Assist the team in UNDP with improving the two knowledge products.

The Consultant will work from his/her home base with virtual meetings/interviews with UNDP colleagues and external expertsat least once a week. The methodology for producing the technical inputs for the two knowledge products is based on desk reviews of documents and interviews with key UNDP staff and country teams. The consultant is expected to rely on his/her expertise, conduct an extensive literature review and perform triangulation by interviewing experts. The drafts produced by the consultant will be peer reviewed by experts, the result of which should be incorporated by the consultant.

Expected outputs and deliverables:

Competencies

Core Competencies:

•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;

•Demonstrated ability to interact with individuals of different national and cultural backgrounds and beliefs, which includes the willingness to understand different views and opinions;

Functional Competences:           

•Demonstrates a rigorous analytical approach, systemic thinking and good judgement in reviewing secondary sources;

•Displays self-management, including capacity to plan and adhere to deadlines;

•Displays emotional intelligence;

•Self-motivated, proactive and reliable with good communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic qualifications:

• Master’s Degree, or equivalent, in Economics, Finance, or Development; Additional graduate qualifications will be considered as assets.

Years of experience:

• At least 5 years of relevant experience in writing and researching on public  and or/private finance; graduate education at the doctorate level might be considered in lieu of working experience;
• Demonstrated experience in writing concisely and clearly on complex economic and financing topics;
• Experience on financing for development topics/processes;
• Computer proficiency (Microsoft Office);
• Superb verbal and written communication skills in English. Evidence of experience/narrative skills for digital platforms (e.g. blogs, etc.) is a definitive advantage.

Language:

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required;
• Working knowledge of another UN language would be an asset

Application Procedure

The application package containing the following (to be uploaded as one file):

• Online application with brief description of why the Offer considers her/himself the most suitable for the assignment; and
• Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects and specifying the relevant assignment period (from/to), as well as the email and telephone contacts of at least three (3) professional references.

Note: The above documents need to be scanned in one file and uploaded to the online application as one document.

Shortlisted candidates (ONLY) will be requested to submit a Financial Proposal.

• The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around the specific and measurable deliverables of the TOR. Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR, and deliverables accepted and certified by the technical manager. 
• The financial proposal must be all-inclusive and take into account various expenses that will be incurred during the contract, including: the daily professional fee; cost of travel from the home base to the duty station and vice versa, where required; living allowances at the duty station; communications, utilities and consumables; life, health and any other insurance; risks and inconveniences related to work under hardship and hazardous conditions (e.g., personal security needs, etc.), when applicable; and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services under the contract.

• This consultancy is a home-based assignment, therefore, there is No official traveling to New York or country offices is envisaged.  

• In the case of unforeseeable travel requested by UNDP, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. In general, UNDP should 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.

• If the Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.

The Financial Proposal is to be emailed as per the instruction in the separate email that will be sent to shortlisted candidates.

Evaluation process

Applicants are reviewed based on Required Skills and Experience stated above and based on the technical evaluation criteria outlined below.  Applicants will be evaluated based on cumulative scoring.  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:

• Being 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 where technical criteria weighs 70% and Financial criteria/ Proposal weighs 30%.

Technical evaluation - Total 70% (100 points):

• Criteria 1: Advances education degree in Economics, Finance, or Development; Additional graduate qualifications will be considered as assets- Max 20 points;
• Criteria 2: Relevant experience in writing and researching on public and or/private finance and demonstrated experience in writing concisely and clearly on complex economic and financing topics- Max 30 points;
• Criteria 3: Experience/knowledge on financing for development topics/processes- Max 10 points
• Criteria 4: Demonstrated analytical, conceptual and written communication skills in English - Max 10 points
• Criteria 5: The interview – Max 30 points.

Having reviewed applications received, UNDP will invite the top three shortlisted candidates for interview. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (490 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (700 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

Financial evaluation - Total 30% 

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

Contract Award

The award of contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as responsive, compliant, and acceptable; having received the highest combined score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to this solicitation.

Institutional arrangement

The consultant will work for the Sustainable Development Cluster team of BPPS. S/he will report to the Policy Specialist, Development Finance and the Policy Specialist, Innovative finance depending on the tasks. A consultant evaluation will be completed in order for regular payment to be released upon satisfactory delivery of the two inter-linked assignments.

Payment modality

• Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified above and deliverables accepted and upon certification of satisfactory completion by the manager.

The work week will be based on 35 hours, i.e. on a 7 hour working day, with core hours being between 9h00 and 18h00 daily.

Annexes (click on the hyperlink to access the documents):

Annex 1 - UNDP P-11 Form for ICs

Annex 2 - IC Contract Template

Annex 3 – IC General Terms and Conditions

Annex 4 – RLA Template

Any request for clarification must be sent by email to cpu.bids@undp.org 

The UNDP Central Procurement Unit will respond by email and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.