Background

Rapid and continued economic dynamism has translated into growth and reduced poverty levels in several countries in Asia and the Pacific. Greater foreign direct investment and capital movements, accentuated by higher regional mobility, are reasons for further optimism for future regional growth. Businesses are playing a pivotal role in job creation and innovation in the region, but this progress has often come at the expense of human rights abuses and lack of fair, transparent and predictable business environments.

Although the regulatory and legal framework has improved, more needs to be done. Adhering to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, integrity and responsible business frameworks can be an opportunity for sustainable and inclusive development as addressing societal concerns while advancing enterprises’ interests can be mutually supportive. Enterprises can contribute to the economic, environment and social progress to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

UNDP Bangkok Reginal Hub (BRH) supports Country Offices in Asia and the Pacific to achieve the SDGs by providing access to knowledge through high quality integrated advisory services and technical support.   In Asia and the Pacific, UNDP is increasingly requested to provide support services to governments and private sector on developing human rights compliant, transparent and accountable solutions that contribute to sustainable development in the region.  These services are part of UNDP’s Bangkok Regional Hub’s signature solutions on good governance and partnerships with the private sector to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The International Consultant will directly contribute to two initiatives:

Business and Human Rights in Asia: Promoting Responsible Business Practices through Regional Partnerships: Momentum supporting the implementation of the UNGP through National Action Plans (NAPs) is developing quickly in the region. Nurturing this, an already well-developed community of industry advocates, human rights activists, and development practitioners are deepening their work on a wide variety of thematic areas or industry-specific B&HR activities. The goal of this project is to promote the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles in Asia through regional efforts focused on advocacy, policy development, technical advisory support, capacity building, awareness raising, innovation platforms, regional peer learning events, and South-South cooperation.

Promoting a Fair Business Environment in ASEAN: UNDP is delivering a regional project in cooperation with the UK government, to promote fair, transparent and predictable business environments in dynamic ASEAN countries by working with both governments and the private sector. This project is part of UNDP’s support to governments, private sector and civil society in building transparent and accountable institutions for sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific. The project aims to promote a fair business environment in ASEAN by minimising corruption risks and encouraging sustainable practices.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective:

The main objective of the International Consultant is to act as an immediate private sector focal point within the Business and Human Rights and Fair Business teams, and support expanding UNDP’s reach with the private sector. The Consultant will also deliver services to Private Sector partners based on agreements made with UNDP.

Scope of Work:

Programme and Policy Support

• Provide technical assistance to companies in assessing their compliance with human rights and integrity standards by developing or refining Human Rights Impact Assessment tools
• Provide technical assistance to SMEs, Multinationals and regional companies to support their efforts towards strengthening Business Integrity and transparency practices in ASEAN countries.
• Articulate an integrated UNDP offer on responsible business including the elements of human rights, transparency and integrity in alignment with the 2030 Agenda principles and goals
• Draft Project Proposals related to work in the field of Responsible Business
• Support companies in devising strategies to manage human rights’ risks and remedy abuses when they occur

Partnerships

• Map the potential private sector and resource mobilisation opportunities for responsible business and act as a focal point for partnerships within the teams
• Use project insights to scan existing areas for the private sector to collaborate
• Develop concept papers that amplify the potential for private sector partnerships and create a line of new opportunities.
• Develop a list of projects with the Business, Human Rights and Fair trade programme that can be funded by the private sector
• Develop the pitching material for Partnership Development and work with the Private Sector Specialist to increase funding for the programme
• Act as the point of contact for business development for, Business and Human Rights, and Fair Business if applicable by working on the risk assessment template, proposal documents, presentations and attract private sector partners for country offices in the region.
• Highlight best practices with the private sector partners for sharing with UNDP BRH and CO experts
• Provide trainings on HRIA.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

Institutional Arrangement:

The International Consultant, Responsible Business Conduct will report to the Project Manager of the Business and Human Rights in Asia, Project Manager of the Fair Business in ASEAN, and the Regional Private Sector Specialist, UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub, and their designate throughout this consultancy.

The review and approval of payments will be made by the assigned supervisor(s) within 14 days.

Duration of the Assignment:

Up to a maximum of 130 working days. The period of the assignment is estimated to be from 15 September 2019- 31 March 2020.

Duty Station and Expected Places of Travel:

The duty station is Bangkok, with travel to selected countries in the region.

Competencies

• Demonstrates commitment to the UN’s mission, vision and values;
• Demonstrates sound judgment, diplomacy and sensitivity to confidential matters;
• Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure;
• Innovative forward thinking, good coordination and organizational skills, teamwork;
• Participate effectively in team-based, information sharing environment, collaborating and cooperating with others.

Required Skills and Experience

Required Skills and Experiences

The Consultant should possess the following expertise and qualifications:

Education

• Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in law, governance, political science, business management, or related disciplines;

Experience

• At least 5 years of experience working in human rights, and/or accountability, anti-corruption compliance, private sector engagement;
• Experience in drafting documents for the UN or international organizations;
• Experience in international private sector development, fundraising, resource mobilisation for the UN or an international NGO is an asset;
• Experience in project drafting in UNDP context will be advantage;
• Experience working in Asia-Pacific on business, or sustainable development issues will be advantage;

Skills

• Expertise in Business Integrity, Human Rights and familiarity with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights is fundamental;
• Ability to work on business development and understanding of skills for negotiation is a must;
• Strong analytical, reporting and writing skills;
• Significant exposure to fundraising for foundation or not-for-profit organizations in Asia-Pacific region;
• Understanding of public sector and government institutions’ role in private sector development and partnerships;
• Demonstrate ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure;
• Demonstrate ability to work across teams and effectively promote information-sharing, collaboration and cooperation;

Language

• Proficiency in written and spoken English.

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

The contract will be paid based on Daily Fee. Candidates shall quote an all-inclusive Daily Fee for the contract period. The term “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, consumables, etc.) that could be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment are already factored into the daily fee submitted in the proposal. If applicable, travel or daily allowance cost (if any work is to be done outside the IC’s duty station) should be identified separately. Payments shall be done on a monthly basis based on actual days worked, upon verification of completion of deliverables and approval by the IC’s supervisor of a Time Sheet indicating the days worked in the period.

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.

Travel costs shall be reimbursed at actual but not exceeding the quotation from UNDP approved travel agent.

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer:

Evaluation Method and Criteria:Only candidates which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated based on the following methodology;

Combined Scoring method:

The award of the contract shall be made to the candidate whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70%) and financial criteria (30%).

• The technical criteria consist of qualification review (education, experience, language) [max. 100 points] and interview [max.30 points] will be based on a maximum 130 points
• Financial criteria shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated as the lowest priced qualified proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 100 points)

• Criteria 1: Education - Max 15 points;
• Criteria 2: Experiences in business integrity, Human Rights and familiarity with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights; - Max 30 points;
• Criteria 3: Expertise in working with Private Sector Companies and managing large and strategic partnership - Max 30 points;
• Criteria 4: Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities skills - Max 10 points;
• Criteria 5: Experience of working with UNDP and other UN agencies- Max 15 points

Shortlisted candidates shall be called for an interview which will be used to confirm and/or adjust the technical scores awarded based on documentation submitted.

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

For those passing technical and interview evaluation above, offers will be evaluated per the Combined Scoring method:

• a)  Technical evaluation (70%)
• b)  Financial evaluation (30%)

The financial proposal shall specify an all-inclusive daily fee (including number of anticipated working days and all foreseeable expenses to carry out the assignment);

The applicant receiving the Highest Combined Score and has accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions will be awarded the contract.

Documentation required:

Interested candidates 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:

a)    Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability and Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided.  (Annex III)

b)    Curriculum Vitae or P11, indicating all experience from similar projects, and details of publications with links to the publications.

c)    Brief description with word limits no more than 500 words of why the applicant considers him/herself the most suitable candidate

**Incomplete proposals may not be considered. The shortlisted candidates may be contacted and the successful candidate will be notified.

ANNEXES:

Annex I - TOR_IC Responsible Business Conduct
Annex II General Terms and Conditions for Contracts Individual Consultants
Annex III Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability
Annex IV – P11 for ICs (optional)
Annex V - IC Procurement Notice

All documents can be downloaded at : http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=58261