Background
The UN System in Guinea Bissau has embarked in the preparation of its new United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) that will guide the programmatic work of the UN System over the period 2021-2025. At the same time, specific UN agencies (UNDP, UNICEF and UNFPA) will also be involved in preparation of their new Country Programme Documents (CPD) for the same period.
To that end, the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) is looking for an international consultancy to conduct an analysis of t how the concept of Leave No One behind (LNOB) can be adopted and appropriated by the United Nations System in general and by specific UN agencies in particular while understanding how exclusion mechanisms work and identifying the most vulnerable groups. The consultancy is expected to identify entry points and actionable programme recommendations, including mapping, access points and scenario building.
Leaving No One Behind is a central theme of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, the United Nations Member States pledged to ensure 'no one will be left behind' and to 'endeavor to reach the furthest behind first'. The interpretation describes people as being 'left behind' when they lack or have limited choices or capabilities to participate in or benefit from human development. In more practical terms, this means taking explicit action to end extreme poverty, reduce inequalities, confront discrimination and fast-track progress for the furthest behind.
The new UNSDCF and specific agency CPDs are expected to address this gap. Actual reduction of extreme poverty will require the creation of more and better opportunities for the most vulnerable and marginalized populations of Guinea Bissau. The country context remains complex and with uncertainties and challenges. With a population of 1,7 million people andaround 60% under the age of 30 ), Guinea-Bissau continues to be one of the poorest and most fragile countries in the world, with recurrent political-military crises and where deprivation reaches extremes. According to multidimensional poverty indicators (2016 data), the national incidence of multidimensional poverty (MPI) reaches 58% of the population and with large disparities persisting between the urban and rural areas which display an MPI index in 2014 of 0.14 and 0.37 respectively. Disparities are also wide between the poorest (0.41) and the affluent (0.05), and between those with better access to education (0.11) and those who do not (0.34). There are also marked disparities by regions. The capital, Bissau, has lower rates of deprivation in all areas, but there are also notable differences between some of the other regions. For example, the regions of Oio, Biombo, Gabu and Bafata have higher poverty rates.
Similarly, UNDP's Human Development Report 2017 showed that Guinea-Bissau ranks 178th out of 188 countries studied worldwide. Structural and normative exclusion expressed in unemployment of women and young people, particularly in urban areas, is a major source of concerns and a latent threat to stability and peace since young people are those that are more disproportionally affected by poverty (80% of the poor are young). Exclusion has multiple faces and many of the vulnerable groups are not being taken into account when it comes to economic, social or political development.
Despite efforts by the UN and the international community, the country is just coming out of yet another prolonged political crisis between 2016 and 2019, while economic developments remain erratic and dependent on the performance in production and export of one single product, raw cashew nuts. In fact, the economy of Guinea Bissau has not gone through any meaningful transformative process since the 80s’ and has increasingly specialized its economy around cashew, often at detriment of other more traditional agriculture production and through deforestation. Remittances are another major source of income which are unevenly distributed throughout the social strata. Private investment in Guinea-Bissau remains low, averaging 5% of GDP. However, with few exceptions mainly related to some foreign companies investing in the agribusiness, most of these investments are made by the public sector in projects funded by external partners. Despite providing for tax reductions for companies whose activities contribute to the promotion of exports or the substitution of imports, the newly adopted investment code has not been able to make a significant difference to attract more investments so far.
The social and economic indicators of Guinea Bissau are in striking contrast with a) the robust social fabric and social resilience and b) the natural and human capital potentially available to the country, including forestry, minerals (like phosphate and bauxite among others), water, animal, fisheries, agricultural, tourism and cultural potential. Historically, the country might have adopted a more suitable legal framework towards social inclusion in comparison to its neighboring countries. Positioned just below the sub-Saharan arid ecosystems, Guinea-Bissau has plenty of fresh water, arable lands, mosaic of dense and open forests and plant-rich forest savannahs. The country has a relatively vast maritime territory and a rich biodiversity. Its richness goes behind the natural resources by including intangible cultural heritage, particularly in the traditional knowledge, know-how, and creativity of the Guinea Bissau people. These resources, if well managed, would be enough to allow the state to provide for those that are more vulnerable and marginalized.
In order to support the UN System in Guinea Bissau in preparation of its new United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework and the specific UN agencies involved in preparation of their new Country Programme Documents, the United Nations Country Team is looking for an international consultant to conduct an analysis of how the concept of Leave No One behind should be adopted and appropriated by the United Nations System in general, by specific UN agencies in particular and by the Government through its national program recently approved by Assembleia Nacional Popular (ANP) that is inspired by the Terra Ranka strategic development vision of the country.
Duties and Responsibilities
Main objective of the consultancy
- The purpose of the consultancy is to support the UN System and specific UN agencies to develop an objective and verifiable analysis of opportunities for inclusion, and identify a number of promising entry/leveraging points capable of bringing a positive change to the poverty situation and improve integration of those that are more vulnerable and marginalized and fit into the concept of Leave No One Behind in a context of fragility ;
- The consultancy should contribute with some new insights through focus groups and other tools to the understanding and costs of social and economic exclusion for the development of Guinea-Bissau and focus on innovative and feasible approaches and entry points for reduction of extreme poverty, namely among those that are more vulnerable and marginalized;
- One of the main objectives is to find options to improve the creation of minimum conditions for the provision of sustained, inclusive and resilient livelihoods for the most vulnerable and marginalized population of Guinea Bissau, namely those that fit into the LNOB concept ;
- Besides informing the new UNSDCF, specific agency CPDs and strategic plans, this report will also contribute to identification of lessons in the UN Common Country Assessment (CCA).
Guidance for conducting the consultancy
The study should be accomplished in line with following guidance notes:
Identification of potential areas where the UN System, the Government and other development partners can contribute to propelling the LNOB aspirations in Guinea Bissau;
Identification of drivers for exclusion in terms of gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, migration status, geography, governance, socio economic status and shocks and fragility that leave people behind;
Review the best practices related to LNOB in the areas of SDGs implementation that may be pertinent to Guinea Bissau and ensure they are aligned with actions in terms of policies and on the ground;
Identification of specific targets of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Guinea Bissau which have wide-ranging provision for inclusion of Leaving No One Behind;
Reviewing prospects of inclusion of LNOB in the targets relating to extreme poverty eradication, quality education, health and well-being, economic growth, access to energy, reduction of inequalities and climate change;
Recommending suggestions for policy improvement and strategic action plan toward implementation of the SDGs leaving no one behind;
Carry out a vulnerability mapping per community and household, using new technologies
Identify potential geographic convergence zones for the UN System where actions related to LNOB can provide tangible impacts at the end of the programme What specific geographic areas can serve as pilot areas for service provision and potential scaling up ?
Identify low hanging fruits and innovative solutions to inclusion that accelerate the path to inclusive and sustained development
Identify the potential of how to get to more inclusive basic service provision, for example the through service insurances used in other similar contexts
Addressing the question of new partnerships for LNOB in country and internationally
Key Questions to be addressed by the consultancy:
In a context like Guinea Bissau, characterized on the one hand by deep institutional fragility and a very limited presence of the state, and on the other hand by limited capacities for improving the livelihoods of the very vulnerable and marginalized:
- Which set of minimum conditions are needed to trigger substantive changes in people well-being and overall human development, including at the community level?
- How can this be done without counting on a significant role by the government and its institutions that are an integral part of this prolonged status quo?
- How do we empower those marginalized and enact policies, laws, reforms, and other interventions to confront the drivers that leave people behind in such a context?
- What are the main stumbling blocks/drivers behind this perpetuating current status that need to be eliminated/addressed?
Are there specific vulnerable groups that are more negatively affected? Why?
What is the current and potential impact of social protections schemes and programs (currently existing and possibly in the future?
What is required in the education system and health systems (including stigma, mental health) to trigger positive changes?
What opportunities/ entry points exist for the UNCT in general and other agencies to address these challenges?
What are the foreseen risks? How can the risks be mitigated?
How do these entry points relate to the overall programming of existing (for example: local economic development (LED) of UNDP)?
- What role do you see for innovation and other modern tools identified for improving delivery of the SDGs?
- What are the political impediments at a national and local level towards a more inclusive Bissau-Guinean society?
- What is the cost of exclusion for Guinea-Bissau?
Specific objectives of the consultancy report:
Provide a very succinct but strong understanding of the country extreme poverty context and those left further behind (be it economically, legally, socially, environmentally, spatially, digitally,politically orregarding access to resources), including by covering trends and key drivers (positive and negative) mainly through existing data, studies and surveys and complemented by new data through focus groups and other tools; Whenever possible, the results will have to present a high degree of data disaggregation to identify who is being excluded or discriminated against, how and why, as well as who is experiencing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and inequalities
Present a compelling case for Guinea Bissau on how the SDG agenda provides for an opportunity to “leave no one behind” and “reach the furthest behind first” suggesting policy recommendations to place the LNOB in the center of national development planning;
Identify the priority areas of implementation where an action plan to reduce extreme poverty that includes LNOB should immediately be developed;
Suggest a range of new technologies, analytical and mapping techniques that can be applied for a more holistic, multi-layered and granular picture of the lives of left behind populations;
Identify some best practices related to LNOB in extreme poverty reduction preferably among west African countries that can be adopted in the context of Guinea Bissau;
Identify some immediate opportunities with high degree of success and capable of creating a culture of success, even if at smaller scale, based on which build bigger victories over time, both for urban and rural areas
Recommend how the UNCT and specific UN agencies can mainstream the LNOB into the process of SDGs implementation in Guinea Bissau and its new UNSDCF;
Recommend how UNDP, UNICEF and UNFPA can mainstream the LNOB into the process of SDGs implementation in Guinea Bissau and their new CPDs.
Competencies
Competencies and Selevtion Criteria Description of competency at level required
Core
Innovation - Ability to make new and useful ideas work Level 5: Creates new and relevant ideas and leads other to implement them
Leadership - Abilitiy to persuade others to follow Level 5: Plans and acts transparently, actively works to remove barriers
Communication - Ability to listen, adapt persuade and transform Level 5: Gains trust of peers, partners, clients by presenting complex concepts in practical terms to others
Delivery - Ability to get things done while exercising good judgement Level 5: Critically assesses value and relevance of existing policy/practice and contributes to enhanced delivery of products, services and innovative solutions
Technical/Functional
Primary
Trends and emerging areas analytics - Ability to scan the horizon and identify approaches and initiatives to bring into policy and programme design Level 5: Originate: Catalyzes new ideas, methods and applications to pave a path for innovation and continuous improvement in professional area of expertise
Results-Based management - Ability to manage programmes and projects with a strategy aimed at improved performance and demonstrable results Level 5: Originate: Catalyzes new ideas, methods and applications to pave a path for innovation and continuous improvement in professional area of expertise
Partnerships - Ability to engage with other agencies, donors and other development stakeholders and forge productive working relationships Level 5: Originate: Catalyzes new ideas, methods and applications to pave a path for innovation and continuous improvement in professional area of expertise
Knowledge management - Ability to efficiently handle and share information and knowledge - Level 5: Originate: Catalyzes new ideas, methods and applications to pave a path for innovation and continuous improvement in professional area of expertise
Required Skills and Experience
Experience: Minimum of 10 years of experience in the domain of social and economic inclusion, economic diversification, sustainable and inclusive economic development, inclusive markets, local economic development.
Education Post graduate degree in social sciences, economics, development studies, or equivalent.
Language: fluent in English, Portuguese and/or French.
Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:
1. Proposal:
(i) Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work
(ii) Provide a methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work
2. Financial proposal
3. Personal CV including experience in similar projects and at least 3 references
Lump sum contracts
The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days).
Contracts based on daily fee
The financial proposal will specify the daily fee, travel expenses and per diems quoted in separate line items, and payments are made to the Individual Consultant based on the number of days worked.
Travel;
All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. 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.
In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.
EVALUATION
[The procuring UNDP entities will choose among one of these two evaluation methods prior to submit the have the Individual Consultant Procurement Notice. Once the evaluation method has been selected the other one shall be deleted to avoid any misunderstanding]
Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:
1. Lowest price and technically compliant offer
When using this method, the award of a contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as both:
a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
b) offering the lowest price/cost
“responsive/compliant/acceptable” can be defined as fully meeting the TOR provided.
2. Cumulative analysis
When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:
a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.
* Technical Criteria weight; 70%
* Financial Criteria weight; 30%
Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% point would be considered for the Financial Evaluation
Criteria Weight Max. Point
Technical 70% Max. Points 100%
• Criteria A : Professional experience 30
• Criteria B: Methodological approach including on the level of innovation/creativity of the proposal 70
Financial 30% Max Points 100%