Historique

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been working in Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (ECIS) since 1992, and serves over 30 countries and territories in Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build better lives.
The UNDP Regional Hub for Europe and the CIS – based in Istanbul, Turkey - provides advisory support and knowledge management services to UNDP Country Offices (COs) and its partners in the ECIS region in the areas of Sustainable Development, Governance and Peacebuilding, Gender Equality, Knowledge and Innovation, and Energy, Climate Change and Disaster Resilience. In addition, the Istanbul Regional Hub (IRH) supports the programme development of these offices at the national level. In its work IRH and UNDP Country Offices in ECIS rely on high-quality external expertise.

In order to better serve Country Offices in the ECIS region, and to provide a transparent and variable system of very specific expertise in all areas of the UNDP mandate, IRH has established a regional vetted roster of experts/consultants. The roster provides an instant access to vetted regional consultants and makes the recruitment as quick and easy as possible. 

Disaster Risk Reduction, Recovery and Response is one of the key UNDP priorities, which is a very relevant to the needs of the ECIS countries and presents by the various on-going national and regional initiatives, which require high-quality external expertise. In this context, the UNDP IRH announces a special call for applications to the Vetted Experts Roster in the Disaster Risk Reduction, Recovery and Response area and UNDP is soliciting the submission of CVs/P11s (individuals, not firms) from experts and experienced consultants to be considered for registration in such a regional expert roster.

Interested consultants are advised to carefully study all the sections of this ToR and ensure that they meet the general requirements as well as specific qualifications described. Only applicants who pass all screening procedures will be included into the roster and recommended to COs in the region. 

Devoirs et responsabilités

The consultants will work closely with the clients (UNDP COs, national project teams, and national stakeholders including Governments, civil society organizations and affected communities in the region) to provide targeted technical support for the development and/or implementation of Disaster Risk Reduction, Recovery and Response projects, as well as advisory support on development of strategic policies and tools, based on a request from a UNDP COs/client countries.

The roster will cover the following sub-profiles:

• Understanding of risks;
• Managing risk – mainstreaming DRR into development;
• Preparedness and response.

The tasks under each of sub-profiles may include but are not limited to the following, and will be finally specified in the terms of reference for consultancy assignments and agreed upon in the contract negotiations:

Assessment

• Conduct analytical work and thematic research;
• Conduct needs identification and capacity assessments on a country or regional levels; 
• Conduct risk assessment and analyze available data;
• Review strategic policies, legislation, programmes/projects at regional, national and local level.

Scoping and Programming 

• Contribute to the development of relevant strategies, plans and programmes/projects;
• Articulate the distinction between baseline and additional/incremental strategies, policies and measures;
• Contribute to design of capacity development action plan to enhance DRR and response management;
• Contribute to development of country office or government counterparts’ analytical capacity and skills through high-quality training or coaching; liaising with other development partners, assisting in donor coordination and preparations for donor meetings;
• Identify other experts that may be required in the development of the programme/ project;
• Contribute to develop cross-sectoral and sectoral DRR strategies, policies and measures;
• Negotiation and coordination with public/private partners and stakeholders, partnership development, community engagement and outreach including through social media, training, report drafting, peer review, and others;
• Contribute to partnership building and resource mobilization efforts for regional and country level initiatives; 
• Some advisors might be asked to directly support high-level government officials in preparing and operationalizing institutional development strategies, and in locally applying best practice principles.

Project development and implementation 

• Provide advice and technical inputs on key outputs of the project development phase, which would feed into the preparation of the comprehensive project proposal;
• Contribute to the preparation and successful implementation of workshops, including stakeholder consultation workshops, inception workshops, and other activities in the project development phase;
• Provide guidance and input to the preparation of a comprehensive project proposal.  This should comprise the provision of advice and guidance;
• Provide quality control of the outputs of the project development phase to the standard required by UNDP;
• Provide strategic and operational advice to Governments on the formulation, execution and mainstreaming DRR policies and sound practices;
• Support to improving institutional framework for effective and efficient execution of DRR, recovery and response management functions; 
• Support to improving legislative framework, processes and procedures for effective and efficient DRR, recovery and response management as applied by the government institutions and authorities; 
• Contribute to the integration of DRR, recovery and response risks into national development strategies, plans and programmes;
• Develop enabling environment and institutional/individual capacities to advocate, develop, implement and monitor/ evaluate integrated DRR, recovery and response policies, plans and measures at the national, sub-national and community levels;
• Support implementing concrete DRR, recovery and response measures at national, sub-national and community-levels;
• Designing and delivering various trainings in the areas of DRR, recovery and response;
• Support to raising awareness and understanding of DRR, recovery and response concepts among government and non-government partners, stakeholders and general public; 
• Developing toolkits, guidelines, publications in the area of DRR, recovery and response;
• Support establishing of strategic partnerships with relevant initiatives at the regional, national, sub-national and community-levels;
• Contribute to the development and implementation of the strategies to scale up DRR, recovery and response through private-public partnerships, innovative financial mechanisms, etc.;
• Support mobilizing financial resources for project implementation;
• Support to the monitoring and evaluation framework including impact indicators and sources of verification;
• Develop substantive reports, publications and technical papers;
• Capture and disseminate knowledge, experience, good practices and lessons learned in DRR, recovery and response area;
• Undertake any other duties that will ensure successful execution of this consultancy.

Compétences

• Strategic vision, strong technical and analytical capabilities;
• Strong reporting and writing abilities;
• Ability to work in a team, develop synergies and establish effective working relations with government counterparts, donors, NGOs and other development partners;
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, resourcefulness, initiative, maturity of judgment, tact, and negotiating skills, and the ability to cope with situations which may pose conflict;
• Integrity, modelled by the UN's values and ethical standards;
• Sensitivity and adaptability to culture, gender, religion, nationality and age;
• Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
• Ability to accommodate additional demands on short notice; 
• Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations;
• Ability to manage heavy workload and solve complex problems with minimum supervision.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Master, PhD) relevant to the DRR, preparedness, recovery, response area. Academic background in environmental and climate risk studies is an asset.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of proven working experience in DRR, recovery and response;
• Extensive technical knowledge in DRR, recovery and response area;
• Knowledge of Europe and CIS region; proven working experience in the region is an asset;
• Familiarity with regional and global DRR trends and international structures and mechanisms for DRR;
• Experience working as a public official in the selected area or working/collaborating with the government is a plus;
• Experience with training and facilitation is an asset.

Computer skills:

• Full IT literacy;
• Ability to operate with on-line web-based applications;
• Knowledge and/or hands-on experience with the statistical or data-analysis software are an asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in spoken and written English is a must;
• Knowledge of ECIS languages preferred, with Russian a particular asset.

Evaluation of Applicants

Applicants will be screened against qualifications and the competencies specified above. Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.

The inclusion into the Vetted Roster of Experts will be offered to those individual consultants whose offers have 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 (P11 desk reviews and interviews) and financial criteria.

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

• Relevance of education – max. 5 points;
• Relevance of specific professional experience – max. 10 point;
• Ability to operate with on-line web-based applications and knowledge and/or hands-on experience with the statistical or data-analysis software are an asset- max. 5 point;
• Regional knowledge and experience in the ECIS region – max. 5 points;
• Proven drafting and formulation skills (based on the record of existing publications) – max. 5 points;
• Fluency in English; knowledge of Russian or another language of the region as an asset – max. 5 points;
• Familiarity with UNDP mandate and/or approach relevant to the area; experience working with other international organizations or in conflict/post-conflict settings or in public sector; experience with public policy or capacity development – max. 5 points;
• Interview – 30 points (Only highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job based on the CV desk review will be invited for an interview).

Financial Criteria – 30% of total evaluation – max. 30 points. UNDP applies the ‘Best value for money’ approach - the final selection will be based on the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.

Only those individual consultants who obtained at least 70% of points in each of the steps of the process will be considered for financial proposal evaluation.

Contracting Arrangements

Successful candidates will be included into the relevant thematic area of the UNDP RBEC Vetted Experts Roster for the period of 3 years. Entry into the expert roster system does not necessarily mean that contract with UNDP is guaranteed. This will depend on forthcoming needs. During this period, IRH as a roster coordinator can regularly follow up with consultants as well as UNDP offices in ECIS on their assignments. Financial proposal (daily fee in USD) provided by the consultant is bound to the period of 3 years, unless the consultant applies to the roster during its re-opening. 

Where a request for services arises, the UNDP office shall directly contact the consultant with the most appropriate experience from the roster without the need for further selection process, although additional selection procedures might be applied (i.e. verification interview or a request for lump sum price quotation). The consultant will notify the UNDP Country Office of his/her availability within 3 working days. A specific Terms of Reference outlining the outputs for each assignment shall be provided and an Individual Contract (IC) will be issued to the consultant, detailing the timeframe directly by the contracting unit/office. Conditions of a particular assignment may be negotiable.

Payments:

Payments will be made as specified in the actual contract upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner. 

Application procedure:

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain:

• Cover letter, including a clear identification of thematic area of interest and expertise for which the applicant is applying and his/her qualifications for the advertised position. This must be clearly marked in the applicant’s cover letter. The letter should be pasted into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application;
• A current completed P11 form in English (blank form can be downloaded from http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc). P11 form should, among other things, include names and contacts of at least three references and clearly indicate names of former and current supervisors (if applicable); in case of freelance consultants – list of partner institutions and contact details of projects supervisors. A file (in .doc, .docx or .pdf format) containing the most updated P11 form should be signed and scanned and uploaded into the system upon completion of the online application;
• Financial Proposal – maximum daily fee rate in USD valid for 3 years;
• Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials. Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file.

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.

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.