Antecedentes

About UNCDF

UNCDF is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s least developed countries. It creates new opportunities for poor people and their communities by increasing access to microfinance and investment capital.  UNCDF focuses on Africa and the poorest countries of Asia and the Pacific, with a special commitment to countries emerging from conflict or crisis.  It provides seed capital – grants and loans – and technical support to help microfinance institutions reach more poor households and small businesses, and local governments finance the capital investments – water systems, feeder roads, schools, irrigation schemes – that will improve poor peoples’ lives.

UNCDF works to enlarge peoples’ choices: it believes that poor people and communities should take decisions about their own development.  Its programmes help to empower women – over 50% of the clients of UNCDF-supported microfinance institutions are women – and its expertise in microfinance and local development is shaping new responses to food insecurity, climate change and other challenges. UNCDF works in challenging environments – remote rural areas, countries emerging from conflict – and paves the way for others to follow. Its programmes are designed to catalyze larger investment flows from the private sector, development partners and national governments, for significant impact on the Millennium Development Goals, especially Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger, Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women, and Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability.

About SHIFT Programme

The ASEAN region is home to more than 600 million people spread across 10 countries. The region also contains three of the “Next 11” globally significant emerging markets (Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam). Continued growth and progress in poverty reduction will increasingly result from the determination of the ASEAN countries to promote regional integration and co-operation through the creation and deepening of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which will by 2015 “transform ASEAN into a region with free movement of goods, services, investment, skilled labor, and freer flow of capital”.

Despite the dynamism of the region, there are significant contrasts between and within the countries, with three LDCs coexisting with some of the world’s largest and most vibrant economies, resulting in 20% of the world’s poorest people living alongside some of the world’s richest. In addition, income inequality in Asia has risen faster than anywhere else in the world leading to social and income polarization. As ASEAN members achieve greater economic integration and seek to enable all members to equitably contribute to and benefit from a single economic community, so will the necessity of extending the frontiers of financial markets to low-income households, micro-entrepreneurs and small business.

The relatively fragmented supply and distribution landscape and the accompanying dispersion of funding and investment are significant restrictions on the development of essential conditions needed to accelerate development of pro-poor financial markets and financial inclusion.

These essential conditions include:

• Development of coherent strategies aimed at pro-poor financial and SME market development; 
• Adoption of enabling regulation and supervisory arrangements; 
• Infrastructure and systems to consolidate the industry of technical service providers; 
• Appropriate financial products and services that have been developed based on market information and an in-depth demand-led analysis; 
• Trained manpower with transferable skills across segments of the industry within and between countries;

While efforts continue at the national level in each of the ASEAN countries, the ASEAN Economic and Financial Integration process offers an opportunity to reduce the drag imposed by small-scale and fragmented financial systems on economic development and poverty alleviation.

UNCDF has developed a regional programme called SHIFT (Shaping Inclusive Finance Transformations), with initial funding from the Australian Government and UNCDF own resources. SHIFT programme will contribute to facilitating the transition, by the year 2020, of at least 6 million low-income people and MSEs in the ASEAN region, from using informal financial mechanisms to formally regulated higher-value financial services. To this end, the SHIFT programme will support at least 1 million people to be financially included in the ASEAN region as a result of technical and financial assistance to financial and support service providers in LDCs and lower MICs, namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. Furthermore, a further 5 million people will be included as a result of better region-wide data, knowledge, policies, training and support services architecture to leverage systematic market development.

UNCDF proposes to implement the SHIFT programme in two phases. The initial programme development phase (2014-2017) will validate and demonstrate the approach, and lay the foundations for effective programme implementation, followed by a 4-year full-programme rollout phase.

SHIFT programme would be working on the below five programme outputs:

• Enabling Conditions for market-development – Developed enabling conditions for adoption of coherent strategies and prioritizing transformative mechanisms for more integrated pro-poor financial markets, supported by responsive regulation and supervisory arrangements;
• Regional Hub of Excellence for Financial Inclusion Data and Analysis - Delivered high-quality financial inclusion data and analysis on demand, supply and regulation, applied through regionally standardised methods;
• Financial Market-Interconnection and Access Fund Facility - Developed and promoted new, replicable and scalable partnerships and service delivery models that lower the cost of financial intermediation at client and retail levels, thus expanding the scale of access;
• Financial Usage Innovation Facility - Developed and promoted highly innovative client acquisition approaches to increase use of formal financial services, at a modest cost, for people that are fully, partially or intermittently excluded. The Innovation Facility will maximize usage within prevailing scales of access (i.e. without necessarily seeking to expand the scale of access)
• Regional Hub/s of Excellence for Training - Delivered high-quality demand-driven trained and certified labor-force by supporting and transforming existing training capacity and centres to have a more regional focus and broader reach.

About the Assignment

The SHIFT preparatory phase implementation commenced in May 2014. The program is being implemented successfully, and has been achieving substantial results. Based on the work done till now and proposed in the coming months, UNCDF would like to go for full-fledged programme implementation phase. For the same, a programme document is to be developed and submitted for funding by March 2015 end.

The outcome from the preparatory phase was to validate and demonstrate the approach, and lay the foundations for effective programme implementation. The preparatory phase work to be completed by March 2015 will provide the much needed information and insights into designing the next phase of the SHIFT programme. There has been encouraging response towards the policy related work undertaken under SHIFT and next level of interventions to further financial inclusion in ASEAN are being formulated. The design for Market Interconnection and Innovation funds will be completed by March end. Similarly the feasibility study for Training Hub will be completed by March end. The work on data is progressing with MAP Cambodia work in inception phase. Based on the quantum of work being done, experiences gained, stakeholder participation and feedback received, a lessons learnt document is proposed to be developed in February. The Lessons Learnt document will capture all the assumptions, validations, and learnings that SHIFT program had.

With the SHIFT programme being based on market development approach for having wider impact, being regional, involving various stakeholders, with different level of outputs proposed; it becomes important to have a well thought and inclusive Theory of Change developed, and be included in the programme document to be developed in March 2015. Also the complexity of multi stakeholder engagement across various level of outputs and activities requires an effective Monitoring and Evaluation Framework to be built, which not only provides indicators and processes for measuring achievements, but also captures and incorporates feedback and market development that happens during the course of SHIFT programme implementation.

Deberes y responsabilidades

SHIFT seeks the assistance of an expert consultant to develop and document the Theory of Change (ToC), design the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Framework for the SHIFT programme, and write a business-case for SHIFT for investors and funding partners.

Scope of Work:

The expert will ensure high quality and timely delivery of the following outputs:

February:

• Have the initial round of team discussions;
• Conduct training on Theory of Change for the team;
• Facilitate sessions on lessons learnt. Capturing the lessons learnt in a document that will be shared with key stakeholders;
• Develop initial architecture/schematic on Theory of Change for the SHIFT programme.

Feb – Mid March

• Undertake interviews for gathering key information to develop the ToC and results-chain for SHIFT, benchmarked against similar programmes globally;
• Work with the SHIFT team to capture various inputs from the different streams of SHIFT’s design to develop the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework undertaken.

End of March

• Attend a meeting with the SHIFT team;
• Present, validate and further refine the Theory of Change and M&E framework;
• Write a business case for the SHIFT programme with an assessment of the feasibility, value-for-money, risks and assumptions, and the costs and benefits of interventions.

April

• Iteratively refine and then finalise the Theory of Change, results chain and M&E framework based on inputs from the SHIFT team as the SHIFT programme document goes through various stages of stakeholder consultation.

Deliverables

• Theory of Change and results chain with required narrative for the SHIFT programme;
• Monitoring and Evaluation framework for the SHIFT programme;
• Business case for the SHIFT programme.

Output 1: Orientation and initial ToC design – In February 2015

The expert will orient the SHIFT Team on ToC and M&E framework, and design initial ToC based on work done till now and lessons learnt, which will be included in the Lessons Learnt document to be prepared. The Consultant will:

• Have initial discussion with SHIFT Programme Manager to understand the scope of work and on SHIFT programme;
• Go through the various documentation undertaken on SHIFT programme and specific on Financial Inclusion initiatives in ASEAN;
• Conduct ToC training for the SHIFT team;
• Facilitate sessions on lessons learnt. Capturing the lessons learnt in a document that will be shared with DFAT;
• Develop initial architecture/schematic on Theory of Change for the SHIFT programme;
• Submission of SHIFT ToC document, which will be incorporated in the Lessons Learnt document;

Output 2:  Discuss and capture experiences, feedback on programme design from selected stakeholders with whom SHIFT would be collaborating with. -  February – mid March 2015.

• Undertake interviews with stakeholders for gathering more information on developing the Theory of Change;
• Work and include the various inputs that will be coming through from the work being done;
• Initial work on the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework undertaken based on the work completed and design inputs for various SHIFT outputs coming in;
• Submit a report on the consultations undertaken with stakeholders.

Output 3: Based on further lessons learnt and SHIFT program outputs designed (example - funds, training programme, Data analytics, policy initiatives, women economic empowerment) finalise the ToC and develop the M&E framework

• Have a meeting with the SHIFT team to present the Theory of Change and related validations required;
• Improve and update the Theory of Change with required narrative;
• Finalise the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework with required narrative.

Output 4: Based on the outcomes of outputs 1-3, write a business case for the SHIFT programme to support decision-making by investors and funding partners

Deliverables:

• Initial ToC as part of the Lessons Learnt document;
• Report on stakeholder level ToC and M&E consultation;
• Theory of Change and results chain with required narrative for the SHIFT programme;
• Monitoring and Evaluation framework for the SHIFT programme;
• Business case for the SHIFT programme.

Competencias

Functional competencies:

• Excellent drafting skills;
• Access to a wide network market development programmes and institutions
• Access to financial institutions in CLMV countries will be an advantage;
• Ability to deliver high quality synthesis papers by set deadlines (requiring minimal editing);
• Strong presentation and communication skills;
• Strong planning and coordination skills.

Corporate competencies:

• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education:

• Masters or PhD in business, finance, economics, and other related fields.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of working experience in the project management, Theory of Change and on M&E, at organisational level and multi-country programme level;
• Experience of DFAT, DCED and other bilateral and multi-lateral frameworks on M&E aspects.
• Experience around financial inclusion issues and market development programmes;
• Excellent research and M&E skills and experience;
• Experience  in conducting and facilitating trainings and workshops;
• Experience in conducting stakeholder consultations at the government, foundations, corporate, bilateral and multilateral agencies level;
• Experience in large program design and impact assessments;
• Experience in undertaking feasibility assessments.

Language:

• Proficiency in written and spoken English.

Note:

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Senior Regional Technical Advisor (SRTA) based in Bangkok and in close collaboration with the SHIFT programme management unit and any other expert or institution as designated by the SRTA. The consultant will have weekly communication with SHIFT team via email or skype and respond to inquiries made by SHIFT team regarding the training program.

Evaluation:

Consultants will be evaluated based on UNCDF’s cumulative analysis method. When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract shall be made to the 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 (30%) criteria specific to the solicitation.

• Technical Criteria weight: 70%

Competencies (25%); Experience (35%); Education (10%).

• Financial Criteria weight: 30%

Technical and Financial Proposals which includes:

• Offeror’s letter confirming interest and availability; form can be found here: http://uncdf.org/en/hiring-consultants;
• CV or Duly signed P11 Form;
• Breakdown of Costs (daily fee and miscellaneous expenses including travel costs).

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