Antecedentes

UNDP is supporting governments to better articulate their response to climate change – including aspects of both mitigation and adaptation – in Asia and the Pacific through technical assistance and policy advisory services. The focus of this support includes strengthening institutional, planning, and administrative frameworks to deliver integrated and comprehensive policies and programming, strengthening budgeting processes and frameworks, and strengthening budget accountability mechanisms, including the oversight role played by parliaments, civil society, and the media. UNDP supports stakeholders to effectively identify and address the needs of the poor and vulnerable in these processes, and fosters greater collaboration between Ministries of Finance, Planning Environment and local governments around climate-responsive budgeting and public financial management through a ‘whole of government’ approach. Taken together, these activities are pivotal to enhancing partner countries’ ability to mobilize, manage, and target resources earmarked toward a national climate change response.

UNDP’s Bangkok Regional Hub (BRH) supports countries in the Asia-Pacific region on various development issues, with governance, and energy and the environment being key themes. BRH operates under UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS), which is responsible for developing policy and all relevant guidance to deliver 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.

To respond to growing demands by countries and UNDP Country Offices, a multi-disciplinary ‘governance of climate change finance’ team was established in 2009 to deliver the abovementioned services through a coordinated regional approach. It is currently implementing two flagship regional projects—one funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and one by the Swedish International Development Agency, plus providing ad hoc support to other UNDP programs in this area. Since 2009, the team has carried out a range of activities, including conducting Climate Public Expenditure & Institutional Review (CPEIR) analyses, publishing several policy briefs and methodological guidelines on integrating climate change into national budgeting, organizing regional dialogues and south-south knowledge exchanges, and developing advocacy partnerships and networks with well-recognized international and regional CSOs.

There is a strong need for an updated communications strategy and strategic communications plan that can more effectively target the delivery of program and policy messages to key stakeholders and that can up-scale the level of communications and outreach activities more generally which are intrinsically related to in-country programming. This need is linked to several factors: (i) the continued growth and maturation of the climate finance governance program; (ii) the increased complexity and proliferation of initiatives in the global climate policy and climate finance landscape; and (iii) the generation of more information, data, and knowledge relating to climate-responsive budgeting and what may constitute lessons learned and good practice.

Deberes y responsabilidades

Objective

The objective of the assignment is to refine the program communications strategy and to develop a related strategic communications plan that can be implemented by UNDP BRH, its partner country offices, and external service providers, as appropriate. The strategy and plan shall be multi-layered and encompass multiple aspects, including: internal communications, external program visibility and cohesive branding, effective policy and advocacy communications, key messaging formulation and differentiation, value-added use of social media, and media relations. The strategy will also comprise innovative ways to bridge outreach partnerships to extend reach to key target audiences in order to change perspectives and to encourage specific policy reforms.

 The work is expected to have the following outputs:

  • An updated programme communication strategy;
  • A strategic communication plan (SCP) to take forward the communication strategy that is easy for programme staff and partners to execute, sustain, revise, and monitor.

 Scope of Work:

The consultant is expected to:

  • Refine the overall strategic approach to communications and outreach as a vehicle to strengthen the overall impact of the programme of work. The updated strategy shall be based upon a critical review of an existing draft that shall be provided to the consultant, as well as a rapid analysis which reflects the general programme context, in-house capacities, key stakeholders and external and internal target audiences, both regionally and globally. The consultant shall review key program documentation and publications, such as multi-year project work plans, and carry out key informant interviews to inform strategy;
  • Further elaborate and refine key programme messages and message differentiators by target audience (i.e., UNDP internal, policy-makers, donors, technical experts, general public) on the basis of drafts to be furnished by team. To the extent possible, the template of key messages and success stories should be able to accommodate country-specific contexts and tailoring;
  • Draft a SCP, carefully linked to key program outputs and activities, which outlines practical steps, key tools, and communication products that can be implemented to carry out the strategy on the part of programme staff, extended advocates in country offices, and external consultants at regional and national level. The SCP shall identify opportunity windows, mechanisms, and channels of communication most appropriate for each target audience and/or component of the strategy such as policy advocacy, internal, and external communications. The SCP shall also encompass a critical review of existing website and web-based progamme communications. Budget and resource constraints shall be provided to the consultant in order to maintain the realism of SCP;
  • Facilitate at least one working session at internal team meeting upon commencement and participate in a second follow-up workshop either in person or via videoconference upon finalization and early implementation of the strategy and SCP with the core communication programme staff and extended team of advocates, consultants, etc. in order to incorporate their feedback and support roll-out of the plan;
  •  Formulate 2-3 potential Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) related to the communications and outreach activities that are intrinsic to programme delivery and that can be monitored in the delivery of the SCP.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

The Consultant will be responsible for providing the following deliverables/ outputs:

Deliverables/ Outputs A: Revised communication strategy (approximately 12-15 pages) with all elements outlined in the scope of work

Target Due Dates :

  • Draft version on 18 September 2015  (Estimated Duration to Complete - 6 days);
  • Final version on 31 October 2015(Estimated Duration to Complete - 2 days).

Deliverables/ Outputs B: Tailored key messages for different audiences mutually agreed with client

Target Due Dates :

  • Draft version on 25 September 2015 (Estimated Duration to Complete - 3 days);
  • Final version on 31 October 2015 (Estimated Duration to Complete - 2 days).

Deliverables/ Outputs C: Key Performance Indicators (KPI) formulated (2-3) related to the communications and outreach activities of team that can be easily monitored

Target Due Dates :

  • Draft version on 25 September 2015 (Estimated Duration to Complete - 1 day);
  • Final version on 31 October 2015 (Estimated Duration to Complete - 2 days).

Deliverables/ Outputs D: Feedback of the training workshop

Target Due Dates : 1 December 2015 (Estimated Duration to Complete - 1 day)

Deliverables/ Outputs E: Strategic communication plan for the programme of approximately 20-25 pages in length

Target Due Dates:

  • Draft version on 15 November 2015 (Estimated Duration to Complete - 5 days);
  • Final version on 1 December 2015 (Estimated Duration to Complete - 3 days).

Review and Approvals from Governance Climate Change Finance and Development Effectiveness Advisor are required for all deliverables/outputs.

Institutional Arrangement:

The consultant shall work under the overall guidance of the Governance, Climate Change Finance & Development Effectiveness Advisor with substantive day-to-day guidance from a Climate Policy Specialist and a Regional Communications & Programme Analyst sitting in the Governance of Climate Change Finance team.

Duration of the Work: 7 September 2015- 31 December 2015 (25 working days).

Duty Station: Home based.

Expected places of travel: The Consultant’s presence required at UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub premises is intermittent. Travel to Thailand (approximately 3 days/mission) and Indonesia (approximately 3 days/mission) is required and will be arranged by UNDP.

Competencias

Corporate Competencies:

  • Demonstrates integrity by modeling 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;
  • Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional Competencies:

Professionalism:

  • Capable of working in a high pressure environment with sharp and frequent deadlines, managing many tasks simultaneously;
  • Excellent analytical and organizational skills;
  • Exercise the highest level of responsibility and be able to handle confidential and politically sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

 Education:

  • University degree in Communications, Communications for Development, Public Policy, or related field.

Experience:

  • At least 10 years of experience in communications, preferably at an international level;
  • Prior experience in developing strategic outreach and communications activities for international organizations, think tanks, CSOs, or in connection with political campaigns;
  • Prior experience managing the development of a communication strategy and policy advocacy communications plan or campaign for a multilateral organization is essential;
  • Prior experience of working with UNDP or other UN agencies is desirable. Prior experience working in Asia -Pacific region is desirable.

Language:

  • Excellent written and spoken English, and presentation skills are required.

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Lump Sum Amount.

The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration.

Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below percentages:

Deliverable 1:

  • Draft version of revised communication strategy (approximately 12-15 pages) with all elements outlined in the scope of work  and draft version of tailored key messages for different audiences mutually agreed with client - 20% of total contract amount.

Deliverable 2:

  • Final version of revised communication strategy (approximately 12-15 pages) with all elements outlined in the scope of work , the final version of tailored key messages for different audiences mutually agreed with client and Key Performance Indicators (KPI) formulated - 40% of total contract amount.

Deliverable 3:

  • Feedback of the training workshop and strategic communication plan for the programme of approximately 20-25 pages in length - 40% of total contract amount.

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.

Review Time Required:

  • Review/ approval time prior to authorizing payment will be one week.

Evaluation Method and Criteria

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract will be made to the individual 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 criteria (30%) specific to the solicitation.

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 500 points):

  • Criteria 1: Education - Max 50 points;
  • Criteria 2: Technical Experiences - Max 250 points;
  • Criteria 3: UN system experience - Max 50 points;
  • Criteria 4: Availability - Max 75 points;
  • Criteria 5: Writing skills - 75 points.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 350 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Documentation required:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Please combine them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document.

  • Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided in Annex 2;
  • Personal CV and P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
  • Financial proposal, as per template provided in Annex 2;
  • A writing sample, related to the assignment.

Incomplete proposals may not be considered.

Annexes:

For any clarification regarding this assignment please write to brh.gef.procurement@undp.org