Antecedentes

The Town Development Fund, established by the Govt. of Nepal, organized a conference on Municipal Finance that took place in Kathmandu, Nepal on December 18-19, 2016. The conference brought together domestic and regional experts from various ministries, development agencies, private sector and the academia and to discuss critical challenges and opportunities that municipalities in Nepal have been grappling with. The papers and deliberations were set in the context of the Constitutional reform of 2015 in Nepal that has set in motion a major devolution of functions and financing responsibilities to subnational governments, particularly municipalities.

The organizer, jointly with UNCDF, would like to publish the proceedings of the conference that will help guide the current and future technical discussion in the country in this critical field.
 
To this end, UNCDF is hiring a consultant who can review and consolidate the papers presented at the conference, so as to make a harmonious set of papers that fit into an internally consistent publication. The consultancy entails extensive and in-depth research and writing, and a commitment to deadlines.

Deberes y responsabilidades

  • The consultant shall work in close collaboration with the UNCDF Municipal Investment Finance Program Manager and the Nepal Country Office to review, research, rewrite and edit about 10-12 background papers. The overall length of designed conference book will have not to exceed 250 pages;
  • The consultant will propose initial outline and table of contents, suggest changes and improvements to make sure the storyline will be as more user-friendly and as technically sound as possible;
  • The consultant will write the Foreword and the chapters in the outline below, including stories and case studies coming from the field. The consultant can organize phone or Skype calls with UNCDF HQ and the Nepal Country Office to obtain the required feedback and guidance;
  • Some parts, i.e. photo captions and section on resources, might be provided by UNCDF. In that case, the consultant will review the text and edit it as appropriate to ensure consistency of style and ensure the language is readable and user-friendly;
  • After the draft text is reviewed by the MIF program Manager and the Country Office, the consultant will incorporate revisions related to content and/or language. Where applicable, the text will adhere to branding standards for language and presentation;
  • The consultant will also proof read the texts.

Output

  • Final text as a Word document, including table of contents, foreword, photo captions, tables, and graphs;
  • Proof reading of design layouts to ensure text and graphics are error free.

Tentative Editorial and Production Schedule

  • Outline proposal – by 10 September 2017;
  • Very first draft of the book – by  30 October 2017;
  • First round of comments by UNCDF Team (MIF Program Manager and Nepal CO) and TDF included – by 10 November 2017;
  • Revised draft by 30 November 2017;
  • Second round of comments by UNCDF and TDF included – by 10 December 2017;
  • Final draft, including foreword, editing of photo captions, and proof reading – by 31 December 2017.

Timeline and Payment Schedule

Payments to the consultant are based upon delivery of the services and products specified in the TOR. Draft products should be submitted providing ample time for discussion, feedback, and any required revisions before the final work is approved.

Peer review / validation periods are factored into the timeframes as part of the quality assurance process.

Based on the above listed deliverables, the payment shcedule is proposed ot be as follows:

  • Second draft (30 November 2017) - 50%;
  • Final draft  (31 December 2017) - 50%.

Competencias

  • Track records of publications in the field of Municipal Finance;
  • Strong research skills and excellent writing skills in English;
  • Ability to be flexible and respond to changes to text as part of the review and feedback process;
  • Strong interpersonal skills, able to communicate and work with diverse people at Headquarters and Country Offices;
  • Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education

  • Master’s Degree in Public Policy, Public Administration, Administration, Law, Economics, Finance, or relevant field.

Experience

  • At least 15 years of experience in Municipal Finance;
  • Knowledge of the South Asia region and Nepal context.

Languages

  • Fluency in English is required.

Application

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

  • A sample of at least two publications authored by the applicant in the field of Municipal Finance, preferably related to the South Asia region.Include in the submission or attach as one submission with application.
  • Updated CV/P11, with clear indication of prior experience of writing publications and technical reports or other substantive reports in the area of Municipal Finance.

Please kindly note that you can upload only one document to this application (scan all documents ine one single PDF file to attach) and submit with the online application.

Evaluation process

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the Cumulative Analysis methodology [weighted scoring method], where the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

  • Responsive/compliant/acceptable;
  • Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical [70 %]

  • Proven knowledge and prior experience of writing publications, technical reports or other substantive reports in the field of Municipal Finance (40 points);
  • Proven research, analytical and data collection skills (25 points);
  • Proven experience in communicating with wide range of stakeholders on Municipal Finance issues, including presenting at conferences, workshops, training programs (25 points);
  • Knowledge of the South Asia and Nepalese context (10 points).

Financial [30 %]

Only Individual Consultants obtaining a minimum of 70 points of the obtainable points of 100 points in technical evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

p = y (µ/z), where

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated
y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal
µ = price of the lowest priced proposal
z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Other

Completed PH 11 Form will be required at the time a consultant signs an Individual Contract (IC) or his/her employer, if employed, signs a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA) for work associated with this assignment. UN Personal History form (UN PH11) can be downloaded from: here http://sas.undp.org/documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc.

General Terms and Conditions for ICs is provided here: http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf.