UNDP Jobs - 57958- Development of Knowledge Management Products on In

Development of Knowledge Management Products on Inclusive Rural Community Development in Rwanda

Location :

Kigali, RWANDA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

30-Aug-2015

Application Deadline :

15-Jul-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

30 working days within two months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

30 working days

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Rwanda’s development success over the last decade includes high growth, rapid poverty reduction and reduced inequality. Between 2001 and 2012, real GDP growth averaged 8.1 percent per year. The population living below 1 USD per day dropped by almost 12 percent from 56.7 percent in 2006 to 44.9 percent in 2011. The regional inequality index has also declined. Despite the high economic growth, poverty rate still remains high, at 44.9 percent. Thus, achieving MDG 1 will require a focus on increasing rural incomes and agricultural output. Poverty reduction is an important goal of the government in order to meet its long term development objective of building a middle-income country founded on a knowledge-based economy by 2020.

In 2013, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea (ROK) and UNDP signed a MOU to launch a global initiative on scaling up local development solutions for sustainable livelihoods, drawing on the experiences of ROK’s Saemaul Undong (SU) – New Village Movement – a rural development programme implemented in the early 1970s that significantly reduced rural poverty by increasing household incomes, improving basic infrastructure and services, revitalizing local communities and empowering women. The key principles of Saemaul Undong approach are: self-reliance, cooperation and can-do spirit. In Rwanda, the overall objective of the initiative is to establish a centre of excellence to collect and share the best practices of Saemaul model for integrated local development in Rwanda, as well as regionally and globally – through South-South cooperation.

Previously in Rwanda a range of initiatives on community development and local economic development have already been undertaken by the development partners as well as national government. Among the past initiatives are: UNDP’s Support to the Five-Year Decentralization Implementation Programme (2005 – 2009), UNDP Decentralisation and Environment Management Project (2004 – 2013) and UNDP-UNEP Poverty and Environment Initiative (PEI), One UN Joint Support Project for the Rwanda Integrated Development Initiative (IDP) – Green Villages Project, and Building an Inclusive Financial Sector in Rwanda (BIFSIR) project implemented by UNDP and UNCDF. Most of these community development initiatives were implemented using the approach of Saemaul model into their local development interventions.

In addition, different development partners have implemented Saemaul projects; Saemaul Zero Hunger Communities Project funded by Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and implemented by World Food Programme and Good Neighbours International; KOICA’s Saemaul volunteering projects. A number of planned initiatives by development partners, have community development focus as well; FAO’s Sustainable Food and Agriculture Initiative; One UN Green Economy Programme (with focus on green villages development).

Application procedure

All interested and qualified national and international individual consultants may download the Individual Consultant Notice, Terms of Reference documents from UNDP Rwanda website at:

http://www.rw.undp.org/content/rwanda/en/home/operations/procurement/notices/

Candidates should apply by sending the following documents to the only email address at offers.rw@undp.org:

Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
Personal CV or 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;
Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, if applicable, on how he/she will approach and complete the assignment.
Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided on by opening: http://www.rw.undp.org/content/dam/rwanda/docs/operations/Procurement/Notices/RW_operations_procurement_Letter.pdf

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective and Scope of the work

The overall objective of this consultancy is to research, prioritize, codify and then produce knowledge products which document the achievements, best practices and challenges of different initiatives on community development and local economic development that were undertaken in Rwanda by different development partners as well as national government that have similar approaches used in the SU model implemented by ROK.

The international consultant will work in team with a national consultant. He/she will be the team leader, he/she will undertake field mission on the sites where the aforementioned projects/programme were implemented, he/she will meet the different stakeholders including UNDP senior management, KOICA, WFP, and different government officials identified.

The individual consultant will develop knowledge products by undertaking the following major tasks:

Collect data and analyze relevant documents (reports, plans, studies/assessments) on Saemaul projects and related local community development initiatives in Rwanda to draw achievements, lessons learnt, challenges, and scalability elements of each initiative;
Conduct a scoping mission and extensive in-depth consultations with Government of Rwanda, national stakeholders, and local donors on national priorities in Rwanda inclusive and sustainable local communities development initiative;
Describe the Saemaul Undong model in community development especially in Rwanda and document its achievements, impacts, and challenges;
Present overview of Policy on local community development in Rwanda;
Analyze the Saemaul model local community development and draw the comparison between Saemaul model and similar local development initiative implemented by Government of Rwanda with the support from different development partners;
Describe the Rwandan homegrown initiative in community development and documents its achievements and impacts, particularly related to its inclusiveness and sustainable approach such as PEI, BIFSIR, IDP, DEMP, FONERWA.
Define the situational analysis including the baseline status and the end results for each above mentioned project to assess the impacts of every intervention to socio-economic improvement of livelihoods in local communities, with a particular pro-poor and sustainable development focus;
Based on the conception, achievements and impacts, develop comparative scenarios to show the similarities and difference between Saemaul Undong model implemented by KOICA and other national homegrown initiatives in community development in Rwanda implemented in the past;
Formulate the way forwards of the two initiatives in development of Rwanda and the role that both initiatives may play in the implementation of the second Rwandan ‘’ Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy ‘’ (EDPRSII), also in line with the upcoming domestication (Localizing) process of the SDGs;
Document all collected information (initiative success, challenges, lesson learnt & good practices, and most importantly recommendations especially in line with South-south Cooperation and Triangular Cooperation which can be used to scale up successful experiences); the documentation should include case studies of each of abovementioned local development initiative a in form of brochures, papers and electronic disseminations including knowledge Management (KM) platforms and bloggings which could be disseminated globally for different purposes.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Ability to establish and maintain good working relations with colleagues in multi-cultural environment;
Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Functional Competencies:

Leadership

Capacity to engage with a wide audience of diverse background.

Technical Skills

Good understanding of knowledge management.

Communication

The consultant will have strong communications skills.

Teamwork

Ability to establish and maintain good working relations with colleagues in multi-cultural environment.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Postgraduate or other advanced university degree (at least Master’s or equivalent) in the area of rural development, community development, international development, Natural Resource Management, Environmental Science, or any other relevant disciplines.

Experience:

At least 5 years of professional experience in the field of rural development, Saemaul Undong model, agricultures and livelihood improvement in developing countries, ideally in an African states context;
A track record of professional research in the areas of rural development, community development, or ROK’s Saemaul model or similar models as proven by publications and in contributions to analytical reports by international development organizations or government agencies
At least 2 years of experience in working in the field of Knowledge management (KM);
Broad knowledge of the main issues of rural and community development initiatives and detailed knowledge of the empirical literature and methodologies in these areas;
Outstanding writing and reporting skills in English with proven records of analysing data and preparing analytical reports;
Proven working experience and knowledge in project development, project management and Monitoring & Evaluation;
Demonstrated experience in capacity development initiatives, notably at the systemic and institutional levels;
Experience of working and collaborating with stakeholders including, international development organizations, governments, civil society, and communities;

Language:

The consultant will have written and oral fluency in English;
Knowledge of French is an added advantage.