I. BACKGROUND

Launched in 2008, the Business Call to Action (BCtA) is a unique multilateral alliance between key donor governments including the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the United Nations Development Programme - which hosts the Secretariat. BCtA aims to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by challenging and supporting companies to develop inclusive business (IB) models that offer the potential for both commercial success and development impact. BCtA aims to enhance the visibility, credibility, scale and effectiveness of IBs as market-based solutions to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs and benefit those at the base of the economic pyramid (BoP).

BCtA's value proposition is to drive the IB agenda globally by engaging the private sector, governments and the development community in joint efforts towards inclusive economic growth and social impact. BCtA members are market leaders and innovators, committed to developing commercially viable business ventures that engage people living at the BoP as consumers, producers, suppliers, and distributors of goods and services. Worldwide, 280 companies have responded to our call to action by making commitments to improve the lives and livelihoods of millions through commercially viable business ventures.

A number of these businesses operate specifically in sectors related to the delivery of essential “COVID-19-relevant” services using digitally enabled resilient models. These businesses apply proven models designed to serve the income-poor across multiple geographies, and include platforms that deliver technology-enabled cost-effective healthcare, ensure farm productivity and farmer income, or provide livelihood skills development through e-learning, as well as low-cost infrastructure that provides access to affordable internet services.

As part of its Phase III operations, BCtA seeks to transition its service offerings starting from 2021. This phase will focus on delivering an inclusive innovation-through-replication methodology by adapting existing and proven IB models to suit the needs of new geographies and contexts and supporting the establishment of businesses in these areas. The proven viability of these models to serve the income-poor will limit the necessary implementation time and risk associated with their application, whilst ensuring that innovative approaches reach a scale that reflects their ability to sustainably solve development challenges. By adopting inclusive innovation-through-replication journeys, BCtA aims to support governments to deploy proven solutions through inclusive innovation processes, thereby serving increasingly poor populations in a shrinking fiscal space while mitigating the risk that is inherent within innovation.

II. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVE

As part of its Phase IV of operations, BCtA seeks to transition its service offerings starting from 2021. This phase will focus on delivering an inclusive innovation-through-replication methodology by adapting existing and proven IB models to suit the needs of new geographies and contexts and supporting the establishment of businesses in these areas. The proven viability of these models to serve the income-poor will limit the necessary implementation time and risk associated with their application, whilst ensuring that innovative approaches reach a scale that reflects their ability to sustainably solve development challenges. By adopting inclusive innovation-through-replication journeys, BCtA aims to support governments to deploy proven solutions through inclusive innovation processes, thereby serving increasingly poor populations in shrinking fiscal space while mitigating the risk that is inherent within innovation.

Public procurement is a fundamental, crucial component of democratic governance, poverty reduction and sustainable development. Public procurement also serves as a significant policy instrument, which governments can use to propel changes in public service delivery, create fiscal space and jobs, and stimulate private sector growth. A well-performing public procurement system increases citizens’ confidence in government and private sector competitiveness, especially by leveling the playing field for small- and medium-sized businesses. Therefore, developing countries and donor agencies increasingly recognize the importance of strong procurement systems to build viable partnerships and collaboration between private and public sector actors and resources.

To accelerate sustainable public procurement implementation, UNDP and UNEP have collaborated on developing a Sustainability-weighted Procurement Portfolio Model (PPM) to identify and manage sustainability exposure in public procurement portfolios. The tool is intended to be used by Governments in the development of SPP policies, notably for the prioritization of relevant product categories and the production of corresponding sustainable procurement guidelines. It is intended to guide a strategic application of sustainable public procurement to further goal 12.7 of the SDGs

III. SCOPE AND KEY FOCUSES

The Consultant is expected to provide objective proposals for the manner in which BCtA will design its guidelines on inclusive public procurement, defining standards, procedures, processes and guiding local governments and private sectors entities on how to implement best practices in this area, particularly when procuring innovative and inclusive business solutions. The methodology will be presented to the BCtA Secretariat, donors, interested private sector actors, and the international development community in the implementation of BCtA’s inclusive public procurement framework.

The methodology will define the rationale and detail the framework that will guide the implementation procedures of key services supporting BCtA’s innovation journey, namely:

• Scaling: define the guidelines on inclusive public procurement for innovation processes involving the replication and adaptation of inclusive business models to help partner countries ensure better public procurement.
• Training: define a framework that involves the development of effective partnerships and financing mechanisms that can support SMEs, social enterprises, and inclusive business models to be engaged in public procurement processes, without generating market distortions.

Moreover, UNDP has produced a model for supporting public procurement organizations, including the UN, in designing and implementing sustainable public procurement (SPP) strategies. The implementation model is based on typology barriers across; the legislative framework; the internal dynamics of implementing public organizations; challenges at the practitioner level; and the readiness of the national supply markets to absorb sustainability requirements.

The Consultant is expected to gather evidence from inclusive businesses and SMEs that can further inform the SPP model, guaranteeing that its strategies are targeting these types of organizations.

IV. SUPPORT MATERIALS AND EXPECTATIONS

The methodology should employ a combination of both qualitative, quantitative and secondary data sources to support suggested mechanisms for advancement. The Consultant will benefit from two information sources:

• All relevant documents that will be delivered by the BCtA Team
• Consultations with the BCtA Team, donors, partners, member companies and focus country stakeholders

The Consultant is expected to follow a collaborative approach, ensuring a close engagement with the project team and stakeholders. As stakeholders, particularly member companies, are scattered all around the world, the Consultant is expected to effectively communicate via email, Zoom, Teams and telephone calls, and other types of long-distance communication methods.

The guidelines development process will start with a desk review, from which the Consultant will prepare a first draft of the of the guidelines and prospective service offerings. This will then be reviewed and revised in conjunction with the BCtA Team in order to produce a final guideline. This document will both describe the recommended approaches and justify their selection, as well as form the basis to produce the final inclusive innovation methodology.

V. DELIVERABLES

Deliverables Framework:

The deliverables consist of the following four stages:

1. Desk-Based Review

• Examine internal and external materials related to UNDP’s operational procedures, including UNDP procurement guidelines and existing materials on sustainable procurement.
• BCtA’s mission and present scope of operations, key stakeholders and partners within the Business Call to Action’s Inclusive Innovation-through-Replication Journeys with Governments to develop a supporting document to inclusive innovation facilitated by governments.
• Identify benchmarks on public procurement related to the engagement of SMEs and inclusive business models;
• Map reforms of focus country procurement ecosystems (SWOT analysis);
• Produce an inception report on prominent issues to be discussed in meetings with key stakeholders.

1. Stakeholder Consultations

• Engage extensively with key stakeholders (including BCtA member companies, local governments, business network partners, UNDP country offices and regional hubs, as appropriate) through online one-on-one and group meetings.
• Collate, review and incorporate suggestions from stakeholders (especially national governments and member companies, as the end users of BCtA’s services). The Consultant will pool answers to three key questions: (1) How do stakeholders can better engage with inclusive business and SMEs in public procurement? (2) What are stakeholders’ (and especially governments and SMEs) key demands in this context? and (3) how can BCtA advocate for and support the promotion of inclusive procurement and which benchmarks can be taken into account in this regard?;
• Develop a first draft of the guideline’s rationale and implementation that also identifies prospective service offerings to be explored in the forthcoming analysis and submit this to the BCtA Team for review.

1. Guidelines Writing

• Propose inclusive procurement models that raise the effectiveness of BCtA for supporting inclusive innovation through the replication of IB models, facilitated by governments. This includes writing BCtA’s current guidelines to support inclusive innovation processes for meeting the needs of end users and key stakeholders on inclusive public procurement;
• The guidelines should include, but should not be limited to, the following:

1. Fiduciary/Operational Function: Define public procurement and how it provides fiduciary oversight and supports governmental preparation and implementation approaches that ensure proper design and effective use of resources to drive development results at the country level and deliver best value-for-money. Develop guidelines on how to support project procurement and contract management, and assist with monitoring the procurement processes;
2. Country Engagement: Design practical guidelines for procurement teams to provide technical and country-specific knowledge and support to governments seeking to strengthen their public procurement functions to engage with inclusive businesses and SMES, covering public procurement systems (including laws and regulations, governance and political contexts, professional institutions, and technological infrastructure, such as electronic Government Procurement (e-GP));
3. Procurement Framework: Design a procurement framework that provides a modern set of tools and techniques – such as a project procurement strategy for development with IB models, hands-on expanded implementation support, alternative procurement arrangements, and tracking of exchanges in procurement – that ensure faster delivery with improved value-for-money. The Framework should cover initial and/or lifecycle costs, quality factors and other aspects – such as risk, proportionality, predictability, sustainability, flexibility, innovation, timeliness, and targeted outcomes – over the entire procurement cycle.

1. Presentation of Recommendations

• Present detailed recommendations to the BCtA Team in the form of a report for distribution amongst key stakeholders and a PowerPoint presentation to the BCtA Team. These should include specifications of the associated costs, benefits, opportunities and issues that could arise from the implementation of inclusive public procurement;
• Assist the BCtA Team in defining the streamlining of these guidelines;
• Schedule discussions with the BCtA team members in order to provide any due clarification on issues raised and to discuss how the guidelines can be tailored as deemed appropriate.

Deliverables timeline:

VI. REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

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
• Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment

Functional competencies

• Substantive knowledge of IB initiatives
• Ability to conduct strategic planning, results-based management and reporting
• Ability to actively seek to improve programmes/services, offer new and different options to solve problems
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Ability to establish and maintain good working relationships in a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary environment

VII. REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Education:

• Minimum Master’s Degree in a subject related to law, business administration, international development, public administration, international relations, economics and other related fields

Experience:

• Minimum 7 years of work experience in the development field, private sector in development, sustainability, inclusive growth, etc. is required.
• Minimum 2  years in designing public procurement frameworks involving multiple stakeholders is a must.           
• Experience in the area of Inclusive Business is highly desirable.
• Experience in designing strategies for global programmes within the private sector in development involving multiple stakeholders and experience in designing, developing and implementing robust and easy-to-use strategy definition frameworks is a strong asset.

• Experience in designing and editing guidelines on multi-sector partnerships is desirable.
• Track record of producing high quality and in-depth analytical reports and publications for the private sector, governments, multilateral organizations or UN agencies is a distinct advantage,

Language skills:

• Outstanding communication skills in English

VIII. MANAGEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS

The Head of BCtA will directly supervise the Consultant. The disbursement of payments will be approved by the Head of BCtA, with payments only to be made following the validation of deliverables. The Consultant must be available to undertake travel in accordance with arrangements that are made between the BCtA Team and the Consultant.

IX. ETHICS IN DATA COLLECTION

The strategy agenda will be produced in accordance with the principles outlined in the UNEG ‘Ethical Guidelines for Evaluation’. The Consultant must safeguard the rights and confidentiality of information providers, interviewees and stakeholders through measures to ensure compliance with legal and other relevant codes governing collection of data and reporting on data. The Consultant must also ensure the security of collected information before and after the production of the final agenda.

X. SUBMISSION PROCESS AND BASIS FOR SELECTION

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicant’s qualifications and financial proposal.

The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has 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 and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Criteria – 70% of total evaluation

• Criterion A: Experience in the area of IB – max points: 10
• Criterion B: Experience in designing strategies for global programmes within the private sector in development involving multiple stakeholders and experience in designing, developing and implementing robust and easy-to-use strategy definition frameworks – max points: 20
• Criterion C: Experience in designing and editing guidelines  on multi-sector partnerships is desirable – max points:  10
• Criterion D: Track record of producing high-quality and deeply analytical reports and publications (samples) – max points: 15
• Criterion E: Methodology – max points: 10
• Criterion F: Communication skills in English – max points: 5

Financial Criteria – 30% of total evaluation (max points: 30)

Only candidates who receive a minimum of 49 points (70%) in the technical evaluation (Criteria A-F) will be considered for financial evaluation.

Application procedures

The application submission is a two-step process. Failing to comply with the submission process may result in disqualifying the applications.

Step 1: Interested candidates must include the following documents when submitting the applications (Please group all your documents into a single PDF attachment as the system only allows one document to be uploaded).

• Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application
• Brief methodology (maximum 600 words) on how you will approach and conduct the work, including a plan of missions and locations to be visited in each country
• Filled P11 form or CV including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank form can be downloaded from: http://www.eurasia.undp.org/content/dam/rbec/docs/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc)
• Sample report(s) authored/coauthored by the candidate that is relevant to this assignment (sample(s) can be submitted as a PDF together with other attachments)

Step 2: Submission of financial proposal. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and requested to provide a financial offer.

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. 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.