Background

The UNDP Oslo Governance Centre (OGC) is UNDP’s Global Policy Centre for policy development and applied research with an overarching focus on democratic governance and peacebuilding in crisis, conflict and transitional contexts. The OGC sits within the Governance and Peacebuilding Cluster, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS), UNDP. It engages with Norwegian, Nordic and other partners from the South in undertaking applied research and developing policy options and tools for governance support in post-crisis and post-conflict environments, in order to find practical solutions on the ground. One of the priority areas for the OGC is the advancement of the research agenda on Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE). 

Background to UNDP's work on preventing violent extremism (PVE)

UNDP's approach to PVE aims to address two related trends: the rise of violent extremism, and the governance of increasingly diverse and multi-cultural societies. At the heart of UNDP's approach is a belief that better governance in diversity will lead to societies better prepared to deal with violent extremism as outlined in UNDP's strategy on 'Preventing Violent Extremism through Inclusive Development and the Promotion of Tolerance and Respect for Diversity'.

The UNDP OGC has co-hosted along with the Norwegian MFA two global meetings on PVE bringing together practitioners, decision-makers and academics from around the world to discuss the challenges, opportunities and unique roles played by development actors in efforts to address the root causes of violent extremism. The meetings helped to establish the OGC as the global focal point within UNDP to shape, monitor, gather, organize, disseminate and advise on research and knowledge generation relating to the PVE field.

In December 2021 The OGC launched the www.pveportal.org, an online resource that has collects all of UNDPs research on preventing violent extremism. It is also the house of #exploringextremism, a podcast series looking at emerging and untold stories from the world of violent extremism.

To host all episodes of the podcast series, and to add extra research, OGC is looking for an International IC to support the development and maintainence of the portfolio. In line with OGCs thought leadership mandate, the consultant will also be expected to contribute conversations and concept note development on the future of PVE.

The IC will report to the PVE Research Advisor of the Oslo Governance Centre.

Schedule of Payments

The consultancy is lump sum based and the consultant will be paid as per deliverables.

Travel

No travel is foreseen for this consultancy.

Application Procedure

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

Step 1: Submission of technical proposal.

Step 1: Interested individual consultants must include the following documents when submitting the applications in UNDP job shop. Please note that only 1 (one) file can be uploaded, therefore, please include all documents in one file:

  • Personal History Form (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, www.sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc).
  • Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment. Please indicate available start date.

Step 2: Submission of Financial Proposals:

Applicants are required to submit their all-inclusive lump sum offer in US Dollars for this consultancy, using the financial proposal template available here: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=45780   Please fill in section A I on page 4. The sum of AI will be the “all-inclusive lump sum” to be filled in on page 1, e).

The financial proposal should be sent via email to oslo.governance.centre@undp.org with the following subject heading: “Financial Proposal – Junior Consultant PVE” by the application deadline. Proposals received after the deadline may be rejected. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal should be all-inclusive lump sum fee, however must include a detailed breakdown of the cost (section AI). The term ‘all-inclusive’ implies that all costs (professional fees, assignment related travel expenses to join the duty station, communications, tax, utilities, consumables, insurance, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the financial proposal.

Criteria for selection:

Only those candidates who meet the minimum level of education and relevant years of experience requirements will be considered for the consultancy. The shortlisted candidates will be scored based on a review of their functional competencies and other criteria as described above. The candidates with the highest scores may also be invited for interviews.

Combined scoring method: where the qualifications and competencies will be weighted a max of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a max of 30%.

Method: cumulative analysis method will be used to evaluate proposals.

When using this weighted scoring method, 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 and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical criteria weight: 70 (70% of total obtainable scores):

Only those candidates who meet the minimum level of education and relevant years of experience requirements will be considered for the technical evaluation. The technical evaluation will include a desk review and may also include interviews with shortlisted candidates.

The technical evaluation of shortlisted candidates will be done on the basis of a review of the following:

  • Experience working on Preventing Violent Extremism for a research institute or international organization (20%);
  • Experience in coordinating website developers (20%);
  • Experience drafting speeches and managing social media accounts (15%);
  • Demonstrated ability to support research initiatives (15%).

Financial criteria weight: 30 (30% of total obtainable scores).

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70%) on the technical part will be considered for the financial evaluation.

Criteria for financial evaluation (30 points maximum):

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:

The award of contract will be made to the individual consultant who receives the highest combined score out of the weighted technical and financial criteria as specified above.

 

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will provide support to OGC’s PVE work in the areas of research and coordination:

Research:

  • Liaise with UNDP Regional and Global Focal points to collect research on PVE;
  • Update PVE portal twice with relevant research;
  • Liaise with web company to ensure the podcast page is developed and three podcasts are uploaded;
  • Ensure all podcast episodes have op-eds and communications organised and uploaded;
  • Contribute to global PVE discussions as required.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

  • Portal updated with podcast page (30%), deadline: 1 March 2022
  • Create op-eds and manage communication for podcast series (30%, deadline: 1 April 2022
  • Portal updated with new research (30%), deadline 1 May 2022
  • Contribute to at least 3 UNDP global discussions on PVE (10%, deadline: 30 – June 2022

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Takes responsibility for quality of own work;

• Uses resources, methods, partners, and information effectively;

• Identifies opportunities and challenges and recommends options;

• Meets goals and timelines for team deliverables;

• Understands responsibilities and meets expectations.

 

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent communication skills in English;

• Demonstrated ability to organise and structure information;

• Understanding of Preventing Violent Extremism.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Experience

  • Master’s degree or equivalent in Public Policy, Politics or International Relations;
  • At least 2 years of experience working on research that has an element of PVE;
  • Experience in coordination of website development;
  • Experience drafting speeches and managing social media accounts.

Desirable:

  • Experience writing persuasive copy for a range of audiences;
  • Excellent verbal communications skills;
  • Ability to complete tasks independently and take initiative, but also work well as part of a team;
  • Ability to perform tasks in a timely manner, under pressure, and to tight deadlines;
  • Previous relevant experience with UNDP would be an asset.

Language:                        

  • Fluency in English is required.
  • Fluency in an additional UNDP Working Language is an asset.