Background

Project Description

UNCDF is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s 47 least developed countries. With its capital mandate and instruments, UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development. UNCDF has been active in the area of financial inclusion over the past 25 years, through a market development approach combining support to governments and regulators, as well as to the private sector in order to develop scalable products and services for under-served and un-banked populations.

The mission of UNCDFby 2030 is to accelerate the development of services leveraging digital finance & innovation by providing the right balance of technical expertise and financial support to government, private & non-profit sectors & academia.

Recently, UNCDF strategy ‘Leaving no one behind in the digital era’ is based on over a decade of experience in digital finance in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. UNCDF recognizes that reaching the full potential of digital financial inclusion in support of the Sustainable Development Goals aligns with the vision of promoting digital economies that leave no one behind.The vision of UNCDF is to empower millions of people by 2024 to use services daily that leverage innovation and technology and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. Please refer to the link for further information: https://www.uncdf.org/article/4931/global-strategy-leaving-no-onebehind-in-the-digital-era. 

UNCDF in Uganda

UNCDF has been present in Uganda since 1982, supporting the Government to create a functional planning and financial system for sustainable and inclusive local development. Today, together with the larger UN Country Team, UNCDF in Uganda has supported the Government to mainstream digitization and to effectively implement the Third National Development Plan and realize its vision of a Ugandan society transformed from a peasant to a modern and prosperous country within 30 years and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

UNCDF uses its financial tools and technical expertise in public financial management, SME development, and financial services development to incentivize actors across different economic value chains to think differently, break from their silos, and incubate new ways of serving the “last-mile”. Together we look for and invest in high-impact opportunities that can boost productivity, economies of scale, and above all development impact especially for women and youth.

UNCDF seeks the services of a consultant to develop a digital strategy and proposals  to support the Education Service Commission (ESC) to effectively and efficiently manage the recruitment of the education personnel in Uganda.

Background of the Assignment

The Education Service Commission (ESC) in Uganda was established under article 167 and 168 of the constitution of the Republic of Uganda, 1995. It draws its mandate from both the constitution and the Education Service Act, 2002. Its mandate has expanded to include Education Service Personnel under Kampala Capital City Authority. ESC is responsible for approximately 68% of the public service of Uganda. The commission handles most of its activities of recruiting, confirming, promoting, and disciplining personnel manually. These activities are labor-intensive and paper-based. A lot of data is scattered in several manual files leading to delays in information processing and dissemination to the relevant individuals who need this information. Analyzing data is difficult since it is scattered in several manual repositories. Sometimes, data and information are misplaced or gets lost because of manual storage methods and scattered files. The situation is made worse by the huge volumes of applications received and the lack of sufficient storage space within the commission.

The ESC recognizes the positive role technology would play in transforming the education recruitment sector. They believe that the use of a digital solution such as a web platform for recruitment processes and data analytics for better decisions, presents an opportunity to improve the service delivery to their audiences as well as   the overall internal processes and  cost of recruitments operations.

The ESC partnered with UNCDF Uganda to develop a digital recruitment system to support the commission to effectively and efficiently manage the recruitment of the education personnel in Uganda.

The ESC has a ready digital recruitment platform that will allow them to recruit teaching and non-teaching staff efficiently and effectively. However, there is  need to support the commission by improving digital standards, skills, infrastructure and service in order to fully take advantage of technology in the area of education recruitment in Uganda. For more details please refer to the below links:

https://www.uncdf.org/article/7376/digital-relevance-in-staff-recruitment-in-education-case-study-december-2021

https://www.uncdf.org/article/6854/fast-tracking-the-recruitment-of-teachers-with-online-applications-in-uganda  

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK 

Under the supervision of the UNCDF Technical Specialist, Digital Health and Education, the Consultant will specifically:

• Provide expertise to the education service commission and partners in the development of technical guidelines, digital strategy, and protocols on matters related to digitization of the commission.

• Meetings with key departments and the leadership of the ESC
• Readiness and need assessment of the existing digital recruitment platform
• Support the recruitment of at least 4 positions on the digital recruitment system
• Development of a digital strategy 2022-2027 for the commission   
• Prepare a funding proposal and assist with project planning for implementation of activities through partners and service providers and support with the procurement processes
• Draft a proposal targeting donors for the implementation of the digital strategy
• Draft project documentation including work plan, budget, quality assurance tools
• Support the documentation of digitization of the commission meetings; draft minutes; maintain communication with partners and follow up on agreed actions.

• Liaise with NITA-U, MoES, MoICT and other partners and relevant stakeholders for program improvement, review and coordination of the pertinent thematic components like digital recruitment systems, digital registry and other digital services

• Engagement with key stakeholders such as NITA-U, MoES and the private sector actors to support the digitization of the commission
• Engagement with at least 6 potential donors including UN agencies, international cooperations, INGOs, etc..
• Identify key areas of implementation within the digital strategy

• Support usage of existing digital systems including the digital recruitment system

• Digital recruitment Refresher training of the ESC and KICC teams
• Support the digital literacy training of users
• Development and implementation of Quality Assurance tools – digital recruitment system
• Support the recruitment of at least 6 positions on the digital recruitment system

• Support the implementation of at least 4 areas of priority of the digital strategy including the digital registry and other digital services

• Identify key areas of implementation within the strategy – Implement at least 4 additional areas

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

Institutional Arrangement

Provision of Monitoring, Progress Controls & Payments:

• The Consultant will work under the supervision of the UNCDF Technical Specialist, Digital Health and Education
• Payments shall be made only upon satisfactory completion and UNCDF’s written acceptance of each deliverable duly approved by the UNCDF Program Coordinator
• Disbursement of the final payment shall require a signed performance evaluation of the consultant.

Duration of the Work

5 months in line with agreed work plan

Duty Station

The Consultant will be based in Kampala, Uganda – ESC Office

Travel

There is no travel required for this assignment

Competencies

Personal Competencies:  

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN's values and ethical standards.
• Advocates and promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of the UN.
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.
• Demonstrates and promotes the values of the UN in actions and decisions and acts in accordance with the standard of conduct for international civil servants.
• Shows willingness to work without bias with all persons regardless of gender, nationality, religion, or culture.
• Contributes effectively to team-based activities, working collaboratively and sharing information openly; works effectively with colleagues inside the UN as well as its partners and other stakeholders to pursue common goals.

Language requirements

Fluent command of written and spoken English is mandatory.

There is no travel required for this assignment

Required Skills and Experience

Academic qualifications:

Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Procurement, or related fields

Skills & Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years of experience in project management, computer science, business analysis, capacity building, management information systems, public procurement with focus on either public or private sector organizations.
• Minimum of 3 years experience in consulting work
• Good knowledge and understanding of MS Office, word, excel, power point
• Experience of working in multicultural contexts.
• Minimum of 3 years experience working on digital projects
• Experience working with government entities is an added advantage
• Fluency in both spoken and written English is mandatory

Application Process

Interested individuals must submit the following documents as proposals to demonstrate their qualifications.

The application must contain the following:

(a) Personal Profile: 

• Cover letter
• Methodology and approach to assignment
• A Curriculum Vitae (CV) or completed and signed P11 - Personal History Form (available at http://sas.undp.org/documents/p11_personal_history_form.doc), stipulating applicant’s official name the qualifications and professional experiences (with similar projects) relevant to the assignment/TOR and the contact details (email address, telephone numbers) of 3 professional references. 

 (b) A signed financial proposal for the assignment, 

• Completed and duly signed Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability, quoted in US dollars, outlining the all-inclusive fee, supported by a breakdown of reimbursable – direct and indirect – costs (if applicable )

Evaluation Method

* Technical Criteria weight; 70%

* Financial Criteria weight; 30%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) will be considered as technically qualified and will be reviewed further for the Financial Evaluation

Technical Criteria –70 %

The technical criteria will comprise of two parts

1. Part 1 - will contribute 30% to the technical evaluation. Candidates scoring a minimum of 70 points will be considered for the oral interview. The following will be considered:
   • 5 years of experience in project management, computer science, business analysis, capacity building, management information systems, public procurement with focus on either public or private sector organizations. (20 points)
   • Description of approach/methodology to the assignment (25points)
   • Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Procurement, or related fields (20 points)
   • 3 years experience working on digital projects (25 points)
   • Good knowledge and understanding of MS Office, word, excel, power point (10 points)

     2. Part 2 – the oral interview will contribute 70% to the technical evaluation. Candidates that passthe technical assessment will be invited to the oral interview.

Financial Criteria – 30%

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

•             Lowest priced proposal/price of the proposal being evaluated x 30.

Cumulative analysis:

The award of the contract shall 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. Example 70%-30%.

Individual consultants and persons employed by a company or institution are invited to apply.

Any individual employed by a company or institution who would like to submit an offer in response to a Procurement Notice for individual consultant must do so in their individual capacity by providing a CV so that their qualifications may be judged accordingly.

Women candidates or women-owned businesses are strongly encouraged to apply.

UNCDF 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.

Any request for clarification must be sent in writing, or by standard electronic communication to the address or email Uncdf.procurement@uncdf.org . UNCDF will respond in writing or by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all consultants.

References

UNDP’s Individual Consultant’s General Terms and Conditions are provided here:

http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf