Background
The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar is responsible for providing the Good Offices of the Secretary-General based on the mandate created by the General Assembly Resolutions on Myanmar. Following the military takeover in February 2021, the General Assembly anonymously adopted a resolution mandating the Special Envoy to concurrently address multifaceted challenge the country is facing, including bringing the country back to the path of democracy and creating conditions conducive for voluntary, safe and dignified return of Rohingya refugees. Since taking up the mandate in December 2021, the Special Envoy actively reached out to all critical domestic, regional and international stakeholders and laid out her framework of actions which could help bring about substantial improvements on the ground and pathways to get out of the current crises. Her multi-track strategy is based on four pillars in line with the expectations from the member states and consists of the following: 1) delivering “humanitarian-plus” assistance to affected people without discrimination 2) promoting inclusive, peaceful and democratic society 3) finding sustainable solutions for Rohingya; and 4) promoting human rights, accountability and justice. Additionally, Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) will be mainstreamed into all of the pillars to create cross-cutting platforms for women and youth as agents for positive change. Together, focused interventions under these pillars would contribute to the Special Envoy’s broader objectives to support democratic transition and inclusive nation-building in which all people of Myanmar enjoy equal human rights and dignity, including Rohingya.
Duties and Responsibilities
This assignment is to advice and support the Special Envoy on any strategic communications matters, including public statements, interviews, press coverage, social media accounts, social media monitoring, and press relations. The Individual Contractor will receive support and oversight by the Political Affairs Team on the substantive elements.
Scope of Work:
The Individual Contractor is assigned to perform the following tasks:
- Develop and implement a communications strategy for the Special Envoy;
- Develop various public communication products (Security Council and General Assembly briefings, public statements, speeches, media interview messages, social media messages);
- Function as the media contact point and handle all media queries and requests; and
- Develop and manage the website of the Office of the Special Envoy on Myanmar, its social media accounts, and monitor media and social media activities as they relate to the work of the Special Envoy or related issues.
- Engage in other work as assigned by the Office of the Special Envoy.
Expected Outputs and Deliverables:
The Individual contractor is expected to complete the list of required tasks as listed in Scope of Work. At the end of each month, the consultant must submit the timesheet along with the progress report of completed deliverables to his/her supervisor. The payment will be remitted upon at approval of signed timesheet by supervisor.
Institution Arrangements:
The Individual contractor is expected to complete the list of required tasks as listed in Scope of Work. At the end of each month, the consultant must submit the timesheet along with the progress report of completed deliverables to his/her supervisor. The payment will be remitted upon at approval of signed timesheet by supervisor.
Duration: The duration of this assignment will be from 15 September 2022 – 14 June 2023
(up to 195 working days during 9 months)
Duty station: Thailand Based
Expected places of travel: Travel expenses for mission (if any) will be responsible by ESCAP, upon prior approval.
Competencies
- Innovation: Ability to make new and useful ideas work
- Leadership: Ability to persuade others to follow
- People Management: Ability to improve performance and satisfaction
- Communication: Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transform
- Delivery: Ability to get things done while exercising good judgement
- Entrepreneurial attitude: willing to get stuck in to get things done.
Required Skills and Experience
Qualifications
Education
- Academic Qualifications: University degree in political science, communications, journalism, social science or related fields.
Knowledge & Experience
- Minimum 10 years of experience in journalism, public communications and media, preferably in the UN system.
- Experiences in writing press briefings, speeches and reports for the leadership of the United Nations.
- Experiences in handling media queries for the United Nations.
Language
- Fluency in English.
Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:
Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments
The candidate must submit a financial proposal based on a Daily Rate. The consultant shall quote an all-inclusive Daily Fee for the contract period. The term “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, consumables, etc.) that could be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment are already factored into the daily fee submitted in the proposal. If applicable, travel or daily allowance cost (if any work is to be done outside the IC’s duty station) should be identified separately.
The payment will be made based on the daily professional fee. The rate shall be all inclusive and fixed during the contract period. Upon verification of completion of deliverables and approval by the IC’s supervisor of a Time Sheet indicating the days worked in the period.
In the event such travel costs are applicable to the applicant, such expenses shall be agreed upon prior between the Office of Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar and applicant and reimbursed or arranged on actual basis and based on the Office of Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar travel policies and guidelines.
Evaluation Method and Criteria:
The candidate will be reviewed based on the aforementioned requirements for experience and qualifications, as well as on the technical evaluation criteria outlined below. The candidate will be evaluated based on cumulative scoring. 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:
- Being 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 where technical criteria weigh 70% and financial criteria weighs 30%.
The candidate will be evaluated based on cumulative analysis. The candidate receiving the Highest Combined Score and has accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions will be awarded the contract.
The technical criteria will be applied as below:
Technical Criteria for preliminary Evaluation (Maximum 70 points):
- University degree in political science, communications, journalism, social science or related fields (5 points)
- Minimum 10 years of experience in journalism, public communications and media, preferably in the UN system. (15 points)
- Experiences in writing press briefings, speeches and reports for the leadership of the United Nations. (25 points)
- Experiences in handling media queries for the United Nations. (5 points)
- Interview (20 points)
Having reviewed applications received, UNDP will invite maximum of four shortlisted candidates for interviews. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
The interview will be given a maximum of 20 points. When combined with the technical review of 50 points, only candidates who pass 70% (49 out of 70) of technical and interview evaluation shall be considered for Financial evaluation.
Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
Financial Evaluation (30%)
Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced qualified proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.
Financial proposals from all technically qualified candidates will be scored out of 30 marks based on the formula provided below. The maximum marks (30) will be assigned to the lowest financial proposal.
All other proposals will receive points according to the following formula:
- 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.
Documentation required:
Instructions to Applicants: Click on the "Apply now" button. Input your information in the appropriate Sections: personal information, language proficiency, education, resume and motivation. Upon completion of the first page, please hit "submit application" tab at the end of the page then the uploading option for the required document will be available.
Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document:
- Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability and Financial Proposal using the template provided by UNDP (Annex III)
- Consultant shall quote an all-inclusive Fee for the contract period. The term “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, consumables, etc.) that could be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment are already factored into the proposed fee submitted in the proposal.
- If an Offeror is employed by an organization/ company/ institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP;
- Personal CV or P11, indicating all relevant and similar previous experiences, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Applicant and at least three (3) professional references.
- Cover letter explaining why they are the most suitable candidate (max 1 page).
Incomplete proposals may not be considered. The shortlisted candidates may be contacted and the successful candidate will be notified.
**Failure to submit the above-mentioned documents or Incomplete proposals shall result in disqualification
**Please group all your document into one (1) single PDF document as the application system only allows to upload maximum one document.
Annexes:
Annex I - TOR Strategic Communications Consultant
Annex II - General_Terms_and_Conditions_for_Individual_Consultant
Annex III - Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability and financial proposal
Annex IV - P11 Form_for_ICs_optional
Annex V - Procurement Notice.
***All documents can be downloaded at: https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=94435
For any clarification regarding this assignment please write to procurement.th@undp.org under Subject: JobAds 107497- Strategic Communications Consultant (International Consultant)