Antecedentes

Approximately 40 million people in Bangladesh live in urban areas, out of which 21 per cent live below the poverty line. Such poor urban households live in inadequate and insecure houses, often in unsanitary conditions. Difficulties in accessing employment are made worse by having little or no social protection. There is limited access to health and education opportunities. With one of the highest urbanization rates in Asia, the situation continues to worsen for an increasing number of urban poor in Bangladesh.
 
The project:
 
UPPR works with communities in 23 towns and cities across Bangladesh to develop the capacity of poor women to manage their communities’ development issues and tackle the needs they identify as most important. The project began in 2008 and seeks to reduce urban poverty in Bangladesh by sustainably improving the livelihoods and living conditions of 3 million poor and extreme poor people living in urban areas, especially women and children by August 2014. Key outputs include:
  • Urban poor communities mobilized to form representative and inclusive groups and prepare community action plans;
  • Poor urban communities have healthy and secure living environments;
  • Urban poor and extremely poor people acquire the resources, knowledge and skills to increase their income and assets; and,
  • Pro-poor urban policies and partnerships supported at the national and local levels.

To achieve these outcomes UPPR works with over 2,500 Community Development Committees (CDCs). Over 90% of leadership in CDCs is provided by women and they manage the Participatory Identification of the Poor (PIP); the development of Community Action Plans (CAPs); and oversee the implementation of community contracts.
To provide this support, the Government of Bangladesh and the United Nations work together to manage and implement UPPR. It is the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) that hosts and executes UPPR at a national level. In the towns and cities in which UPPR works, it does it jointly with the Municipality or City Cooperation. UNDP manages the implementation of the Project, and UN-Habitat supports the components that work on improving living conditions. Beyond the contributions of these actors, the majority of funding is provided by UK aid (GBP 60 million).

UPPR’s communication strategy:

UPPR has a Research, Evaluation and Learning Unit (RELU) which coordinates the measurement of results and communication. In line with the communication strategy, the project is constantly aiming at the improvement of its communication with partners through the use of diverse and innovative means and ensuring the high-quality of its communication material. Further, RELU is supporting the project in ensuring the delivery of more results focused and strategic reporting. The expected deliverables from this consultancy will enable RELU to provide this support effectively to UPPR.

Deberes y responsabilidades

Description of the assignment:

  • To strengthen the project’s communication with donors, partners and general public through the production of reports and effective communication material that adequately captures UPPR’s work, and the documentation of practices.

Scope of work:

  • The consultant will support UPPR in documenting and promoting its achievements and lessons learned during the final phase of the project. This will include compiling data and composing a narrative for UPPR’s six month report to DFID for January to June 2014 with the support of RELU;
  • During their field trip the consultant will also work directly with women in the community and who participated in the UPPR ‘We Tell’ photography project and photographers to design a photobook;
  • The consultant will work with a firm to oversee the finalization of two videographics based on UPPR’s approach to reducing urban poverty in Bangladesh and support their promotion on social media;
  • The consultant will finalize a briefing note on UPPR’s approach to savings and credit operations which will be shared on the UPPR website;
  • The consultant will also support UPPR by leading the updates to the project’s website and social media with guidance from RELU.

Expected outputs:

Reporting:

  • Six-month donor report on activities completed and results achieved for the period January – June 2014 and associated PowerPoint presentation.

Publications:

  • Development of photo-book based on UPPR’s We Tell project;
  • Finalize a briefing note on UPPR Savings & Credit operations.

Communications:

  • Weekly update of UPPR’s Face-book page and Twitter account;
  • Monthly update of the website content and blog administration;
  • Finalization of two animated graphics video on urban poverty themes;
  • Twelve news stories for website and newsletter, and design of two newsletters.

Impact of result:

  • Visibility of UPPR results increased as the project transition towards the next urban generation programme;
  • Outreach strengthen through strong communication and social media network;
  • Donor relations and partnership strengthened;
  • Innovation and advocacy.

Institutional arrangement:

  • The Consultants will work directly under the supervision of Head of RELU and overall guidance of International Project Manager.

Duration of the work and duty station:

  • The assignment will be for 70 working days for the international consultant up to December 2014. This position is home-based with a 21 days mission to Bangladesh, including travel time. UPPR will provide all necessary data and contacts. During the field visit UPPR will facilitate the visit and provide transport outside Dhaka and office space as required.

Final products/services:

  • Six-month report January – June 2014 and associated PowerPoint presentation;
  • Development of photo-book based on UPPR’s We Tell project;
  • Finalise briefing note on UPPR’s approach to Savings & Credit operations;
  • Weekly update of UPPR’s Face-book page and Twitter account;
  • Monthly update of the website content and blog administration;
  • Finalization of two animated graphics video on urban poverty themes;
  • Twelve news stories for website and newsletter, and design of two newsletters.

Scope of bid price and schedule of payment:

  • Remuneration of the successful contractor will be fixed and bids should be submitted on this basis. No adjustment will be given for the period and determined by the specified outputs as per this ToR. The price should take into account all HR costs and professional fees, travel costs, subsistence and ancillary expenses.
  • UNDP shall effect payments, by bank transfer to the consultant’s bank account, upon acceptance by UNDP (in consultation with LPAD) of the deliverables specified in the ToR. Payments will be made based on milestone deliverables upon submission of invoice and upon certification of the work completed.

Payment installments:

  • 30% of the contract amount upon completion of UPPR’s six-monthly donor report (January - June 2014);
  • 30% of the contract amount upon developing photo-book based on UPPR’s We Tell Project;
  • 20% of the contract amount upon finalization of videographics project;
  • 20% of the contract amount upon completion of all tasks and submission of final report.

Terms:

  • The selected contractor will prepare and submit a work plan for approval and report progress.
  • Payment for services of the contractor will be made upon certification of the deliverable and submission of invoice by the Head of RELU, UPPR.

Responsibilities of the contractor regarding cost component:

  • All cost related to this assignment including logistics, office arrangements, accommodation, etc. (including when in travel within Bangladesh)shall be borne by the contractor.

Responsibilities of UNDP regarding cost component:

  • UNDP shall pay the lump sum amount quoted in the financial proposal and shall be paid as achievement of milestones as per the TOR.
  • Achieving the deliverables shall be the sole responsibility of the contractor. Any delay shall be communicated and plan to achieve the deliverables shall be communicated by the contractor to the UPPR team.

Identification of risk and risk mitigation plan:

  • Risk Identification – delay in the delivery of milestones due external factors. The consultant will be solely responsible for the deliverables and will be responsible to achieve these milestones.
  • A focal person/team from the UPPR project will coordinate the task between the consultant and UPPR.
    The International M&E Specialist will ensure quality of the final product.

Key performance indicator:

  • Milestone deliverables.

Competencias

  • Proven ability to deliver revisions in an expedient manner;
  • Proven ability to deliver high-quality work efficiently and on-time;
  • Innovative and creative thinking in relation to communication and branding;
  • Exceptional written communications skills, with ability to adapt style to suit different communications media and audiences;
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English;
  • Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Academic Qualification:

  • Master's degree in relevant field from recognized university.

Experience and Skills:

  • Four (4) years of professional experience in reporting and communication which must include at least one year of experience reporting to UN and donor agencies;
  • At least one (1) year of experience working with urban poverty reduction strategies.

Language Requirement:

  • Fluency in writing and speaking in English.

Evaluation of the Candidates:

  • Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:


Cumulative analysis:

The candidates will be evaluated through Cumulative Analysis method. When using the 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.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for Financial Evaluation.

Technical Evaluation Criteria (Total 70 marks)

  • Experience of using different communication strategies to highlight results for UN and donor agencies (20 marks)
  • Experience with urban poverty reduction issues (15 marks)
  • Experience of working with community members in developing communications materials (15 marks)
  • Quality of sample provided (20 marks)

Financial Evaluation (Total 30 marks)

All technical qualified proposals will be scored out 30 based on the formula provided below. The maximum points (30) will be assigned to the lowest financial proposal. All other proposals received 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

Documents to be included when submitting the Proposal:

Interested candidates must submit the following detailed proposal made up of documentation to demonstrate the qualifications of the prospective consultant, to enable appraisal of competing bids. This should include technical proposal, details of which are listed below:

  • One sample of sole-authored work that demonstrates ability to clearly communicate results to a wide development audience.

Technical Proposal:

  • Relevant Experience – Description of experience in projects of a comparable nature, with specific description of technical specialization of the consultant;
  • Approach – This should describe the consultant’s proposed approach to planning, designing and developing high quality photo- stories;
  • Risk management – The consultant must identify key risks and outline how it will mitigate against them.

Financial Proposal (including fee, travel cost, living allowance, and other relevant expenses):

  • The Financial Proposal shall specify a total delivery amount (in USD) including consultancy fees and all associated costs, i.e. travel cost, subsistence per diems, printing costs, consultation workshop costs and overhear recharges.
  • In order to assist UNDP in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposals will include a breakdown of this amount disclosing the key assumption employed in costing the working, i.e. the cost per producing one photo-story.

The cost of preparing a proposal and of negotiating a contract, including any related travel, is not reimbursable as a direct cost of the assignment.