UNDP Jobs - 55956- Consultant - UNDP follow-up on the Global Commissi

Consultant - UNDP follow-up on the Global Commission on HIV and the Law’s Drug Policy Recommendations

Location :

Home-based

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

11-May-2015

Application Deadline :

06-May-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Estimated 21 working days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

11 May to 30 June 2015

UNDP 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. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 170 countries and territories, working with governments and people on their own solutions to global and national development challenges to help empower lives and build resilient nations.

The Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan. BPPS’s staff provides technical advice to Country Offices; advocates for UNDP corporate messages, represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora including public-private dialogues, government and civil society dialogues, South-South and Triangular cooperation initiatives, and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas. BPPS works closely with UNDP’s Crisis Response Unit (CRU) to support emergency and crisis response. BPPS ensures that issues of risk are fully integrated into UNDP’s development programmes. BPPS assists UNDP and partners to achieve higher quality development results through an integrated approach that links results based management and performance monitoring with more effective and new ways of working. BPPS supports UNDP and partners to be more innovative, knowledge and data driven including in its programme support efforts.

BPPS supports UNDP’s 2014-2017 Strategic Plan, focusing on 7 outcomes including strengthening institutions to progressively deliver universal access to basic services (outcome 3). The HIV Health and Development team, within BPPS, is helping to contribute towards this outcome.

HIV, Health and Development Approach

UNDP is a founding cosponsor of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), a partner of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and a co-sponsor of several other international health partnerships. UNDP’s work on HIV, health and development leverages the organization’s core strengths and mandates in human development, governance and capacity development to complement the efforts of specialist health-focused UN agencies. UNDP delivers three types of support to countries in HIV, health and development.

First, UNDP helps countries to mainstream attention to HIV and health into action on gender, poverty and the broader effort to achieve and sustain the Millennium Development Goals. For example, UNDP works with countries to understand the social and economic factors that play a crucial role in driving health and disease, and to respond to such dynamics with appropriate policies and programmes outside the health sector. UNDP also promotes specific action on the needs and rights of women and girls as they relate to HIV and other health.

Second, UNDP works with partners to address the interactions between governance, human rights and health responses. Sometimes this is done through focused or specialized programmes, such as promoting attention to the role of legal environments (law and access to justice) in facilitating stronger HIV responses, including the use of flexibilities in intellectual property and human rights law to lower the cost of drugs and diagnostics and to increase access to HIV-related treatment. UNDP also works to empower and include people living with HIV and marginalized populations who are disproportionately affected by HIV - also known as key populations - such as sex workers, men who have sex with men, and transgender people. Beyond these focused efforts, UNDP plays a key role in ensuring attention to HIV and health within broader governance and rights initiatives, including support to district and municipal action on MDGs, strengthening of national human rights institutions and increasing access to justice for marginalized populations.

Third, as a trusted, long-term partner with extensive operational experience, UNDP supports countries in effective implementation of complex, multilateral and multisectoral health projects, while simultaneously investing in capacity development so that national and local partners can assume these responsibilities over time. The UNDP/Global Fund partnership is an important part of this work, facilitating access to resources for action on MDG 6 by countries that face constraints in directly receiving and managing such funding. UNDP partners with countries in crisis/post-crisis situations, those with weak institutional capacity or governance challenges, and countries under sanctions. When requested, UNDP acts as interim Principal Recipient in these settings, working with national partners and the Global Fund to improve management, implementation and oversight of Global Fund grants, while simultaneously developing national capacity for governments or local entities to be able to assume the Principal Recipient role over time.

Objective

As the lead agency on human rights and law within the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), UNDP supports countries to create an enabling human rights environment, promote gender equality, and address HIV-related stigma and discrimination. To promote and advocate for human rights-based approaches, UNDP supports initiatives to promote access to justice, legislative review and reform, and enforcement of protective laws and anti-stigma initiatives. Within the UNAIDS Division of Labour, UNDP is the convenor of the UNAIDS Inter-Agency Working group on “Punitive laws and human rights” and the co-convenor of the UNAIDS Inter-Agency Working Group on “key populations.” UNDP also participates in the UNAIDS Reference Group on Human Rights, and the Global Fund Reference Group on Human Rights.

In 2010, UNDP served as the secretariat to a high-level Global Commission on HIV and the Law to interrogate the relationship between legal responses, human rights and HIV. The Commission completed its work in July 2012, with the release of its final report ‘HIV and the Law: Risks, Rights & Health’. Commission follow-up activities, led by UNDP as the secretariat of the Global Commission, in collaboration with UN and civil society partners at global, regional and country level have taken place in at least 84 countries. These activities include normative policy/tools development work and technical and policy/advisory support for legislative reviews, national dialogues and action planning for law reform, judicial and parliamentary sensitization, and access to justice programming.

UNDP’s HIV, Health and Development Group is convening a follow-up meeting on the Global Commission’s recommendations with respect to drug policy, to be held in June 2015. The meeting will focus on ensuring that there is an effective and sustainable response to HIV that is consistent with human rights obligations as it relates to drug policy. UNDP is seeking a consultant with experience in HIV, human rights and the law to develop and deliver a background paper for meeting participants on the drug policy findings and recommendations of the Global Commission.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the Advisor on Human Rights, Law & Access to Treatment, the Consultant will be responsible for developing and delivering to UNDP a background paper on the drug policy findings and recommendations of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law. The paper should include, but not be limited to, discussion on: (1) decriminalization of the possession of drugs for personal use, in recognition that the net impact of such sanctions is often harmful to society; and (2) how to take decisive action, in partnership with the UN, to review and reform relevant international laws and bodies in line with the Global Commission’s recommendations and principles, including the UN international drug control conventions: the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961); Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971); the Convention against the Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988) and the International Narcotics Control Board.

Specific Deliverables:

Researching, writing and producing a first draft of the background paper on the Global Commission on HIV and the Law’s drug policy findings and recommendations, in consultation with HHD. Envisaged Deadline: Early June 2015;
Researching, writing and producing the final background paper on the Global Commission on HIV and the Law’s drug policy findings and recommendations, in consultation with HHD. Envisaged Deadline: Mid-June 2015;
Attending the June 2015 follow-up meeting on the Commission’s drug policy recommendations. Envisaged Deadline: End-June 2015.

Expected Outputs:

A first draft background paper on the Global Commission’s drug policy recommendations completed;
A final background paper on the Global Commission’s drug policy recommendations completed;
The June 2015 follow-up meeting attended.

Reporting:

The consultant will regularly evaluate progress in meeting the specific deliverables with the Advisor, Human Rights, Law and Treatment Access.

Travel:

Travel is anticipated for this consultancy as the consultant will be expected to travel round-trip to New York for the June 2015 follow-up meeting on the Global Commission’s drug policy recommendations. UNDP will cover travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses agreed upon, between UNDP HHD Team and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel. The fare will always be most economical and any difference in price with the preferred route will be paid for by the expert. The Offeror should include all envisaged travel costs in the all-inclusive financial proposal. UNDP does not accept travel costs exceeding those of a full-fare economy class ticket. Individual Contractors wishing to upgrade their travel to business or first class shall do so at their own expense.

Timeframe:

The consultancy will be home-based for an estimated 21 working days covering the period 11 May 2015 through 30 June 2015.

Payment:

The payment will be processed based on deliverables through the Certificate of Payment (COP), verified and certified by the direct supervisor.

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.

Functional Competencies:

Strong research, writing and analytical skills, including ability to produce high quality practical advisory reports, background papers and knowledge products;
Professional and/or academic experience in one or more of the areas of human rights, public health, public policy or international affairs.

Project and Resource Management

Ability to produce high quality outputs in a timely manner while understanding and anticipating the evolving client needs;
Ability to focus on impact and results for the client, promoting and demonstrating an ethic of client service;
Strong organizational skills;
Ability to work independently, produce high quality outputs;
Sound judgment, strategic thinking and the ability to manage competing priorities.

Partnership building and team work

Demonstrated flexibility to excel in a multi-cultural environment;
Provides and receives constructive feedback.

Communications and Advocacy

Strong ability to write clearly and convincingly, adapting style and content to different audiences, and to speak clearly and convincingly;
Excellent analytical, research and writing skills with demonstrated ability to think strategically;
Capacity to communicate clearly and quickly.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

An advanced degree (Masters level) or equivalent in law, human rights, international affairs, public policy, public health or a related field and knowledge of at least one of the other substantive areas.

Experience:

A minimum of 7 years relevant work experience in the area of public health, public policy, international affairs or a related field.
Previous work experience with the UN System required. Experience working with UNDP desirable;
Proven experience of working independently, including the ability to build constructive relationships with a wide variety of colleagues and partners.

Language:

Fluency in English is essential.

Evaluation:

Applicants will be screened against qualifications and competencies specified below through a desk review and/or an interview process. Those selected for the next stage of the selection process will be reviewed based on a cumulative analysis method that combines the results of technical and financial evaluation results. Specifically, 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 points; Financial Criteria weight: 30 points.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70%) out of a maximum 70 points on the Technical Evaluation will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Criteria for Technical Evaluation (70 points maximum)

Advanced degree in human rights, public health, international law, international affairs or a related degree (20 points);
Minimum of 7 years of relevant work experience in the area of HIV, public health, human rights, international affairs or a related field (20 points);
A demonstrated knowledge of HIV, human rights, public health and/or international law, including drug policy as it relates to these areas, as evidenced by a publications record (15 points);
Excellent writing and editorial skills, as evidenced by a writing sample (15 points).

Criteria for Financial Evaluation (30 points maximum)
The following formula will be used to evaluate the 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.