Background
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are framed in a globally accepted Framework that focuses on 17 goals with 169 associated targets and 230 indicators (so far proposed). Data will play the most vital role for monitoring SDGs and tracking the progress of targets. In case of Bangladesh, the Statistical Act 2013 has mandated the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) as the stand alone agency for generating official statistics. The BBS is the key stakeholder and an anchor in the course of the data revolution in the Bangladesh context and recently has done one data gap analysis and SDG mapping at indicators level through the review of the goals and targets of both the Government of Bangladesh’s 7th Five Year Plan (FYP) and SDGs. It also proposed to take up 47 projects in order to provide the required data for SDGs monitoring. With support from the General Economics Division (GED) of the Planning Commission, the BBS has initiated discussions with the relevant ministries providing the administrative data required for SDGs monitoring, in order to develop methodologies for the data collection and validation
In order to provide appropriate Technical Assistance (TA) support to the BBS, the GED and relevant key ministries and agencies, the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) decided to review the data gaps analysis prepared by BBS and propose potential recommendations for the way forward; and to undertake a data gap analysis to align UNDAF priorities with measurable outcomes.
The UNCT in Bangladesh, comprised of 24 members, led by the Resident Coordinator, representatives from 12 resident agencies, 8 non-resident agencies, IOM, World Bank, UNV and UNIC has a strategic cooperation framework with the Government and partners - known as the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). The current UNDAF 2012-2016 implemented through an Action Plan will end this year and a new UNDAF will commence starting 2017 until 2020.
Duties and Responsibilities
objectives & scope :
The objective of the consultancy is to provide technical analysis of national data availability and data gaps at indicator level (for both SDGs and Development Results Framework (DRF) of the 7th FYP) to report against the proposed SDG targets, and mapping of existing systems and approaches for data generation. Such analysis on data availability and generation shall contribute to national SDGs readiness and planning, and to the identification of potential areas for targeted capacity development and process enhancement support for data collection including using open & big data.
Duties and responsibilities & Deliverables:
The Consultant is required to:
- Review data gaps identified by the BBS and GED, in terms of the availability and reliability of official statistics (both data generated by BBS and administrative data by other ministry/agencies). Note that both GED and BBS have done separate exercises on this issue;
- Review of existing data generation approaches and methodology and consistency of those with requirement for SDGs;
- Review and identify (considering contextualization of SDGs indicators) the relevant SDGs indicators for Bangladesh in partnership with UN agencies to ensure that UNDAF priorities are supported by relevant data availability;
- Review and identify data sources from outside government (BBS or administrative data) including civil society organizations, private sector, academia etc. that will be used for SDGs monitoring;
- Review and identify critical gender equality indicators which are important but not considered in the study or which require further improvements from gender equality perspective.
- Suggest a systematic disaggregation of all relevant indicators by gender, age, disability and ethnicity); and spatial disaggregation (urban and rural)
- Review data gap analysis produced by BBS and GED from gender perspectives and recommend production of gender statistics for gender sensitive data generation and analysis.
- Suggest ‘data supply chain’ for each indicator and methods of validation at each node, especially for non-BBS data. [For example, a typical supply chain of administrative data may look like the following: Agency -> Ministry ->GED->BBS]
- Recommend the potential nodes of validation to ensure the authenticity of data.
A report that assesses thoroughly the data gaps report by BBS for SDGs and DRF of 7th FYP following the scopes of the work mentioned above. The report will provide:
- An overview of the key existing gaps, and proposed methodologies/approaches to address the gaps including the timeline to have this in place;
- A set of criteria/strategies that will help UNCT as well as GOB to prioritize the needs to fill in the gaps;
- A set of recommendations on potential areas to consider for a proposed joint programme by UNCT.
- A set of recommendations for areas of advocacy to engage with key actors at national, subnational and local levels.
Supervision and Performance Evaluation of the evaluator
- The consultant will be under the overall supervision of the Head of RCO working closely with the UN Data Group.
- Timeframe and deadlines: The assignment’s total duration 25 days (spread over 3 months from October-December 2016), beginning from the date the contract is signed.
- Reports: The primary deliverables are as specified under component D. An interim report on progress on these should be submitted after a month.
- Payment schedule: Based on clearance by the UN Data group, remuneration will be paid through 2 (two) installments. The Consultant will receive remuneration after successful completion of assignment positively evaluated by the Supervisor.
Competencies
The incumbent will have to demonstrate competencies of working as a team member and/or team leader.
Corporate Competencies:
- Demonstrate good knowledge of the United Nations System mandate and the political, cultural and economic contexts of the region and the country;
- Demonstrative ability to assess the application of the five UN Programming Principles: human rights; gender equality; environmental sustainability; RBM; capacity development;
- Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s Values and ethical standards;
- Plans, prioritizes, and delivers on time;
- Participates effectively in a team-based, information-sharing environment, collaborates and cooperates with others;
- Strong coordination, negotiation, networking, lobbying and advocacy skills;
Functional Competencies:
- Demonstrate strong analytical and strategic thinking skills with ability to conceptualize, articulate, write and debate about relevant issues.
- Demonstrate ability to lead and manage a team substantively;
- Knowledge of current trends in international development, especially in the Asia-Pacific Region and Bangladesh;
- Knowledge of South-South and triangular cooperation;
- Knowledge of Asia Pacific, its institutions, key stakeholders and partners;
- Conceptualizes and analyses problems to identify key issues, underlying problems, and how they relate;
- Ability to identify beneficiaries’ needs, and to match them with appropriate solutions;
- Ability to build and sustain effective dialogue with main constituents, communicate effectively and sensitively across different constituencies.
- Ability to handle a large volume of work possibly under time constraints;
Required Skills and Experience
Required Skills & Experiences:
Academic Qualifications:
- Master’s degree or an advanced degree in Economics, Statistics, development studies and/or other relevant disciplines. PhD in relevant field will be an asset.
Professional experience:
- Minimum 5 years of experience working in research, data collection and analysis with specific experience in issues of inclusion and inequality, most particularly on gender and vulnerability analysis.
- Professional experience with national data systems and database management and analysis, with particular knowledge of macro data linked with national level data requirements.
- Demonstrated experience and/or publication of high level papers based on quantitative and qualitative data and information management
Others requirements:
- Sound knowledge and understanding on SDGs and national Five Year Plans (7FYP).
- Demonstrated experience in working with data quality, and application of HRBA approach to data.
- Previous working experience with UN agencies on data related issues
- Ability to work independently and with minimal supervision.
Language Requirements:
- Excellent proven written and spoken English, report writing and presentation skills.
- Excellent communication and interview skills; interpersonal and teamwork skills;
Evaluation/selection of the Candidate:
Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:
Documentation required
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:
Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided in Annex II.
Personal CV or 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.
- Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position, a brief a workplan based on the outlined scope, purpose, objective, and methodology
Lump sum contracts:
The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this
lump sum amount (including travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days).
Travel:
All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.
In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.
Proposal of Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:
Technical Evaluation: (Total obtainable score – 70)
Individual applicant will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications, (phone interview) interview results and financial proposal.
The shortlisted candidates will be evaluated based on the following criteria and informal interview.
Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation:
- Professional experience with national data systems and database management and analysis, with particular knowledge of macro data linked with national level data requirements. (30 marks)
- Sound knowledge and understanding on SDGs and national Five Year Plans (7FYP). (10 marks)
- Demonstrated experience in working with data quality, and application of HRBA approach to data. (20 marks)
- Excellent proven written and spoken English, report writing and presentation skills. (10 marks)
Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% marks i.e. 49 marks in the Technical evaluation would be considered for Financial evaluation.
Financial Evaluation: (Total obtainable score – 30):
All technically 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 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.
Final Selection:
The final selection will be completed through the cumulative calculation of obtained points from Technical and Financial Evaluation. The highest cumulative scorer will be awarded the contract.