UNDP Jobs - 70960- Consultancy to conduct empirical research on the l

Consultancy to conduct empirical research on the links between corruption and violent extremism in the Asia-Pacific region

Location :

Home-Based, SINGAPORE

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

03-Apr-2017

Application Deadline :

01-Apr-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

65 days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

3 months

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

In recent years, the world has witnessed new waves of violent extremism that have taken the lives of many innocent people. While security and law enforcement approaches are necessary to manage and respond to the threat of violent extremism, these measures will not be sufficient in and of themselves to reduce the prevalence and potential impact of violent extremism over the long-term.

The prevention of violent extremism requires security measures to be complemented with additional measures based on socio-economic causes and solutions, anchored in robust analysis of the diverse local drivers of violent extremism. UNDP’s conceptual framework consists of 11 interlinked building blocks forming a theory of change that explains how development can help prevent violent extremism. Enhancing the fight against corruption and widespread impunity is an important component of that strategy. Countries or local communities that make a solid effort to reduce the petty and grand corruption that fuel people’s perceptions of injustice provide a visible sign that causes of inequality and marginalization are being addressed. UNDP strategies at the national level aim to design new initiatives (including fast track projects to address immediate challenges) and also include an analysis and adaptation of UNDP’s existing portfolio of projects, examining how they may positively or negatively influence the drivers of radicalization and violent extremism.

The Anti-Corruption for Peaceful and Inclusive Societies (ACPIS) project is guided by the strong link between governance, peace-building and development. This link is the focus of UNDP’s global strategy on ‘Preventing Violent Extremism through Inclusive Development and the Promotion of Tolerance and Respect for Diversity’, which advocates a comprehensive development response to addressing radicalization and violent extremism. The strategy acknowledges that the prevention of violent extremism needs to go beyond reactive security concerns and that it will not be possible to deliver peaceful, just and inclusive societies when corruption continues to deprive many people of important development dividends. This global strategy calls for action to address the development related causes of this threat, such as perceptions of injustice, human rights violations, social-political exclusion, widespread corruption and the sustained mistreatment of certain groups.

Corruption is one of several factors that, over the long-term, contribute to an enabling environment for violent extremism. While little empirical evidence exists about this dynamic, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, anecdotal evidence indicates that corruption contributes to an enabling environment for violent extremism in at least two ways:

weakening law enforcement efforts by undermining the capacity and integrity of law enforcement agencies, including police, border protection, prosecutors, courts and prisons (see, e.g. Louise Shelley, Dirty Entanglements: Corruption, Crime, and Terrorism, 2014); and
stoking anger towards the state and other groups by perpetuating citizens’ marginalization, offending their sense of justice and undermining their dignity (e.g. Sarah Chayes, Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security, 2015).

Objectives:

The objective of this consultancy is to produce the first comprehensive study on the linkages between violent extremism and corruption in the Asia Pacific region. The study will contain three components:

an analysis of the applicability of existing literature on the links between corruption and violent extremism to the Asia-Pacific region;
the generation and analysis of new empirical data on the links between corruption and violent extremism in the Asia-Pacific region; and
an identification of entry points for action by the UNDP and relevant partners at the local, country, regional and global levels to address the issue of corruption and violent extremism.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant/institution will be responsible for the following deliverables:

Under the direct supervision of the Programme Manager of UNDP’s ACPIS, an international consultant (or an institution) will be contracted to carry out the tasks as described above. The consultant will be responsible for the following deliverables:

Develop a draft inception report with some background research and desk review on the preliminary findings and a detailed outline of a road map for the research (by May 1, 2017);
Develop and submit a first draft of the study on the linkages between violent extremism and corruption in the Asia-Pacific region (by June 30, 2017);
Submit the final revised draft after incorporating all the inputs received from peer reviewers (by 31 July 2017);
Submit the final version of the flagship study no later than 31 August 2017.

Competencies

Thorough knowledge of issues related to governance, anti-corruption and preventing violent extremism;
Ability to generate/obtain, analyze and present data and evidence in a clear and understandable format;
Strong background in combined knowledge on anti-corruption and preventing violent extremism will be an asset;
Strong analytical, research and written skills;
Ability to work independently, against tight deadlines.

Required Skills and Experience

Master’s degree in public administration, law, political science, finance, economics, international relations, development studies, or related field would be preferred.

Experience:

At least seven years of experience in policy analysis or relevant research at national or international level;
Global exposure to governance, peacebuilding and anti-corruption issues;
Strong track record in development and/or governance with a specific focus on anti-corruption, preventing violent extremism or related area;
Familiarity with the process of producing a flagship global/regional report;
Experience in working in Asia-Pacific region will be an asset;
A sound knowledge of the current state of sustainable development agenda, issues related to anti-corruption and violent extremism;
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

Language Requirements:

Excellent oral and written English.

How to Apply:

Kindly download the Financial Proposal Template, P11 form and General Terms & Conditions mentioned below;
Personal CV or a P11 Personal History Form, 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;
Read and agree to the General Terms & Conditions;
Click the ‘apply’icon and complete what is required;
Brief description of approach to work/technical proposal of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a proposed methodology on how they will approach and complete the assignment; (max 1 page);
Financial Proposal (Annex II) that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided. The term "all inclusive" implies all cost (professional fees, international travel costs, living allowances etc). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified above.
- Travel, if applicable. 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.
If an applicant 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 applicant must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.
For duty travels, the UN’s Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) rates should provide?indication?of the cost of living in a duty station/destination.
Scan all documents into 1 pdf folder and then upload;
For clarification question, please email to procurement.my@undp.org. The clarification question deadline is three (3) days before the closing. When emailing for clarification questions, please put "MyIC/2017/007" as the subject matter.
Incomplete applications will be excluded from further consideration.

Forms and General terms & conditions to be downloaded:

The UN Personal History Form (P11) is available at:http://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/P11%20for%20SC%20&%20IC.doc?download
Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability at: http://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/Letter%20of%20Interest%20_Annex%201.docx?download
The Financial Proposal Template at: http://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/MyIC_2017_007%20Financial%20Proposal%20Template.doc?download
The General Terms & Conditions for Individual contract is available at:http://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/General%20Conditions%20of%20Contract%20for%20IC.pdf?download
The General Terms & Conditions for Reimbursement Loan Agreement is available at:http://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/Reimbursable%20Loan%20Agreement%20_%20Terms%20&%20Conditions.pdf?download

Important Note:

This Consultancy position is only accepted online. Email submission is not valid;
Applicant must READ and ACCEPT the General Terms and Conditions;
The system DOES NOT accept multiple document upload. Please scan all the documents and save into one (1) PDF file and upload.

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer:

The award of the contract will be made to the Individual Consultant or Organization who has obtained the highest Combined Score as a result of evaluation of technical proposal, P11 form/CV and interview and has accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions. Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated. The offers will be evaluated using the “Combined Scoring method” where:

The technical proposal will be evaluated as follows: educational background (10%), writing/editing skills (20%) and relevant experience on similar assignments (40%) will be weighted a max. of 70%; The price proposal will weigh as 30% of the total scoring.