UNDP Jobs - 71348- Consultant for the Development of Strategic Plan f

Consultant for the Development of Strategic Plan for National Ministry of Federal Affairs (MoFedA)

Location :

Juba, SOUTH SUDAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

25-Apr-2017

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

30 Working days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

30 Working days

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

Organizational Context

On 17 August 2015, Government of Republic of South Sudan (GRSS) and SPLM/A-IO signed the Agreement on Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (ARCISS). This Peace Agreement provides a power-sharing Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) with thirty (30) Ministries, organized in three (3) sectoral clusters. One of the ten (10) Ministries in the Governance Cluster is the Ministry of Federal Affairs (MoFedA) that link with overall UNDP’s governance programme, within which this technical and financial support will be embedded in coordination with UNDP LGCDSD project that supports restoration of core governance functions.

As a new organ of the TGoNU and in the absence of an establishment act, the MoFedA organized a Consultative Workshop in 2016 to develop its establishment document through defining its vision, mission and mandate. As part of its formation, the Ministry wants to develop its strategic plan and requests UNDP to support the same.
To respond to the request from the MoFedA, UNDP seeks to recruit an experienced international consultant to lead the development of a Strategic Plan including a capacity development programme package that will help to operationalize the Strategic Plan.

The consultant will work under the guidance of the Democratic Governance and Stabilization Unit Team Leader and coordinate his/her work with the project staff, and other UNDP project managers, the MoFedA and its partners.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective

To support the Ministry of Federal Affairs in developing a Strategic Plan;
To support development of a costed capacity development programme package of the SP

Scope of work

Review the establishment document of the MoFedA and its current capacity gaps;
Carry out consultative workshop with the MoFedA and relevant stakeholders;
Prepare first draft strategic plan and a costed capacity development package for operationalization of the SP;
Present the first draft strategic plan and costed capacity development package in a validation workshop to be organized by the MoFedA;
Integrate stakeholders’ feedback and submit second draft of the strategic plan and capacity development package to the MoFedA and UNDP;
Prepare and submit final strategic plan and costed capacity development package to the MoFedA and UNDP.

Methodology

The consultant shall adopt a combination of participatory tools and methodologies, for instance desk research, self-assessment; Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis; key stakeholder analysis, interview with key stakeholders) and group facilitation techniques to promote participation and buy-in from the stakeholders and in coordination with UNDP LGCDSD project throughout the consultancy process.

Deliverables
The deliverables of the consultancy are:

Inception report: The consultant will prepare an inception report which will enumerate the consultant’s understanding of the ToR and the methodology of the assessment. The report will be presented to the reference group at an inception meeting. This is to ensure that the consultant and the key stakeholders (MoFedA and UNDP) have a shared understanding of the roadmap of the consultancy. The inception report will include a detailed methodology, stakeholder mapping, plan of action, interim deliverables and time frames;
Workshop to present the draft strategic plan and costed capacity development package: The consultant will prepare a draft strategic and costed capacity development package, entail development of programme on how to operationalize the Strategic Plan, which will be presented at a validation workshop to be attended by members of the reference group and other stakeholders. The draft strategic plan and costed capacity development package will be subjected to review and comments;
Final strategic plan and costed capacity development package: The final document which will include the strategic plan and costed capacity development programme will be submitted to the MoFedA and UNDP after due quality assurance;

Table 1 below presents summary of the deliverables and timing:

Document review, drafting inception report with clear methodology and detailed work plan and stakeholder mapping Inception Report - 5 days;
Inception meeting with reference group member, MoFedA, UNDP; Stakeholder consultations Draft; strategic plan and costed capacity development package - 15 days;
Preliminary data analysis, debriefing and presentation of draft Strategic Plan Report, Validation workshop with key stakeholders, Finalization of strategic plan and costed capacity development package after incorporating additions and comments provided by all stakeholders and submission to MoFedA and UNDP. Final Strategic Plan and costed capacity development programme package - 10 days;

Total number of working days, 30 days starting April 2017 spread over a period of 3 months.

Scope of price proposal and schedule of payment
The consultant shall be paid the consultancy fee upon completion of the following milestones:

25% after adoption of the inception report;
35% after presentation of the draft strategic plan and costed capacity development package;
40% after the approval of the final Strategic Plan and costed capacity development package.

The consultancy fee will be paid as Lump Sum Amount (inclusive of expenses related to the consultancy). This means no adjustment shall be made to the initially agreed offer presented to UNDP.

Competencies

Core competencies

Demonstrates integrity and fairness by modelling UN values and ethical standards;
Demonstrates professional competence and is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results;
Display cultural, gender, nationality, religion and age sensitivity and adaptability;
High sense of relational skills, including cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability, with a demonstrated ability to work in a multidisciplinary team.

Functional Competencies:

Good knowledge and understanding of the UN system, familiarity with UNDP mandate an asset;
Knowledge of issues concerning governance, women's rights and gender equality;
Specific knowledge in the subject area (e.g. democratic governance, rule of law, access to justice, GBV, decentralization, federalism and local government);
Thorough knowledge of results-based management and strategic planning processes;
Excellent facilitation and communication skills;
Wide experience in quantitative and qualitative data collection methods and –analysis including surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews etc.;
Ability to deal with multi-stakeholder groups;
Ability to write focused Strategic Plan and costed capacity development package.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in Governance, Law, Political Science, Sociology, International Development, and/or related Social Science fields.

Experiences:

Minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible experience in developing public sector strategic plans, political economy and political governance analyses;
Experience with using a range of quantitative and qualitative data gathering and analysis techniques related to strategic plan development;
In-depth understanding of establishment and operation of a national ministry in “in-conflict” and post-conflict context and/or countries in transition;
In-depth knowledge of gender and youth issues in strategic plan development;
Experience in engaging with national counterparts using participatory and consultative approaches and ability to manage diversity of views in different cultural contexts;
Previous in country relevant experience will be an advantage;
Previous proven experience in undertaking institutional strategic plan, capacity assessment and capacity development;
In-depth understanding of federalism, decentralization and local government in post-conflict environment.
The consultancy will be conducted by an independent international consultant. The international consultant must have extensive experience in developing and preparing strategic plans and costed capacity development package to a national ministry preferably dealing with federal affairs in a post-conflict environment. The consultant is expected to have knowledge of federalism and local governance system and preferably in “in-conflict” and post -conflict environments.

Language:

Proficiency in written and spoken English is required;
Knowledge of Arabic language will be an asset.

Technical proposal

Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidates and at least three (3) professional references indicating the last experience in the domain
Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology on how they will approach and complete the assignment;
Qualification documents of the consultant. These include certified degrees and certificates;
A detailed methodology to be applied in developing the strategic plan and capacity development package. The consultant wishing to submit his/her offer must note that this is the crucial part of his/her offer;
Any other document deemed relevant to this consultancy service.

Financial proposal

A Financial Proposal must be submitted that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price supported by a breakdown of costs as per template provided. 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 a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate this at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP

40 Criteria for selection of the consultants:

The offer will be evaluated by using the Best value for money approach (combined scoring method). Technical proposal will be evaluated on 70%. Whereas budget proposed will be evaluated on 30% based on sufficiency for applying the data gathering techniques and for obtaining reliable data for the strategic plan in the timeframe indicated. Below is the breakdown of technical proposal on 100% which will be brought to 70%.

Evaluation criteria:

Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in Governance, Law, Political Science, Sociology, International Development, and/or related Social Science fields - 10%;
Extensive knowledge of, and experience in developing strategic plans and capacity development packages in post-conflict environment using participatory facilitation methodologies - 25%;
In-depth knowledge of the Local Governance System in South Sudan and other post-conflict countries - 15%;
Rigorous methodology for undertaking the assignment - 40%.
Fluency in English - 10%.

Total: 100%

Application Process
Qualified candidates are requested to apply online by 5 April 2017.

The application should contain:

Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position and a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work (if applicable);
Financial Proposal - specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this announcement. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (number of anticipated working days – in home office and on mission, local travel cost).

Disclosure:
Although the consultant is free to discuss with the authorities on anything relevant to the assignment, under the terms of reference, the consultant is not authorized to make any commitments on behalf of UNDP, the Governments of the countries participating in the UNDP/LGCDSD project).