UNCDF Jobs - 73203- International Consultant for Financial Inclusion (

International Consultant for Financial Inclusion (FI) Roadmap action plan and M&E framework

Advertised on behalf of

UNCDF

Location :

Vientaine Capital, LAO PDR

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

07-Aug-2017

Application Deadline :

17-Jul-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

30 Working Days (12 days in Lao PDR and 18 days home-based)

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

30 Working Days (12 days in Lao PDR and 18 days home-based)

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

Making Access to Finance More Inclusive for Poor People” is a programme of UN Capital Development Fund, nationally implemented by the Bank of the Lao PDR (BOL) on behalf of the Government of the Lao PDR. It contributes to the current United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) Outcome #1: “By 2015, more equitable and sustainable growth promoted for poor people in Lao PDR”. It specifically aims to increase access to financial services by low-income households and micro-entrepreneurs on a sustainable basis.

Under MAFIPP, “Making Access to Financial Services Possible” (MAP) is one of a key and prioritized activity that will contribute to the achievement of the MAFIPP Programme Outcome: increased access to financial services for low-income households and micro entrepreneurs in the Lao PDR.

MAP is a multi-country diagnostic and programmatic framework to support expanding access to financial services for individuals and micro and small businesses. MAP has been initiated by UNCDF as one of its main programmes to enhance financial inclusion in LDC’s.

Through a dialogue and evidence-based process, MAP aligns a broad range of stakeholders fromwithin government, private sector and the donor community to create a set of practical actions aimed at extending financial inclusion tailored to that country. Importantly, financial inclusion is pursued not as an objective in and of itself, but for its role in achieving the core public policy objective of enhancing household welfare, supporting livelihoods and contributing to economic growth and employment (the so-called “real economy”). This is to ensure that the outputs for Laos are in line with the outputs for the global MAP programme.

An advanced draft of the Financial Inclusion (FI) Roadmap was presented on 03 November 2016 to central Government agencies and donor partners after an extensive process of engagement with stakeholders at central and provincial levels. After formal sign-off by the Governor of BoL the final version of the Roadmap is due for endorsement by the Cabinet of Prime Minister tentatively in March 2017. BoL and MAFIPP are already preparing for the subsequent implementation stage.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of work

The consultant will develop a maximum of two (2) iterations of the action plan delineated from the FI Roadmap, which shall comprise:

Proposed implementation strategy: institutional arrangement for implementation, roles and responsibilities of respective stakeholders

Implementation areas, separating short- from medium-term activities
Annual activity plan with budget, targets and milestones by implementation area, indicating coordinating GoL agency in charge and associated Donor Partner(s)
Monitoring & Evaluation framework
Resource Mobilization strategy

Key Deliverables

FI Roadmap Strategic annual plan, comprising
Annual action plan with budget
Set of short- and medium-term targets, medium-term targets with annual milestones
Monitoring & Evaluation framework
Resource mobilization strategy
PowerPoint deck presenting the action plan, M&E and resource mobilization strategy for validation by the local stakeholders

Competencies

Functional competencies:

Strong analytical and M&E skills
Demonstrates leadership, team building and coordinating skills
Demonstrates commitment to human development principles and values.
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
Shares knowledge and experience
Plans and produces quality results to meet established goals
Generates innovative, practical solutions to challenging situations
Conceptualizes and analyzes problems to identify key issues, underlying problems, and how they relate
Demonstrates substantive and technical knowledge to meet responsibilities and post requirements with excellence
Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities

Responds positively to critical feedback and differing points of view.

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNCDF and UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment

Required Skills and Experience

Education

Advanced degree in economics, finance, business or public administration or related field.

Experience

A minimum of 3 years relevant, practical working experience in the financial sector;
5 years demonstrated experience related to Public Policies Development and/or operationalization of the alignment of Official Development Aid with national government priorities;
Strong report writing and analytical skills;
Prior working experience in the Mekong sub-region, preferred in Lao PDR;
High autonomy on the job;

Language

Excellent command of the English language, written and oral communication skills.
Cumulative analysis: The award of the contract will be made to a consultant who 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:
* Technical Criteria weight; [0.7]
* Financial Criteria weight; [0.3]

Only a consultant obtaining a minimum of 50 points in the technical rating would be considered for the financial evaluation.
All applications must contain the following information:
Brief technical proposal comprising a summary statement of competencies in relation to the TOR and earliest availability for consultancy
Curriculum Vitae
Financial proposal stating the daily professional fee

Note: Any request for clarification must be sent in writing to the following e-mailinfo@mafipp.org and cedric.javary@uncdf.org or lao.procurement@undp.org

UNDP Lao PDR will respond in writing by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all consultants.

The copies of the response will be also placed on our web-site at: http://www.la.undp.org/content/lao_pdr/en/home/operations/jobs/ and linked to the current Procurement Notice.

All interested candidates are encouraged to visit the above web-site for updates.

Please note that only short-listed candidates will be notified.

Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

For more detailed information about UNDP Lao PDR please visit our website at http://www.la.undp.org/lao_pdr/en/home.html