Background

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Executive Board approved the Regional Programme Document for Asia and the Pacific (RPD) 2014-2017 in January 2014.  The RPD was developed through a consultative process, including inputs from UNDP Country Offices, and countries of the region.  The RPD is structured around four outcomes selected from the UNDP Strategic Plan (2014-2017) that are considered most relevant to regional needs and the comparative advantage of UNDP in Asia and the Pacific at the regional level.

The four Outcomes of the RPD are:

1. Growth and development are inclusive and sustainable, incorporating productive capacities that create employment and livelihoods for the poor and excluded.
2. Citizens’ expectations for voice, effective development, the rule of law and accountability are met by stronger systems of democratic governance.
3. Countries are able to reduce the likelihood of conflict, and lower the risks of natural disasters, including from climate change.
4. Development debates and actions at all levels prioritize poverty, inequality and exclusion, consistent with UNDP engagement principles.

The Regional Programme is intended to capture the multi-faceted nature of the work that is carried out at the regional level, which combines inter-country cooperation initiatives in consultation with and approval of the countries involved, and the provision of policy advisory services in support of the implementation of country programmes in the region and the achievement of development effectiveness at the country level.  The work of UNDP at the regional level is guided and informed by the five regionality principles (see below) and a number of key cross-cutting issues including gender equality in terms of how UNDP work at the regional level.

The five regionality principles are:

1. Promotion of regional public goods, based on strengthened regional cooperation and integration;
2. Management of cross-border externalities and spillovers that are best addressed collaboratively on an inter-country basis;
3. Advancement of awareness, dialogue and action on sensitive and/or emerging development issues that benefit strongly from multi-country experiences and perspectives;
4. Promotion of experimentation and innovation to overcome institutional, financial and/or informational barriers that may be too high for an individual country to surmount;
5. Generation and sharing of development knowledge, experience and expertise, for instance, through South-South and triangular cooperation, so that countries can connect to, and benefit from, relevant experiences from across the region and beyond.

In keeping with UNDP’s results-based approach and to establish clear and measurable indicators of achievement at both output and outcome levels of the RPD, two umbrella Regional Project Documents “Advancing Inclusive and Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific (2014-2017)” and “Achieving the simultaneous eradication of poverty and a significant reduction of inequalities and exclusion in the Pacific (2014-2017)” were development by the UNDP Regional Policy and Programme Support (RPPS), Bangkok Regional Hub (BRH), and the Pacific Centre in Fiji, respectively.  These two Regional Umbrella Projects along with some other regional projects operationalizes the implementation of the RPD in the Asia and the Pacific region.

In 2015, a midterm review of the RPD was conducted in order to 1) provide inputs to feed into the UNDP Strategic Plan midterm review as requested by the Executive Board; and 2) inform the RPD Management Board, senior management and stakeholders on the status of the Regional Programme, provide lessons learned and some key findings and recommendations to inform the way forward during the remaining period of the RPD.

Nearing the end of the RPD period, UNDP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific (RBAP) intends to undertake an end-term gender review of the RPD, in order to highlight achievements and challenges, value-added to the Country Office development results, drivers of success, main gaps and their causes, and recommendations based on lessons learned for the next phase of the regional level work of UNDP.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of work:

Overall, the end-term gender review intends to review cumulative gender equality results achieved against the RPD results framework (including both Regional Umbrella Projects), extract lessons learned, and propose forward-looking recommendations which will inform UNDP’s regional work beyond 2017.

The end-term gender review will have two objectives:

1)            Review the effectiveness and extent of UNDP’s contribution to gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) in Asia and the Pacific in the result areas that are women-targeted or gender-sensitive.  In cases where GEWE is not explicit in outcomes/outputs but is implicit in reference to target groups, i.e., ‘poor and vulnerable groups’, efforts will be made to extract and assess any gender-related work done.

2)            Review the effectiveness of UNDP’s institutional arrangements and mechanisms in place to promote and mainstream GEWE regionally and at Country Office levels, including the reginal advisory services.

The end-term gender review will also identify gender equality contribution of the RPD’s multi-faceted work that is carried out at the regional level supported through various sources of funding.  This will also include a review of the effectiveness of regional knowledge products with specific relevance to supporting GEWE in Asia and the Pacific.

The methodology for data collection will be largely from internal UNDP sources: project progress monitoring reports, project evaluation reports, interviews (face-to-face or remotely) with the management teams and advisors at BRH and the Pacific Office in Fiji, as well as selected Country Offices, and UN partners.  Available external documents reporting or demonstrating UNDP’s contribution to GEWE relevant to the RPD will also be reviewed.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

The consultant is expected to deliver the followings:

Duration of the Assignment

Up to a maximum of 35 working days over a period of maximum three months. The starting date is expected to be 08 September 2017 – 15 December 2017.  The final product is required to be submitted by 30 November 2017.

Duty Station

This consultancy is home-based with anticipated travel to Bangkok, Thailand, for approximately 8 working days.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling 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;
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism.

Technical Competencies:

• Analytic capacity and demonstrated ability to process, analyse and synthesise complex, technical information;
• Proven ability to support the development of high quality knowledge and training materials, and to train technical teams;
• Proven experience in the developing country context and working in different cultural settings.

Communication:

• Communicate effectively in writing to a varied and broad audience in a simple and concise manner.

Professionalism:

• Capable of working in a high pressure environment with sharp and frequent deadlines, managing many tasks simultaneously;
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills.

Teamwork:

• Projects a positive image and is ready to take on a wide range of tasks;
• Focuses on results for the client;
• Welcomes constructive feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

Requirements for Experience and Qualifications:

Essential

• Master’s degree or equivalent in relevant areas such as Gender Studies, Development Studies, Social Science, Political Science, Human Rights, Law, or equivalent.
• Demonstrated knowledge of gender thematic evaluation and assessment methods with the professional working experience of having taken part in at least 2-3 gender thematic reviews/evaluations
• Demonstrable relevant professional experience in undertaking gender evaluations, reviews and strategic analysis and report writing for international development organisations, including UNDP
• Demonstrable relevant professional experience working on similar evaluation/review assignments which require extensive consultations and interactions with a range of stakeholders.  Gender-related experience in this context would be an asset.
• Good knowledge and technical understanding of the UN, and in particular UNDP programmes in Asia and the Pacific
• Good understanding of the Asia and the Pacific region in terms of gender equality and challenges, development sector, and other aspects of its evolving environment
• Strong analytical capability; openness to change and ability to receive and integrate feedback

Desirable

• Previous relevant experiences with UNDP would be an asset.

Competencies

• Strong command of English, particularly in report writing, presentation and editing.
• Ability to perform tasks in timely manner and under pressure, to tight deadlines.
• Ability to communicate verbally and in writing with a wide range of partners persuasively and collaboratively.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team seamlessly using a range of modern means of communication as required.

Payment terms for the contract.

X Lumpsum    

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payment :

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Lump Sum Amount. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below percentages:

Deliverable 1  : Inception Report: 30% -of total contract amount

Deliverable 2 : Initial Draft Review Report (25-30 pages including data and Annexes) : 30% -of total contract amount

Deliverable 3 : Revised Final Report incorporating feedback on the initial draft report: 40% -of total contract amount

In general, UNDP shall 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 event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Travel costs shall be reimbursed at actual but not exceeding the quotation from UNDP approved travel agent.  The provided living allowance will not be exceeding UNDP DSA rates. Repatriation travel cost from home to duty station in Bangkok and return shall not be covered by UNDP.

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology…

….Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70%). and financial criteria (30%). Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 100 points)

• Professional experience in gender thematic evaluations and reviews with the UN, including UNDP – 40%
• Professional experience in evaluation and reviews relating to UN’s development programmes in Asia and the Pacific – 20%
• Knowledge and understanding of gender equality challenges in Asia and the Pacific – 20%
• Excellent report writing, presentation and editing skills in English – 20%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% of the total technical points would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Documents to be Included When Submitting the Proposals: 

Candidates wishing to be considered for this assignment are required to submit the following documents to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document/ or one ZIP File as the application only allows to upload maximum one document:

1. Duly completed Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
2. 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;
3. 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;
4. Financial Proposal 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 Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.
5. A sample of gender thematic evaluation / review reports from the Candidate’s previous professional engagements

Incomplete proposals may not be considered.

ANNEXES

Annex I - Regional Programme Document for Asia and the Pacific 2014-2017

Annex II - UNDP Asia-Pacific Region Project Document “Advancing Inclusive and Sustainable Human Development in Asia and the Pacific (2014-2017)

Annex III- UNDP Pacific Umbrella Project Document “Achieving the simultaneous eradication of poverty and a significant reduction of inequalities and exclusion in the Pacific (2014-2017

Annex IV - TOR_ End-Term Gender Review of UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Programme 2014-2017

Annex V - General Condition of Contract

Annex VI - Financial proposal and Offeror's Letter To UNDP Confirming Interest and Avail for IC

All documents can be downloaded at : http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=40132