Background

UNDP’s Bangkok Regional Hub and AP-DEF have been developing the Development Finance Assessment (DFA), a tool to respond to the growing demand from countries in the region to establish evidence and analysis, and introduce policy and institutional reforms for managing the increasing complexity of domestic and international sources of finance for development. DFAs were introduced as the very first development finance studies of their kind, seeking to bring together fragmented approaches on the use of the different sources of funds that may not all be primarily dedicated to address development challenges.

The Development Finance and Effectiveness Team also covers work led under the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) as the institutional anchor of UNDP’s work on development cooperation, focusing on the comparative advantages of UNDP in strengthening country capacities to manage and coordinate development cooperation, with particular emphasis on strengthen peer-learning, South-South Cooperation and knowledge sharing as a tool for capacity development.

The Team also serves as Secretariat for the Asia Pacific Development Effectiveness Facility (AP-DEF), a country-led regional platform, chaired by the Government of Bangladesh, which supports countries to implement their national agendas on development finance and cooperation. The Facility is a platform for regional dialogue, cooperation, and sharing of country knowledge and experiences. It is responding to the growing demand from countries in Asia Pacific to establish evidence and analysis, and introduce policy and institutional reforms for managing the increasing complexity of domestic and international sources of finance for development.

To address these challenges and achieve sustainable development, countries will need to develop new, more effective and integrated approaches to managing public and private finance.  The Addis Ababa Action Agenda assumes that countries will use their own national development strategies and plans to respond to the SDGs and calls for the adoption of Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFFs).  These frameworks should provide a structure for governments to form and implement a strategic, holistic, results-driven approach to financing their development objectives. This approach should help countries set a strategy to effectively mobilise the investments they need, and provide a structure that supports coherence across government in channelling resources to the areas they are most suited.

The establishment of an INFF represents an ambitious long-term endeavour. While such frameworks do not exist so explicitly in most countries, many on-going initiatives and policy and institutional reforms in the areas of public finance and results-based management provide countries with a good starting basis to build upon. The Consultant will be engaged in assisting UNDP to provide analysis guidance for countries on establishing and strengthening INFFs in Asia-Pacific region while also synthesizing lessons from countries undertaking the DFA. The Consultant will also be responsible for identifying lessons and areas for exchange, facilitating knowledge sharing and working with the UNDP team to track good practices and opportunities for South-South exchange and new areas of work for expanding the understanding and strengthening of INFFs.

UNDP is seeking to recruit a Regional Development Finance Analyst consultant to work full-time as a member of the Development Finance and Effectiveness Team within the Governance and Peacebuilding Cluster in a home-based capacity with frequent mission travel. The Consultant will support the team with particular emphasis on policy analysis for the development of INFFs, country DFA implementation and the overall development finance research agenda.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work and Deliverables:   

Under the overall supervision and guidance of the Governance, Climate Finance and Development Effectiveness Advisor in Bangkok Regional Hub, the Consultant will focus on the following:

 Policy support and research on development

• Using the conceptual framework of the INFF, identify policy priority areas in the Asia-Pacific region with specific attention to the strengthening of building blocks of Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFFs) through policy analysis and developing an index for measuring progress.
• Provide guidance and support services to governments and UNDP Country Offices in the Asia-Pacific region on development finance issues, with specific focus on institutional strengthening and capacity development support on INFFs and financing solutions.
• Identification of opportunities for strengthening links between finance and results with specific attention to issues such as South-South and triangular cooperation, transparency, inclusive partnerships and mutual accountability.
• Support ongoing research and analysis on the global Financing for Development agenda and its relevance at regional and country level with specific focus on the INFF concept.
• Support drafting and publication of knowledge products on the DFA including the updated DFA and Integrated Financing Solutions Brief, the INFF Country Experience Compendium, ASEAN regional report, collection of ASEAN DFAs and other briefs and topic areas to be explored.
• Contribute to global UNDP work to strengthen SDG implementation and financing strategies at country level, with specific attention to country monitoring of development effectiveness principles.

Support on implementing Development Finance Assessments and INFFs

• Conduct and coordinate and review at least 4 DFA inception, draft and final reports.
• Review at least 4 DFAs completed, providing quality assurance
• Develop conceptual and practical links between the DFA/INFF and Integrated Financing Solutions platform with recommendations for how to link these services within the context of the DFA Methodology.
• Support the development of the regional data hub based on the INFF index and lessons from DFAs.
• Collect lessons learned from DFA process from country offices, consultants and stakeholders and organize knowledge management practices for future DFAs across UNDP.

Technical assistance to countries

• The Consultant will provide technical assistance to 1-2 countries in support of the establishment or strengthening of specific INFF building blocks following on areas of interest and recommendations from the DFA. Delivering this assistance will include:
• Review of DFAs completed and underway to identify possible entry points for action and policy support
• Consultations with government and development partners to determine exact focus of DFA follow-up actions. In addition to responding to the needs of relevant institutions around strengthening the INFF, lessons from the DFA process will be collected to shape the design of country support to other contexts
• Development of a concept note specific to the country context which details the approach to technical assistance

Regional technical support to financing solutions  

• Based on lessons from DFAs, AP-DEF regional consultations and knowledge products, produce an analytical piece which identifies specific strategies and solutions demanded in the region. This will include a scan and analysis of key challenges and opportunities for countries and exploration of specific areas and INFF building blocks. The piece will help identify priorities for governments and which strategies are of the greatest interest in terms of priorities. For example, possibilities include the need for national resource mobilization strategies or monitoring and evaluation systems for INFFs
• Based on the DFA Methodological Guidance Note, conceptualize how actions after the DFA report can link to Financing Solutions as a package of services and tools from UNDP BRH in relation to UNDP regional and country office programming. This will include conducting data collection and analysis on how the methodology of the DFA can be built upon to link to follow-up actions in building INFFs and a compendium of support initiatives (from UNDP and beyond) which showcase useful tools but also gaps where services should be developed
• Design a package of 3-4 financing strategies and solutions which could be in the form of assessments, training, learning opportunities, etc.
• Identify opportunities for countries to learn about specific financing strategies or tools in the form of a concept note for a regional knowledge exchange around the 3-4 financing strategies or solutions

Expected Outputs, Deliverables and Timelines:

Institutional Arrangements:

The Consultant will work under the supervision of the BRH’s Governance, Climate and Development Effectiveness Advisor.

Duration of the Work:

The duration of the assignment is from 1 October 2017 – 30 September 2018, maximum 249 working days

Duty Station:

The assignment will be home-based with anticipated mission travel.

Competencies

Competencies:

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrate integrity and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism;
• Promote the vision, mission and strategic goal of UN

Functional Competencies:

• Effective team player, with good communication, diplomatic and inter-personal skills;
• Has ability to communicate clearly and present coherent and well-founded arguments;
• Demonstrates openness to change, responds positively to feedback and different point of view;
• Excellent communication skills including presentations, networking and interpersonal skills;
• Has ability to synthesize large amounts of information into succinct written reports;
• Proven experience in writing, editing and proof reading; Strong analytical skills.

Special skills requirements

• Proficiency of spoken and written English is required;
• Previous work on Development Finance Assessments in the Asia-Pacific region an advantage.

Required Skills and Experience

Requirements for Experience and Qualifications: 

Education:

• Relevant degree or equivalent advanced degree in economics, public finance, public policy and administration, international relations, development studies or related field;

Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years of relevant professional work experience with track record of research analysis;
• Research experience in the areas of development finance, budget review and public expenditure review are required;
• Previous work on Development Finance issues in the Asia-Pacific region an advantage;
• Proven knowledge of the concept of Integrated National Finance Frameworks (INFF) and their adaptation at the country level will be considered a significant asset;
• Familiarity with UNDP’s DFA and Financing Solutions toolkit with previous DFA studies considered an asset;
• Experience in country level work rooted in public policy reforms in close collaboration with government;
• Excellent writing skills required, as demonstrated by previous research/analytical reports on relevant topics;
• Ability to lead consultations with senior Government officials required;
• Sound grasp of substantive policy issues in the public finance field;
• Excellent knowledge of data collection, analysis and statistics tool are essential;
• Advanced quantitative and econometric skills and experience with related data analysis tools are an advantage.

Language requirements:

• Proficiency in written and spoken English;

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments: 

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Daily Fee. Payments will be made monthly, upon approval of timesheet record and certification of number of days worked.

Consultant shall quote an all-inclusive Daily Fee for the contract period. The term “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, consumables, etc.) that could be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment are already factored into the daily fee submitted in the proposal. Payments shall be done on a monthly basis based on actual days worked, upon verification of completion of deliverables and approval by the IC’s supervisor of a Time Sheet indicating the days worked in the period.

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.

Evaluation Method and Criteria: 

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% - Comprising of 50% scores of desk review and 50% scores of interview) 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)

• Criteria 1: Relevance of education – Max 10 points
• Criteria 2: 5 years of relevant work experience on development finance with expertise in research analysis– Max 15 Points
• Criteria 3: Experience with conducting country and regional level analysis on development finance issues with a focus on policy reform– Max 15 points
• Criteria 4: Experience with development finance assessments  in Asia-Pacific region– Max 10 points
• Criteria 5: Interview-Max 50 Points

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

 Shortlisted candidates shall be called for an interview which will be used to confirm and/or adjust the technical scores awarded based on documentation submitted.

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document:

• Duly accomplished Confirmation of Interest and Submission of Financial Proposal Template using the template provided by UNDP (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.

Incomplete proposals may not be considered.

Annexes:

Annex I - TOR_ Development Finance Research Analyst

Annex II- General Condition of Contract

Annex III - Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual IC, including Financial Proposal Template

All documents can be downloaded at : http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=40602