UNDP Jobs - 78464- Call for Applications: Joint UNDP and UN Women Exp

Call for Applications: Joint UNDP and UN Women Experts Roster on UNDAF/Country Programming

Location :

Home-based with possible travels in Eastern Europe and CIS region

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

06-May-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Various short-term consultancy assignments

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been working in Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (ECIS) since 1992, and serves over 18 countries and territories in Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build better lives. The UNDP Regional Hub for Europe and the CIS – based in Istanbul, Turkey -- provides advisory support and knowledge management services to UNDP Country Offices and its partners in the ECIS region in the areas of Sustainable Development (including Poverty and Inequality; Green Economy and Employment; Extractive Industries), Governance and Peacebuilding (including HIV, Health and Development; Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Development; Anti-Corruption and E-Governance; Local Governance and Decentralization; Open Data and Digitalization; Human Rights and Rule of Law; Youth Development), Gender Equality, Knowledge and Innovation, and Energy, Climate Change and Disaster Resilience . In addition, the Hub supports the programme development of these offices at the national level.

The Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECA RO) of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) is based in Istanbul and has been operational since 2014, providing oversight and advisory support to Country Offices and Programme Presence Offices in the region.

The UN programming instrument for UN cooperation and partnership on development issues at the country level is guided by the Common Country Programming Processes and mechanisms, including the 2017 UNDAF Guidance issued by the UN Development Group, resulting in key documents such as the Common Country Analysis (CCA) and the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). The UNDAF is a key strategic framework for the UN work at country level. Strengthening its prominence and strategic value is one of the key objectives of the UN Secretary-General’s repositioning of the UN Development System. The UNDAF is a key instrument for ensuring greater synergies among UN entities on the ground, more effective UN support to governments in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and increased efficiencies in the UN’s development operations on the ground.

Based on these UN-wide documents at the country level, UNDP develops a Country Programme Document to provide a strategic framework for UNDP’s contributions to the UNDAF and national development priorities. UN Women does the same by developing Strategic Note per country office, which serves as its country planning framework. It is essential to ensure that all these documents are strategic, measurable, responsive to emerging national and global needs and trends including responsive to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other international agreements/commitments, reflect demand and strong national ownership, and support evidence-based analysis and decision-making. The UNDAF/ Country Programming Expert is expected to develop and facilitate preparation of all or any of these programming documents in consultation and cooperation with the UNDP country office, UN Country Teams (UNCT), UN Women Country Offices and Programme Offices, and/or partners as appropriate.

In collaboration with UN Women ECA RO, UNDP is soliciting the submission of CVs (individuals, not firms) to be considered for registration in the UNDAF/Country Programming Expert roster of UNDP Regional Hub for Europe and the CIS. The expert roster will consist of highly-qualified and experienced consultants. Only the applicants who pass all selection procedures will be registered for the roster.

Interested candidates are advised to carefully study selection procedures of this ToR and ensure that they meet the general requirements as well as specific qualifications. Only applicants who pass all screening procedures will be included into the roster and recommended to Country Offices in the region.

Duties and Responsibilities

Consultants will provide advisory support to clients, mostly UN Country Team, UNDP offices, UN Women offices, but may also include other national and sub-national partners and stakeholders including civil society organizations, academic institutions, private sector institutions, other development partners, and specific community groups, among others as relevant. Specific reporting and working relationships will be specified at the time of contracting for a specific assignment.

When demand arises, pre-selected consultants may be called upon to provide demand-driven advisory services, access to knowledge, and technical backstopping to UN Country Teams, UNDP and UN Women Country/Programme Offices. The range of tasks for the consultant may include facilitation of workshops, applied research, diagnostic missions, provision of strategic and operational advice, capacity assessments and capacity development activities, strategic development and implementation of policies, on-site support to programme identification and development, monitoring and evaluation, negotiation and coordination with public/private partners and stakeholders, community engagement and outreach including through social media, training, report drafting, peer review, and others. Consultants will perform their duties from home through e-mail, telephone/skype and/or fax combined with the in-country missions and/or project site visits (per request of the UN Country Team, UNDP Country Office or UN Women Country/Programme office). Consultants may also be expected to attend relevant meetings and workshops at the country level, including stakeholder consultations, inception and validation meetings.

The Expert’s primary tasks may include the following, among others:

Setup and facilitate stakeholder discussions and workshops within the country that contributes to the country-level programme strategy.
Develop and implement the workplan for the programme development process.
Coordinate UNDAF programming strategy and processes (e.g., Roadmap, Common Country Analysis, UN Vision 2030 and strategic prioritization processes, Drafting UNDAF document including theory of change and results matrix) with the stakeholders and ensure management of overall calendar of UNDAF process in consultation with the UN RC Office.
Collect and analyze relevant documentation such as national development plans and strategies, programme/project evaluations, lessons learned, and agency-specific data and resources from previous programme cycles.
Support the drafting and finalization of the UNDAF document with special attention to integration of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and SDGs, UNDAF Programming Principles (Leave No One Behind; Human Rights, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment; Sustainability and Resilience; Accountability), the Monitoring and Evaluation sections, i.e. ensure clear baselines, indicators, targets at outcome and/or output levels as may be relevant), and relevant annexes as provided in UNDAF Guidance
Making sure, in coordination with relevant UN Coordination Officer/s, that all draft UNDAF documents (i.e., Roadmap, Common Country Analysis, UNDAF document) are submitted in time to the regional Peer Support Group (PSG) for comments (and with sufficient notice for substantive comments);
Support the drafting of UNDP and/or UN Women country programmes or strategic notes.
Provide a final brief report on lessons learned from the programming process.

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

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

Functional competencies:

Strategic vision, strong technical and analytical capabilities and demonstrated ability to gain the assistance and cooperation of others in a team endeavour through technical leadership in a broad range of operational areas;
Excellent analytical, reporting. Writing, reporting and presentation skills, as well as resourcefulness, initiative, maturity of judgment, tact, and negotiating skills, and the ability to cope with situations which may pose conflict;
Proven ability to work in a team, develop synergies and establish effective working relations within the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office, with persons from different UN Agencies, government counterparts, donors and NGOs;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
Ability to handle effectively multiple tasks without compromising quality, team spirit and positive working relationships;
Excellent organizational skills and Ability to solve complex problems with minimal supervision
Strong technical skills in leading formulation and evaluation of development programs and projects
Ability to work with small multi-disciplinary, multi-national teams to deliver quality products in high stress, short deadline situations.
Familiarity with, and/or incorporation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and SDGs, in previous workDemonstrated ability to assess complex situations in order to screen succinctly and clearly critical issues and draw forward-looking conclusions.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

Master’s degree in a relevant field in relevant development studies or related social science fields with experience in International Development, Economics, Monitoring and Evaluation, Institutional Development, and Strategy Development

Experience

At least 7 years of grounded work experience in strategic planning, programme development and results based management
Experience in the ECIS (Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States) Region
Experience in preparation of country assessments/analysis, UNDAF development, UN strategic planning and country programme documentation, or in facilitating strategic prioritization retreats (SPRs) or similar workshops for CCA/UNDAFs.
Good knowledge of the UN system particularly UNDAF guidance and companion guidance from UN Development Group, including Programming Principles, UNDP and UN Women programming frameworks and tools, and procedures and operational activities for development is considered as strong asset;
Proven interagency facilitation skills, analytical and training skills in relation to programming and strategic planning.

Language

Excellent English writing and communication skills. Fluency in Russian is considered as a strong asset.

Evaluation of Applicants

Applicants will be screened against qualifications and the competencies specified above. Those selected for the next stage of the selection process will participate in an assessment.
Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.

The inclusion into the Vetted Roster of Experts will be offered to those individual consultants whose offers have been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical (P11 desk reviews and written samples evaluation) and financial criteria.

Only those candidates who will obtain min. 70% of points will be invited for the next stage of the technical evaluation and financial proposal evaluation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 70 points:

P11 Desk Review - Only those applicants who obtained at least 70% of points in P11 Desk Review will be considered for written essay - max- 50 points

Programme development and RBM experience in Europe and CIS region – max points: 10
Experience in preparation of country assessments/analysis, UNDAF development, UN strategic planning documentation, and/or in facilitating SPRs or similar workshops for CCA/UNDAFs – max points: 20
Knowledge of UNDAF guidance and companion guidance from UN Development Group, UN system, procedures and operational activities for development - max points: 10
Experience in interagency facilitation skills, analytical and training skills in relation to programming and strategic planning and country programme documentation – max points: 5
Language skills - max points: 5

Examples of completed UNDAF/country programmes - max points: 20

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 30 points.

Contracting Arrangements

Successful candidates will be included into UNDP and UN Women’s technical expert roster for the period of 3 years. Entry into the expert roster system does not necessarily mean that contract with UNDP is guaranteed. This will depend on forthcoming needs. During this period UNDP can regularly follow up with consultants as well as UNDP or UN Women’s offices in ECIS on their assignments. Financial proposal (daily fee in USD) provided by the consultant is the all-inclusive maximum daily fee payable and is bound to the period of 3 years (unless the consultant applies to the roster during its re-opening).

Profiles of roster members will be published at UNDP / UN Women internal platform and accessible to UNDP IRH, its Country Offices, and UN Women Offices.

Where a request for services arises, the UNDP IRH, UNDP or UN Women office will share a specific Terms of Reference (TOR) outlining specific services, outputs and timeline for that assignment with consultant(s) matching the requested profile and consultants will be requested to provide a price offer. A consultant offering a best value for money will be contracted.

Profiles of the experts in this roster will be published at the internal platform of the Europe and Central Asia regional UNDAF Peer Support Group which is composed consisting of regional UN agencies, Funds and Programmes in the region, and accessible to UNDP IRH, UN Women ECA RO, Country Offices and UN Country Teams in the ECIS/ECA region.

Payments

Payments will be made as specified in the actual contract upon confirmation of UNDP or UN Women on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.

Application procedures:

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain:

Cover letter, including applicant's qualifications for the advertised position. The letter should be pasted into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application.
Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank form can be downloaded from http://www.eurasia.undp.org/content/dam/rbec/docs/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc; please upload the P11 instead of your CV;
Hyperlinks to or a copy of at least two examples of completed documents in English (e.g., UNDAF, country analyses) recently completed by the candidate, including name and email address of contact person/s (e.g., deputies or heads of agencies) from the UN agency that commissioned the study/report;
Financial Proposal – all-inclusive maximum daily fee in USD valid for three years
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials
Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

*Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor (e.g. fee, health insurance, office supplies, communications, vaccination, personal security needs and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services...).

Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org
General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://on.undp.org/t7fJs.

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.
Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.