UNDP Jobs - 81304- Partnerships Consultant for Bilateral Development

Partnerships Consultant for Bilateral Development Finance Institutions

Location :

Home-based with possible mission

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

17-Oct-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

estimated 29 October – 28 December 2018

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

approximately 20 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

In 2015, the global community has adopted a development path that is universal, risk informed and climate resilient. The resulting Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development demands a concerted effort by all actors to mobilize their expertise and resources. In line with the new international development policy context, the development finance architecture has also been changing. The 2015 Financing for Development conference in Addis Ababa highlights domestic resources of developing countries and private sector investments as central for development finance. Considering the price tag for the new development agenda ranges in the trillions, official development assistance is now expected to play a catalytic role, mobilizing additional public and private resources.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) supports countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals focusing on sustainable development, democratic governance and peacebuilding and climate and disaster resilience. UNDP with its presence in 170 countries and territories recognizes that the ambitious development goals can only be achieved through strengthening collaborative engagement, partnerships and coordination with other development partners.

Development finance institutions (DFIs) are specialized development banks or subsidiaries set up to support private sector development in developing countries. They are usually majority-owned by national governments and source their capital from national or international development funds or benefit from government guarantees. DFIs are structured as either multilateral or bilateral organizations and their operations contribute to job creation, increase in domestic revenue, and poverty reduction. DFIs have witnessed a rapid expansion over the past few years; with annual commitments increasing from US$10 to $70 billion between 2002 and 2014. These numbers and, more generally, the role of DFIs is expected to grow further as DFIs are increasingly called to play a significant role in the implementation of the Agenda 2030.
UNDP and DFIs share common aims but different business models for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by reducing poverty, addressing climate change, and involving private sector for development in low- and middle-income countries. With overlapping objectives UNDP and DFIs could generate greater development impacts by working together.

Overall objective of the assignment
In line with UNDP’s 2018-2021 Regional Programme for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (ECIS), this assignment should prepare insights into how UNDP could strengthen its partnerships base in ECIS by engaging bilateral DFIs.
The consultancy will validate UNDP’s assumptions about the potential to cooperate with DFIs for greater development impact by identifying possible areas of cooperation between selected bilateral DFIs in selected countries in the ECIS region.

Location:
Homebased with possible mission travel (travel destinations will be defined during the assignment, travel costs will be covered by UNDP)

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work:

The consultancy focuses on building partnership between UNDP and DFIs by:

Identifying high-potential DFIs based on the initial mapping prepared by UNDP;
Identifying key opportunities including strengths and complementarities between different actors as well as potential bottlenecks in advancing partnerships with the identified DFIs;
Reviewing DFI business models for potential eligibility criteria or constraints for cooperation with multilateral organizations;
Identifying specific areas of cooperation with selected bilateral DFIs in selected ECIS countries;
Organizing meetings with representatives from the selected DFIs and relevant UNDP colleagues to consult and reflect on the identified opportunities and areas of cooperation.
Developing engagement plans including cooperation modalities with selected DFIs.

Deliverables:

The following deliverables are expected from the consultancy:

Review the initial mapping of bilateral DFIs operating in the ECIS region prepared by UNDP.
1 background paper detailing the grounds to cooperate between UNDP and prioritized DFIs in the ECIS region (complementarities and respective strengths as partners, potential added value of such partnerships for development impact, possible areas of cooperation, cooperation modalities etc.).
Organization of at least two meetings with representatives from the selected DFIs and relevant UNDP colleagues to consult and reflect on the identified opportunities and areas of cooperation.
At least two engagement plans drafted and to the extent possible agreed with the top two most promising DFI partners.

Timeframe: Approximately 20 working days in the period 29 October – 28 December 2018.

The Consultant will report to the Team Leader, New Partnerships and Emerging Donors, UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub, and will liaise with colleagues in country offices, Bureau for External Relations and Advocacy (BERA), UNDP HQ and other relevant teams in the Istanbul Regional Hub.

Payments will be made in 2 installments upon submission of the deliverables as described below and upon its acceptance by the Supervisor/Certifying Officer. All deliverables should be submitted to UNDP by the Consultant in English. Indicative payment schedule:

Deliverable 1: Background paper that includes the review of DFI mapping, identification of priority DFIs in the ECIS region, elaboration of grounds to cooperate for UNDP and selected DFIs and organization meetings. Estimated payment date is 30 November for the 40% of the total payment.
Deliverable 2: Final report including minutes of meetings with UNDP and DFI representatives, engagement plans reflecting next steps. Estimated payment date is 20 December for the 60% of the total payment.

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling 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 favoritism;
Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Functional competencies:

Excellent interpersonal and communication skills;
Strong analytical, research, reporting and writing abilities;
Strong organizational and process management competencies;
Exercise the highest level of responsibility and be able to handle confidential and politically sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

Master’s degree or higher in finance, economics, business administration, international relations, international development or other related fields;

Experience

At least 7 years of working experience in programming or policy in international development cooperation;
Previous work experience with multilateral development organizations, especially with UNDP, is an asset,
Direct experience in working with development finance intuitions (especially bilateral DFIs) is an asset;
Relevant experience in Europe and the CIS region is an asset.

Language

Excellent written and spoken English.

Evaluation of Applicants
Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.

The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose 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 criteria (desk review and interviews) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

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

Criteria A – desk review - technical proposal – max points: 15;
Criteria B – desk review - relevance of education – max points: 5;
Criteria C – desk review - previous working experience in programming or policy in international development cooperation – max points: 10;
Criteria D – desk review - previous experience working in a bilateral DFI – max points: 15;
Criteria E – desk review - previous experience working in a multilateral development organization – max points: 10;
Criteria F – desk review – relevant work experience in ECIS – max points: 5;
Criteria G – interview – communication skills and previous work experience with similar assignments - max points: 10.

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

Only candidates who have received minimum 70% for the desk review (criteria A-F) will be invited for an interview. Only candidates scoring 49 points or higher from the review of the technical criteria (criteria A-G) will be considered for a further financial assessment;
Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal of those technically qualified.

Application procedures

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

Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application;
Filled P11 form or CV 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).
Technical proposal as an annex to the CV including – a) Methodology on how you will approach and complete the assignment; and b) Examples of similar assignments facilitating partnerships with development financial institutions on international development issues, including links to previous relevant work where applicable.
Offeror’s Letter (blank template can be downloaded from https://bit.ly/2KO1okS).
Financial Proposal in USD* - Total lump sum amount in USD for tasks specified in this announcement.
Applicants must reply to the mandatory questions asked by the system when submitting the application.
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials. Kindly note you can upload only ONE document to this application.

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

Travel costs for possible missions (flight tickets, per-diem, etc.) will be paid separately by UNDP, as per UNDP rules and procedures, thus should not be included in the financial proposal.

Individual Contractors 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 the UN Department of Safety and Security.

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.General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://on.undp.org/t7fJs.