Background

UNCDF is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s least developed countries. It creates new opportunities for poor people and their communities by increasing access to finance and investment capital.  UNCDF focuses on Africa and the poorest countries of Asia and the Pacific, with a special commitment to countries emerging from conflict or crisis.  It provides seed capital – grants and loans – and technical support to help microfinance institutions reach more poor households and small businesses, and local governments finance the capital investments – water systems, feeder roads, schools, irrigation schemes – that will improve poor peoples’ lives.

UNCDF in Myanmar manages several initiatives such as MFI support including lending and guarantees, working with Government on regulations and the Financial Inclusion Roadmap, clean energy financing, Big Data, Gender, Financial literacy, and DFS.

Expanding Financial Access (EFA) Project

To support the government of Myanmar in the implementation process of the Financial Inclusion Roadmap, UNCDF developed the Expanding Financial Access (EFA) project that focuses on priority areas of the Financial Inclusion Roadmap. Started in 2015, EFA is the core project in Myanmar and works hand in hand at the country level with other regional and global UNCDF.

The EFA project intends, to increase the percentage of the adult population which are financially included from 30% in 2015 to 40 by 2020, and those which use more than one financial product from 6% to 15%. Moreover, EFA aims to have 830,000 low income direct beneficiaries and 3 million indirect ones by providing a full range of affordable, quality, effective and responsible financial services to MSME, small-scale farmers, women-led enterprises, youth, poor and low-income clients by encouraging stakeholders to work together in an integrated manner.

A core component of EFA is the Market Development Facility which seeks to address systemic market failures in a number of thematic areas through targeted funding solutions. It functions as a catalytic wholesale financial agent able to take-on risk and leverage outside sources of capital to boost funding to undercapitalized MFIs operating in Myanmar. Digital Financial Services (DFS) and Women's Economic Empowerment (WEE) are also critical cross-cutting themes and form the basis for a number of UNCDF Myanmar interventions. EFA also works in partnership with the innovative regional Shaping Inclusive Finance Transformations (SHIFT) funding facility which aims to accelerate financial inclusion across the ASEAN region. Through the CleanStart project, UNCDF provides funding to institutions working in renewables and clean energy.

As part of the EFA Project, UNCDF in Myanmar is focusing on vulnerable women and girls through the Women’s Economic and Financial Inclusion (WEFI) Initiative.

In Myanmar, women and girls face barriers in the enabling environment, in the supply of and in their demand for financial products and services, as well as in their socio-cultural contexts. As a result, women remain disproportionately excluded from the formal financial system in the country and further exacerbated for those living in conflict-affected areas. The gender gap in formal financial access is 12% (Findex, 2014) with women being more likely than men to use informal financial products and services.  Together, these diverse spheres of constraint limit women and girls’ access, usage and agency over financial products and services in ways that constrain their opportunities for economic participation and empowerment. Yet while, women’s economic participation has the potential to contribute to Myanmar’s sustainable economic growth, currently women’s labour force participation rate is only 50.5%, falling well short of the male participation rate of 85.2% - despite women and adolescent girls constituting more than half of the country’s working age population (aged 15-64) (52.3%).

UNCDF believes that Financial inclusion is a key enabler of women’s economic empowerment. Acknowledging the pivotal role that financial inclusion plays in reaching the economic empowerment of women and girls, UNCDF is developing and implementing multi-sectorial activities to facilitate women and girls’ economic empowerment through improving their access, use and control over financial services, in cooperation with the Myanmar Government, UN Agencies, Financial Services Providers and international donors.
As a component of EFA project, WEFI is a three years initiative funded by DFID of the Government of the UK. The initiative and its strategic approach is informed by UNCDF’s strong foundation of successful programming in Myanmar through the national project (EFA), regional and global programming.

WEFIP aims at increasing 200,000 women and girls’ awareness of, access to, and use of agency over appropriate financial products and services responsibly provided by diverse and sustainable service providers in a well-regulated environment with a focus on conflict-affected areas of Myanmar. UNCDF will operationalize the strategy drawing on several intervention strategies in line with five functions namely convening, research, capacity building, advocacy, and innovation funding.

This component will primarily focus on interventions functions on the Supply-side: to promote gender-sensitive financial products and services and supporting non-financial services; and the Demand-side: to enhance women and girls’ financial capabilities, voice and demand for finance. Yet in recognition of the important role of the broader context, supporting interventions will be implemented in the sphere of the Enabling Environment: to advance Gender (and age) sensitive enabling legal, policy and regulatory environment for financial inclusion.
Furthermore, the initiative will work with the private sector, women’s business associations and CSO partners to specifically address the financial competency building coupled with financial services and vocation skills development towards private sector employment or entrepreneurship.

This solicitation is for a Framework Agreement, also known in UNCDF as Long-Term Agreement (LTA) for one year and renewable up to a maximum of three (3) years based on satisfactory performance of the individual consultant. “LTA” refers to a mutual arrangement whereby the Consultant will provide services as required, over a specific period of time. It specifies the unit price (daily rate), allowing for an LTA to be used when the Consultant’s services are needed.

 

Duties and Responsibilities

Purpose of The Long Term Agreement

UNCDF would like to enter into a non-exclusive Framework Agreement, also known as Long-Term Agreement (LTA), with one or more individuals that will perform the services described below on a need-basis.  In UNCDF, an LTA is a framework agreement by and between UNCDF and a company or individual where the latter may, at any time within the duration of the LTA, be required to render the agreed services at the agreed and fixed unit prices for a minimum period of 12 months, with potential extension for up to two (2) additional years, depending on satisfactory performance of the company.

Under an LTA, UNCDF does not guarantee that any specific quantity of services shall be purchased during the term of this agreement.  The LTA does not form a financial obligation or commitment from UNDP at the time the LTA contract is signed and that such an agreement is non-exclusive.   

Where a request for service arises, UNCDF can engage the individual on LTA through a “call-off” of the LTA.   

Every call-off shall have specific tasks, scope of services and outputs to be delivered within a specific period of time.  For this particular work, the call-off shall be formalized through the issuance of a Purchase Order, attaching thereto the TOR, and any other document relevant to the call-off.  Financial commitments will only be established each time a Purchase Order for the specific services/TOR for Individual Contractor is committed.

The LTA shall have a cumulative ceiling amount that may accrue to the individual contractor during the life of the LTA, but said amount shall remain as an upper limit, and must not and cannot be interpreted nor understood as neither a financial commitment nor guarantee of business volume.

The objective of this consultancy is to facilitate the development and implementation of Women Empowerment and Financial Inclusion initiatives, including:

• Provide technical guidance for the implementation of gender focused activities;
• Provide technical support to the team in preparing reports for donors and UNCDF management;
• Oversee qualitative research in collaboration with potential implementing partners or other organizations to support the initiative rationale and design for effective implementation of the various activities implemented under WEFIP component;
• Guide in the design of innovation grants to implementing partners and private sector entities to develop products and services for women and girls living in IDP camps and conflict affected areas;
• Develop stakeholder’s analysis working with women and girls living in IDPs and conflict affected areas in Myanmar to identify initiative intervention areas and potential partnership;
• Conduct and document consultations with key stakeholders from UNCDF and other counterparts to inform the initiative development;
• Convene actors across various sectors (e.g. media, civil society, government stakeholders, FSPs, private sector business) to raise awareness of key social norms and demand-side barriers to women financial inclusion;
• Develop the business case for FSPs and private sector companies to deliver or facilitate access to financial and non-financial product/services for diverse segments of women and girls;
• Provide technical and back-stopping support to EFA project staff in relating to gender mainstream and women’s economic empowerment;
• Support in developing adequate monitoring systems to regularly track beneficiaries’ outreach by working closely with M&E colleagues both in the country and in the regional office.

Duration of Assignment, Duty Station and Exepcted Places of Travel

The assignment, under this Framework Agreement (On Call basis), is expected to have a duration of 3 years. The initial contract would be for one year with an option for renewal in subsequent years upon project needs, availability of funds and satisfactory performance of the consultants.
The individual contractor is expected to work in the office full-time with travel to project sites where the beneficiaries live such as Kachin and Rakhine. The schedule of travel will be negotiated with the consultant according to the requirements of the assignment.
Travel costs associated to the assignment will be paid as reimbursable basis and following the UNDP/UNCDF rules and regulations which states that consultants shall only be paid the most direct and most economical ticket, as will be quoted by the official UN travel agency.  Any amount in excess of the said quotation, such as class and airline preference of the consultant, shall be borne by the consultant and the Daily Subsistence Allowance will be paid as per UN Rate.

Monitoring and Progress Control

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Country Coordinator and in close collaboration with both country and regional teams of UNCDF.
Payment to the Individual Contractor will be made based on the actual number of days agreed with UNCDF as reflected in the call-off (PO) and upon certification of satisfactory completion and acceptance of the output by the country coordinator.

Supporting documents that will serve as conditions for disbursement are as follows: (i) submission of invoice and Certificate of Payment form; (ii) review, approval and written acceptance of outputs for each deliverable by the country coordinator; (iii) submission of time sheet and expenses with relevant documentation; and (iv) authorization of payment disbursement from the direct supervisor.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UNCDF;
• Demonstrate integrity by modelling the UN's values and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional Competencies:

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively as an integral part of multi-disciplinary and multi-agency teams;
• High level of energy and initiative, and ability to deal with rapidly shifting priorities and work demands;
• Ability to network with partners on various levels;
• Strong leadership and planning skills;
• Ability to conduct research and analysis and strong synthesis skills;
• Knowledgeable of the UN system functioning and programming is an asset;
• Cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Understands how financial service providers and/or small to medium scale enterprises serving vulnerable people operate;
• Understands incubation and investments needs of decentralized energy and other utility enterprises and service companies;
• Understands blended finance and how to operationalize financing instruments such as results-based financing, concessional loans, guarantees, impact investing, carbon financing;
• Strong quantitative and financial abilities, such as making financial projections and analyzing financial statements;
• Strong analytical writing skills; experienced in producing concise, executive level reports and presentations, training modules and materials;
• Good interpersonal skills and experience in working effectively in a multi-cultural environment, with sensitivity to diverse opinion;
• Strong communications skills in speaking, writing, as well as presenting materials in variety of media

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Bachelor Degree or Equivalent in Social Science, Public Administration, Business Management, Development Studies, Economics, or other relevant disciplines

Experience

• Minimum 7 years of experience in women’s economic empowerment activity and/or gender focus projects;
• Minimum 5 years of experience with proven track records in gender related research, assessment and evaluation;
• Prior work experience in Myanmar or in the region is a must;
• Prior work experience in Conflict-Affected areas is a strong asset;
• Prior experience in Financial Sector related work is a strong asset;
• Project management experience in DFID funded project is an asset;
• Work experience in an international organization is a plus.

Language

•  Fluency in English is required (fluent both in writing and speaking).

Evaluation Process

Applications will be rated on both technical and financial submissions.  The following selection method will be used:  Highest rated proposal using the combined scoring method, which assigns the weight distribution between the technical and financial proposals.  The weight distribution shall be 70% technical and 30% financial.  

Step I: Screening
Applications will be screened and only applicants meeting the following minimum criteria will progress to the pool for shortlisting:

• Bachelor Degree or Equivalent in Social Science, Public Administration, Business Management, Development Studies, Economics, or other relevant disciplines;
• Minimum 7 years of experience in women’s economic empowerment activity and/or gender focus projects.

Step II: Shortlisting by Desk Review
UNCDF will conduct a desk review to produce a shortlist of candidates by evaluating the following criteria with the corresponding points (100 points)

• Minimum 5 years of experience with proven track records in gender related research, assessment and evaluation (30 points)
• Prior work experience in Myanmar or in the region is a must (10 points)
• Prior work experience in Conflict-Affected areas is a strong asset (10 points)
• Prior work experience in Financial Services is a strong asset (10 points)
• Project management experience in DFID funded project is an asset (10 points)
• Work experience in international organizations is a plus (10 points)
• Fluency in English is required, Native level is desirable (20 points)

As applicable, only the first top 3 ranked applicants achieving 70% of the points at this stage shall be invited for an interview either online or offline.

Step III: Interview
A competency-based Interview shall be conducted for the top 5 shortlisted candidates.
Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% on the total of Steps II Desk Review (20 points) + III Interview (80 points) will be considered as technically qualified and will be reviewed further for financial evaluation

Step IV: Financial Proposal Evaluation
The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:
 Lowest Financial proposal/price of the proposal being evaluated X 30%. Lowest Financial Proposal refers to the lowest price offered by Offerors scoring at least 49 points in the technical evaluation.

Step V: Selection
The contract shall be awarded to the best applicant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: responsive/compliant/acceptable and having received the highest combined weight technical proposal 70% + financial 30%= 100%.

Application

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Proposers who shall not submit below mentioned documents will not be considered for further evaluation.

• When applying for this consultancy position, please apply with your official name as shown in the government issued identification document (e.g. passport and/or driver license). Contract award is subject to this verification;
• 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; (link to P11: http://sas.undp.org/documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc)
• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, if applicable, on how they will approach and complete the assignment;
• 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;
• Confirmation of interest and Financial proposal:

https://popp.undp.org/_layouts/15/WopiFrame.aspx?sourcedoc=/UNDP_POPP_DOCUMENT_LIBRARY/Public/PSU_%20Individual%20Contract_Offerors%20Letter%20to%20UNDP%20Confirming%20Interest%20and%20Availability.docx&action=default

• Earliest Availability

Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when traveling 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
Both individual consultants and individuals employed by a company or institution are welcome to apply. Any individual employed by a company or institution who would like to submit an offer in response to a Procurement Notice for IC must do so in their individual capacity (providing a CV so that their qualifications may be judged accordingly).

Women candidates or women-owned businesses are strongly encouraged to apply. UNCDF 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.

Please include all documents into one file while submitting your application.
References

UNDP’s Individual Consultant’s General Terms and Conditions are provided here:
http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf