UNDP Jobs - 82152- Consultant - Innovative Financing for the SDGs

Consultant - Innovative Financing for the SDGs

Location :

Home-based

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

02-Jan-2019

Application Deadline :

05-Dec-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

65 woking days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

65 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

The achievement of the SDGs will require new investment across areas such as the social sectors, sustainable infrastructure, rural development and adaptation to climate change to ensure that the central SDG promise – to leave no-one behind – is met. All sources of finance – public and private, domestic and international – have an important role to play in financing the SDGs. Increasingly, the international community is seeking ‘innovative’ ways to finance the SDGs, and in particular develop financing schemes that combine the resources and technical expertise of both the public and private sector. Recent examples include blended finance models (where concessional resources from official finance providers are used in different ways to leverage non-concessional finance from the private sector). Efforts to align much more private capital with the SDGs and sustainable development are also gaining ground. Green bonds and SDG-themed bonds have emerged over recent years for example.

These efforts follow earlier endeavours in the realm of ‘innovative’ finance. The search for new financing for development through new and innovative financing models is not new. Earlier examples were however framed around a traditional development assistance type-approach, and essentially sought to identify sources of finance to top-up development aid. These include the moderately successful international solidarity levy on airline tickets, established in 2005 and implemented by nine countries worldwide. The International Finance Facility for Immunization is another, also launched in 2005. While useful, these initiatives however remain relatively small in scale and it is not clear there is the potential – either technical feasibility or political will – to take them to scale. The same challenges apply to other longstanding ideas, which could arguably mobilize considerable resources at-scale, such as a financial (or currency) transactions tax, or levies on international aviation or maritime bunker fuel as a source of development or climate finance, which remain technically contentious. Moreover, it is not always clear that revenues mobilized through such means would always, and exclusively, be allocated to the SDGs.

There is much interest internationally in the search for new finance in support of the SDGs. How should we view ‘innovative’ finance and its role in the SDG era? What contribution is it making – or could it make – in support of the SDGs? Where are we today with different initiatives, and why? What is understood today by the term innovative finance anyway, which has always been poorly defined and articulated? How can we conceive of financing as the broader set of incentives that influence decisions by governments, firms, and households in ways that can lead – or make more difficult – progress towards the SDGs?

Against this background, the Government of Japan (GoJ) is interested to promote global policy debates on innovative financing as part of its effort to contribute to the SDGs in the international community. UNDP, for its part, has done policy research on a range of issues related to development financing, including “Innovative Financing for Development: A New Model for Development Finance?”. In light of this, the GoJ and UNDP have decided to work together and conduct research to advance the innovative financing agenda, the output of which can feed into policy discussion at key international fora, including the G20 Summit that Japan will host on 28 and 29 June 2019.

Purpose:

The objective of this assignment is to conduct policy research that will support a UNDP team to compile an analytical paper which will offer a stock-take of some of the most important initiatives in the realm of innovative finance – both those that have reached implementation stage and those that remain aspirational.

The analytical paper will examine the reasons why certain mechanisms remain more difficult than others – either to implement at- all or take to-scale. It will explore the role of innovative finance in a changing international finance landscape – one which has seen new finance providers, new financial instruments and sustainable finance initiatives emerge and become more prominent over recent years. Does this change what we should expect from innovative finance schemes? Do they remain relevant? How do developing countries themselves see innovative finance? Finally, what role, if any, for individual countries and the international community, to advance this agenda? Where are the entry points in a changing world?

The paper will compile new data and reflect the perspectives of a range of experts who will be consulted and interviewed for their inputs. It will be led by UNDP by a team at Headquarters in consultation with Japan and other relevant stakeholders.

Organizational context: The Bureau for Policy and Programme Support is responsible for developing policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan. BPPS staff provides technical advice to Country Offices; advocate for UNDP corporate messages; represent UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora, including public-private dialogues, government and civil society dialogues, and engage in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant is expected to:

Compile new data on current trends on innovative finance; compare this to historical data on innovative finance
Carry our brief literature review on the range of applications of innovative finance mechanisms, and how they are funded
Interview key stakeholders for their perspectives on innovative finance mechanisms
Offer reflections and recommendations on ways forward in this area
Participate in regular conference calls with key stakeholders
Support UNDP team to carry out other analysis and support preparation of the final analytical report as required

Institutional arrangements and reporting

The consultant will be managed by the Strategic Policy Unit within UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support in New York.
The Consultant will work from his/her home base with virtual meetings/interviews with UNDP colleagues and external experts once a week. The consultant is expected to rely on his/her expertise, conduct an extensive literature review and perform triangulation by interviewing experts. The drafts produced by the consultant will be peer reviewed by experts, the result of which should be incorporated by the consultant.
S/he will report to the Director of the Strategic Policy Unit or the Policy Specialist on Development Finance depending on the tasks.
A consultant evaluation will be completed in order for regular payment to be released upon satisfactory delivery of the two inter-linked assignments.

Duration of work and travel

The total expected duration of the assignment is approximately 65 days. All reports must be finalized and submitted within this period. The consultant is expected to start on or around 2nd January 2019.
No official travel to New York or country offices is envisaged.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

UNDP will cover a lump-sum consultancy fee paid on the basis of the timetable for key deliverables and as per approval by the IC’s supervisor indicated in section D;
Payments will be processed against the reports (deliverables) therefore a financial proposal is requested versus each deliverable, giving the opportunity for the Consultant to manage the number of days to spend on each deliverable within the defined timeframe.

Competencies

Core 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;
Demonstrated ability to interact with individuals of different national and cultural backgrounds and beliefs, which includes the willingness to understand different views and opinions;

Functional Competences:

Demonstrates a rigorous analytical approach, systemic thinking and good judgement in reviewing secondary sources;
Displays self-management, including capacity to plan and adhere to deadlines;
Displays emotional intelligence;
Self-motivated, proactive and reliable with good communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Educational background:

Master’s Degree, or equivalent, in Economics, Finance, or Development; Additional graduate qualifications will be considered as assets.

Required Skills and Experience:

At least 5 years of relevant experience in writing and researching on public and or/private finance; graduate education at the doctorate level might be considered in lieu of working experience;
Demonstrated experience in writing concisely and clearly on complex economic and financing topics;
Experience on financing for development topics/processes, especially innovative finance.

IT proficiency:

Proficiency with Microsoft Office

Language:

Superb verbal and written communication skills in English.

How to apply:

The application is a two-step process. Failing to comply with the submission process may result in disqualifying the applications:

Step 1: Interested individual consultants must include the following documents when submitting the applications in UNDP job shop (Please note that only 1 (one) file can be uploaded therefore please include all docs in one file):

CV 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
Brief statement as to why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment.

Step 2: Submission of Financial Proposal

After review of applications, shortlisted candidates (ONLY) will be contacted by UNDP and requested to submit a Financial Proposal:

The financial proposal should specify an all-inclusive daily rate and the lumpsum fee based on deliverables with cost breakdown for up to 65 working days;
The financial proposal must be all-inclusive and take into account various expenses that will be incurred during the contract, including: the daily professional fee and when applicable any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services under the contract.
If the 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 a 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.

The Financial Proposal is to be submitted by e-mail as per the instruction in the separate e-mail that will be sent to shortlisted candidates.

Incomplete applications will not be considered, so please make sure you have provided all requested materials.

Qualified women are encouraged to apply.

Due to the large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidate(s) about the outcome or status of the selection process.

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

The consultant’s offer will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a max. of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a max of 30%;

Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a max of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a max of 30%.

Method: Cumulative analysis method will be used to evaluate proposals.

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will 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 and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Criteria weight: 70%.

Financial Criteria weight: 30%.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70%) on technical part will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Criteria for technical evaluation (70 points maximum):

Criteria 1: Relevant experience in writing and researching on public and or/private finance- Max 30

Criteria 2: Demonstrated experience in writing concisely and clearly on complex economic and financing topics- Max 15

Criteria 3: Experience/knowledge on financing for development topics/processes-Max 10

Criteria 4: Demonstrated analytical, conceptual and written communication skills in English - Max 15

Criteria for financial evaluation (30 points maximum):

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

p = y (µ/z), where

p=points for the financial proposal being evaluated

y=maximum number of points for the financial proposal

µ=price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Award of Contract

The award of contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as responsive, compliant, and acceptable; having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to this solicitation.