UNDP Jobs - 82207- Consultant on Preventing Violent Extremism

Consultant on Preventing Violent Extremism

Location :

Bangkok, Thailand with possible travel

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Feb-2019

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

01 February 2019 – 31 July 2019

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Up to a maximum of 120 working days over the contract period.

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 2018, the UNDP in Asia and the Pacific and the European Union are to begin work on a new project that aims to address the root causes of violent extremism, and promote tolerance and respect for diversity in Southeast Asia. The project includes three major outputs:

1) Regional network of practitioners that conducts research, holds forums and develops policy recommendations for preventing violent extremism in Asia established

To better understand the regional context of the specific drivers and potential mitigation strategies of violent extremism in Southeast Asia, UNDP commissioned two sub-regional analytical papers in 2016, updated in 2017. The key message to come out of both pieces of research was further analysis and partnerships are needed to ensure research is successfully transferred into policy and programming on the ground. Violent extremism in Southeast Asia poses an increasing risk yet increasing evidence shows that PVE policies that are not grounded in research or evidence can have harmful impacts on the communities they target. Furthermore, the evidence base for effective preventing violent extremism interventions is very limited. Southeast Asia is home to a large number of research institutions and policy centres working on various issues related to security, preventing violent extremism. Research in such countries remains under-resourced, disconnected, and distant from community-level PVE programming. UNDP’s Regional PVE project seeks to address these gaps by improving the research base on the issue, strengthening academic networks, and creating greater connections between research and PVE interventions in communities.

2) National policies and programmes on violent extremism developed and implemented within a human rights and gender equality framework

UNDP has been working with the National Action Plan Taskforce (Hedayah and the Global Centre for Cooperative Security) and ASEAN to build appreciation and awareness on the importance of this holistic and inclusive approach. UNDP has engaged with the National Action Plan Taskforce to educate key individuals from the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand on how a national action plan should: address drivers of extremism; promote of ownership by local non-state actors; seek the positive impact of building effective Government-Civil Society relations; promote gender and human rights consideration as key components. Furthermore, UNDP is in close contact and has signed a MOU with the United Nations Office on Counter Terrorism (UNOCT) who is the leading UN agency on terrorism related matters. UNDP organized the first regional meeting on PVE NAPs in November 2017 in Bangkok and is coordinating all national and regional efforts towards PVE strategies with UNOCT. Other partners for PVE action plan efforts in Asia and the Pacific are UNODC, UN Women, and UN Volunteers.

3) Strengthening community resilience

At the heart of efforts to prevent violent extremism it is critical to focus on empowering communities to address the social, political or economic marginalization that can act as a driver for radicalization. In recent years, the internet has become a key platform for the dissemination of extremist messaging. Extremist organizations have proven adept at using social media to expand their following, increase their presence, and create knowledge for potential terrorists. Spaces such as YouTube can offer powerful narratives and information to not only counter extremist content, but to create new ideas and solutions to the various challenges confronting societies today. Together with the European Union Delegations at the countries of implementation, UNDP will identify the relevant NGOs to work on this.

Given the localized drivers of extremism it is critical communities be given the opportunity to develop their own positive narratives to counter the influence of violent extremists. Over half a century of psychological research illustrates when communities lack opportunities to create positive identities, they are more likely to adopt identity frames that rely on discrimination and derogation of other groups.

The importance of bringing communities together to make positive contributions to the regions social, economic and political fabric will be critical in addressing radicalization and violent extremism. Technology companies such as Facebook and YouTube have changed the dynamics of how people connect, communicate and relate to each other. Both platforms are ideal for use by wide segments of the population and have a reach of influence not previously possible.

In parallel, the lack of economic opportunities for young people can open spaces for radicalization and recruitment as the lack of spaces to engage can led youth into criminal activities and therefore proximity to extremist organizations, like the case in the southern Philippines or Malaysia’s Sabah region.

Duties and Responsibilities

UNDP therefore requires the services of a Consultant to effectively coordinate and report on delivery of the Regional UNDP PVE project.

Scope of Work

The Consultant will conduct the following activities under the supervision of UNDP Governance and Peacebuilding Advisor;

Oversee and lead the implementation of the PVE project to ensure the timely delivery of quality results and achieving the programmatic targets; develop an annual work plan for the implementation of outputs and generation of results, as well as quarterly reports;
Support and develop PVE concepts and initiatives;
Increase visibility of UNDP’s PVE work in Southeast Asia; develop and maintain collaborations and strategic relationships with civil society partners and other stakeholders;
Mobilize personnel, goods and services, training and grants to initiate activities, including drafting terms of reference and work specifications and overseeing all contractor’s work;
Provide strategic advice and technical guidance to the project team and partners.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

The Consultant will work under supervision of UNDP’s Programme Advisor for Governance and Peacebuilding. The consultant will be responsible to deliver:

1. Implementation strategies for PVE National Actional Plans for 2 countries in Southeast Asia;

2. Quarterly reports for UNDP PVE project based on regional and country level activities;

3. Edited regional research paper on returning foreign fighters;

4. UNDP BRH representation at 2 regional workshops and a 5-day mission to 1 country;

5. Concept notes and briefs for attracting funding for the PVE project;

6. An ASEAN leadership exchange workshop on implementing the Regional Plan of Action on PVE;

7. 2-3 new partnerships with civil society and/or donors on PVE in Asia;

8. Implementation strategy for PVE youth employment initiative in 1 country.

Institutional Arrangement

The Consultant will work under supervision of UNDP’s Programme Advisor for Governance and Peacebuilding.

Duration of the Work:

The period of the assignment is estimated to be from 01 February 2019 – 31 July 2019, up to a maximum of 120 working days.

Duty Station:

The duty station will be Bangkok, Thailand (with possible travel to countries in Asia-Pacific)

This assignment is on a full-time basis with some travel required. The Consultant’s presence is required at UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub premises to work closely with the Asia-Pacific Governance and Peacebuilding Advisor.

Competencies

Corporate 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;
Treats all people fairly without favouritism.

Technical Competencies:

Analytic capacity and demonstrated ability to process, analyse and synthesise complex, technical information;
Proven ability to support the development of high quality knowledge and training materials, and to train technical teams;
Proven experience in the developing country context and working in different cultural settings.

Communication:

Communicate effectively in writing to a varied and broad audience in a simple and concise manner.

Professionalism:

Capable of working in a high pressure environment with sharp and frequent deadlines, managing many tasks simultaneously;
Excellent analytical and organizational skills.

Teamwork:

Projects a positive image and is ready to take on a wide range of tasks;
Focuses on results for the client;
Welcomes constructive feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

The consultant should possess the following expertise and qualifications:

Education:

Master’s Degree, or equivalent preferably in political science, human rights, security, or other relevant social science studies.

Experience:

Minimum of 4 years’ experience working in in conflict prevention, preventing violent extremism, and/or peacebuilding;
Experience of working on youth and peacebuilding/preventing violent extremism;
Ability to produce conflict and peacebuilding research, policy papers and training materials conflict dynamics and peace and security capacities;
Excellent writing and communications skills in English;

Language:

Fluency in written and spoken English.

Financial Proposal

In accordance with the requirements above, the duration of this assignment is maximum days. The candidate shall quote an all-inclusive Daily Fee in USD for the contract period. The term “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, the cost of travel from the home base to the duty station and vice versa, living allowances needed at the duty station, communications, utilities and consumables, life, health and any other insurance, etc.) that could be incurred by the consultant in completing the assignment are already factored into the daily fee submitted in the proposal. If applicable, travel or daily allowance cost should be identified separately.

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.

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the cumulatvie analysis. The award of the contract shall b 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%) 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 20 points;
Criteria 2: Experience working in conflict prevention, preventing violent extremism, and/or peacebuilding - Max 20 Points;
Criteria 3: Experience of working on youth and peacebuilding/preventing violent extremism- Max 20 points;
Criteria 4: Ability to produce conflict and peacebuilding research, policy papers and training materials conflict dynamics and peace and security capacities – Max 20 points;
Criteria 5: Excellent writing and communications skills in English – Max 20 points.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% of the total technical criteria points would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Documents to be included when submitting The Proposals.

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document:

Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability and Financial Proposal that indicates the Daily fee of the candidate, in USD, using the template provided by UNDP in Annex IV
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;
Financial Proposal that indicates the daily rate/fee of the candidate, in US dollars; Incomplete proposals may not be considered.

Incomplete proposals may not be considered. The short-listed candidates may be contacted and the successful candidate will be notified

ANNEXES

Annex I – TOR for Consultant on Preventing Violent Extremism

Annex II – Individual IC General Terms and Conditions

Annex III – P11 for ICs (optional)

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

Annex V – Procurement notice

All documents can be downloaded at: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=51812