Background

The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) is the United Nations (UN) system coordinator and focal point for South-South cooperation which undertakes significant monitoring of South-South and triangular cooperation in the UN system and submits reports to the highest levels of the UN system, including the General Assembly (GA), Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Board among others to promote cooperation among developing countries on a UN system-wide basis.

The Policy and Strategic Partnerships Division serves as the substantive secretariat for the United Nations policy dialogues, including in the United Nations General Assembly and the High-level Committee (HLC) on South-South Cooperation, organizing the biennial sessions of the HLC while monitoring and reporting on the progress made in mainstreaming South-South cooperation in the normative and operational activities of the United Nations system. The Division is tasked with these core duties of the Office and under its Strategic Framework (2018-2021), has as its top priority the strengthening of the multilateral South-South and triangular policy-making processes, in advancing Southern perspectives and approaches in major intergovernmental and inter-agency processes as well as enhancing the coherence and coordination of the UN support to South-South and triangular cooperation.

The Policy and Strategic Partnership Division provides Member States with evidence based research and analysis on trends, opportunities and challenges regarding South-South and triangular cooperation through reports prepared in collaboration with other United Nations organizations, including the annual reports of the Secretary-General on the state of South-South cooperation submitted to the General Assembly, thematic reports of the Secretary-General submitted to the General Assembly and the High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation (HLC) and biennial reports of the Administrator submitted to the HLC.

The Division also monitors the implementation of UNOSSC frameworks and prepares related reports of the Administrator submitted to the Executive Board of UNDP, in addition to the preparation of regular policy briefs, public statements, talking points and messages on South-South cooperation for Senior UN Officials including the Secretary-General, the Administrator and the President of the General Assembly. The Division designs the UN system-wide guidelines on SSC and triangular cooperation, the formulation of the strategic frameworks of UNOSSC as well as inputs to the SSC components of the UNDP strategic Plan and the Comprehensive Policy Review.

The UNOSSC through its Policy and Strategic Partnership Division also supports the UN development system and its partners at global, regional and national levels, to raise awareness and enhance South-South and triangular cooperation through; monitoring progress in South-South cooperation globally; preparing publications, reports and advocacy materials; supporting international dialogue among Southern countries; coordinating focal point networks; coordinating the inter-agency mechanism on South-South cooperation; providing advisory services to Member States.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the guidance and supervision of the Deputy Director for Policy and Strategic Partnerships, the Policy Specialist Consultant will perform the following tasks:

• Supports the Follow up on the outcomes of the intergovernmental processes on South-South and triangular cooperation, including the BAPA+40 Conference, and supports the preparation of recommendations on their implementation.  
• Supports the Policy, Intergovernmental and UN System Coordination work to raise awareness and enhance the relevance of South-South and triangular cooperation;
• Supports in substantive writing and research work related to the preparation of various reports, documents, briefs, and statements related to the delivery of UNOSSC mandate and activities.
• Supports organizing meetings related to policy dialogue on South-South and triangular cooperation;
• Supports monitoring progress in South-South cooperation globally through research and analysis;
• Drafts and prepares policy related publications, reports and advocacy materials;
• Facilitates the organization of the international dialogues for advancing the implementation the 2030 Agenda through South-South and triangular cooperation;
• Assists the Division in coordinating focal point networks in South-South and triangular cooperation

Key Deliverables include:

1. Support is provided to develop actionable plan of activities to implement the outcomes of intergovernmental process, including the BAPA+40 Conference;
2. Effective support is provided to the preparation of the Secretary-General’s reports on the state of South-South cooperation and to the High-Level Committee on South-South Cooperation (at least various 2 reports produced);
3. Substantive research is undertaken and reports on research produced on a range of development topics relevant to South-South and triangular cooperation approaches to development in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (at least 3 reports);
4. Effective support is provided to the preparation of the report of the UNDP Administrator to the High-Level Committee on South-South Cooperation and on implementation of the outcome of the intergovernmental processes, including the BAPA+40 Conference (1 report);
5. Technical support effectively provided in the preparation of the sessions of the High-Level Committee on South-South Cooperation (at least 2 events);
6. Support provided to UNOSSC in its communications with the HLC Bureau members of the High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation and facilitating the timely submission of meeting minutes and other documents (monthly);
7. Substantive written materials, including statements, concept notes, briefings, op-eds, articles, talking points, summary of debates at various fora, key messages and other written communications delivered;
8. Intergovernmental deliberations and negotiation processes of Member States leading to agreed decisions/outcomes effectively facilitated (per event);
9. Preparation of the United Nations system-wide strategy for South-South cooperation facilitated;
10. UNOSSC’s network of South-South and triangular cooperation focal points (national and interagency) supported;
11. Delivery of summaries of debates at various inter-governmental forums on South-South cooperation;
12. Journal announcements drafted, and reports submitted in a timely manner coordination with DGAC

Duration of work / Contracting Arrangements:

• The overall objective of this agreement is to facilitate and expedite the process by which UNOSSC can engage the services of a Policy Specialist;
• The consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment;
• The consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own laptop;
• Given the global consultations to be undertaken during this assignment, the consultant is expected to be reasonably flexible with his/her availability for such consultations taking into consideration different time zones where applicable;
• If the consultant will be requested to work remotely, the consultant will engage with supervisor by email or skype regularly;
• Payments will be made upon submission of a detailed time sheet and certification of payment form, and acceptance and confirmation by the Supervisor on days worked (with a “day” calculated as 8 hours of work) and outputs delivered;

Travel:

• Mission travel may be required to attend relevant meetings and/or trainings, which will likely not exceed 4 missions a year.
• Any necessary mission travel must be approved in advance and in writing by the Deputy Director for Policy and Strategic Partnership;
• The BSAFE course must be successfully completed prior to commencement of travel;
• Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director;
• Consultants are responsible for obtaining any visas and security clearances needed in connection with travel with the necessary support from UNDP;
• Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under https://dss.un.org/dssweb/;
• All related travel expenses will be supported by the unit’s travel fund and will be arranged as per UNDP rules and regulations for consultants. Costs for airfares, terminal expenses, and living allowances should not be included in the financial proposal.

Payment

Payments to individual contractor will be made based on the actual number of days worked, deliverables accepted and upon certification of satisfactory delivery of services by the UNOSSC manager.

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.

Functional Competencies

Communication:  Communicates effectively with staff at all levels of the organization and is comfortable in handling external relations at all levels; outstanding writing and oral communication skills; sensitive and responsive to culture diversities.

Professionalism:  Capable of meeting deadlines, managing tasks simultaneously; Able to complete tasks accurately and thoroughly, with great attention to detail; Exercises the highest level of responsibility and is able to handle confidential and politically sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner; Ability to work with accuracy under pressure and with minimum supervision.

Teamwork:  Works well in a team to service all of the Policy Team and UNOSSC as a whole; projects a positive image and is ready to take on a wide range of tasks to create an enabling environment for policy research and analysis; Focuses on result for the clients and responds positively to feedback.

Technical Skills:  Able to conduct thorough qualitative and quantitative research, able to synthesize and summarize extensive research material into succinct briefings, able to draft communications and outreach materials for senior management; excellent computer, writing and oral skills.

Knowledge Management and Learning: Promotes a knowledge sharing and learning culture in the office; can draw on in-depth knowledge on development cooperation issues and global governance and strong analytical skills; Provides high-quality policy analysis on international development issues; actively develops deep understanding and experience in one or more knowledge areas, including process and/or substantive knowledge.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• At least Master’s degree or equivalent in Development Studies, Economics, Social Sciences, or a related discipline required.

Experience

• At least 5 years of relevant work experience in providing policy analysis and/or support on international development and development cooperation required;
• Experience and expertise regarding global development issues (especially on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and development cooperation) based on previous work experience in a multilateral institution required;
• Demonstrated knowledge of the workings and procedures of the High-level Committee on South-South cooperation asset;
• Good knowledge of political developments; sound understanding of the UN system, including intergovernmental bodies and processes especially on operational activities for development required;
• Sound knowledge and experience with substantive contribution to South-South and triangular cooperation for development in the United Nations system asset;
• Work closely with government delegations, excellent relations with delegations and close familiarity with the intergovernmental process are an essential prerequisite for this function is an asset;
• Experience in organizing UN high-level meetings and global forums an asset; and
• Knowledge of relevant UN, and UNDP corporate processes especially on procurement, contracting, report submission would be an asset.

Language Requirements

• Fluency in English language required (Oral and written)
• Knowledge of other UN languages would be an asset.

RECOMMENDED PRESENTATION OFFER:

Application is a two-step process:

STEP 1

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain the TWO following documents, ALL IN ONE FILE:

• DOCUMENT 1: 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.
• DOCUMENT 2: Brief description of why the individual considers her/himself suitable for the assignment. Please submit this information in the same file as Document 1.
• All the information requested above must be submitted in the same file. Candidates who fail to submit all the information requested above will be disqualified.
• Do not include your financial proposal at this stage. Only shortlisted (technically qualified) candidates will be invited to submit a financial proposal.

STEP 2

Financial Proposal

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

• The financial proposal should specify an all-inclusive daily fee.
• 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; cost of travel from the home base to the duty station and vice versa, where required; living allowances at the duty station; communications, utilities and consumables; life, health and any other insurance; risks and inconveniences related to work under hardship and hazardous conditions (e.g., personal security needs, etc.), when applicable; and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services under the contract.
• In the case of unforeseeable travel requested by UNDP, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. In general, UNDP should 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.
• Shortlisted candidates will be asked to submit a financial proposal. UNDP will provide candidates with the financial proposal template.
• 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 emailed as per the instruction in the separate email that will be sent to responsive and qualified candidates.

Schedule of Payments:

• Payment will be made upon submission of a certificate of payment request, at a schedule agreed based on deliverables, indicating outputs achieved and days worked to be verified and cleared for payment by the supervisor.
• Any official mission travel expenses will be duly paid for directly by UNDP and should not be included in the price proposal.
• Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials

Qualified women are strongly encouraged to apply.

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

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF THE BEST OFFER:

The selection of the best offer from the shortlisted candidates will be based on a Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications and experience will be weighted a maximum of 700 points and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a max of 300 points out of 1000 points.

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%

Technical Evaluation (700 points, Weight 70%)

All applicants will be initially screened against the minimum qualification requirements as specified above.

Responsive candidates will then be further evaluated against the following criteria:

Criteria for technical (desk) review

• Relevance of work experience in providing policy analysis and/or support on international development and development cooperation; (150 points)
• Relevance of work experience and expertise regarding global development issues (especially on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and development cooperation) based on previous work experience in a multilateral institution; (100 points)
• Relevant and demonstrated knowledge of the workings and procedures of the High-level Committee on South-South cooperation and relevance of the experience on substantive contribution to South-South and triangular cooperation (50 points)
• Relevance of the knowledge on political development and sound understanding of the UN system including intergovernmental bodies and processes especially on operational activities for development; (20 points)
• Working experience with government delegations, excellent relations with delegations and close familiarity with the intergovernmental processes, organizing UN high-level meetings and global fora. (60 points)
• Knowledge of other UN languages. (20 points)

The maximum points that can be achieved in the desk review is 400 points.

Only those applicants obtaining a minimum of 280 points (70% of points obtainable in the desk review) will be considered for an interview.

The total obtainable score on the interview is 300 points bringing the total points for the technical evaluation to a maximum of 700 points. Candidates obtaining less than 210 points during the interview (70% of points obtainable during the interview) will be disqualified.
Only those candidates who obtain a total technical score of 490 points and above on the technical evaluation will be considered for financial evaluation and will be asked to submit a financial proposal.

Financial evaluation (300 points, Weight 30%)

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

For the General Conditions of contracts for the Services of Individual Contractors, see http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf.

Note:

• Please visit http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=22291 to view the Individual Contract (IC) General Terms and Conditions (for Individuals/Free Lancers who will sign the UNDP contract on behalf of themselves).
• For Individuals who will be represented on behalf of a company, a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA) will be signed between UNDP and the company. To view the RLA's terms & conditions, please see http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=22292 Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA): A legal instrument between UNDP and a Company/institution, according to which, the latter makes available the services of an individual delivering time-bound and quantifiable outputs that are directly linked to payments