Background

In 2018, the UNDP in Asia and the Pacific and the European Union initiated a joint multi-country project that aims to address the root causes of violent extremism, and promote tolerance and respect for diversity in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. 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 is currently addressing 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.

 

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.

 

Project update

As the PVE project draws to a close in February 2020, UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub and UNDP country offices in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand are seeking to meet delivery targets under the project, and will be conducting activities related to all three outputs between August 2019 and February 2020.

UNDP therefore requires the services of a Project Management Consultant to manage and ensure delivery of the project within the Bangkok Regional Hub and country offices, and report on the delivery of the Regional UNDP PVE project.

Duties and Responsibilities

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 updated activity plans for the implementation of outputs and generation of results, as well as quarterly reports;
  • Work closely with administration to oversee project budget and spending;
  • Draft TORs and prepare contracts for team members, external consultants, and service providers;
  • 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 UNDP country offices.

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. Updated activity plans and timelines for BRH and 4 project countries;
  2. Quarterly reports for UNDP PVE project based on regional and country level activities;
  3. Edited regional research paper on returning foreign fighters;
  4. TORs and contracts for the team members, external consultants, and service providers;
  5. End of project reports/briefs for Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand;
  6. Final project delivery/project outcome report;
  7. Internal UNDP reporting on PVE results to UNDP Senior Management;
  8. Technical assistance to UNDP country offices in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maldives, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand;
  9. Concept notes and briefs for attracting funding for the PVE project.

Institutional Arrangement:

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

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.

 

Duration of the Assignment:

The period of the assignment is estimated to be from 22 August 2019 – 31 March 2020, up to a maximum of 159 working days.

 

Duty Station:

The duty station will be Bangkok with potential travel to countries in Asia and the Pacific when required.

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

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:

Language:

  • Fluency in written and spoken English.

 

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payment:

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, communications, consumables, 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.

lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. 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.

 

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer:

The award of the contract shall be 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. [Remove this paragraph if Lowest priced is selected]

 

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 100 points)

  • Criteria 1: Relevance of Education – Max 15 points;
  • Criteria 2: Minimum of 8 years’ experience working in international development, policy analysis and/or project management – Max 30 Points;
  • Criteria 3: Experience working with government, civil society organizations, and donors in a conflict-affected country in Asia – Max 20 points;
  • Criteria 4: Excellent report writing skills related to political and security analysis – Max 20 points;
  • Criteria 5: Experience in outreach and communications events – Max 15 points

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

 

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals:

Candidates wishing to be considered for this assignment are required to submit the following documents 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 using the template provided in Annex III;
  • 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;
  • Submission of sample of written journals, reports and/or policy papers to demonstrate candidates related experiences and written and communication skills.

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

ANNEXES:

 

ANNEXES

Annex I TOR_PVE Project Management Consultant
Annex II General Terms and Conditions for Contracts Individual Consultants
Annex III Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability and Financial Proposal
Annex IV - P11 for IC- (optional)
Annex V Procurement Notice

 All documents can be downloaded at : http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=57552