Background

A. Project Background:

Since 2012, the UNDP Country Office (CO) in the Philippines has worked on local multi-dimensional poverty reduction initiatives by facilitating the convergence of capacities of government, private sector, academe, CSOs and communities. The CO mapped interventions against at the local level, focusing on data collection and reporting, planning and budgeting, the development of incentives for reform, and capacity development. More recently, the CO has drawn on the lessons from these interventions to shift the focus to SDG localization, which include flexible partnerships with local universities under the G-HUBS initiative; third-party, citizen monitoring systems, including the DevLIVE app; and analytical work on governance indices and incentives.

Progress has been made on building capacities for planning and programming for more effective service delivery at the local level; however, the majority of LGUs in the Philippines are trapped in archaic, inefficient, non-transparent and paper-based, overly bureaucratic systems that lead to poor quality, non-responsive and unaccountable service delivery, with corruption risks that constrain the shift to the more integrated and holistic programming and planning required to achieve the SDGs. Adoption of internationally tested innovations in data acquisition and management, digitization and people-centered development practices that could have a transformative impact has also been limited.

To build on these efforts, the CO – working in close cooperation with key national government agencies, regional governments and local government units – intends to prototype support for the transformative power of data, digitalization and people-centered governance to make local public services future-ready, more efficient and effective, and to accelerate progress towards achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the country’s national development objectives.

The recent passage of the Bangsamoro Organic Law and the establishment of a three-year transition authority in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) provides an important opportunity to improve governance and public service delivery in one of the poorest parts of the country that has suffered from long-term fragility and instability. In response, UNDP is focusing its assistance to the region, particularly to the Ministry of Interior and Local Government (MILG), in addressing digital governance, digital transformation and application of digital solutions to address development and governance constraints in the public sector.

To support these efforts the CO, in partnership with MILG is developing the Localizing e-Government for Accelerated Provision of Services (LEAPS) project. The project will prototype approaches to redesigning business processes for essential services to make them future-ready, user-centered, more efficient and less prone to corruption. The project will establish platforms that provide a robust evidence base for integrated planning and investment to achieve the SDGs.

In particular, the project will include a series of Digital Service Design Lab (DSDL), an intensive 6-7 day workshop that will guide MILG and all LGUs under its supervision in analyzing their service delivery process from the perspective of both service provider and service recipient. It will walk workshop participants through the following processes: from existing service process analysis, digital system’s module and feature identification, digital service module design, functional process diagram, user access plan, integration management, up to design and planning specification and budget.

To inform the design of the DSDL and other components of the LEAPS project, the CO is facilitating knowledge transfer from the Access to Information (a2i) program – a UNDP-supported initiative of the Government of Bangladesh. Resource persons from a2i are expected to share their knowledge and resources on DSDL.

UNDP-Philippines requires the services of an individual consultant (IC) to work closely with staff in MILG and a2i colleagues to design a localized version of the DSDL suitable for the BARMM context.

Duties and Responsibilities

B. Scope of Work:

The Consultant shall carry out the following tasks:

• Design a detailed methodology and workplan for the delivery of the DSDL workshops with specific timetable for delivery of outputs as mutually agreed with UNDP and the Strategy Working Group (SWG) of the Ministry of Interior and Local Government-BARMM (comprised of MILG and LGU staff as well as members of Governance Hubs who will lead the strategy for public e-service delivery and serve as champions of service delivery change);
• Work closely with the SWG in the localization/contextualization of content and concepts of a2i’s DSDL Workshop modules, tools and manuals;
• Conduct a “discovery workshop” which will serve as a preliminary requirement study or analysis of MILG/LGU operations and workflows to determine systematic weaknesses e.g., duplication/overlaps, as well as activities that do not add value to the service delivery process;
• Deliver a DSDL Training of Trainors for select members of MILG in collaboration with identified Governance Hubs in BARMM;
• Oversee/supervise the rollout of the DSDL Workshops which will be delivered by Governance Hubs;

• Prepare a final report consolidating the outputs of the workshops including priority recommendations for IT enabled intervention, approaches to effecting implementation as well as technology options and indicative investment requirements; and
• Provide regular feedback to the MILG and UNDP’s Institutions and Partnerships (I&P) Outcome Team.   

C. Institutional Arrangements:

For the duration of the contract, the Consultant shall report to the UNDP Philippines Institutions and Partnerships (I&P) Programme Team in the delivery of the terms of reference. Reporting is output-based and all deliverables must be submitted to UNDP-I&P. Similarly, the final outputs should be formally accepted by the Outcome Lead of I&P, UNDP Philippines before any payment is made.

D. Duration of Work, Duty Station, and Travel

To undertake the tasks, procedures, and expected outputs, the Consultant shall be engaged for 40 person-days over a four-month period. Effectivity of the engagement will be upon signing of the contract and will be valid until all outputs have been delivered and accepted. The target start-of-work date is December 16, 2019 and the expected completion date is April 15, 2020.

The position will be based in the BARMM areas to allow accessibility and availability for discussions and reporting on progress of activities as may be required by the BARMM. Though the consultant will not be required to report regularly at the MILG, but shall agree with the UNDP I&P Outcome Lead on a regular schedule to report on status and provide feedback on the outputs.

E. Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payment

The Consultant should send a financial proposal based on a lump-sum amount for the delivery of the outputs identified below. The total amount quoted shall include all costs components required to deliver the goods and services identified above, including professional fees and any other applicable costs (i.e., transportation/travel to and from residence to meeting venues, supplies and materials, communications, etc.) to be incurred by the Consultant in completing the assignment.

The contract price will be fixed output-based price. Any deviations from the outputs and timelines will need to be agreed upon between the Consultant and UNDP. Travel shall be included in the financial proposal.

Payments will be done upon satisfactory completion of the deliverables by target due dates. Outputs will be reviewed and certified by the Outcome Lead, I&P Team, UNDP prior to release of payments.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN mission, vision, values, and ethical standards
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Promotes UNDP’s agenda in meetings

Other Competencies

• Ability to work in close collaboration with a group of national and international experts, to meet strict deadlines and plan the work according to priorities;
• Demonstrates capacity to plan, organize, and execute effectively;
• Initiative, good analytical skills, mature judgment and ability to work under tight schedule while respecting deadlines achievement, ethics and honesty;
• Ability to establish effective working relations in a diverse environment
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Builds strong relationships with internal and external clients;
• Demonstrated ability to function in a team environment and to deal with complex multi-stakeholder environment
• Good ability to use information and communication technologies as tools and resources;
• Excellent written communication and presentation/public speaking skills, focus on results, ability to interact productively in a teamwork environment

Required Skills and Experience

F. Qualifications

• Master’s degree or equivalent in relevant areas, e.g., Public Administration, Business Administration / Management, Social Sciences or related areas. A first level university degree in combination with additional 5 years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree
• At least 5 years in experience in organizational development process design or improvement, public sector and governance reforms, including digital governance, public sector digital transformation and application of digital solutions to address public sector and development issues
• At least two years of relevant work experience on government process reengineering, institutional strengthening, proposal management, program management, etc. in developing countries with nationwide coverage and limited technological infrastructure
• Knowledge and experience in IT solutions to Government Operations (“G2G”), Public Service Delivery to Citizens (“G2C”) and Businesses (“G2B”), Public Data Platforms, and interoperability.
• Must have excellent communications skill (written and oral) in Filipino and English
• Open to Filipino Nationals only, with a preference for individuals residing in BARMM/Mindanao.

G. Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

Applications from qualified candidates will be desk reviewed by the UNDP Philippines’ selection panel

Assessment of best offer will be via Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications will be weighed a maximum of 70 percent and combined with the price offer which will be weighed a maximum of 30 percent. Criteria for technical part was shown above while financial criteria will be based on the financial proposal.

K. Recommended Presentation Offer

For purposes of generating Offers whose contents are uniformly presented and to facilitate their comparative analysis, it is best to recommend the preferred contents and presentation of the Offer to be submitted, as well as the format/sequencing of their presentation. The following documents may be requested:

a) Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
b) 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;
c) 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. A methodology is recommended for intellectual services, but may be omitted for support services [Note: this is optional for support services];
d) Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided. If an 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 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.

You may download the editable version of the Offeror's Letter to UNDP Confirming Insterest and Availability for the IC by clicking on this link: http://gofile.me/292aN/5eiV7qhBq

In view of the volume of applications UNDP receives, only shortlisted offerors will be notified.