Background

In recent decades, biodiversity finance tools and solutions have demonstrated their importance for achieving biodiversity goals and broader sustainable development objectives. Improved choice, design and implementation of effective, well-tailored finance solutions will strengthen countries’ chances of achieving national and global biodiversity targets.

The Biodiversity Finance Initiative – BIOFIN – was developed to provide a comprehensive methodology for governments to: 1) review the existing policy context, 2) measure expenditure levels for biodiversity, 3) calculate future financial needs and 4) design strategic plans to deploy the right mix of finance solutions, tailored to the country context. The methodology has been conducted in 35 countries to date, with many now having reached the implementation stage.

BIOFIN is supported by the Governments of Germany, Flanders, Norway, Switzerland and the European Union. The initiative is part of UNDP’s Global Environmental Finance (UNDP-GEF) unit, hosted by the Ecosystems and Biodiversity (EBD) cluster under UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS).

BIOFIN’s first phase (2012-2018) enabled full assessments and initial implementation of finance plan elements in target countries. Based on lessons learned, a new and comprehensive version of the BIOFIN Methodology was developed. Significant scaling up of finance solutions is required in all countries to address the biodiversity finance challenge.

BIOFIN’s second phase (2018 – 2022) focuses mainly on the implementation of prioritized finance solutions while also allowing additional countries to undertake the initial assessments and create the finance plan. See www.biodiversityfinance.org for further information.

Purpose of the Conference

The workshop will bring together approximately 350 participants including representatives from up to 35 BIOFIN member countries (government, experts and UNDP country offices) and representatives from 36 OECD member countries, UNDP headquarters and regional offices, as well as, international thematic experts. The workshop has the following objectives:

• Jointly examine global trends and lessons learned in biodiversity finance and policy incentives for 2011 – 2020;
• Provide a platform for sharing insights, experiences and new opportunities across a wide range of countries and experts in the field;
• Develop recommendations on financing for the Global Biodiversity Finance Action Plan for the CBD Post-2020 Framework;
• Highlight existing and future opportunities for the private and financial sector to engage in biodiversity finance.

The BIOFIN Team is seeking a consultant who can develop and implement a communication strategy for the 4th Global Conference on Biodiversity Finance organized by the OECD and UNDP to be held in Paris, France from 14th to 16th April 2020. Under the direct supervision of the BIOFIN Programme Officer, the communication consultant is required to ensure the successful preparation and implementation of the all the communication related activities of the above-mentioned workshop. 

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will be expected to carry out the following tasks:

• Developing and implementing a specific communication strategy for the 4th Global Conference on Biodiversity Finance;
• Coordinating with the different OECD communication services;
• Reaching to the relevant UNDP department and organizing UNDP goodwill ambassador’s participation to the conference;
• Finalizing the design theme and logo and applying the final theme in all communication materials with the support of BIOFIN Design Consultant;
• Supporting the OECD in the development of the Event App and ensure its regular update;
• Developing the website content and ensure all content on the website is updated regularly;
• Liaising with the relevant medias for the event and prepare press interviews, broadcast or print media;
• Writing/editing all press releases, newsletters and blog posts regarding the conference;
• Designing a social media strategy and manage BIOFIN’s social media channels before, during and after the event in collaboration with BIOFIN team;
• Collaborating with the Knowledge Management and technical experts on the Workshop related products;
• Supporting the BIOFIN management in writing an article highlighting the conference results;
• Producing a post-conference synopsis of the communication lessons learnt.

Outputs/Deliverables:

• Conference communication strategy developed, and conference design theme finalized by 9 March 2020;
• Workshop communication strategy implementation, content preparation, media outreach successfully conducted prior to the meeting and during the meeting from 14-16 April 2020;
• Produce an article highlighting the conference key results by 24 April 2020;
• Produce a post-conference synopsis of the communication lessons learnt by 30 April 2020.

Payment Schedule:

Payments will be made upon satisfactory completion and acceptance of the deliverables by the Supervisor as per below percentages:

• Communication strategy developed and conference design theme - 15%
• Workshop communication strategy implemented in collaboration with the OECD communication team, social media and website content related to the event is managed and updated successfully, media outreach successfully conducted prior and during the meeting - 55%;
• Article highlighting the conference key results and post-workshop synopsis produced by - 30%.

Working Arrangements:

• Estimated level of effort, including travel, is 20 days;
• The consultant will carry out his/her tasks under the overall guidance of, and will report regularly via email and skype calls to, the BIOFIN Programme Officer;
• Preparatory work implementation and final report writing will be home – based with access to email and skype;
• Workshop venue: Paris, France with arrival at least one day before the event;
• The Consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment including background information of the workshop objectives, project methodology and other related materials;
• The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own working station (i.e. laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, etc.) and must have access to reliable internet connection, as well as, provide her/his own facilitation materials;
• 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;
• Payments will be made upon submission of a detailed timesheet 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 to Paris, France will be required with an arrival date of 13 April 2020 and departure date is the morning of 17 April 2020;
• Any necessary missions must be approved in advance and in writing by Supervisor;
• The BSAFE course must be successfully completed prior to commencement of official 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 also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under https://dss.un.org/dssweb/ ;
• Consultants are responsible for obtaining any visas and security clearances needed in connection with travel with the necessary support from UNDP;
• Travel (terminal expenses, economy class roundtrip ticket from home country to Paris) and living expenses such as hotel accommodation, meals, and miscellaneous expenses for the mission in Paris should be included in the financial proposal. Mission will take place from 13-16 April 2020. Arrival date is 13 April 2020 and departure date is morning of 17 April 2020; in total maximum 4 nights.
• The consultant will be responsible for making his/her own mission travel arrangements in line with UNDP travel policies.

Competencies

Corporate

• 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

• Advanced editing skills;
• Good command of commonly used design and publishing software packages;
• Computer literacy for Microsoft Office Package or equivalent;
• Demonstrated skills in writing news articles, press releases, success stories, newsletters, communication strategies and programmatic reports.

Professionalism:

• Capable of working in a high-pressure environment with sharp and frequent deadlines, managing many tasks simultaneously;
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills;
• Exercise the highest level of responsibility and be able to handle confidential and politically sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner.

Communication:

• Excellent writing and verbal communication skills;
• Communicate effectively in writing to a varied and broad audience in a simple and concise manner.

Teamwork:

• Work well in a team to advance the priorities of BIOFIN and UNDP as a whole;
• 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

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, journalism, social sciences or other related field (Max: 5 points)

Experience:

• At least 5 years of professional experience in the field of communications, graphic design, journalism, website moderation or a related field (Max: 10 points);
• Proven expertise in developing and implementing communication strategies at the institutional/national level as a minimum, but preferably with a global or regional scope (Max: 10 points);
• Demonstrated experience in managing social media, writing articles for various medias and managing website content. Please attach or provide a link for 2 samples of previous communication products and two writing samples (website articles, news articles, case studies or press release) (Max: 15 points);
• Previous experience working on communications and outreach that relate to sustainable development, environmental and/or biodiversity issues is an advantage (Max: 5 points);
• Experience, and good network, with the international media is an advantage (Max: 10 points);
• Previous work experience with UNDP or a related organization and familiarity with their brand identity requirements is also an advantage (Max: 5 points).

Languages:

Excellent oral and written communication skills in English language (Pass/Fail);

Evaluation method:

• Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated;
• Offers will be evaluated according to the Combined Scoring method – where the technical criteria will be weighted at 70% and the financial offer will be weighted at 30%;
• The technical criteria (education, experience, languages [max 60 points] and interview [max. 30 points]) will be based on a maximum 90 points;
• Only the top 3 candidates scoring 42 points or higher from the review of the education, experience, languages will be considered for the interview;
• Candidates obtaining 21 points or higher in the interview will deemed technically qualified and considered for financial evaluation;
• Financial score (100pts) shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal of those technically qualified;
• The financial proposal shall specify a lump sum fee, including breakdown per deliverable as outlined above. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal must additionally include a breakdown of this fee (including all foreseeable expenses to carry out the assignment). Travel costs should be included in the financial proposal;
• Applicant receiving the Highest Combined Score and has accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions will be awarded the contract.

Documentation to be submitted:

• Applicants must submit a duly completed and signed UNDP Personal History form (P11) and/or CV including Education/Qualification, Professional Certification, Employment Records /Experience;
• Applicants must attach or provide a link for 2 samples of previous communication products and two writing samples (website articles, news articles, case studies or press release). File size cannot exceed the maximum limit of 10MB;
• Applicants must reply to the mandatory questions asked by the system when submitting the application.
• Applicants must submit a duly completed and signed Annex II Offeror´s letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the Individual Contractor (IC) assignment to be downloaded from the UNDP procurement site.

Kindly note you can upload only ONE document to this application (scan all documents in one single PDF file to attach). File size cannot exceed the maximum limit of 10MB.

UNDP Personal History form (P11) required of all applicants:

http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/corporate/Careers/P11_Personal_history_form.doc.

General Conditions of Contract for the ICs:

https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=201192

Annex II Offeror´s letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the Individual Contractor (IC) assignment: 

https://procurement-notices.undp.org/search.cfm  (reference no 63229)