Background

UN Capital Development Fund is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s 49 least developed countries. It creates new opportunities for poor people and their communities by increasing access to microfinance and investment capital. UNCDF focuses on Africa and the poorest countries of Asia and the Pacific, with a special commitment to countries emerging from conflict or crisis. It provides seed capital – grants and loans – and technical support to help microfinance institutions reach more poor households and small businesses, and local governments finance the capital investments – water systems, feeder roads, schools, irrigation schemes – that will improve poor peoples’ lives. Financial inclusion means universal access, at a reasonable cost, to a wide range of financial services, provided by a variety of sound and sustainable institutions. The range of financial services includes savings, short and long-term credit, leasing and factoring, mortgages, insurance, pensions, payments, local money transfers and international remittances.

Since 2015, UNCDF has been a local presence in Zambia, focused on implementation of projects that address the needs of the 40% financially excluded. These projects are grounded in digital solutions to improve financial inclusion, address energy and resource needs at household leve, and improve accessibility to goods, services and markets that help them sustain their livelihoods or improve their lives.

UNCDF Zambia is seeking an experienced photographer and videographer to support the production of quality photos and a video that capture the content and impact of our work on advancing digital financial inclusion in Zambia. In 2020, UNCDF Zambia will be implementing the following projects/hosting the following events:

  • Sprint4Women field activities;
  • Launch of State of the DFS Industry Reports;
  • Launch of Bank of Zambia Data Automation System;
  • Innovative Agents field activities;
  • Digital Coffee Sessions;
  • Feedback2Action workshop;
  •  Other events as advised.

Duties and Responsibilities

  • Discuss with UNCDF Zambia Regional Technical Specialist, DFS Expert(s), and Knowledge Management Consultant and other relevant team members the goals and expectations for each photo shoot at least 3-5 days prior to photo shoot and co-create an initial story UNCDF would like told.
  • Reflect the content/focus of the project and workshop to ensure viewers understand the type of activities UNCDF Zambia is conducting.
  • Illustrate the impact of an event or project.
  • Create a photo montage/story illustrating the activities carried out by UNCDF Zambia and the impressions from the participants e.g. a photo-series illustrating a day in the life of a customer or agent of one of the DFS providers participating in a specific project or a photo-series at an event that can be used to tell a story on social media about who attended the event and what the reception was.
  • The photos and video are to be used in knowledge products, press releases, articles and online posts for the programme’s website and blog as well as social media channels from UNCDF and partners’ sites.

The desired outcome: photo and video coverage of a selection of UNCDF Zambia’s projects and events.

Deliverables:

  • Photos (both portraits and contextual) and videos from the following field visits and events in high resolution (at least 150 dpi, which corresponds approximately to width = 1280 pixel)
  • Out of the overall shooting per project/event – only a selection of the 20 to 40 best pictures will be delivered in agreement with the KM Consultant in charge.
  •  Besides the context, the individual contractor will capture images of the participants in discussions, workshops, field visit to ensure diversity in the images and ease editing of the photos.
  • Delivery of edited and finalized photos within 7 days after the field visit/event and edited videos within 14 days after the field visit/event.

The pictures and video lighting quality should be of a professional level. Later these pictures and video will be featured on UNCDF and partners’ publications, websites and blogs.

The audience (who will watch):

  • The participants (event participants, customers, agents and DFS providers in the field).
  • DFS stakeholders participating in the project or event.

The photographer will be required to show proof that consent was obtained from individuals that were photographed during field visits.

The photos will answer the following questions:

Before each assignment, the contact person (the Knowledge Management Specialist) will brief the contractor on the purpose of each event to ensure that the images captured addressed the following points:

  • Does the image tell a story?
  • Is the image dramatically framed?
  • Is the image active?
  • Does the image convey our values?

Mandatory:

ALIVE= Angle + lighting + expressions

The videos should match the quality and style of the following examples :

Competencies

Competencies:

  • Demonstrates creative flair, communication and interpersonal skills;?
  • Deomonstrates photo editing software knowledge and customer service orientation;
  • Demonstrates commitment to the mission, vision and values of UNDP/UNCDF;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religious, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
  • Exhibits integrity in the work place, including transparency and honesty.

 

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Minimum Grade 12 certificate is mandatory.

Experience:

  • At least 3 years of experience in professional photo shooting is mandatory.
  • Proficiency with traditional and modern equipment (Camera, Lenses, Lighting etc.) is mandatory.
  • Solid knowledge of Photoshop, Video Editor or other photography and videography specific software is mandatory.

Language:

  • Good command of written and oral English is mandatory.
  • Fluency in Bemba and/or Nyanja mandatory.

Timeline, duty station, total number of working days, and travel:

Timeline:

  • March 2, 2020 – 31 December 31, 2020.
  • For field visits allotted time will be 3 days (including travel time) and for events the allotted time will be 1 day. Further guidance will be given for each assignment. 
  • Total number of working days: up to 40 days; multiple assignments during the year are expected.

Duty station: Lusaka and other locations in Zambia.

Travel:

Please note that as this is a national consultancy, no travel-related costs shall be quoted in the financial proposal. For any travel that occurs (e.g. field trip), payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed in accordance with UNCDF travel rules and regulations.

Provision of Monitoring, Progress Controls & Payments:

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Country Technical Specialist in Zambia; Payment will be made on periodical basis in accordance with number of days worked and upon satisfactorily achieved deliverables. All payments are subject to the clearance and approval of the direct supervisor; Final payment shall require a signed performance evaluation of the consultant.

Application requirements:

Applications:

Applications will be rated on both technical and financial submissions.  The best proposal that will be awarded the contract shall be selected through the following method:

Highest rated proposal using the combined scoring method, which assigns the weight distribution between the technical and financial proposals as set out in the RFP.  The weight distribution shall be 70% technical and 30% financial.

All applications must contain the following information:

Curriculum Vitae; A portfolio with at least 10 photo samples and 2 video samples; Completed and signed P11 - Personal History Form with names and current contacts of 3 referees (available from http://sas.undp.org/documents/p11_personal_history_form.doc);

-Total professional fee;

-Other professional expenses (such as insurance, taxes, etc.);

The financial proposal form is available at http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=29916)

Evaluation:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

  • Signed financial proposal for the full months assignment outlining:
  • Preliminary Evaluation - Step I: Screening
  • Technical Evaluation Weight - 70% x (Step II: Shortlisting (20 points), Step III: Technical proposal evaluation (80 points) = 100 Points)
  • Financial Evaluation Weight - 30% = Step IV.

  • Step I: Screening:

    Applications will be screened and only applicants meeting the following minimum criteria (listed under education and experience) will progress to the pool for shortlisting.

    Step II: Shortlisting by Desk Review:

    UNCDF will conduct a desk review to produce a shortlist of candidates and technically evaluate them.

    As applicable, only the first top 4 ranked applicants achieving 70% of the points at this stage will be considered at the next stage.

    Step III:  Technical proposal evaluation:

    The photo samples of the top 3 shortlisted candidates who achieved 70% of the points at the shortlisting stage will be reviewed and scored.

    Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% on the total of Step II (20 points) + Step III (80 points) will be considered as technically qualified and will be reviewed further for financial evaluation.

    Step IV: Financial Evaluation:

    The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

    Lowest priced proposal/price of the proposal being evaluated x 30%.

    Award Criteria:

    The contact shall be awarded to the best two applicants whose offer have been evaluated and determined as: responsive/compliant/acceptable and having received the highest combined weight (technical proposal & portfolio evaluation) 70% + financial 30%= 100%.

    Please note that UNCDF cannot guarantee residence permits or visa´s for consultants. Consultants are responsible for securing their work documentation. In the case of national consultants, applicants that are not nationals of the duty station requested will have to prove their residence status. 

    Any individual employed by a company or institution who would like to submit an offer in response to a Procurement Notice for IC must do so in their individual capacity (providing a CV so that their qualifications may be judged accordingly). Please not that in such case the company institution will be asked to issue an RLA http://www.undp.org/content/dam/vietnam/docs/Legalframework/Reimbursable%20Loan%20Agreement.doc.  

    Women candidates or women-owned businesses are strongly encouraged to apply.

    (Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA): A legal instrument between UNCDF 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. An RLA is governed by the provisions of this policy.)