Background

Overview

The Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP) is jointly administered by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and operates from the Pacific Office of the UN in Suva, Fiji with offices in Samoa, Solomon Islands, PNG and Vanuatu.

Munich Climate Insurance Initiative (MCII) was initiated as a charitable organization by insurers, research institutes, and NGOs in April 2005 in response to the growing realization that insurance solutions can play a role in adaptation to climate change, as suggested in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol. This initiative is hosted at the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS). It is focused on bringing solutions for the risks posed by climate change to poor and vulnerable people in developing countries. MCII provides a forum and gathering place for insurance-related expertise applied to climate change issues.

PFIP and MCII are signatories to the Climate Risk Insurance Research Cooperation (CRIRC) agreement, a multi- party engagement involving the University of the South Pacific (USP), the United Nations University Institute of Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and the University of the West Indies (UWI).

The purpose of the Climate Risk Insurance Research Consortium (CRIRC) is to facilitate inter-regional, South-South learning and research. CRIRC will be managed by MCII and will build on the work of (and research around) other disaster risk finance, insurance, social payment, and index mechanisms that operate at the regional, national, community, and individual level. It will also explore the socioeconomic and regulatory needs and demands for disaster risk finance. CRIRC may develop or assess innovative climate financing mechanisms and identify how they could be integrated into the Caribbean or Pacific Islands’ disaster management and response toolbox.

PFIP (UNCDF/UNDP) and the MCII (UNU) have developed the Pacific Insurance and Climate Adaptation Programme (PICAP) and the CRIRC will provide research focus to the PICAP work besides fostering South-South Cooperation and learning as an integral component  

Background

The PICAP aims to develop parametric microinsurance and other climate disaster risk financing products and solutions to help protect vulnerable individuals, communities, cooperatives, small business and Governments in the Pacific against climate and other disaster risks. The focus segments for PICAP will include women, youth, migrants and MSME and the sectors of focus will be agriculture, fisheries, tourism and retail. The PICAP project team will use the results of the literature review to inform the design and development of these products targeting the beneficiaries of the above-mentioned segments and sectors primarily.  PICAP activities, outputs and outcomes are broadly classified under four workstreams: (1) Risk Analysis and Research (2) Policy and Regulations (3) Inclusive Innovation that includes Product development and (4) Consumer Empowerment

PFIP as part of its role in the CRIRC proposes to engage the services of a Research Consultant (Lead Researcher) to conduct a literature and desk review and deliver the outputs described in Section III below.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

The PICAP project aims to develop parametric microinsurance and other climate disaster risk financing products to help protect vulnerable persons of the Pacific against climate risks. The PICAP project team will use the results of the literature review to inform the design and development of these products.

The researcher shall conduct a literature review of the academic papers, government publications, and gray literature (including publications from research institutes, UN agencies, NGOs, national NSOs, etc.) that have been written on the topics of natural hazards and livelihoods. The literature review itself should give an overview of:

1. The socio-economic situation of each country

2. How natural hazards affect the country

3. How different sectors and segments are affected by natural hazards

4. The income sources and levels of different livelihood groups (focus on agriculture, fisheries, tourism and retail sectors)

5. Actions being taken by government, organizations, or individuals to cope with the impacts of natural hazards, including insurance

    

   This assignment shall be conducted in two 25-day periods:

• The first 25-day period shall cover the literature review for Fiji, Vanuatu and Tonga.
• The second 25-day period shall cover the literature review of Solomon Islands, Samoa and Papua New Guinea, as well as the composition of a final report on all 6 countries.

The assignment will start with a kick-off call with the CRIR Project Team, where the contractor will explain the expectations for the assignment as well as clarify any questions that the researcher might have. As part of the literature review, the researcher is asked to first submit a list of sources (including the abstract) of the literature they will review as well as an outline of the structure of their report after the first 3 working days. The contractor shall review this list of sources and outline and will discuss their review during a second conference call. Before the completion of the assignment, the researcher will also submit a draft version of the literature review which the contractor will review. The contractor will share their comments on the draft and changes to be implemented during a third conference call.

Assignment outputs and deliverables

The main deliverables from each of the aforesaid activities will be as follows:

1. After the first 3 working days, but no later than 30th April 2020:

• A list of sources, including the abstract of the sources, that will be reviewed as part of the literature review;
• An outline of the literature review’s structure;
• A list and explanation of the inclusion and exclusion criteria;
• A list and explanation of the search strings;
• A list of the databases, journals and websites used;

2.      After the next 20 working days, but no later than 15th June 2020:

• A draft report will be submitted at the end of 20 days after the deliverable under 1 above has been submitted and approved. The remaining 2 days of the contract should be spent on making the revision as requested by PFIP/MCII; a minimum of 5 working days will be required to review the draft report and provide feedback and comments by PFIP/MCII

3. At the end of the first 25 days, but no later than 30th June 2020:

• The finalized comprehensive report summarizing the outcomes of the literature review

The second 25-day assignment commencement will be decided later once the first phase is satisfactorily completed. The structure of the workplan for the next 25 days will be similar to that of the first phase for the remaining three countries.

Institutional Arrangement

The consultant will work closely with the CRIRC Project Team and will report to the UNCDF-PFIP Deputy Programme Manager.

Work will be conducted from the consultant’s base duty station. No travel is envisaged.

Frequency of progress reporting – Weekly by email and through calls

Duration of Work: This is a 50 days assignment to be implemented between 15th April to 30th Sept 2020. However, the assignment will be divided into two phase of 25 days each as explained above

Competencies

• Proven experience in conducting literature reviews and leading research work.
• Proven experience in producing and managing at least 3 or more literature review research.
• At least 3 years of experience in research related activities in developing countries.
• Past experience working in Pacific region or geographies with a low-density population is desirable.
• Strong analytical and communication skills besides good report writing skills.
• Must be able to bring the strategic and operational thought leadership.

Required Skills and Experience

Educational Qualifications:

• A Master’s qualification, or currently pursuing a Master’s, in or related discipline.

Experience

• Proven research expertise with at least 3 years’ experience in literature reviews in developing countries

• Proven experience in deploying at least three of more literature review research.

• Proven experience in managing at least three or more literature review research.

Language requirements

• Fluency of English language is required;

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

The bidders must send a financial proposal based on lump sum payment at the completion of the deliverables.

The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the successful bidder in completing the assignment. The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below percentages:

Evaluation Method and Criteria

Bids will be evaluated on cumulative analysis. The award of the contract shall be made to the bidder 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%).

Technical Proposal (70%)

• A Master’s qualification in or related discipline – 10%
• Proven research expertise with at least 3 years’ experience in literature reviews in developing countries -20%
• Proposed methodology/approach - 20%
• Proven experience in managing at least three of more literature review research – 20%

Financial Proposal (30%)

To be computed as a ratio of the Proposal’s offer to the lowest price among the proposals received by UNDP.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Documentation required

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications.

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided in Annex II.
• 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.
• Technical proposal, including a) a brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment; and b) a methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment.
• Financial proposal, as per template provided in Annex II. Note: National consultants must quote prices in United States Dollars (USD).

Incomplete, joint proposals and proposals sent to the wrong mailing address will not be accepted and only candidates for whom there is further interest will be contacted.

Individuals interested in this consultancy should apply and will be reviewed based on their own individual capacity. The successful individual may sign an Individual Contract with UNDP or request his/her employer to sign a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA) on their behalf by indicating this in the Offerors letter to Confirming Interest and Availability using Annex II.

Annexes

• Annex I - Individual IC General Terms and Conditions
• Annex II – Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual IC, including Financial Proposal Template

Proposal Submission

• All applications must be clearly marked with the title of the consultancy (Research Consultant) with reference (PN/FJI/034/20) and etenderbox.pacific@undp.org
• For further information concerning this Terms of Reference, please contact UNDP Pacific Office by email: procurement.fj@undp.org

Women applicants are encouraged to apply