Background

Objectives:

The objective of this assignment is to provide temporary Procurement Support to the Multi-Country Western Pacific Programme Management Unit.

Background:

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 170 countries and territories, working with governments and people on their own solutions to global and national development challenges to help empower lives and build resilient nations.

UNDP is a lead agency in UNAIDS for addressing the dimensions of HIV relating to human rights, gender and sexual diversity. In addition, UNDP contributes to public health and development partnerships through collaborations with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the ‘Global Fund’), Roll Back Malaria, Stop TB Partnerships, and special programmes on human reproduction and infectious diseases that disproportionately affect poor populations.

As part of its wider engagement with the United Nations, the Global Fund has partnered with UNDP since 2003 to ensure that grants are implemented and services are delivered in countries facing complex challenges. The partnership focuses on three closely linked areas of work: implementation support as interim Principal Recipient (PR), capacity development, and policy engagement.

In December 2014, the Pacific Islands Regional Coordinating Mechanism (PIRM CCM) nominated UNDP as Principal Recipient for the Multi-Country Western Pacific grants (TB and HIV; and Malaria in Vanuatu. In 2017, the Global Fund approved Programme Continuation Request submitted by the PIRM CCM for the next funding allocation of 2018-2020 for Integrated HIV/TB Programme for 11 PICs and LLIN Distribution Programme in Vanuatu. UNDP plans to engage over 30 sub-recipients from governmental and civil society sectors to implement the HIV/TB and Malaria Programmes in 2018-2020.

For the implementation of the Multi-Country Programmes, the UNDP Pacific Centre in Fiji established a Programme Management Unit (PMU) based in Suva to coordinate and oversee the implementation and to ensure compliance with the Global Fund and UNDP rules, policies and procedures. The PMU coordinates with the PIRM CCM, PICs Governments and CSOs as well as with regional partners, the Global Fund and other key stakeholders in the health and development sector (bi-laterals, private sector) and technical assistance providers.

UNDP‘s management role consists in ensuring successful implementation of grant activities by sub-recipients ensuring programmatic and financial accountability and capacity building of national and international counterparts in programmatic, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and financial management.

With the current grant coming to an end on 31st December 2020 and COVID-19 country response funding resulting in increased procurement requirement, there is a need for Procurement Support to the Programme to timely deliver the resources required by 11 countries.

Under the overall guidance of the Program Manager and in direct supervision of UNDP PSM Analyst, Procurement Assistant will  responsible for implementing procurement activities within two grants – HIV/TB Integrated Programme and LLIN Distribution Programme in Vanuatu. S/he performs procurement and associated logistics processes in line with the grant agreements, budgets and procurement lists as per direction of PSM Analyst. S/he also performs procurement performance monitoring and evaluation aiming to increase efficiency at all PSM levels, to ensure sustainability and capacity development.

The Procurement Assistant will be temporarily part of the PMU management team and works in close collaboration with the PMU and Operations team at the UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji, PMU staff in Vanuatu and Samoa as well as with UNDP Global Fund Programme Procurement Teams in Geneva and Copenhagen. The Procurement Assistant promotes collaborative, client-oriented approach consistent with UNDP rules and regulations overseen by UNDP PSM Analyst

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of work

Under daily guidance by the UNDP PSM Analyst, the Procurement Assistant shall provide Procurement and associated logistic support in line with the grant agreements, budgets and procurement lists under the Programme to fulfill the tasks particularly those related to accelerating delivery and meeting the obligations made to the Global Fund (donor) and recipients of grants; 11 Pacific Island States including Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu

The level of support is hereby summarized into 3 major outputs and then further refined in terms of expected deliverables under each output:

1. Support to accelerate procurement of goods and services for the benefit of the 11 Pacific Island States including Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu

1. Support in terms of ATLAS related entry particularly for the Travel and Expense Module, Accounts Payable Module (using the GSSU portal) and the E-Procurement Module.

1. Liaison with country focal points in terms of advisories and schedule of goods arriving into the capital and arranging to the remote and rural sites based on procurement plan

1. Any other support or tasks as directed by the PSM Analyst or the Programme Manager in fulfilment of the grant objectives and procurement plan.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

The Procurement Assistant is expected to submit monthly summary (30 days) of activities, and accomplishment report to the PSM Analyst. Monthly payment shall be made within two weeks after the receipt of approved summary of activities and accomplishment report as per below outputs and deliverables

Institutional Arrangement

The UNDP PSM Analyst will directly supervise the IC, and to whom he/she will be directly responsible to, reporting to, seeking approval/acceptance of output and work performed over a defined period. However all the reporting including  the final report for payment  will be cleared by the Program Manager post clearance by PSM Analyst.

The IC is expected to provide monthly reports of his/her deliverables. In addition, he/she is expected to provide updates during the weekly GF project team meetings. The IC is expected to liaise with the project focal points based in country, i.e., the respective UNDP country focal points, and Government Agencies and update them on the progress of project deliverables and specifically the movement of goods and supplies that are essential to the completion of work under the Programme. The GF project team through the Project Manager will provide overall oversight in the management/implementation of the contract as the approving authority and will support the PSM Analyst in the evaluation of performance of IC. 

There are 11 countries that are allocated specific budgets under the Programme. The IC will coordinate with UNDP country offices and government counterparts in the implementation of project activities. Budget includes health product, equipment, consumables, IT equipment, consultancy, travel, workshops and consultations, printing of knowledge management materials.

Duration of the Work

The expected duration  of the contract is 7 months. The target start date is May 2020 and the expected completion date is 30 November 2020.

Duty Station

The IC’s duty station will be based with the Programme team at the UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji, Level 2, Kadavu House, Suva during the official UNDP working hours. With the current situation revolving around CORVID-19, the consultant will be required to perform work from home and will be duly supervised by the UNDP PSM Analyst.  He/She may be expected to travel to any of the 11 countries once the CORVID-19 situation has normalized and is expected to maintain a good health.

Competencies

1. An action-oriented approach and strong drive for results

2. Work with teams of diverse capacities;

3. Strong interpersonal and communication skills;

4. Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities skills;

5. Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;

6. Ability to plan, organize, implement and report on work;

7. Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines;

8. Comprehensiveness knowledge of Procurement planning and execution as well as government coordination machinery;

9. Proficiency in the use of office IT applications and internet in conducting research;

10. Outstanding communication, project management and organizational skills;

11. Excellent presentation and facilitation skills;

12. Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;

13. Positive, constructive attitude to work;

    14.  Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Required Skills and Experience

Educational Qualifications:

University Degree in Business,  or Accounting or equivalent in procurement and administration and Programme management disciplines.

Experience

• 3 years of relevant experience at the national or international level in administration and procurement management.

• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.)

• Knowledge of automated procurement systems, experience in handling of web based management systems

• Previous working experience with a UN and or Government agency an asset

• Knowledge of tools, procedures and international standards for the purchase of goods and services is desirable

• UNDP Procurement Certification Programme desirable

• Working understanding of working cultures and norms in the Pacific;

• Excellent fluency in English, both written and verbal communication.

  Language requirements

  Fluency of English language is required;

  Knowledge of local non-verbal communication styles would be an asset.

   

  Daily Fee and Schedule of Payments

  The Consultant shall quote an all-inclusive Daily Fee for the contract period. The term “all-inclusive” implies that all costs that could be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment are already factored into the daily fee submitted in the proposal. Payments shall be done on a monthly basis based on actual days worked, upon submission of Time Sheet indicating the days worked in the period and verification of completion of deliverables performed by IC’s supervisor and endorsement by the Program Manager.

   

  In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. All other official travel undertaken during the course of the assignment will be arranged and paid by UNDP.

   

Note: The selected consultant will be required to sign a statement of Good Health and present valid medical insurance coverage for the duration of assignment before commencement of work. The cost of medical insurance can be included in the financial proposal and shall be reimbursed.

Evaluation Method and Criteria

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology.

Cumulative analysis

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 (100%) financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 70 points)

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

Financial evaluation - Total 30%

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

p = y (µ/z), where

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Contract Award

Candidate obtaining the highest combined scores in the combined score of Technical and Financial evaluation will be considered technically qualified and will be offered to enter into contract with UNDP. Shortlisted candidates maybe called for an interview which will be used to confirm and/or adjust the technical scores awarded based on documentation submitted.

Documentation required

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

• Cover letter, including a) a brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment;

• Personal CV, indicating all past experience from similar assignments, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references.

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest, Availability and submission of financial proposal using the template provided in Annex II.

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 (Procurement Assistant (Temporary)) with reference (PN/FJ/051/20) and submitted via UN Job shop by 3rd May 2020.

• Note: UNDP Jobs only supports single document upload hence ensure that the proposal consolidated and submitted as one single document.

  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