Background
Objective
Support in implementation of UNDP’s COVID19 Pandemic Response Strategy in Uttar Pradesh
COVID-19 is an unprecedented health and development crisis that jeopardizes India’s tremendous gains in reducing poverty and improving access to food and nutrition for 1.3 billion people. The pandemic has begun to overload vulnerable health systems and put frontline health workers and civil society organizations (CSOs) at risk. In order to contain its spread and manage grave health risks, a country-wide lock down was announced on March 24th. Although necessary, the lockdown has severely impacted lives and livelihoods, stalled economic activity and affected food and nutrition security. As a consequence, informal workers, people who are on the fringes, and those living in poverty are highly vulnerable to falling into poverty or facing deepening poverty, hunger, illness, homelessness and social stigma.
At the onset of the crisis, the Government of India took proactive action to prevent new infections, provide treatment, support economic relief and ensure delivery of basic services and essential commodities. Eleven inter-ministerial Empowered Groups, were formed by the Prime Minister to oversee India's response, and a USD 22.5 billion relief package was announced, including insurance for frontline health workers, increased subsidies for food grains, and cash transfers for the poor, vulnerable women and daily wage earners. Under the National Mission for Financial Inclusion, 200 million women will receive Rs 500 per month for three months, and wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) have been increased from Rs 182 to Rs 202 a day, potentially benefitting 136 million families. Through the National Social Assistance programme, an ex-gratia payment of Rs 1,000 will be provided to 30 million poor senior citizens, widows and disabled people to support rural livelihoods. The Government is also providing Rs 2,000 in cash assistance to 87 million farmers and has urged State Governments to facilitate provision of assistance to construction workers. While this package provides significant protection measures, the social protection apparatus in States will need to be strengthened to reach the most marginalized.
The economic slowdown is also impacting the informal sector which accounts for more than 85 percent of the workforce, including tens of millions of migrant workers, resulting in a massive reverse migration from urban to rural home villages due to loss of jobs and livelihoods. Many are stranded as single individuals in urban areas with few social networks, with their families in villages, often headed by women, with no remittance income and only limited benefits from government social protection systems. As a result, these increased social and economic burdens will aggravate pressures on families, increase the burden of care giving on women, and increase vulnerability to gender-based violence.
The containment procedures have led to a scarcity of staple foods and price hikes due to reduced cultivation, disruption in supply chains, shortage of labor, reduced employment and reduced purchasing power, thereby impacting food and nutrition security of the most vulnerable. The crisis in food supply creates additional nutritional insecurity. Despite recent improvements in nutrition outcomes, the prevalence of malnutrition is well above acceptable levels, with India being home to one-quarter of the world’s malnourished children. This also has grave gender implications, with women and girls being least prioritized in the order of food consumption within households, and thereby most at risk of reduced food intake.
The lockdown imposed to prevent new COVID infections has resulted in a loss of jobs and earnings for an estimated 200 million workers who fall under the category of self-employed and daily wage earners. The communities that are most affected by the crisis include migrant workers, urban slum dwellers and day labourers, such as construction workers and waste collectors. With hundreds of thousands of vulnerable urban migrants losing their jobs and attempting to return to home communities, large numbers of people on the move and displaced persons are unable to access social assistance and social protection. Due to Medium and Small Micro Enterprises (MSME), According to one estimate, over 22 percent of the over 75 million MSME units in India may be shut if the lockdown in cities extends beyond 4 weeks and a staggering 43 percent will shut shop if the panic extends beyond 8 weeks.
UNDP has been leading the COVID response in social protection and livelihood reconstruction across India. UNDP has designed solutions which supports the government and civil society networks in delivering effective response of COVID. UNDP will focus on
- Identification of vulnerable and facilitate access to social protection schemes and programmes
- Mobile application to access the entitlements under TPDS and availing essential commodities through local stores
- Technical support for opening Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and registration of eligible households
- Technical support to SRLM for training of community cadres on COVID response, social protection and livelihood reconstruction
- Facilitate formation of farmers’ and artisans’ producer groups, link them to marketing opportunities
- Facilitate opening-up of village procurement centres with help of state rural livelihoods mission
- Provide training on financial literacy and digital marketing and facilitate linkages to financial institutions
- Leverage online technologies and partnerships to support State Governments on skilling and employment
- Advice industry and private sector associations on safely resuming production, in line with government requirements
The project will provide support to nearly 2.5 million people affected by the crisis in selected states and will indirectly benefit an estimated 14 million vulnerable people. Through the strengthening of the social protection systems, these interventions have the potential to impact nearly 100 million vulnerable people in India through their inclusion in the safety nets. This project will be implemented in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand , North Eastern Region etc. Through support to systems strengthening, a number of government entities like the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare etc. will receive long lasting benefits from through technical support and expertise.
The state of Uttar Pradesh has also been severely impacted by COVID and the economic damage caused by lockdown has been immense.With more than 80 percent of India’s workforce employed in the informal sector, and one-third working as casual laborers, one of the greatest challenges post recovery would be to address the socio-economic and human rights impact of COVID on the poor and marginalized populations. The crisis has compounded the financial burden on an already slowing economy. There has been an exodus of millions of informal migrant workers and their families from urban centres to return to home villages due to the loss of jobs and daily earnings. The vulnerable and deprived communities now face a double burden of disease, displacement from their homes and scarcity of essential items, along with the existing economic vulnerabilities. The gains of several government welfare schemes are diminished and at risk; such as the ‘One District One Product’ program of the Government of UP (GoUP). One of the greatest challenges, post-lockdown would be to address the socio-economic impact of COVID on the migrants, poor and marginalized populations. The challenge is to provide the vulnerable access to these schemes and ensure that no one is left deprived. There is need to support the government system to ensure that relief packages and welfare measures are inclusive, targeted, efficient and reaches the last mile, impactfully. Government has been trying to find ways and means to provide employment or livelihood opportunity to these 3-5 million migrants coming to UP. In this context, UNDP is committed to support government of Uttar Pradesh to provide meaningful support to design and implement the COVID response.
Duties and Responsibilities
Scope of Work:
The Consultant will support the UNDP State team of Uttar Pradesh on supporting the implementation of programmes in partnership with UPSRLM and civil society organization. The consultant will work in partnership with the civil society partners as well as government department to ensure that effect COVID response is delivered on the ground. The detailed objectives of assignment and scope of work in given below.
Objectives of the assignment:
- Support UNDP in implementation of its program for COVID response with UPSRLM in Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh
- Support UPSRLM to train cadres on COVID response and access to social protection scheme in select districted
- Facilitate integration and convergence for achievement of goals among departments like MSME, MSDE, Rural Development, Urban Development, Labour etc. at local level
- Support capacity building of CSO and government staffs in order to implement the decided solutions
- Support data collection, analysis, documentation, and reporting for the COVID 19 economic recovery activities conducted with the concerned department
- Monitor the activities and ensure implementation of activities of technical support agency selected to support implementation of COVID response across various financial facilities in Uttar Pradesh
Activities:
The specific tasks to be undertaken are as follows:
- Liaise with government departments and attend the meetings called by government and different civil society group in Purvanchal region
- Work in partnership with Project Director, District Mission Managers and Block Mission Managers of UPSRLM to support the technical agency to achiev their objectives in farm and non farm sector and social protection
- Orient and train the UPSRLM team in GEET software for monitoring access to social protection schemes
- Undertake field-visit to respective offices of government and CSO partners; connect with a range of stakeholders across local community, civil society, government agencies, the private sector to document the challenges and opportunities on the ground
- Documentation of the work done by UNDP Uttar Pradesh for external communication within UNDP and outside UNDP in a simple unambiguous, engaging, informative, and convincing manner
- Support in capacity building of government staff, cadres and other stakeholders
- Prepare actionable reports and policy notes based on finding of research study and data analytics for the department
- Prepare meeting notes and meeting minutes; draft articles, speeches, briefings, presentations, reports; compile documents and collate information as and when required
- Support data collection, analysis, documentation, and reporting for the COVID 19 economic recovery activities conducted with the concerned department
- Monitor the activities and ensure implementation of activities of technical support agency selected to support implementation of COVID response across various financial facilities in Uttar Pradesh like TRAC 2, MPTF, JAPAN etc. proposals
- Support UNDP in development of IEC materials as and when required
Competencies
Communication skills
- Good communication, interpersonal skills, with an ability to work in a multi-cultural environment.
Core Competencies:
- Demonstrates/safeguards ethics and integrity
- Works as a team member
Required Skills and Experience
Duration of the Project
9 months of signing of contract
Deliverables and Schedule of Payment:
Monthly payment up to maximum 22 working days on submission of monthly reports of work done
TIME FRAME: June,2020 to Dec 31, 2020
Project Location:
The assignment will be home as well as field based or in the office of the UPSRLM, Varanasi. It might include travel to districts in Uttar Pradesh if required as well as to the UNDP Country Office in New Delhi to meet with project team members.
Educational Qualifications:
Essential: Bachelor in Technology/Development Studies/Social Work/Rural Management etc
Desirable: Postgraduate in Development Studies/Social Work/Rural Management etc.
Experience:
- At least 3 years of experience in programme design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation or research in public policy domain
- Experience in implementation of programmes at state level, documentation of project reports, development of dashboards, and stakeholder management
- Overall understanding of COVID 19 Medical and Non-Medical response strategy across India and abroad
- Experience working with the Central and/or State Government will be an added advantage
Functional Competencies:
Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise
- Experience in programme design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation or research etc. in development sector
- Excellent demonstrated documentation skills vis-a-vis MS Office Suite and prior experience in developing concept notes / reports / project plans will be essential
- Excellent communications and documentation (MS Word, Excel) skills in English
- Previous experience of working with UN system will be preferred
Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise
- Nuanced functional research skills with attention to detail and academic vigour, with competency in data analysis vis-a-vis statistical packages (like SPSS, R, etc.)
- Excellent demonstrated documentation skills vis-a-vis MS Office Suite and prior experience in developing concept notes / reports / project plans will be essential
- Self-motivated and ability to work with minimal supervision
- Excellent communications and documentation (MS Word, Excel) skills in English
- Previous experience of working with UNDP and/or Government of UP is preferred
Language Requirements:
Fluency in English is essential. Knowledge of Hindi would be an asset.
Evaluation Criteria
The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as Responsive to the requirement. Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.
Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation;
• Technical Criteria weight - 70%;
• Financial Criteria weight – 30 %
Technical Criteria (70% of total evaluation)
- 3 years experience of working in Rural Development & Social Protection sector- 20%
- 3 years experience working with the Central and/or UP Government/UNDP - 20 %
- 3 year experience in attention to program implementation & monitoring - 20%
- Excellent demonstrated documentation skills vis-a-vis MS Office Suite-10%
Financial Criteria: (30% of the total evaluation) based on the total all-inclusive lump sum amount for professional fee for tasks specified in this announcement
Documents to be submitted:
Offeror letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the Individual Contractor Assignment;
Curriculum Vitae indicating experience in similar projects, name / contact details of 3 referees;
A financial proposal indicating all-inclusive per day consultancy fee (in INR), excluding travel expenses.
The following documents can be accessed by clicking the link:
General Conditions for Individual Contract-
http://www.in.undp.org/content/dam/india /docs/procurement/UNDP%20General%20Conditions%20for%20Individual%20Contracts.pdf
Offerors Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual Contractor (IC) Assignment, including Financial Proposal
template-
For queries, please email to: ic.india@undp.org
Notes:
- Any kind of miscellaneous charges i.e. internet, phone etc. would not be reimbursed;
- Individuals working with institutions may also apply, contract would be issued in the name of institution for the specific services of individual;
- Please note proposals without financial proposal will not be considered;
- All the above documents should be clubbed in one file (pdf) for uploading;
Consultants must bring his/her own computing equipment