Background

Sustainable Development Goal 16 on inclusive, just and peaceful societies is a critical enabling goal for the entire sustainable development agenda. The 2030 Agenda requires action to secure peace, deliver justice, promote inclusive participation in politics and beyond, and consolidate effective, accountable and inclusive institutions if the priorities in the Agenda as a whole are to be realized.Dedicated support is required to enable Member States to better source technical expertise and learn from experience elsewhere to improve implementation of Goal 16. The development of effective platforms for information and knowledge sharing through a partnership based approach can accelerate achievement of peaceful, just and inclusive societies, as a key component for delivery of the entire 2030 Agenda.

The portal for Goal 16 (the “SDG 16 Hub”) was officially launched in July 2018 and facilitates the capture, analysis and deployment of knowledge amongst Member States and partner organisations, and ensures that learning in one context is available for other countries to consider and adapt if appropriate. This portal is a space for all interested stakeholders to contribute substantially to the Goal 16 discussion and is a one stop knowledge portal for information on peaceful, just and inclusive societies.

The SDG 16 Hub has a curated knowledge section with the three main pillars of WHAT is SDG16, WHO are the main stakeholders working on this goal and HOW to implement this global goal; in addition to having an interactive space to promote engagement and conversations. The Hub focusses on the following:

• Promoting the exchange of knowledge and updates on Goal 16 at the global level.
• Promoting dialogue on UNDP’s work with Member States and stakeholders on the implementation, measurement and reporting on Goal 16.
• Facilitating the exchange of knowledge about tools and strategies on how to tackle the impediments to implement Goal 16
• Strengthening interlinkages between Goal 16 and other goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda
• Fostering learning from each other’s experience – lessons learned and best practices.

Most recently a COVID-19 and SDG16 page is being set up on the Hub.

Such an external facing online space that coalesces relevant information on Covid-19 and SDG16 should be developed to meet the information needs of people at large which is an emerging information and knowledge gap. With multiple practices that are emerging across the globe to respond to the crisis there is an evident need for a space that consolidates information and best practices to meet the information needs of a wide target audience of governance practitioners.

This space will contain key resources on SDG 16 in the context of COVID-19, including key analytical pieces, links to webinars, and a database with country and community examples of COVID-19 responses linked to SDG16. The management of this space will be an important responsibility of this IC.

Application Process:

The application is a two-step process. Failing to comply with the submission process may result in disqualifying the applications:

Step 1: Interested individual consultants must include the following documents when submitting the applications in UNDP job shop (Please note that only 1 (one) file can be uploaded therefore please include all documents in one file):

• Updated P11/CV 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
• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment. Indicate available start date.
• IMPORTANT: Please provide links to any samples of relevant work, including writing samples

Step 2: Only applicants who attain a score of 70% and above on the technical evaluation will be contacted and requested to submit a financial proposal.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

• Financial proposals must be all inclusive and must be expressed on the basis of "an all-inclusive daily fee” in USD.
• Payment will be made upon submission of a certificate of payment request, indicating outputs achieved and days worked to be verified and cleared for payment by the supervisor.

The term ‘all inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, utilities, consumables, insurance, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are factored into the final daily fee submitted in the proposal.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses will be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. In general, UNDP will not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

Criteria for selection of individual consultant for award of contract:

Through a desk review of applications, a short-listing will be done to identify those candidates who meet the criteria of education and relevant years of experience. The shortlisted candidates will be called for an interview. With weight of 50% desk review and 50% interview of the total technical score.

The combine scoring method will be used to evaluate proposals

Combined scoring method – where the qualifications will be weighted a maximum of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a maximum of 30%.

Technical criteria weight: 70 (70% of total obtainable scores). Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 (70%) points on technical part will be considered for the financial evaluation.

Financial criteria weight: 30 (30% of total obtainable scores).

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive / compliant / acceptable; and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Proposal (70 Points) 70% weight

Technical proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Experience with working for development organizations in the areas of communications or knowledge management or content management relevant to the scope of work (20 points); 
• Proven ability to manage content particularly on websites (20 points);
• Strong familiarity with international development issues, including Agenda 2030 and SDG16 (10 points);
• Knowledge of key actors and networks active on SDG 16 (5 points)
• Familiarity of curating content and managing databases (15 points)

Only Individual Consultants obtaining a minimum of 49 of the obtainable points of 70 points (70%) in technical evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

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

Duties and Responsibilities

In order to help manage the community side of the SDG16 portal the UNDP OGC will engage a Consultant to provide support to the following work streams:

1. Moderate content and ensure knowledge resources are up to date on the SDG16 Hub.
2. Function as a technical ‘help desk’ in case there are any technical issues that need resolution (and liaise directly with the developers if needed).
3. Manage any queries t and proposed new developments on the Hub.
4. Conduct outreach to relevant stakeholders with a view to ensure that the Hub build a good network of active partners and is a known platform amongst SDG16+ practitioners.
5. Promote and ensure visibility and active use of the Hub through targeted online outreach and advocacy.
6. Maintain and continue the development of the Covid-19 and SDG16 space on the Hub, including collecting and updating the Covid-19 database with new content.
7. Facilitate the interactive part of the Hub, i.e. helping to set up and manage groups (in collaboration with relevant substantive advisors).
8. Participate virtually in key meetings and events where information on SDG 16 is shared between UN agencies and other key stakeholders around SDG 16, with the aim of informing new content on the Hub.

Specific Deliverables

The following is an indicative list of deliverables for each month, subject to modification based on the changing needs and priorities of the team:

• Develop a content management strategy for the Hub that ensures that relevant content is regularly updated on the website
• Be responsible for ensuring that relevant content is regularly uploaded to the Hub
• Ensure that the links and hyperlinks of site copy content are active.
• Act as the primary technical Help Desk for the Hub to ensure that any online queries are satisfactorily answered in the minimum duration of time.
• Monitor the uploading of content by the community and ensure that any offensive content posted by others is deleted.
• Assist community members to populate the Platform with profile information, discussion topics, knowledge products.

• Assist in the development (compile and edit) of regular newsletter and manage promotion and member list management and growth.
• Produce monthly user engagement statistics reports (using Google Analytics, etc.)
• Conduct at least 2 user surveys (in the 6 month period) to assess their needs and requirements.

Competencies

• Understanding of working with Portals and websites; particularly in managing content;
• Understanding of communications and outreach;
• Proven ability to develop user-friendly, high quality communications materials;
• Knowledge of key actors and networks active on SDG 16 will be a distinct advantage;
• Strong organizational and planning skills;
• Interest in and / or experience on SDGs and SDG 16 in particular.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Master’s degree in communications, journalism, international relations, economics, social science, or related development-related fields.

Experience

• Experience with development organizations in the areas of communications or knowledge management or content management relevant to the scope of work; 
• Proven ability to manage content particularly on websites;
• Familiarity with international development issues, including Agenda 2030 and SDG16.

Language skills:

• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English. Additional language skills are an advantage.