Background
Everyone has the right to ‘legal identity,’ i.e. to be recognised as a person before the law, as enshrined in Article 6 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and several international human rights instruments. Unfortunately, World Bank data suggest that up to 1 billion people worldwide cannot prove who they are, as their birth was never registered or certified, their birth certificate was lost/stole/destroyed and could not be re-issued, or they have not been registered in an identity management scheme such as a national population register.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development established a specific target within the Sustainable Development Goals Target 16.9: “legal identity for all, including birth registration, by 2030.” In order to achieve this goal, various UN agencies and departments active in the civil registration, vital statistics and identity management arena were brought together under mandate from the Deputy-Secretary-General to form the United Nations Legal Identity Agenda Task Force, with the aim to support Member States to develop a holistic, comprehensive and interoperable civil registration, vital statistics and identity management system, from birth-to-death.
As a part of its activities, UNDP and UNDESA, with support from the Government of Japan, is leading a research activity to measure the ‘cost of inaction’ to governments and to society in a UN Member State – i.e. the financial cost of failure to ensure legal identity for all. Can the costs associated with incomplete registration of vital events, such as births, deaths, or non-registration of individuals in a national identity management scheme, be quantified in financial terms? Legal identity (via a birth certificate) represents a critical entry point for delivering public health services (e.g. vaccination and early childhood education). Later in life, without a birth certificate, obtaining further identity credentials (driver’s license, passport, bank card) is arduous at best, and impossible at worst. Non-registration of death results in complete legal invisibility of the deceased, as well as complete non-existence of relevant information pertaining to mortality and public health. ‘Ghost’ pensions, for example, paid to deceased persons due to an inability of governments to accurately track who is dead or alive, can represent an enormous drain on public finances. From a purely economic standpoint, therefore, lack of legal identity tends to exclude living individuals from the public sphere, push them to the informal economy, and render them less economically productive than if they were registered, contributing tax and social insurance revenue, etc.
The purpose of the technical report is to develop a methodology that would model the costs of failing to ensure universal legal identity in countries across many different services such as financial, public services, travel, health, education, employment, overall decision-making based on reliable statistics, eliminating fraudulent discharge of social support, to name a few. There are several cost of inaction models, all based on multifactor analysis that can serve as a starting point. The robustness of the methodology will be tested on two countries in Africa, as a starting point. Finalisation of the methodology should also take into account work currently underway by the UN LIA TF, led by UNFPA, estimating the population lacking legal identity. One of the main variables in calculating the financial ‘cost of inaction’ of failure to ensure universal legal identity in any country, for example, is the number of people in that country without legal identity
Objective
The objective of this home-based consultancy is to produce a technical report consisting of two main parts – i) a general methodology (with guidance on its application) for assessing the costs of failing to ensure universal legal identity, and ii) the application of the methodology in two UN LIA pilot countries in Africa. In order to do so, the consultant(s) may carry out up to two field missions (depending on the situation of Covid-19) and will provide remote support, according to the requirements of the project.
Duties and Responsibilities
SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ANALYTICAL WORK
Develop a general methodology for assessing the cost of failure to ensure universal legal identity,with country-specific application and guidance notes on data requirements and analysis at country level
Test the robustness of the application of the methodology in two UN LIA pilot countries in Africa
Expected outputs and deliverables:
Deliverable 1: Inception report on how research is to be conducted.
Deliverable 2: Overview of the structure of the final methodology report.
Deliverable 3: Final report with a research methodology to allow an assessment of the financial cost of failure to ensure universal legal identity at country level, using two country examples from Africa as a methodology test case.
Schedule
(Deadline)
Tasks
Week 1-2 10 days
(9th November)
Annotated work plan with clear timelines for delivery of all outputs under this assignment
Week 3–4 10 days
(23rd November)
Presentation of inception report on how research is to be conducted and annotated outline of the report
Week 5 – Week 12
40 days
(18th January)
Research phase (e.g. desk research, data analysis, interviews, etc.)
Week 13-14
10 days
(1st February)
Presentation of draft final methodology report to UN Legal Identity Agenda Task Force (UNLIA TF)
Week 15 – 16
10 days
(15th February)
Incorporate feedback from UN LIA TF
Week 17 – 21
25 days
(22th March)
Test case application of the methodology in 2-3 countries in Africa
Week 22 5 days
(29th March 2021)
Presentation of the research outcome to UNLIA TF
Week 23 – 24
10 days
(12th April 2021)
Finalise the report by incorporating the feedback from UNLIA TF
Competencies
Core Competencies
Professionalism: Excellent analytical, research and writing skills in Project Management. Knowledge and understanding of migration issues; excellent research skills, and familiarity with African migration frameworks, social development issues and human rights frameworks.
Communication: Excellent communication and writing skills, with the ability to draft/edit a variety of written reports, studies and policy briefs.
Technological Awareness: Fully proficient computer skills and use of relevant software and other applications e.g. word processing and Internet research.
Teamwork: Good interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relations in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity.
Functional Competencies
Advocacy/Advancing A Policy-Oriented Agenda
- Leverages UNDP’s multidisciplinary expertise to influence the shape of policies and programmes through research;
- Demonstrates political/cultural acumen in proposing technically sound, fact-based approaches/solutions;
- Dialogues with stakeholders to strengthen advocacy efforts, incorporating country, regional and global perspectives;
- Demonstrates cultural sensitivity.
2. Results-Based Programme Development and Management:
Identifies needs and strategies using a fact-based approach;
Makes use of a variety of resources within UN system to achieve results, such as cross-functional teams, secondments and developmental assignments, and collaborative funding approaches;
3.Innovation and Marketing New Approaches:
- Develop and implement innovative approaches;
- Facilitates change and influences senior decision makers to implement change strategies.
4.Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise:
Possesses expert knowledge of advanced concepts in primary discipline, a broad knowledge of related disciplines, as well as an in-depth knowledge of relevant organizational policies and procedures;
Applies knowledge to support the research objectives
Demonstrates comprehensive knowledge and applies it in work assignments.
Required Skills and Experience
Academic qualifications:
- PhD or Master’s degree in statistics, mathematics, economics, sociology or related field is required.
Experience:
A minimum of ten years of progressively responsible experience in the collection, compilation, analysis and dissemination of statistical data or related area is required
International experience in the field of civil registration, vital statistics, identity management or related field is required.
Experience with Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Indicators and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) related data and monitoring is desirable.
Experience with the UN or other regional organizations is an advantage
Language:
Fluency in written and spoken English is required;
Working knowledge of another UN language would be an asset
Application Procedure
The application package containing the following (to be uploaded as one file):
A cover letter with a brief description of why the Offer considers her/himself the most suitable for the assignment;
Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects and specifying the relevant assignment period (from/to), as well as the email and telephone contacts of at least three (3) professional references;
- A two-page methodology on how the Offeror will conduct the work including a Work Plan and approach in delivering the required outputs within the assignment period;
Note: The above documents need to be scanned in one file and uploaded to the online application as one document.
Shortlisted candidates (ONLY) will be requested to submit a Financial Proposal.
The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around the specific and measurable deliverables of the TOR. Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR, and deliverables accepted and certified by the technical manager.
- The financial proposal must be all-inclusive and take into account various expenses that will be incurred during the contract, including: the daily professional fee; (excluding mission travel); living allowances at the duty station; communications, utilities and consumables; life, health and any other insurance; risks and inconveniences related to work under hardship and hazardous conditions (e.g., personal security needs, etc.), when applicable; and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services under the contract.
This consultancy is a home-based assignment, therefore, there is no envisaged travel cost to join duty station/repatriation travel.
In the case of unforeseeable travel requested by UNDP, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. In general, UNDP should 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.
If the Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.
- The Financial Proposal is to be emailed as per the instruction in the separate email that will be sent to shortlisted candidates.
Evaluation process
Applicants are reviewed based on Required Skills and Experience stated above and based on the technical evaluation criteria outlined below. Applicants will be evaluated based on cumulative scoring. 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:
- Being 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 where technical criteria weighs 70% and Financial criteria/ Proposal weighs 30%.
Technical evaluation - Total 70% (700 points):
- Criteria 1. Advanced technical competency in statistical modeling, demographic estimation and multi-factor analysis Weight = 40%; Maximum Points: 280 points ;
- Criteria 2. Demonstrable experience in the field of civil registration, vital statistics, identity management or related field Weight = 35%; Maximum Points: 245 points ;
- Criteria 3. Quality of concept note Weight = 25 %; Maximum Points: 175 points.
Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (490 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (700 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.
Financial evaluation - Total 30% (300 points)
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.
Institutional arrangement
The consultant will work under the guidance and direct supervision of Policy Advisor/Programme Manager, Legal Identity and will be responsible for the fulfilment of the deliverables as specified above.
The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own laptop.
Payment modality
- Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified above and deliverables accepted and upon certification of satisfactory completion by the manager.
- The work week will be based on 35 hours, i.e. on a 7 hour working day, with core hours being between 9h00 and 18h00 daily.