Background

UNCDF makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 46 least developed countries. With its capital mandate and instruments, UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development. This last mile is where available resources for development are scarcest; where market failures are most pronounced; and where benefits from national growth tend to leave people excluded.

UNCDF’s financing models work through two channels: financial inclusion that expands the opportunities for individuals, households, and small businesses to participate in the local economy, providing them with the tools they need to climb out of poverty and manage their financial lives; and by showing how localized investments — through fiscal decentralization, innovative municipal finance, and structured project finance — can drive public and private funding that underpins local economic expansion and sustainable development. By strengthening how finance works for poor people at the household, small enterprise, and local infrastructure levels, UNCDF contributes to SDG 1 on eradicating poverty and SDG 17 on the means of implementation. By identifying those market segments where innovative financing models can have transformational impact in helping to reach the last mile and address exclusion and inequalities of access, UNCDF contributes to a number of different SDGs.

From 2021 onwards, UNCDF will be launching a 4 year program in Africa, the Pacific and the Caribbean that contributes to the deployment of digital finance solutions at the scale and speed necessary to deepen financial inclusion, accelerate economic recovery from COVID-19, and to make economies and societies more resilient to external shocks. The program will be implemented in 4 regions (West & Central Africa, East & Southern Africa, Pacific and the Caribbean) and has a strong regional and global advocacy component.  The program will leverage existing teams at country, regional and global levels for the implementation and to achieve our objective.

Please visit https://www.uncdf.org for more information.

As part of its capital mandate UNCDF provides grants, loans, guarantees and technical assistance  to the private sector (e.g. enterprises, firms, financial service providers), governments and not for profits (e.g. civil society/NGOs, universities/research institutes) and requires a consultant to provide quality assurance  to said investments on a call off basis.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Financial Inclusion Practice (FIPA) Programme Analyst, the consultant will support UNCDF programmes in revising key technical and financial assistance documents to be compliant with UNCDF policies and investment requirements for Grants Loans, Guarantees and Technical Assistance Agreements (TAA).

Within its capital mandate, UNCDF works with the private sector in key areas of intervention. Partner institutions are selected through Request for Applications (RfA), Innovation Challenges in order to assure a fair and transparent section process.

The selected vendor will be responsible for supporting UNCDF’s Technical Team across the identification and design phase of a project assuring that the team complies with the processes and procedures and UNCDF Operations Manual.

The identified vendor will be expected to conduct the following activities on a call-off basis:

Activities:

Support UNCDF during the identification phase of new projects

• Support UNCDF project teams in the design and review of draft Requests for Applications (RFAs) and related annexes (Technical and financial application forms, business projections, and result measurement frameworks) to ensure that the these comply with the programme’s Theory of Change, country strategy and donor requirements. RFAs will set reliable and attainable targets, and include relevant eligibility restrictions, and evaluation criteria.
• Support UNCDF project teams in the identification and use of online tools (i.e. as Apply, Survey Monkey, Evalato, JotForm or similar.) to conduct RFAs and Innovation Challenges. Support UNCDF teams in the screening, revision and evaluation of RFA applications received.

Support in the design phase of new projects

• Review business cases/project descriptions from UNCDF’s selected partners ensuring that the projects and solutions proposed are realistic and feasible within the context of the implementation, include relevant key performance indicators for the project’s success linked to project milestones, adequately develop a results measurement framework that integrates within UNCDF’s country monitoring and evaluation frameworks.
• Perform appraisal of the selected instructions and projects prior to approval by the investment board, including: Project design quality, Institutional capacity and commitment, financial sustainability, project governance, scalability, value for money, social and environmental standards, and risk analysis.
• Asses selected partners proposed project work plans, budget, results measurement and monitoring frameworks to be included as progress reports/project workbooks in the investment agreements.  
• Elaborate training materials and conduct trainings to field staff on the abovementioned topics.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

• RFA and Innovation challenges templates designed.
• RFA drafts and annexes ready for publishing in UNCDF’s website.
• RFA evaluation documents (Strength and Weaknesses analysis, scoring matrix, minutes).  
• Project descriptions ready for Investment Committee Approval.
• Project Appraisal Document (PAD) ready for Investment Committee Approval.  
• Presentation decks and supporting documents for Investment Committee Approval.
• Project workbooks ready to be used as part of the investment agreements.
• Training and presentations materials relating to the above activities.

The below deliverables have been outlined based on the some of the broader outcomes that have been outlined above and are representative and can be more than that.

Timeline, total number of working days, duty station:

Timeline: May 2021 – May 2024

Total number of working days for assignment: 303 working days spread over a period of 36 months.

Duty station: Home based

Travel: If any travel is required of the consultant, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses shall be agreed upon as per UNCDF policy, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel.

Competencies

• Takes on innovation and new approaches and fosters innovation in others;
• Conceptualizes more effective approaches to programme development and implementation and to mobilizing and using resources;
• Anticipates constraints in the delivery of services and identifies solutions or alternatives;
• Proactively identifies, develops and discusses solutions for internal and external clients, and persuades management to undertake new projects or services;
• Committed to teamwork, working with other stakeholders.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• A Master’s degree in project management, economics, public/business administration, social sciences, or related discipline or the equivalent experience is mandatory.

Experience: 

• A minimum of five (5) years of experience in porject or programme implementation is mandatory;
• Experience in designing capital investments (i.e. grants, loans, guarnatees, etc) is mandatory;
• Working knowledge of concepts to financial inclusion is highly preferred.
• Experience working with developing countries is preferred.

Language Requirements:

• Written and spoken proficiency in English in required;
• Written and spoken proficiency in French is desirable and an asset.

Application process:

Interested individuals must submit the documents mentioned below as proposals in order to demonstrate their qualifications (Note: the system does not allow multiple uploads of documents. Applicants must make sure to upload all documents in one PDF file).

All applications must contain the following information:

• Cover letter with a summary statement of competencies in relation to the Terms of Reference (TOR) and earliest availability information;
• CV or completed and signed P11, Personal History Form with names and current contacts of 3 referees (available from http://sas.undp.org/documents/p11_personal_history_form.doc)
• Signed financial proposal for the assignment outlining: All-inclusive fee (including professional fees and other professional expenses, such as insurance, taxes, etc.). All Unit Prices Indicated in the financial proposal shall remain the same for the duration of the IC, including amendments thereto. Available at: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=29916. 

Evaluation:

Step I: Screening

Applications will be screened and only applicants meeting the following mandatory criteria will progress to the pool for shortlisting:

• A Master’s degree in project management, economics, public/business administration, social sciences, or related discipline or the equivalent experience is mandatory;
• A minimum of five (5) years of experience in project or programme implementation is mandatory
• Experience in designing capital investments (i.e. grants, loans, guarantee’s, etc.) is mandatory

Step II: Shortlisting (20% of technical assessment points)

UNCDF will produce a shortlist of candidates and technically evaluate candidates by evaluating the following criteria with corresponding points (100 points):

• A Master’s degree in project management, economics, public/business administration, social sciences, or related discipline or the equivalent experience is mandatory: 20 points
• A minimum of five (5) years of experience in project or programme implementation is mandatory: 20 points
• Experience in designing capital investments (i.e. grants, loans, guarantee’s, etc.): 20 points
• Written and spoken proficiency in English is required: 10 points
• Working knowledge of concepts to financial inclusion is highly preferred:15 points
• Experience working with developing countries is preferred: 10 points
• Written and spoken proficiency in French is desired and an asset: 5 points

As applicable, only applicants scoring 80% or more shall be considered for a technical test.

Step III: Technical test (50% of technical assessment)

Applicants from the shortlist will be requested to take a written test. The test will be scored from 1 to 100 points. The passing score being 71 points. 

Step IV: Interview (30% of technical assessment)

An interview shall be conducted to candidates having passed the written test.

Step V: Financial Evaluation

Only candidates with scores above 70% of the technical evaluation will be considered as technically qualified and will be reviewed further for financial evaluation. 

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal: lowest priced proposal/price of the proposal being evaluated x 30%.

Award Criteria

The contact shall be awarded to the best applicant whose offer have been evaluated and determined as: Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and Having received the highest combined weight (technical scores) 70% + financial 30%= 100%.

Framework Agreement

It is important to note that, at the time of the issuance of the IC that serves as the Framework Agreement, both parties understand that no financial obligation or commitment is formed on the part of UNCDF, and that such an agreement is non-exclusive (i.e., it does not prohibit UNCDF from entering into another such framework agreement with another individual or entity).  Financial commitments will only be established each time the services are requested within the scope of the IC, through the agreed triggering action or document (e.g., PO with attached output-specific TORs) that signals the commencement of an engagement (“call-offs”). 

This IC is intended for on-call intermittent engagement for a maximum of 303 working days spread over a period of 36 months, which is the duration of the project implementation.  Any extension is subject to satisfactory performance review, project funding situation or other factors impacting the project operating environment.

During this period, specific service requests (also known as call-offs) shall be placed by UNCDF, in the form of issuance of Purchase Orders, supplemented by a specific Terms of Reference (TOR), and these documents will indicate the total cost of the services for the duration of the call-off, a brief description of the work, indicating the, and the number of days that will be required to complete the services, among other call-off-specific work. 

A total contract value, which shall be based on the unit price agreed by UNCDF and the individual, will be agreed by both parties that will sign the IC, and the said contract amount shall serve as the maximum cumulative value of the call-offs that UNCDF will place over the duration of the IC.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

The consultant is to be compensated based on a daily fee payable upon satisfactorily completion of each Deliverable and submission of related reports during every call-off. The daily fee shall remain fixed for the duration of the IC, including any extension that may be executed. 

Payments shall be made following certification by the Programme Analyst that the services related to each Deliverable have been satisfactorily performed and the Deliverables have been achieved by or before the due dates specified in the call-off.

Both individual consultants and individuals employed by a company or institution are welcome to apply. Any individual employed by a company or institution who would like to submit an offer in response to a Procurement Notice for IC must do so in their individual capacity (providing a CV so that their qualifications may be judged accordingly).

Women candidates or women-owned businesses are strongly encouraged to apply.

UNCDF is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply.  All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence

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