Background

The UNDP in the Pacific works with parliaments to address constraints to the effectiveness and capacities of national parliaments in Pacific Island Countries (PICs) in order to engage with key development issues, contribute to the development of participatory and transparent national planning processes, expand parliamentary outreach and citizen engagement to include traditionally excluded groups such as women and youth, and increase the political participation of women. Specifically, it provides country (national) programming support for10 PICs (Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Nauru, Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati, FSM, Palau, Marshall Islands. The Pacific Office in Fiji also provides regional programming support across the whole of the Pacific encompassing the 10PICS, plus PNG, Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue, and the Territory of Tokelau.

Public Finance Management is throughout the Pacific a topic of importance for international and local partners equally. Numerous stakeholders, institutions and international actors have been engaged in reinforcing the frameworks, tools and actors linked to PFM. Parliament and supreme audit institution function in public financial management across the Pacific Islands region have been identify as an area requiring strengthening. A specific focus of UNDP in this regard is the parliament’s role in budget scrutiny; effective external audit of government budget execution by the supreme audit institutions, inclusion of citizens and civil society in budget processes, thorough and transparent parliamentary oversight of the external audit, and follow-up with government on recommendations.

Strengthening of public Finance Management and Governance in the Pacific Project (hereafter PFM) aims to strengthen oversight over public financial management in the Pacific region, though improving the budgetary scrutiny, public financial oversight and accountability capacities of parliaments, supreme audit institutions and civil society within the region, aligning with international public financial oversight and accountability standards, and fostering citizen engagement and oversight. Strengthening of Public Finance Management project is funded by the European Union (EU) and Implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The portfolio of project described above is looking to explore potential activities and research into the current practices and trends linked to Parliamentarian’s engagement on constituency development (and notably the funds allocated and managed directly by Parliamentarians to implement projects in constituencies) in the Pacific region. This consultancy will provide strategic insights and compile existing data to guide the development of said activities.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

Reporting to the PFM Project Manager under the overall oversight of the Parliamentary Development Specialist, the Consultant will be responsible for the following activities:

• Produce a desk-based review of literature around constituency funds (detailed Pacific specific + identification of global case studies) relating to the political, social and economic impact of Parliamentarian engagement on constituency development including power dynamics;
• Conduct a mapping of the current legislative and regulatory frameworks as well as current practices related to Constituency funds in the Pacific, this should include specific attention to sourcing and financing, rules and procedures, transparency and accountability, public participation, procurement/implementations/operations as well as monitoring and evaluation;
• Conduct selected interviews with UNDP national and regional project partner and resource persons to complement gaps in the above described research;
• Produce a report on Constituency Funds in the Pacific summarizing some of the key information coming out of the research and articulating recommendations on possible interventions;
• Engage and provide technical and research support to activities implemented as a result of the report.

This consultancy might be extended to include in-country missions might the context allow it.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

Institutional Arrangement

The Consultant will report to the Project Manager, Public Finance Management Project, Effective Governance. Reporting is to be undertaken as per Deliverables and Activities outlined above.

The Consultant to provide their own IT (computer).  

Duration of the Work

The consultant will be required to work for a period of up to 35 days between March - November 2021.

Duty Station

This consultancy is home-based. Online presentations and exchanges will be taking place on the Pacific time-zone.

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness by modelling UN values and ethical standards;
• Demonstrates professional competence and is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results;
• Display cultural, gender, nationality, religion and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional Competencies:

• Demonstrated ability to work harmoniously in a multi-cultural environment;
• Ability to work on own initiative as well as a member of a team and to work under pressure;
• Excellent relationship management;
• Excellent communication, facilitation, presentation and reporting skills;

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Masters in Social Science, Economics or related, PhD in related field focusing on Pacific a strong advantage

Experience

• At least 10 years of relevant professional experience as a researcher or practitioner on governance, PFM or related;
• Proven in-depth technical knowledge of Parliamentary support and/or PFM, Constituency Funds, Pacific Islands governance, accountability;
• Previous experience drafting academic or grey literature publications in English;
• Preference will be given to candidates with direct experience of work with Parliaments or Constituency Funds in the Pacific region.

Language requirements

• Fluency of English language is required;

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Lump Sum Amount. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration.

Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below percentages:

• Deliverable 1 Inception and methodology: 15% of total contract amount
• Deliverable 2 & 3 Report Drafting: 70% of total contract amount
• Deliverable 4 Dissemination: 15% of total contract amount

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 (70%). and financial criteria (30%). 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) [Please add/adjust the below criteria and points awarded to each as necessary]

• Criteria 1 - Relevance of Education – Max 10 points
• Criteria 2 - Relevance of work experience - Max 20 Points
• Criteria 3 – Specific experience of technical knowledge -  Max 20 points
• Criteria 4 – Experience on drafting publications – Max 10 points
• Criteria 5 - Experience of Pacific governance – Max 10 points

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

Documentation required

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information (in one (1) single document as the application supports only one upload) to demonstrate their qualifications:

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability for the duration of the assignment and Financial Proposal Form using the template provided in Annex II (in USD)
• CV indicating all experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references.
• Technical proposal (1page max), describing methodology and approach to complete the assignment

Note: Successful individual will be required to provide proof of medical insurance coverage before commencement of contract for the duration of the assignment.

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 (Consultant – Parliamentary involvement in Constituency Development) with reference (PN/FJI/021/21) and submitted via UN Job shop by 13 March 2021.
• 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