Background
The EU, in partnership with UNDP, promotes inclusive economic growth and innovation in the Local Authorities (LAs) of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries. To that end, on January 1, 2021, the new phase of the “Mayors for Economic Growth Facility” (M4EG) commenced. The project will run for 48 months. The project will support local authorities in Eastern Partnership countries to use innovative methods towards just and green development.
The overall objective of this action is to enhance economic inclusive growth and job creation in the region by supporting local authorities in the EaP countries to design and implement Local Economic Development Plans (LEDPs) in line with the principles of good governance and sound financial management.
The specific objectives of the new phase of the M4EG project are to:
1. Support local authorities in their participation to the M4EG initiative.
2. Support the preparation and implementation of local authority projects building on approved LEDPs.
During project implementation, the already established M4EG network will increase further beyond the current 400 signatories, and 12 local authorities will go through a process of portfolio development. Three funding facilities will be available to the local authorities in the network: the EU Project Fund (2021), Annual Portfolio Call (2021-2023) and M4EG Innovation Project Call (2021-2023).
The EU Project Fund (2021):
In this context, UNDP is looking for two independent (2) Assessors for the Mayors for Economic Growth Pilot Projects call for proposals, run and managed by the EU, for the concept note stage.
The global objective of the call for proposals is to support the implementation of municipal pilot projects building on approved LEDPs, and in line with the EU’s targeted support to focal regions.
This call for proposals is divided into two geographic lots and one horizontal lot.
The specific objectives of Lot 1 and Lot 2:
- Invest in local comparative advantages to stimulate business development (e.g. encouraging the formation of new or innovative enterprises; supporting the growth of particular clusters of businesses; supporting informal and newly emerging businesses aiming to improve local value chains, etc.); investments in strategic options for business development or strengthening resilience of local economic models (i.e. reimagining value chains, strengthening and greening local economies).
- Invest in hard (physical) and soft infrastructure to improve the business environment (educational and workforce development, institutional support systems including local business, councils, chambers of commerce, business associations); exploring new business opportunities (i.e. platform economies) that can have a catalytic and systemic effect.
- Attract external investment, increase local access to finance, and increase attractiveness of local authorities for innovative/diverse sources of finance.
The specific objectives of Lot 3:
- Disseminate and communicate the results and lessons learnt from existing Local Economic Development Plans, as established under the first phase of M4EG.
- Monitor, follow up on, and increase the sustainability of the existing projects.
For all lots, proposals must address all three priorities of this call: (1) social inclusiveness; (2) greening of cities (3) prosperity and innovation.
Duties and Responsibilities
The consultants will be reporting to the Innovation Specialist at UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub (IRH), and to the UNDP Regional Project Manager for the Mayors for the Economic Growth Facility. The overall tasks of the consultants will be to assess concept notes received through the Mayors for Economic Growth Pilot Projects call for proposals (available here). The consultants shall participate in the work of the evaluation committee of the call for proposals, in the capacity of external assessors, as governed by section 6.5.7.2 of the European Commission’s Practical Guide (Applicable as of 1 August 2020). Assessors work under the supervision of the chairperson of the evaluation committee and shall be required to sign a Declaration of Impartiality and Confidentiality. Their work shall be governed by European Commission law.
Expected Tasks:
Deliverable 1: Attend a briefing meeting with the EU on the call for proposals, to understand the overall expectations and details on the process, review the documents that need to be filled in and review the call for proposals guidelines. (approximately 2 days, by April 6);
Deliverable 2: Review of all applications from local authorities (expected volume is about 80-100), against the established and announced objectives and criteria. The assessor will be expected to provide feedback on the ideas within the established formats of the European Commission. (approximately 22 working days, by May 5);
Deliverable 3: Generation of a short-list of ideas, and preparation of a rationale and associated scoring justifying the advice to pursue the project ideas. The consultants are expected to justify their advice, and the extent to which the short-listed ideas meet the expectations (approximately 8 working days, by May 15).
Deliverable 4: At the request of the Chairperson of the Evaluation Committee of the Call for Proposals, assessors may be requested to attend the meetings of the evaluation committee as observers to present the results of their assessments and answer any questions from the evaluation committee members.
Remuneration:
The consultants will be paid in lump sum, upon approval by the Certifying officer of the completion of tasks.
Competencies
Corporate Competencies:
· Promotes the mission and values of the EU and UN;
· Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity;
· Treats all people fairly without favoritism.
Functional Competencies:
· Excellent analytical skills;
Strong writing, presentation and reporting skills;
· Excellent communication and team-building skills.
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
- Master’s Degree in Economics, Social Sciences or Design related fields (Architecture, Service Design).
Experience:
- At least five (7) years of working experience in local economic development and/or urban development;
- At least five (5) years practical experience in the field of applying innovative approaches (digital and social innovation) for urbanization, smart cities and/or local development;
- Experience of working directly with local authorities on local development and local governance issues;
- Experience in applying systems thinking to development challenges;
- Previous experience of working with the EU on similar initiatives is an advantage.
Language skills
Fluency in English is required. Excellent technical writing skills in English are required.
Evaluation of Applicants
Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.
The award of the contract should 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 a pre-determined set of weighted technical (P11/CV desk reviews, interviews and methodology evaluation) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.
Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 70 points:
- Criteria A Education. max points: 5
- Criteria B – At least five (7) years of working experience in local economic development and/or urban development . max points: 20
- Criteria C – At least five (5) years practical experience in the field of applying innovative approaches (digital and social innovation) for urbanization, smart cities and/or local development; max points: 15
- Criteria D – Experience of working directly with local authorities on local development and local governance issues; max points: 20
- Criteria E - Experience in applying systems thinking to development challenges; max. 5
- Criteria F: Previous experience of working with the EU on similar initiatives is an advantage. Max 5.
Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 30 points
Application procedures
Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain:
- Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please include this letter in your confirmation of interest.
- Filled P11 form or CV including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank form can be downloaded fromhttp://www.eurasia.undp.org/content/dam/rbec/docs/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc); please upload the P11 instead of your CV.
- Offeror’s Letter (blank template can be downloaded from https://bit.ly/2KO1okS).
- Financial Proposal* - specifying all-inclusive daily fee in USD for the tasks specified in this announcement. Mission related costs, if any, should not be included in the price offer, as they will be paid separately per UNDP rules and regulations.
- Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.
*Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination, personal security needs and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services).
Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.
Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org
General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://on.undp.org/t7fJs.
Qualified women and members of minority groups are encouraged to apply.
Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.