Background

The Praia Group on Governance Statistics (the “Praia Group”) was created by the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) in March 2015, with a mandate “to contribute to establishing international standards and methods for the compilation of statistics on the major dimensions of Governance”, and to collaborate with UN bodies and other organizations involved in the field of governance statistics. The overall objective of the Praia Group is to encourage countries to produce governance statistics based on sound and documented methodologies.

The first term (2015-19) of the Praia Group focused on establishing a strong theoretical basis for the production of statistics on eight ‘dimensions’ of governance (namely: non-discrimination and equality; participation; openness; access to and quality of justice; responsiveness; absence of corruption; trust; and safety and security), with the Handbook on Governance Statistics as its first flagship product.

The Praia Group, under its new mandate (2020-2025), will establish dedicated “Task Teams” to advance methodologies on the 8 dimensions of governance covered in the Handbook. These Task Teams will work on the design and piloting of survey methodologies, as well as on the compilation of guidance on administrative data collection. Task Teams will bring together experts from national and international organizations active in the field of governance statistics, from both developed and developing countries. Members will include NSOs and administrative data producers with practical experience in a given thematic area, as well as relevant data experts from international/regional organisation, civil society, academia and research institutions. Each Task Team will be led by two ‘champion NSOs’ with experience in a given thematic area – one from a developing country, and one from a developed country – and will be supported by UNDP and another international organisation with relevant expertise in the thematic area. See the Praia Group’s brochure outlining the Group’s main priorities for its second term here.

UNDP was appointed by the UNSC to provide technical and financial support to the Praia Group on Governance Statistics, and has been doing so since its creation. It is in this context that UNDP is seeking to recruit a Household Survey Expert to support the survey design work to be carried out by the Praia Group during its new term.

From now until the end of 2022, the Praia Group is convening two Task Teams on dimensions of governance for which statistical methodologies are least advanced and for which there is high interest from members of the Praia Group – namely Participation and Non-Discrimination & Equality. Other Task Teams will be established progressively throughout the duration of the Praia Group’s second term (2021-25) and will aim to generate dimensions-specific content for three main ‘products’ which the Praia Group aims to submit to the UNSC in 2025, namely: 1) a “model” governance survey questionnaire, 2) operational guidance on survey implementation, and 3) guidance on the collection of administrative data for governance statistics.

This consultancy aims to support the development of the model governance survey questionnaire and related guidance on survey implementation, with a focus on the two dimensions of Participation and Non-Discrimination. The aim of the Praia Group with this “model” governance survey questionnaire is for it to become a global reference in the field of governance statistics, and to enable the production of globally comparable statistics on governance. The Praia Group’s governance questionnaire will offer a reliable starting point to those who are interested in producing governance statistics, but who are struggling to find a robust survey instrument with a comprehensive scope addressing the multiple dimensions of governance (vs. various dimension-specific instruments readily available on corruption, victimization, etc.) It will consolidate in one questionnaire a set of modules on each one of the eight dimensions of governance examined in the Handbook. 

Travel

This assignment is home-based and no travel is foreseen.

Institutional Arrangements

The Senior Research and Policy Advisor at the UNDP Oslo Governance Centre will supervise the consultancy, under the overall supervision of the Director and in consultation with the Supporting Organizations of the Task Teams on Participation and Non-Discrimination & Equality.
The application is a two-step process. Failing to comply with the submission process may result in disqualifying the applications.

Application procedure

Step 1: Submission of technical proposal. That will include providing application via UNDP Job-shop (www.jobs.undp.org).

Interested candidates should provide the following in one document:

  • Uploading a CV/P11 and a statement of interest indicating all past experience for similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the candidate and at least three (3) professional references (the template can be downloaded from this link: http://sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc;
  • A mandatory, brief description and justification (approx. 300-500 words) of the approach proposed to conduct the tasks required for this assignment, demonstrating how the applicant’s qualifications and experience will enable him/her to successfully deliver against the requirements of this assignment.

Step 2: Submission of Financial Proposals

Applicants are required to submit their lump sum financial proposals in US Dollars for this consultancy, using the financial proposal template available here: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=45780. 
Please only fill in section A I on p. 4, the total sum of which will be the all-inclusive lump sum fee to be filled in on p. 1, e).

The proposals should be sent via email to oslo.governance.centre@undp.org with the following subject heading: “Financial Proposal – Household Survey Expert” by the application deadline. Proposals received after the deadline may be rejected. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal should be all-inclusive lump sum fee, and include a detailed breakdown of the cost. The term ‘all-inclusive’ implies that all costs (professional fees, assignment related travel expenses to join the duty station, communications, tax, utilities, consumables, insurance, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the financial proposal.

Criteria for selection

Only those candidates who meet the minimum level of education and relevant years of experience requirements will be considered for the technical evaluation. The technical evaluation will include a desk review and may also include interviews with shortlisted candidates.

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

Method: cumulative analysis method will be used to evaluate proposals.

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 criteria weight: 70 (70% of total obtainable scores).

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

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 (70%) points on technical part will be considered for the financial evaluation.

Criteria and scores for technical evaluation (total 70):

  • Direct experience in the design and implementation of household surveys related to governance (50 points)
  • Knowledge of available survey methodologies (especially at regional and international levels) with relevant questions on the two dimensions of Participation and Non-Discrimination & Equality (10 points)
  • Excellent analytical, communication, writing and editorial skills. (10 points)

Criteria for financial evaluation (30 points maximum):

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:

The award of contract will be made to the individual consultant who receives the highest combined score out of the weighted technical and financial criteria as specified above.

General Terms and Conditions_Individual Consultant (IC) http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf.

Duties and Responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities

The development of dimension-specific survey modules by the various Task Teams will be a highly participatory process, driven by the two NSO co-chairs of each Task Team and benefitting from inputs from Task Team members, including NSOs, international organisations and other actors with experience in the measurement of a given thematic area. It is therefore expected that the Consultant will work closely with the two NSO co-chairs and Supporting Organisations of each Task Team (namely: OHCHR & UNDP on Non-Discrimination and Equality, and UNWomen & UNDP on Participation), and that the Consultant will actively participate in the Task Teams’ meetings and online discussions.

Specifically, the Household Survey Expert Consultant is expected to provide expert support to the two Task Teams on Participation and Non-Discrimination & Equality in 1) Developing a first draft of a survey module on each one of these two dimensions (ready for cognitive testing), and 2) Developing a first draft of the interviewer’s manual on these two dimensions, as well as recommended indicators & tabulation plans:

  1. Support Task Teams on Participation and on Non-Discrimination & Equality in developing survey modules on these two dimensions:

This will entail the following tasks (for each one of the two dimensions), and in close consultation with Task Team members: 

  • Revisiting the conceptual and measurement framework already laid out for each of the two dimensions in the Handbook, and agreeing with Team members on sub-dimensions that should be covered in the survey modules (vs. sub-dimensions better measured with administrative data;  
  • Mapping and reviewing relevant national/regional/international survey questionnaires and identifying relevant survey questions to be considered in the design of the two survey modules, in line with the conceptual and measurement frameworks agreed upon by the Task Teams;
  • Assessing the policy relevance of these various survey questions and of the indicators derived from these questions across a diversity of national contexts;
  • Based on this analysis of policy relevance across diverse contexts and on a review of country experiences with specific questions, prepare zero-drafts for survey modules on Participation and on Non-Discrimination & Equality, to serve as a starting point for discussion by the two Task Teams. This zero-draft should include options, each with a discussion of pros and cons. The development of these survey modules should give due consideration to existing international standards on the measurement of relevant concepts, and to relevant data quality standards, as well as to question order effects and other possible sources of bias. The modules should also include a general introduction to the module and lead-in text introducing individual questions, as needed.
  • Adjusting the drafts based on comments received from Task Team members, and conducting additional research as needed;
  • Designing a draft protocol for the cognitive testing of the various options, to be implemented by selected NSOs in different regions of the world and in different contexts;
  • Adjusting the draft protocol for the cognitive testing based on comments received from Task Team members.
  1. Support Task Teams in developing survey implementation guidance on the two dimensions of Participation and Non-Discrimination & Equality

This will entail the following tasks (for each one of the two dimensions), and in close consultation with Task Team members: 

  •  Developing a first draft of the interviewer’s manual on these two dimensions (incl. guidance on how to pose questions, how to minimize various biases, etc.) & integrating feedback received from Task Team members;
  • Compiling a set of recommended indicators for each one of the two dimensions (to be calculated from the data to be generated by each survey module); 
  • Developing a tabulation plan for each one of the two dimensions (based on each survey module).

 

Deliverables

Deadline

Payment %

  1. Mapping and reviewing relevant national/regional/international survey questionnaires (for each dimension)

21 Aug

25%

  1. Final draft of the two survey modules

15 Oct

25%

  1. Final draft of the protocol for the cognitive testing of the two survey modules

15 Nov

25%

  1. Final draft of survey implementation guidance i.e. interviewer’s manual, recommended indicators & recommended tabulation plan (for each dimension)

15 Dec

25%

 

 

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

  • Direct experience with the design and implementation of household surveys related to governance
  • Knowledge and understanding of specific methodological considerations related to the field of governance statistics
  • Excellent analytical, communication, writing and editorial skills.

Corporate Competencies:

  • Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
  • Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP and partner organizations;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
  • Excellent understanding of international development issues and knowledge of the UN system.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Advanced university degree or equivalent in statistics, demography, social anthropology, sociology, political science, development, social sciences or other related disciplines.

Experience:

  • Expert knowledge and professional experience in the design and implementation of household surveys, preferably in the area of governance;
  • Proven experience in writing statistical guidelines and analyzing survey results, preferably in the area of governance;
  • Direct experience working with national statistical offices, preferably in various regions;
  • UN experience is an asset.

Language:                    

  • Fluency in English, both written and oral;
  • Working knowledge of a second UN language is an asset.