Background

More than half of the world’s young people alive today, live on this continent. At the moment, roughly 68 of every 100 people in Asia are of working age. It is a region facing the challenges of extreme poverty and climate change, but brimming with economic dynamism and a young workforce to deliver on unfulfilled potential. Furthermore, nearly a billion people in Asia are below the age of 15, which means by 2050 the region will have more working-age people, and fewer older and younger dependents than at any point in its history. This ‘youth bulge’ offers the region a unique opportunity for economic progress to lift millions more out of poverty, and ultimately close the gap with the developed world.

Young people in the region are 5-7 times more likely to be unemployed than their older counterparts at the same level of education. Women’s access to education and participation in the labour force remain stubbornly low across populous swathes of the region. The next wave of development gains as envisioned by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals must address the needs of those left behind. These are big issues and our solutions must be equally bold. UNDP’s Asia-Pacific Human Development Report for 2016 examines these demographic trends and sets out clear policy directions that governments can harmonise with their national development plans and strategies.

UNDP and its partners believe that youth can make a real and positive difference and create their own opportunities by engaging with these challenges head on through social entrepreneurship and innovation, exploring dynamic approaches to mobilizing their peers and communities and creating adaptive solutions to addressing youth economic marginalisation. Against this backdrop, the UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub and its partners are developing a regional project on Youth Economic Empowerment and Social Innovation. With the great majority of Asia’s peak-era workforce still in their early years, now is the time to invest in interventions that will harness their potential. In not doing enough to ride this wave, we risk losing the most potent inter-generational opportunity we have had in ensuring the well-being of one half of humanity.

In light of this, the UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub and partners have initiated a youth empowerment programme for the region. UNDP is seeking an experienced consultant for the monitoring and evaluation, event management, partnership development, and resource mobilization, for this project.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of work:

The Consultant will assist with:

Project Monitoring and Evaluation:

• Develop and maintain a comprehensive Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for the Regional Youth Project;
• Coordinate project-related meetings such as Inception Workshops, Project Steering Committee Meetings and other stakeholder meetings;
• Support the UNDP Youth Unit, both substantively and structurally, in varying stages of the project cycle (e.g. – coordinating and support other staff who are working on various project outputs – research, financial sustainability, communications, national dialogues etc.)
• Prepare the UNDP Youth Unit annual report based on the corporate reporting guidelines and donor guidelines

Event Coordination:

• Support BRH Youth Unit to work closely with Baoshang Bank, UNDP China Country office and the Baotou Youth Forum Coordinator in the organization of the Baotou Youth Forum in August 2018
• Coordinate the production of event documents (e.g. logistics note, draft participants list, event invitations, relevant background materials);
• Support the preparation of the event report
• Support the organization of the Baotou Impact Awards;
• Support the design and implementation of a communication strategy for the event;
• Support to convene other regional and global events with alliance partners (Responsible Business Forum 2018, AVPN 2018, etc.)

Partnership Management:

• Support the establishment and coordination of the activities of the Youth Empowerment Alliance of Enablers, which include partners such as government departments, donors, civil society and private sector working on youth, entrepreneurship and innovation;
• Support the UNDP Youth Team in developing partnerships and the organization of meetings with the Alliance of Enablers with the objective to facilitate knowledge sharing, technology exchange, and access to finance;
• Liaise with UNDP headquarters and international partners to ensure sustainability of the initiative;
• Mobilize partnerships and support other UNDP Youth Programmes (2030 Youth Force, Case 4 Space, etc.)

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

1. The consultant is expected to achieve the following outputs:
2. Finalize the comprehensive Monitoring and Evaluation framework for the regional youth project and produce the 2018 Annual Report
3. Support the establishment and coordination of the activities of the Youth Empowerment Alliance of Enablers
4. Support the co-organizing activities for the Baotou Youth Forum (August 2018)
5. Support to coordinate the activities under National Dialogues, Research, Financial Sustainability and Communications
6. Support the coordination of 2030 Youth Force, Case 4 Space and other youth initiatives by UNDP BRH

Institutional Arrangement

The M&E Consultant will report to the Regional Youth Project Manager and Coordinator at UNDP BRH and work in close collaboration with the UNDP Country offices and other key parties. The success of the project depends on the timely delivery of each component.  The Consultant should ensure timely identification of potential risks and signal any delays in deliverables. The contract will be effective immediately upon signature by UNDP.

UNDP BRH will have the following responsibilities: (i) Provide relevant documents; (ii) Discuss and agree on the methodologies of the assignment; and (iii) Monitor and evaluate the progress of the assignment. The contract and payments will be performance-based and regularly assessed by the UNDP BRH. All travel expenses to and from the target area should be included in the financial proposal.

The present ToR may be subject to modification, without changing the overall objective and the scope of work, on the basis of mutual consultations. UNDP will hold the copyright of the assignment deliverables.

Duration of Assignment, Duty Station and Expected Places of Travel

The consultancy will be managed by the UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub. The consultant’s presence is required at UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub premises to work very closely with Youth Unit. Travels to project sites and/or regional events are expected under the authorization of the Youth Team Leader.  Travel expenses (ticket, living allowance and local transport) shall be agreed prior travel and reimbursed after trips completed.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism.

Technical Competencies:

• Analytic capacity and demonstrated ability to process, analyse and synthesise complex, technical information;
• Proven ability to support the development of high quality knowledge and training materials, and to train technical teams;
• Proven experience in the developing country context and working in different cultural settings.

Communication:

• Communicate effectively in writing to a varied and broad audience in a simple and concise manner.

Professionalism:

• Capable of working in a high pressure environment with sharp and frequent deadlines, managing many tasks simultaneously;
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills.

Teamwork:

• Projects a positive image and is ready to take on a wide range of tasks;
• Focuses on results for the client;
• Welcomes constructive feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

Requirements for Experience and Qualifications

The consultant should possess the following expertise and qualifications:

Education:

• Master’s Degree in development studies, social sciences, international relations or other fields related to the scope of the assignment.

Experience:

• Four years of relevant work experience of which at least two years in a developing country;
• Understanding of youth work and monitoring and evaluation methodologies is essential;
• Excellent organizational skills with a successful track record of planning and implementing large-scale and international events;
• Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure;
• Participate effectively in team-based, information-sharing environment, collaborating and cooperating with others;
• Demonstrated understanding of strategic communication, and experience working with social media platforms;
• Expertise and knowledge of the Asia and the Pacific region.

Language

Excellent English, report writing, presentation and communication skills.

Scope of Price Proposal adn Schedule of Payments

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Daily Fee. Consultant shall quote an all-inclusive Daily Fee for the contract period. The term “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, consumables, etc.) that could be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment are already factored into the daily fee submitted in the proposal. If applicable, travel or daily allowance cost (if any work is to be done outside the IC’s duty station) should be identified separately. Payments shall be done on a monthly basis based on actual days worked, upon verification of completion of deliverables and approval by the IC’s supervisor of a Time Sheet indicating the days worked in the period.

In general, UNDP shall 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

In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Travel costs shall be reimbursed at actual but not exceeding the quotation from UNDP approved travel agent.  The provided living allowance will not be exceeding UNDP DSA rates. Repatriation travel cost from home to duty station in Bangkok and return shall not be covered by UNDP.

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

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 (70 points)

• Criteria 1: Relevant Education; (10 points)
• Criteria 2: Four years of relevant experience of which at least two years in a developing country (20 points)
• Criteria 3: Understanding of youth work and monitoring and evaluation methodologies (10 points)
• Criteria 4: Possess excellent organizational skills with a successful track record of planning and implementing large-scale and international events (10 points)
• Criteria 5: Understanding of strategic communication, and experience working with social media platforms (10 points)
• Criteria 6: Expertise and knowledge of the Asia and the Pacific region; (10 points)

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

Ducument to be Included When Submitting the Proposals

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document:

• Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
• Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
• Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided (in USD currency)

Incomplete proposals may not be considered. The shortlisted candidates may be contacted and the successful candidate will be notified.

Annexes

Annex I - TOR_ Monitoring and Evaluation & Event Coordination Consultant

Annex II- General Condition of Contract

Annex III - Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual IC, including Financial Proposal Template

All documents can be downloaded at :http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=44526