UNDP Jobs - 80222- Formulation of UNDP Programme Support on Disaster

Formulation of UNDP Programme Support on Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Building, 2019-2023

Location :

Lilongwe, MALAWI

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Sep-2018

Application Deadline :

06-Aug-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

30 working days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

30 working days

UNDP 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. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

In 2015 the world adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development, the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) and Paris Agreement on Climate Change of which Malawi Government signed. The SFDRR notes that over the past decade, more than 700,000 women, men and children lost their lives, over 1.4 million people were injured and approximately 23 million people are homeless as a result of disasters globally. Malawi is also experiencing increasing cases of disasters; with disasters that happened between 2000 and 2010 surpassing disasters that happened between 1970 to 2000.? Between 2015 and 2018, Malawi experienced one of the worst humanitarian crises necessitating declaration of two consecutive state of national disasters, with the crisis of 2017 affecting almost one third of the population. Malawi is also experiencing increasing cases of urban vulnerabilities in the recent past and there is need to provide for risk informed planning in urban areas.

Projections for the assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicate that the impact of climate will continue to disrupt economies and the lives of people, with extreme weather events becoming more frequent and devastating, thereby reversing development gains. A post disaster needs assessment that was conducted in 2015-2016 season in Malawi, estimated the total cost of losses from flooding at $994million, representing 14% of the gross Domestic product).

Malawi Government has embarked five-year medium-term development plan (Malawi Growth and Development Strategy III) which has five key priority areas, and the development plan has recognized the importance of building resilience to safeguard development gains. The United Nations Development Assistance Framework for Malawi (2019-2023) has recognized the gap in building resilience. UNDP in its Strategic Plan for 2018 to 2021 commits to build resilience to crises and shocks, and UNDP Malawi in its Malawi in its 5-year Country Programme Document (2019 to 2023) has committed to scale up climate adaptation and resilience to shocks.

In the last programming cycle (2012-2018), UNDP in collaboration with the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DODMA) and partners in the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) landscape , delivered a number of results around the following outputs; mainstreaming disaster risk management in policies, development plans and programmes and national level and 14 disaster prone districts;? strengthening DRM data and knowledge management; and targeted population benefiting from effective disaster risk management.? An evaluation of the Disaster Risk Management Support Programme (2012-2016) conducted in 2017 noted that there is relatively significant progress at national level and there is scope to bridge the results with the local level. UNDP has committed to shift its support from policy to implementation through a successor programme building on the outcome of the evaluation. ??Following the new UNDP CPD 2019-2022, UNDAF? 2019-2023, consultancy services of an International Individual Consultant are being sought to lead the development of a five-year programme on UNDP Programme Support on Disaster Risk Management and Resilience Building in Malawi in line with the SFDRR and MGDS-III. The International Consultant will work in collaboration with a National Consultant to formulate the programme.

Duties and Responsibilities

The purpose of the consultancy is to formulate an umbrella Project Support Document (PSD) on Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Building. In order to provide a solid basis for the PSD, the consultancy will be expected to outline the following: priorities, challenges and opportunities for linking policy to implementation; and relationship between relevant MGDS outcomes and strategies and UNDAF; rationale for UN interventions and operational strategy for achieving outputs and outcomes and implementation and funding arrangements. The consultancy will be expected to draw lessons from the evaluation of the DRM Support Programme (2012-2016), Strengthening Climate Information and early Warning for Climate Resilient Development (2014-2017), National Climate Programme (2012-2016) the UNDAF and the feasibility analysis for the Saving Lives and Protecting Agriculture-based Livelihoods in Malawi: Scaling Up the Use of Modernized Climate Information and Early Warning Systems (M-CLIMES). The International will also analyze existing initiatives in Malawi on disaster risk management from development partners, civil society, non-governmental organizations etc. to inform the theory of change for the programme. The Consultant will be expected to apply UN programming principles during the exercise, namely: (i) Human rights, gender equality, women’s empowerment; (ii) Sustainability and Resilience; (iii) Accountability and (ii) Leaving No One Behind.

Competencies

Excellent interpersonal and teamworking skills are required;
Excellent communication skills for report writing and presentation;
Knowledge of the global frameworks of disaster risk reduction, climate change and sustainable development.

Required Skills and Experience

The Team Leader must satisfy the following qualifications:

Educational Qualification

Minimum of Master’s Degree in Disaster Risk Management, Climate Change, Social Science or a related field.

Experience

At least 10 years of relevant work experience in disaster risk management (ideally in Africa). The International Consultant should demonstrate knowledge of the current issues in both disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management and how this relates to UNDP possible avenues of assistance, and a proven track record of related work of project design.
Experience in developing overarching national programmes; experience with UNDP and/or the United Nations system and experience with UNDAF process.
Excellent interpersonal and teamworking skills are required.
Experienced in working with government and national stakeholders in different settings and cultural environments, with experience in Southern Africa preferred.
Knowledge of the global frameworks of disaster risk reduction, climate change and sustainable development.
Excellent team leadership and coordination abilities;
Experience in Results Based Management and programme design;?
Understanding of the workings of the Malawi Government, development assistance and UN in particular;
Experience in gender mainstreaming

Language:

Fluent in English.

Key Tasks.

Literature Review:
The International Consultant in collaboration with the National Consultant will be expected to conduct a comprehensive literature review resulting in a synthesis of current priorities, challenges and opportunities in the areas of the disaster risk management life cycle within the context of Malawi. This will include, but not limited to a review of the assessment and evaluation reports of the following:

MGDS III;
UNDAF;
UNDP Country programme Document (2019-2023);
M-CLIMES project Document;
Sustainable Development Goals;
UNDAF evaluation;
DRM Support Programme evaluation report;
National Climate Change Programme Evaluation Report;
National Resilience Strategy;
Malawi national Disaster Risk Management Policy;
Disaster risk management Bill;
Malawi National Climate Change Management Policy;
Programmes supported by other key development partners, NGOs and other actors in the DRM landscape;
Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction.

Stakeholder consultations, data collection and analysis:
The International Consultant in collaboration with the National Consultant is expected to conduct stakeholder consultations and collect relevant documentation and data from all key stakeholders with interest in the areas of disaster risk management. The list of stakeholders should include Government officials, Development Partners, UN agencies, private sector, academia and other relevant Civil Society Organizations.

Project theory of change (ToC) process:
The International consultant will facilitate an inclusive Theory of Change Process in line with 2019-2023 country programme theory to, among others, arrive at the following:

Specific project results and strategies Priority interventions;
Risks and assumptions;
Key partners and partnerships;
Key target groups and areas.

Develop a project results matrix (Outcomes, Output, Indicators, Assumptions, Risks)
The consultant will be required to develop a project results framework before embarking on drafting of the project document. The results framework will be expected to have a complete results chain building in the theory of change, and will have to meet UNDP requirements based on the standard UNDP project formulation template.

Formulation of the Programme Support Document.
In reference to the approved UNDP Project Design Document Template, and using the outcomes of the ToC process; the consultant is expected to compile a programme support document. The consultants will present the draft PSD to the National Reference Group for quality assurance.

Deliverables.

The deliverables will include the following:

Inception Report (maximum 6 pages). The inception report should provide a clear picture of how the consultants understand the ToRs and how they intend to achieve the expected outputs and deliverables, methodology and strategy on how to develop the Programme Support Document (PSD), detailed Workplan including list of stakeholders to be consulted, and Table of Content including outline of PSD (with reference to the approved UNDP project design template). The Inception Report should also include a work plan with timelines for all the tasks that the consultants will undertake during the exercise.?
The inception report will be discussed and approved by a National Reference Group (NRG) for the programme formulation exercise. The Draft Inception Report to be delivered within 5 working days after signing of contract, and to be finalized including comments of the reference group within 5 working days after receiving feedback from the reference group.
Programme results matrix i.e. outcomes, outputs, indicators (baseline, targets), responsible institutions, assumptions and risks.
First draft Project Support Document, to be delivered maximum 6 weeks after approval of the inception report. The draft report will be prepared following stakeholder consultation process. The draft PSD will have all completed sections according to the approved UNDP project design template and will be presented to the reference group for quality assurance.
Presentation of second draft PSD in national stakeholder consultation workshop, to be held within 2 weeks after incorporating feedback from the reference group and the results of the UNDP Project Quality Assurance (PQA) assessment.

Reporting lines and timeframe
The International Consultant will have matrix reporting to the Portfolio Manager for Resilience and Sustainable Growth ??at UNDP and Director for Risk Reduction at the Department of Disaster Management Affairs. The assignment will be technically quality assured by a reference group which will provide technical guidance to the Portfolio Manager and Director for Risk Reduction. The total duration of the assignment is 40 working days, spread not more than three calendar months.

Qualifications and experience

Composition of the Formulation Team
The project support document will be formulated by a team of two Consultants; (i)Team Leader (International Consultant) and (ii) Team member (National Consultant). The Team leader will be responsible for the overall program formulation and quality of the program document. The Team Leader will be accountable to the Portfolio Manager for Resilience and Sustainable Growth at UNDP and Director for Disaster Risk Reduction at the Department of Disaster Management Affairs.

Specific Responsibilities of Team Leader.

The Team Leader will be responsible for the following key tasks:

Lead in the preparation of a synthesis of main of lessons learnt, issues and relevant recommendations in the area of DRM.
Lead the drafting of the inception report and programme outline in consultation with the team members;
Lead the articulation of the programme change theory corresponding to UNDAF outcome 2 and UNDP strategic plan outcome 3.
Develop the methodology for conducting the programme formulation exercise;
Participate in meetings with the formulation Reference Group and use feedback to make adjustments in the formulation document and the conduct of the formulation exercise;
Conduct data collection for specified areas of work as defined by the selected approach;
Draft the main formulation document, with support from the team member;
Revise the draft PSD as per comments received from, the Reference Group, UNDP project quality assurance assessor and key stakeholders.

Timeframe

The consultancy is scheduled to start on 1 September and be concluded by 30th November 2018.

Evaluation.
The award of the contract shall be made to the Individual International Consultant who has received the highest score out of pre-determined technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation. Please note that UNDP might interview the candidates, however questions will fall under above criteria below:

Technical criteria weight – 70 %

Financial criteria weight – 30 %?

Criteria A: Professional experience:
Minimum of Master’s Degree in Disaster Risk Management, Climate Change, Social Science or a related field (10).? At least 10 years of relevant work experience in disaster risk management (ideally in Africa). The consultant should demonstrate knowledge of the current issues in both disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management and how this relates to UNDP possible avenues of assistance, and a proven track record of related work of project design. (10).? Experience in developing overarching national programmes; experience with UNDP and/or the United Nations system and experience with UNDAF process. (5).? Experienced in working with government and national stakeholders in different settings and cultural environments, with experience in Southern Africa preferred (5).

Criteria B: Technical Proposal:
Understanding of the task, soundness of methodology proposed and schedule in the technical proposal with demonstrated track record in doing related work (40).

Financial (30)

Scope of price proposal and schedule of payments.
A Lump Sum Amount payable modality is envisaged upon submission of deliverables and acceptance/approval by UNDP Country Office for each identified task (reflected in the agreed and signed specific TOR.? The lump sum amount is inclusive of all the costs related to the assignment. Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. All planned costs related to this consultancy must be specified in the proposal by contractor for this assignment.

Submission of proposals.
Interested and qualified International Individual Consultants are invited to apply. The applicants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

A technical proposal detailing applicants’ understanding of ToRs, proposed methodology, and CV.
A financial proposal breaking down cost for each operational line and professional fees (this must be submitted separately).
Contacts (email and phone) of 3 former clients who will act as referees.
A detailed list of similar assignments (copies of these may be requested as necessary) that the consultant has conducted in the past.

“UNDP is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Women and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply”.

Interested firms that meet the above specifications should submit a proposal to undp.jobs. org procurement.mwi@undp.org by 6th August 2018. Proposals that do not meet above specified requirements will not be considered.