Background

After four decades, UNDP phased out its development cooperation activities with the Republic of Korea. This process was completed in December 2009 when the UNDP Country Office formally ceased its operations. Having provided over US $100 million in development finance over the years, UNDP played an important role in helping the Republic of Korea successfully transition from a recipient to donor country, as evidenced by its membership in the OECD-DAC.

At this juncture, UNDP and the Government of Korea established a new platform for cooperation, which took the form of a Policy Centre. In this context, UNDP Seoul Policy Centre for Global Development Partnerships began to conduct policy analysis and research on global partnerships in international development, particularly regarding the role of new and emerging donors in a changing international aid environment. The key functions of the new Centre are:

• To serve as the immediate interface with the Government on all aspects relating to the evolving Republic of Korea-UNDP partnership;
• To act as a knowledge Center for comparative experiences and approaches of new development partners in reducing poverty and achieving sustainable human development;
• To facilitate and promote learning, networking, policy dialogue, and consultation among new development partners while contributing to the capacity development of developing countries;

As new partners continue to expand and play an increasingly active role in development cooperation, there is an emergence of a dynamic environment in which the Policy Centre is expected to play an important role.

UNDP Seoul Policy Centre work on Effective Development Cooperation

UNDP started collaboration with the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea in the area of effective development cooperation since its establishment in 2011. It worked on the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness that Korea hosted in Busan. As follow up, USPC supported the implementation of Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation – namely the (bi)annual Global Partnership Forum and (bi)annual KOICA GPEDC Learning and Accelerating Programme. As this requires significant policy research as well as engagement with Korean and international networks, USPC has hosted a variety of different conferences and webinars on various aspects of effective development cooperation throughout the years. Most recently, USPC conducted a webinar between academics and practitioners regarding development cooperation among MIKTA states.

In 2019, USPC and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea adopted a new tri-annual programme that included a launch of an SDG Partnership on Development Cooperation. Accordingly, USPC began working with Korean and international stakeholders to support the implementation of selected aspects on effective development cooperation agenda in partner countries. In this context, USPC will collaborate with Rwanda, Bangladesh, and India in the upcoming year, particularly in the area of strengthening knowledge partnerships.

The objective of the assignment is two-fold: from one side, the consultant will have a responsibility to support implementation of the SDG Partnership with India, from the other the consultant will coordinate implementation of USCP research agenda for 2021 in the area of development cooperation.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work:

The main results expected from the work of the contractor include: successful implementation of the SDG Partnership with India, partnership agreements with organizations in Korea required for its implementation, research products in line with the 2021 work plan, organization of the relevant webinars/events, support to the preparations towards Busan Forum 2021.

Duration of the assignment:

The assignment is related to the activities of 2021 with the total of 200 working days.

Expected Key Deliverables:

Provision of Monitoring and Progress Control:

The Consultant will report to the Policy Specialist of the UNDP Seoul Policy Centre.

Duty Station:

Seoul with no travel – Consultant is basically expected to work in UNDP office in Seoul, however due to the COVID-19 situation, Consultant may work from home 2-3 days a week subject to instruction from the head of office.

Review Time Required:

The review and approval of payments will be made by the assigned supervisor(s) within 5 working days.

Payment Terms:

Output based.

Competencies

• Excellent research skills are required.
• Ability to write and present in an organized and logical manner is required.
• Ability to meticulously organize online and offline meetings is required.
• Experience with the publication of knowledge products is required.
• Experience with standard office software packages is required.
• Ability to multi-task and prioritize tasks is required.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills is required.
• Good cultural and gender sensitivity is required.
• Fluency in English and Korean is required. Knowledge of other UN languages is an asset.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in international studies, economics, political science, development studies or related discipline is required.
• Higher level of education (Master’s Degree) in relevant area will be an asset.
• Prior training in development project management and official development assistance processes is an asset.

Experience

• Minimum 1 year of experience with development cooperation is required.
• Minimum 6 months of experience with development cooperation in the Republic of Korea, especially its knowledge sharing components, is required.
• Minimum 6 months of experience with the current development agenda, preferably backed up with relevant research publications, including experience with trends and processes related to South-South and Triangular Cooperation is required.
• Familiarity with UNDP’s mandate and work processes is an asset.

Language:

• Fluency in English and Korean is required. Knowledge of other UN languages is an asset.

EVALUATION OF CANDIDATES:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative Analysis: The candidates will be evaluated through Cumulative Analysis method. When using the 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 set of weighted combine 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 Evaluation (70%)

**Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% in the Technical Evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Financial Evaluation (30%)

Financial proposals from all technically qualified candidates will be scored out 30 marks based on the formula provided below. The maximum marks (30) will be assigned to the lowest financial proposal.

All other proposals will receive points according to the following formula:

• 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.

Application Procedure

The application package containing the following (to be uploaded as one file):

• A cover letter with a brief description of why the Offer considers her/himself the most suitable for the assignment; and
• Completed and signed UNDP P11 form /CV, indicating all past similar experience and specifying the relevant assignment period (from/to), as well as the email and telephone contacts of at least three (3) professional references.

Note: Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application system only allows to upload maximum one document:

Shortlisted candidates (ONLY) will be requested to submit a Financial Proposal.

• The financial proposal should specify an all-inclusive daily fee (based on a 7 hour working day - lunch time is not included - and estimated 21.75 days per month).
• The financial proposal must be all-inclusive and take into account various expenses that will be incurred during the contract, including: the daily professional fee; (excluding mission travel); living allowances at the duty station; communications, utilities and consumables; life, health and any other insurance; risks and inconveniences related to work under hardship and hazardous conditions (e.g., personal security needs, etc.), when applicable; and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services under the contract.
• In the case of unforeseeable travel requested by UNDP, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. In general, UNDP should 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.
• If the Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.

**The Financial Proposal is to be emailed as per the instruction in the separate email that will be sent to shortlisted candidates.