Background

The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) is the United Nations system wide coordinator and focal point for South-South cooperation (SSC). UNOSSC monitors South-South and triangular cooperation in the UN system and reports to the highest levels of the system, including the UN General Assembly, the High-level Committee (HLC) on South-South Cooperation the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Board. It provides secretariat services to biennial sessions of the HLC on South-South Cooperation and its bureau and to other relevant United Nations governing bodies. It supports the mainstreaming of South-South approaches to development in global policies and operational activities of the United Nations development system and enhances the coherence and coordination of United Nations system support to South-South and triangular cooperation. UNOSSC top priorities is the strengthening of the multilateral South-South and triangular policy-making processes in advancing Southern perspectives and approaches in major intergovernmental and inter-agency processes and enhancing the coherence and coordination of the UN support to South-South and triangular cooperation.

The HLC on South-South Cooperation is the main intergovernmental policymaking body on South-South cooperation (SSC) in the United Nations. It is a subsidiary body of the UN General Assembly. Since 1981, the Committee has met every two years to undertake an overall intergovernmental review of technical cooperation among developing countries (TCDC) within the United Nations development system. UN General Assembly resolution 35/202 of 16 December 1980 established that the functions of the High-level Committee on TCDC would be the same as those outlined in recommendation 37 of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries. The Committee is responsible for:

• Reviewing the progress made in implementing the tasks entrusted to the United Nations development system in the Buenos Aires Plan of Action;
• Ensuring that efforts to strengthen TCDC are sustained within the United Nations development system;
• Supporting new policies and innovative approaches to further the development of TCDC;
• Considering the availability of financial resources and their effective use by the United Nations development system, without prejudice to existing programmes; and
• Ensuring coordination of the promotional and operational TCDC activities of the United Nations development system.

The 19th Session of the High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation met in May 2016 to review progress made in implementing the Buenos Aires Plan of Action, the new directions strategy for South-South cooperation and the Nairobi outcome document of the High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation.

The twentieth session of the High-level Committee, previously planned for June 2020, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The twentieth session is re-scheduled for June 2021. As the substantive secretariat of the HLC, the UNOSSC is required to provide both substantive and organizational support to the biennial sessions of the HLC. 

The UNOSSC will engage a Senior Consultant to provide advice and assist in carrying out its functions as the Secretariat of the High-level Committee (HLC) including overseeing protocol, meeting procedures pertaining to the 20th Session of the HLC. The Senior Consultant will also provide policy advice and recommendations to strengthen South-South and triangular cooperation.

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED WORK

Under the supervision and guidance of the UNOSSC Director a.i., the Senior Consultant is expected to provide support to the Secretariat of the HLC between 1 March and 30 June 2021. The Senior Consultant will:

• Advise on protocol, meeting processes, and procedures pertaining to the 20th Session of the HLC.
• Provide policy advice to strengthen South-South and triangular cooperation, including in draft Reports of the Secretary General and UNDP Administrator to the HLC.

• Contribute to the preparation of Speaking Notes and Scripts for use at both the organizational meeting on 11 May 2021 and during the 20th session of the HLC (1-4 June 2021) as well as Notes for the presiding officer of the Working Group dedicated to the negotiations of the HLC decisions.
• Facilitate secretariat support to the President and Rapporteur of the Plenary and the presiding officer of the Working Group.
• Provide advice on organizing and designing the thematic session of the HLC.
• Drafting daily UN Journal HLC announcements and meeting summaries.
• Facilitate coordination of pre-session and in-session documents with UN Documents Control and support effective follow-up to ensure their timely processing, translation and issuance.
• Provide advice on the production of the List of Participants prior to the HLC and List of Speakers during the session (to be ready for the HLC report).
• Provide advice, as required, on organization of and presentations to informal consultations of Member States and United Nations entities.
• Other activities may be requested.

Expected Deliverables, Duration of Work, and Payment:

The consultant is expected to produce the following deliverables within the proposed timeframe below. Payment will be made upon receipt and acceptance by UNOSSC of the deliverables.

Competencies

Functional:

• Substantive knowledge of the South-South and triangular cooperation policy, vision and strategy for promoting South South and triangular cooperation on a global and UN system-wide basis.
• In-depth knowledge of South-South cooperation and procedures governing inter-governmental processes.
• Knowledge of main technical/operational aspects of South South Cooperation.
• Credible knowledge of UN and excellent knowledge of programming processes and work culture in UN agencies, private sector and civil society

Corporate:

• Leadership
• Team building
• Negotiation skills
• Excellent communication skills 
• Demonstrates integrity and fairness, by modeling the UN/UNDP’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.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic qualifications:

At least advanced degree (master’s) in social sciences, political studies or international relations required, Ph.D. in a relevant field an asset.

Years of experience:

• At least 15 years of professional experience in the area of policy analysis in international development/development cooperation both at national and international levels required;
• In-depth knowledge and first-hand experience in dealing with UN inter-governmental processes and meetings required;
• Thorough knowledge and experience in inter-governmental and United Nations debates surrounding South-South and triangular  cooperation required;
• Experience working in a team structure in a multicultural environment required;
• Knowledge of the United Nations system and policies and organizational frameworks required;
• In-depth knowledge and first-hand experience with the HLC and/or other processes on South-South and triangular cooperation is an asset;
• Demonstrated experience and skills to work collaboratively and effectively with stakeholders including Member States, UN entities, intergovernmental organizations, and non-governmental organizations is desirable;
• Past experience as Secretary or Rapporteur of a major UN meeting/conference is desirable;

Language:

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required.
• Knowledge and fluency in other UN official language (Arabic, French, Spanish) is an asset.

Application Procedure

The application package should contain the following documents:

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

Evaluation process

Applicants are reviewed based on Required Skills and Experience stated above and based on the technical evaluation criteria outlined below. Applicants will be evaluated based on cumulative scoring.  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:

• Being 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 where technical criteria weighs 70% and Financial criteria/ Proposal weighs 30%.

Technical evaluation - Total 70% (700 points):

• Criteria 1: Relevance of experience and demonstrated knowledge in dealing with UN inter-governmental processes, especially with the HLC processes on South-South and triangular cooperation Weight = 50%; Maximum Points: 250;
• Criteria 2: Demonstrated experience and skills to work collaboratively and effectively with stakeholders including Member States, UN entities, intergovernmental organizations, and non-governmental organizations Weight = 30%; Maximum Points: 150;
• Criteria 3: Past experience as Secretary or Rapporteur of a major UN meeting/conference; Weight = 16%; Maximum Points: 80
• Criteria 4: Fluency in Arabic, French or Spanish Weight = 2%; Maximum Points: 10 (1 language: 5 points, more than 1 language 10 points)
• Criteria 5: A PhD or doctoral degree in social sciences, political studies or international relations. Weight = 2%; Maximum Points: 10

The maximum points that can be achieved in the desk review is 500 points.

Only the top three technically qualified applicants (obtaining a minimum of 350 points (70% of points obtainable in the desk review) will be considered for an interview.

Interview (200 points).

The total obtainable score on the interview is 200 points bringing the total points for the technical evaluation to a maximum of 700 points.

Candidates obtaining less than 140 points during the interview (70% of points obtainable during the interview) will be disqualified.

Only those candidates obtaining a total technical score of 490 points and above shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

• 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.
• This consultancy is a home-based assignment, therefore, there is no envisaged travel cost to join duty station/repatriation travel. 
• 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.

Financial evaluation - Total 30% (300 points)

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

Contract Award

The candidate obtaining the highest combined scores in the combined score of Technical and Financial evaluation will be considered technically qualified and will be offered to enter into contract with UNDP.

Institutional arrangement

The consultant will work under the guidance and direct supervision of the UNOSSC Director a.i. and will be responsible for the fulfilment of the deliverables as specified above.

The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own laptop.

Payment modality

Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified above and deliverables accepted and upon certification of satisfactory completion by the manager.