Background

Project Title

Enhanced Manufacturing of Protective Wear and Equipment for COVID-19 Response in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (EMPOWER BARMM)

Project Description

The unprecedented spread of COVID-19 in the Philippines has resulted in a shortage of medical personal protective equipment (PPE) across the healthcare system. Hospitals have begun publicly requesting for donations to help address this problem. While several individuals and organizations have responded to the call for help, there is a pressing need to coordinate these actions to ensure that the supplies are delivered to the right hospital at the right time, quantity, and quality.

UNDP Philippines, in line with UNDP's global COVID-19 response offer, aims to strengthen the national health system through the creation of a digital solution called "Enhanced Manufacturing of Protective Wear and Equipment for COVID-19 Response in the Philippines" (EMPOWER PH). This initiative aims to provide a collaborative platform for various stakeholders to facilitate and accelerate production and distribution of essential items in order to meet an increasing demand for PPE, ensure product quality standards, democratize knowledge and resources, provide livelihood opportunities, and facilitate an effective supply chain.

The UNDP handed over the EMPOWER PH platform to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and this initiative will create a database of both medical and non-medical use PPE manufacturers and suppliers that will go through a vetting process to ensure quality goods that can be accessed by consumers and hospital beneficiaries.

Localizing the EMPOWER PH initiative within BARMM can support the region's COVID-19 response efforts through strengthening of local supply chains for medical and non-medical use supplies that are critical to ensure protection of healthcare front liners and the general population against infection. An enhanced digital platform that is able to guide local manufacturers for proper accreditation or vetting, and match them with medical institutions, local governments and other businesses that require their supplies is a necessary component in strengthening the health systems, specifically in addressing the challenges in the sourcing and procurement of the PPEs and related raw materials.

More importantly, through capacitating local garments manufacturers, EMPOWER BARMM can further facilitate the economic recovery in the region by mobilizing commercial activities for an industry that has been severely affected by the economic lockdown and by the decline in demand from local and international clients.

Equipped with the platform and the learnings from the pilot in Metro Manila, UNDP Philippines will work with local ministries and agencies in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to localize the EMPOWER PH platform, equip the regional agencies with technical capabilities to operationalize the platform, and address the supply chain infrastructure gaps of the local garments industry in order to enable the region to facilitate local production and trade.

The engagement of a Communications Consultant is needed to develop the communications strategy and online collaterals for the promotion in various UNDP platforms and affiliate channels of the impact of the EMPOWER PH and EMPOWER BARMM initiatives especially in the communities that benefited from the platform.

Institutional Arrangements

1. The consultant will work under the overall guidance of the Programme Team Leader and in close coordination with the Programme Analyst of Institution and Partnerships, UNDP CO Communications Associate, Programme Analyst of Peace Team, Project Coordinator for EMPOWER PH and Project Coordinator for EMPOWER BARMM.
2. UNDP Philippines shall be entitled to intellectual property and other proprietary rights over all materials that have direct relation to the project.
3. Considering the COVID-19 pandemic and declaration of State of Public Health Emergency in the Philippines, all work of the Individual Consultant shall be done within the guidelines and protocols set by the local and national government.
4. All physical training activities / meetings to be conducted by the Individual Consultant in relation to the engagement should follow minimum health protocols set by the Department of Health and corresponding Local Government Units (i.e., physical distancing, use of face masks/face shields, proper handwashing, etc.).

Duration of Work

The Consultant will be engaged from April 2021 to June 2021 unless revised in a mutually agreed upon timetable by UNDP and the Contractor. The Consultant is expected to render a total of 40 person days spread over 3 months.

Duty Station

Duty station is Manila but the Consultant can work remotely during the contract, provided that he/she is able to attend meetings, if needed and as scheduled.

The Consultant is also expected to travel within Metro Manila and once to Mindanao, specifically to the following areas, to conduct story gathering, interviews and documentation, subject to community quarantine restrictions and UNDP travel advisory:

• Various parts of Metro Manila for interviews with EMPOWERP PH and Project WONDER sewing groups, as well as DTI and UNDP Philippines officials
• EMPOWER BARMM sewing communities
  • Barangay Pangao Saduc, Marawi City, Lanao del Sur
  • Barangay Poblacion, Tugaya, Lanao del Sur
  • Barangay Limbo, Balindong, Lanao del Sur
  • Barangay Bulalo, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao
• Considering the COVID-19 pandemic and declaration of State of Public Health Emergency in the Philippines, all work and travel of the Individual consultant shall be done within the guidelines and protocols set by the local and national government. Field work, trainings, meetings, and coordination shall be done in compliance with community quarantine policies.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

The financial proposals from possible candidates should be expressed in lump sum amount inclusive of all financial costs related to this engagement (i.e., professional fees X number of person days, transportation/travel to and from residence for Manila and one (1) BARMM field mission for the conduct of interviews and other documentation, required RT-PCR tests for the travel, required applications for graphic design and other necessary platform subscriptions, communications including internet, etc.).

Medical/ health insurance must be purchased by the individual at his/her own expense, and upon award of contract, the consultant must be ready to submit proofof insurance valid during contract duration.

Payments will be made when specific outputs have been submitted, as outlined below:

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

Under the overall guidance and supervision of the Programme Analyst of Institutions and Partnerships Programme Team, the Communications Consultant shall deliver the following scope of work:

1. Develop the communications plan with an implementation timeline (including proposed travel to the communities) and core messaging on the targeted impact of the EMPOWER PH platform based on the accounts of UNDP, DTI and various stakeholders (with particular focus on the manufacturers that participated in the EMPOWER PH onboarding, EMPOWER BARMM and WONDER initiatives);
2. Coordinate with the Programme Analysts for Institutions and Partnerships and Peace Programme Teams, EMPOWER PH Project Coordinator, EMPOWER BARMM Project Coordinator and UNDP CO Communications Associate in the development of target deliverables to ensure alignment with the overall initiative's objectives and feasibility/ sufficiency of proposed plan prior to execution;
3. Conduct interviews, area visits and other documentation activities to establish the primary references in developing all communications materials in line with the proposed plan and core messaging;
4. Assist in the development of the Request for Quotation (RFQ) terms of reference (TOR) for the engagement of a third-party production services for the creation of the video documentation;
5. Coordinate with and guide the third-party production service provider in the creation of the videos, including the identification of required video outputs, provision of the script, target shots/ frames, conduct of the interviews, etc.;
6. Provide feedback on the final video outputs of the third-party production service provider to ensure alignment with the overall communications plan, core messaging and UNDP branding guidelines and standards for promotional assets;
7. Coordinate with the UNDP CO Communications Associate in ensuring that all communications deliverables are in line with UNDP branding and communications guidelines and standards;
8. Coordinate with the Programme Analyst for Institutions and Partnerships, EMPOWER PH Project Coordinator, EMPOWER BARMM Project Coordinator in the engagement of community stakeholders for documentation and content gathering, including travel to the communities;
9. Create the campaign workplan / timeline and PR materials for the implementation of the proposed communications, including the press releases, press FAQ, social media cards (for Facebook, Linkedln and Twitter), accompanying write-ups and stories, and other collaterals needed for the execution;
10. Collaborate with and provide necessary assistance to the UNDP Communications Associate in the implementation of the campaign;
11. Develop final report on the results of the implementation of the campaign; and
12. Establish documentation library of all raw and processed assets for the campaign in the UNDP cloud.

Expected Output and Deliverables

The Individual Contractor is expected to accomplish the following activities with corresponding deliverables:

Competencies

Corporate competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling 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 favoritism.

Functional and technical competencies

• Ability to work in a diverse and multi-cultural environment;
• Self-motivated and ability to work under pressure and to meet strict and competing deadlines;
• Displays analytical judgment and demonstrated ability to handle confidential and politically sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities

Required Skills and Experience

Offers will be evaluated based on the combined scoring method :

• Technical qualifications = 70%
• Financial Proposal =    30%

For the evaluation of the Technical Proposal, the selection of the successful consultant must be based on the following qualifications (with the appropriate obtainable points):

Applicants who will only receive 49 points from the assessment of the CV will be qualified for the assessment of the Financial Proposal.

Recommended Presentation of Offer

Interested applicants 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 of a maximum of one document. 

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
2. UNDP Personal History Form (P11) or Curriculum Vitae (following the template attached) indicating all past experiences from similar projects or requirements, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
3. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided, and clearly stating the payment percentage as indicated in this TOR. If an 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 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. 
4. Submission of two sample communication materials listed below (provide a link to portfolio).

The offeror can choose from any of the following:

• Short video / infographics
• Press release / article

Note: The above documents need to be scanned in one file and uploaded to the online application as one document.

Interested applicants to note that personal Medical/health insurance (to be purchased by the individual at his/her own expense) is mandatory for the issuance of contracts. Upon award of the contract, the consultant must be ready to submit proof of insurance valid during the contract duration.

The following templates / Annexes and IC General Terms & Conditions can be downloaded from http://gofile.me/6xdJm/bE9TCw8fU:

• General Terms and Conditions for Individual Contract
• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability
• P-11 form

In view of the volume of applications, UNDP receives, only shortlisted offerors will be notified.