Guided by the global UNDP Strategic Plan (2022 – 2025) and UNDP Country Programme for Lao PDR (2022 – 2026), UNDP in Lao PDR works closely with the line Ministries, mass organizations, civil society, development partners, and the private sector at both national and sub-national levels in pursuit of the national socio-economic development priorities defined in Lao PDR’s five-year National Socio-Economic Development Plan (NSEDP) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UNDP’s work is strongly focused on the provision of policy advice and technical support to the Government of Lao PDR in the design and implementation of national legislation and strategies across four broad Priority Pillars – (1) inclusive growth and reduced inequalities, (2) UXO (Unexploded Ordnance) clearance and risk education, (3) natural resources, climate change and disaster risk reduction, as well as (4) effective, responsive, and accountable governance.   

UNDP has a long history of working in Lao PDR. UNDP’s comparative advantage has been its ability to work closely with a broad range of government and local-level institutions at all levels. The new UNDP country programme is aligned with the 9th NSEDP and is anchored in UNDP’s long-term partnership with the Government of more than four decades. The new programme builds on the achievements of the previous CPD (COUNTRY PROGRAMME DOCUMENT) that saw the incorporation of the SDGs into the national planning architecture. It will aim to support Lao PDR recover from the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and continue its transition from LDC (Least Developed Country) status, with a particular emphasis on supporting inclusive growth and reducing inequality. 

The UNDP Strategic Plan embraces the complexity of development and commits the organization to helping countries find faster, more durable solutions to?achieve Agenda 2030. Important development trends like urbanization, climate change, and rising inequalities pose significant challenges on the path to achieve the 2030 agenda of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

UNDP has launched several strategic initiatives aimed at ensuring UNDP is ‘fit for purpose’ to deliver a new generation of solutions in line with the challenges the world faces.  One such key strategic initiatives is the UNDP Accelerator Lab Network which operates as part of UNDP’s sustainable development offering. 

The Accelerator Labs is comprised of a core team with niche capabilities that focus on exploration, experimentation, and mapping solutions.  

The consultant will be responsible to work with the UNDP Accelerator Lab, under the supervision of the Head of Experimentation and the Deputy Resident Representative to perform the following tasks:

• Horizon scanning and intelligence for the Accelerator Lab, in relation with the Governance Unit and UNDP Lao Country Office, to identify opportunities to mobilize and advance the recommendations of the 6th National Human Development Report that highlight the need for investment in youth as drivers for sustainable development.
  • Identify potential areas where new models are needed but are currently not available to low policy momentum.
  • Explore and scan initiatives that are aligned with recommendations of the 6th NHDR.
  • Organize a workshop to showcase those existing initiatives to foster youth employment
• Tapping into new data sources: in relation to the Job Assist Office experimentation conducted in 2021/2022, the consultant will need to explore new partnerships with private sectors, ministries and academia to improve the labour market information system to better match the market needs with the skills trained and learned.
  • Design and create a tool to gather and categorize job/internship/volunteerism opportunities for youth
  • Analyse and generate insights on youth employment and create innovative initiatives to support youth employment.
  • Conduct an experimentation related to youth employment following the knowledge sharing from Job Assist Office and the new insights explored.

• Working out loud: with the support of the communications team, the consultant needs to share findings from the exploration of future trends, new methodologies/approaches and others within UNDP and with partners.
  • Proactively use blog posts and social media to share insights, attract partners and help position Accelerator Lab at the forefront of the exploration of new trends related to youth employment, health and education.
  • Jointly with the CO (Country Office), support lab partners to develop an emerging pipeline of new initiatives, support other activities related to the design and operation of the Lab 

• Organizational learning of UNDP, with the support of the UNDP Learning Committee and the People Champion 2030, the consultant will explore diverse learning opportunities available within the organization as well as new opportunities to improve the organization, the efficiency, the productivity, and the well-being of the colleagues.
  • Organize and implement knowledge sharing and network events, 
  • Lead other activities related to the design and operations of the Country Office: foresight, sensemaking, horizontal scanning, etc.
  • Design and deliver engaging and meaningful methods for reflection on learning useful for the operation and the programme.

INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT:

• The IC will be under the guidance of the Head of Experimentation and authority of the Deputy Resident Representative who will supervise the work and progress of the IC. The consultant will also work in close collaboration with the expertise hired by the Bangkok Regional Hub, UNDP Accelerator Lab, and BRH (Bangkok Regional Hub) technical advisors and experts to ensure successful implementation of UNDP activities.
• The consultant is also required to comply with the UN (United Nations) security directives set forth under http://dss.un.org
• The consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment.
• Payments will be made upon submission of deliverable, and certification of payment form, and acceptance and confirmation by the supervisor.
• The IC will be reporting on a weekly basis to both authorities as well as to seek approval/acceptance of outputs.
• The IC will working at the UNDP Country Office at the UN-House, Vientiane, and will be provided with support personal, laptop and ready-set office space.

• Strong analytical skills
• Competency in the usage of computers and office software packages (Microsoft word, Power Point and Excel)
• Proven excellent communication and report writing skills in English

• Master’s degree in Social sciences, Data science, Statistics, Computer Science, Business Intelligence, or related field and minimum of 2 years of professional experience in development programming or policy; social innovation; partnership building; engagement (public and private sector) and/or resource mobilization OR  

• Bachelor’s degree in Social sciences, Data science, Statistics, Computer Science, Business Intelligence, or related field and minimum of 4 years of professional experience in development programming or policy; social innovation; partnership building; engagement (public and private sector) and/or resource mobilization 

Experience:

• Professional experience in development programming or policy and social innovation 
• Demonstrated capacity in horizon scanning 
• Demonstrated capacity in data analysis and visualization 
• Proficiency in written and spoken English.

Experience in following areas is desirable but not necessary:  

• Proven professional knowledge and experience in social innovation approaches such as system thinking, ethnography, crowdsourcing, collective intelligence design, citizen science, positive deviance, social networking analysis, artificial intelligence/machine learning  

• Professional experience in partnership building and engagement (public and private sector) 
• Demonstrated capacity to use open data, mobile data, geospatial data, drone & satellite data, citizen data for informing policy making, strategic planning, or programme design 
• Proven professional knowledge and experience in at least one of the following: future thinking and foresight, design research, and system mapping  
• Key awareness of key global and regional trends 
• Demonstrated access to networks of edge innovators  

Language; English (excellent to fluent), Lao (native speaker, excellent writing skills essential for translation)

Requirements for submission of proposals 

All interested and qualified International or National Independent Consultant should apply on-line using the following links: 

UNDP Lao PDR Country Office website at https://www.undp.org/laopdr/jobs

In order to make your submission, please read the relevant documents available on the link below 

1.     TOR RPS_274_2022  (Annex I)

2.     IC General Terms and  Conditions Annex II

3.     Offerors Letter to UNDP Annex III

4.     P11 Form

5.     IC - Contract Template

Interested Individual Consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications: 

1.     Technical Proposal (Free-Form):

• Explaining why you are the most suitable for the work; 
• Providing a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work, including the work schedule for the delivery of outputs/deliverables; 
• P11 Form: Education and work experience, including past experience in similar projects and contact references of at least three references for whom you have rendered preferably the similar services; 

       2. Financial Form (OFFEROR's LETTER): Lump sum offer with clear cost breakdown against each deliverable.

Instructions for Online Submissions: 

• Step 1:  Please prepare all required documents electronically; 
• Step 2: Combine all the required documents in ONE SINGLE FILE (preferably in PDF; however, Word format can also be accepted) and upload to the UNDP Jobs website using the link above; 
• Step 3: After that, you will receive an auto-reply from the UNDP Jobs website if your offer is received successfully. 

Incomplete Proposals or Proposals received after the deadline will be rejected. 

Note:  Any request for clarification must be sent in writing before the submission deadline to the following email: surith.sengsavang@undp.org