Historique

The United Nations cooperation with the Government of Turkmenistan dates back to 1994. Over this period 3 partnership frameworks have been implemented. In the Turkmenistan-United Nations Partnership Framework for Development 2016-2020 (PFD), the United Nations is supporting the Government in the areas of: Quality data and progress monitoring; Quality social inclusive services; Environmental sustainability and energy efficiency; Employment, economic diversification and trade; and governance and rule of Law.  This PFD is implemented by UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNODC, WHO, IOM, the World Bank and the United Nations Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia (UNRCCA) as well as non-resident UN agencies supporting the UN country team’s (UNCT) work, namely OHCHR, UNESCO, UNECE and UNHCR.

The UN and the Government would like to develop a successor Partnership for Development Framework for the period 2021-2025. Following recent reforms repositioning the UN development system, the Partnership for Development Framework has been renamed as Turkmenistan Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, hereafter the “Cooperation Framework”.  The Turkmenistan Cooperation Framework is the most important UN planning and implementation instrument in support of 2030 Agenda in the country and will be prepared and implemented in full consultation with national Government. The Cooperation Framework will outline the UN’s collective response to national SDG priorities agreed with national Government. In this vein, it will be first and foremost a partnership with national government, a compact for UN country teams and a commitment to national stakeholders including development partners, international financial institutions, civil society, trade unions, employers and those left behind. The new Turkmenistan Cooperation Framework will be expected to be a vehicle for supporting:  economic transformation; peaceful societies through sustainable development strategies specific to Turkmenistan’s country contexts; and leveraging of all sources of sustainable financing and investments towards attaining the 2030 Agenda in the country. The Cooperation Framework will be regularly updated to remain responsive to emerging and unforeseen needs in the country.

For Turkmenistan’s new Cooperation Framework must be underpinned by a high-quality, evidence-based UN common country analysis (UN CCA). The UN CCA is an impartial and collective assessment (a description) and analysis (explanation of causes and their implications) of the country situation. The CCA is a flagship product of Turkmenistan’s UNCT and a core analytical function of the UN at country, regional and global levels.

In line with the reforms, Turkmenistan CCA is expected to (a) demonstrate a broad  holistic and integrated approach that takes into consideration the interlinkages and integrated nature of SDGs (b) reflect the inter-linkages amongst the three dimensions of sustainable development and all spheres of the UN’s work (c) reflect the linkages between the SDGs and human rights framework (including treaties and human rights monitoring mechanisms (iv) build on all sources of data and analysis from a broad range of partners and (v) focus on prevention and the interlinkages between sustainable development, human rights, sustaining peace and the shift away from response to preparedness, need to meet future challenges.

Therefore, the UNCT in Turkmenistan seeks to hire the services of an international consultant to facilitate the preparation of a high-quality and evidence-based UN CCA as the foundation for the new Cooperation Framework.

Devoirs et responsabilités

This  consultancy is aimed to support the UNCT in Turkmenistan to develop a high quality and evidence-based UN CCA for Turkmenistan which examines the progress, gaps, opportunities and bottlenecks vis-a-vis the Turkmenistan’s commitment to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda, human rights and UN norms and standards and the principles of the UN Charter.

Specific Objectives

1. To analyze existing data and data gaps for national SDG indicators comparing official data with international sources and where possible use innovative diagnostic tools. 

This analysis should be based on the Voluntary National Review, that Turkmenistan presented in 2019, the country-specific findings and recommendations of UN principal organs, and/or the UNSDG endorsed Mainstreaming, Acceleration and  Policy  Support  (MAPS)  missions findings and recommendations in Turkmenistan.

2. To describe and analyze the key developmental challenges in relation to national priorities and the SDGs, international human rights obligations and agreed international norms and standards and regional commitments.

3. To identify multidimensional risks that could impact the development trajectory of the country, covering a full spectrum of development, humanitarian, peacebuilding and human rights issues.

4. To identify key development stakeholders and describe their capacities and potential contributions to national SDG priorities. In this context, outline the UN’s collective comparative advantage in Turkmenistan versus these stakeholders.

5. To identify and analyze the relevant regional, sub-regional and cross-border dynamics and their impact on achieving the 2030 Agenda in the context of Turkmenistan.  

This may include inter alia trends and risks related to economics and trade, climate change and natural disasters, environmental degradation and ecosystem service, peace and security, migration patterns, health emergencies and animal, food or sanitary emergencies, limitations/opportunities for private sector development. This will help identify opportunities for cross-border dialogue and collaboration between countries.

6. To identify and describe population groups left behind or at risk of being left behind in the country, and the underlying drivers of risks,         vulnerabilities and needs, be the political, social or related to conflict, disasters, climate change, the environment or the economy.

7. Assess the financing landscape for sustainable development at the country level, highlighting the existing and potential opportunities for leveraging financing for sustainable development.

Scope of consultancy assignment

Guided by the national vision, national development plan, national budgets as well as national SDG indicator framework and regional commitments, the consultant will amongst others examine the following areas and identify progress, challenges and gaps

•  Economic management of the country

Identify progress, challenges and gaps related to:

• Inclusiveness of economic growth, population access to public service delivery, analysis of resource allocation to public service and public expenditure; labor market polices and unemployment; contribution of socioeconomic reforms to sustainable and decent job creation and reduction of gender gaps;
• Evidence based policy making; 
• Private sector development with two focus: (i) on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and (ii) Investment Promotion (Foreign Direct Investment);
• Domestic, regional and international trade including volume, value and contribution to employment;
• Industrial development in Turkmenistan with a view to increase the contribution of the sector to the economy and employment generation;

• Financial landscape for sustainable development

Drawing on data from World Bank, International Monetary Fund and other regional/and or international financial institutions:

• Analyze financial flows into and within the country;
• Identify the greatest opportunities to re-orient all sources of financing for SDGs in the country;
• Identify the financial instruments and key factors to develop strong, stable, competitive and inclusive financial system that provides access to financial services for the entire population and contributes to growth by efficiently channeling domestic and foreign savings toward productive investments;
• Assess development finance in a changing local and global context including the role of private sector in financing development;

• Human capital development

With a gender perspective, analyse the progress, challenges and gaps related to:

• National policies and service delivery that affect universal access to health care and quality of health services, including reproductive health, and prevention and treatment of tuberculosis and malaria, and other communicable and non-communicable diseases as well as mental health and environmental health risk factors;
• Access, efficiency, effectiveness and gender sensitiveness of services pertaining to education, Early Childhood Development (ECD) and adult literacy programs;
• Effectiveness of skills development and technical vocational and higher education services with a view to promote structural transformation needed for the achievement of Vision 2030 or Agenda 2030 and address the unemployment levels in particular for the youth and women;
• Promoting access to and quality of water and sanitation services and if gender dimension is properly addressed;
• The adequacy and effectiveness of social protection system, including the availability of adequate services for women, men and children, with a view to identify areas for further improvement;
• Social inequality levels and regional disparities, identify key policy and programmatic priority areas to address inequality and promote social cohesion;

• Governance and Accountability

Assess progress, challenges and gaps related to the following:

• Country-specific findings and recommendations of the Universal Periodic Review and other human rights mechanisms;
• Facilitation of economic activities by an effective legal system and rule-of-law-based governance structure in which property and contract rights of all citizens, particularly of women, are reliably respected and enforced and addressing social inequalities;
• Judiciary sector reform including conformity with international and regional human rights standards, predictability, transparency, non-discrimination and impartiality of laws affecting the population, and their application by the judiciary;
• Implementation of national programmes on human rights devised in accordance with international human rights commitments including recommendations received by UN human rights mechanisms;
• Accountability systems for the use of funds and development results including the effective and independent functioning of oversight institutions (electorate and by the legislature and judiciary);
• Key policy and programmatic areas for promotion of good governance, human rights and deepening democratic culture;
• The decentralization process and the local government system and the potential increase of their role in SDG implementation;  
• The role and participation of civil society organizations - including women’s organizations in terms of supporting democratic reforms, monitoring human rights, promoting accountability and the rule of law and delivering services at community level; 

• Environment, climate change and natural resources management:
• Critically assess the profile and trends of disaster risk in Turkmenistan with specific focus on the impact of climate change on the economy and health outcomes of population, migration as well as the adequacy of policies and legal frameworks of the country to adapt and mitigate climate change, as well as critically review the disaster risk reduction approach of the country to the changing disaster risk circumstances;
• Examine the effectiveness of environmental policies to foster the sustainable use and management of natural resources (i.e. water, waste, conservation management, coastal zones management, and natural resources management);
• Examine the issues related to energy efficiency and the main challenges and opportunities to the country. (Use some indicators like CO2 emissions so far and others);
• Examine the impact of urbanization on the environment and sustainability of growth in the country.

Methodology

The consultant will develop a technically sound methodology in accordance with human rights approach to data, international data protection standards and the UN Principles on Personal Data Protection and Privacy.  The methodology will amongst others:

• Draw and synthesize secondary and primary data and add to existing data, statistics, analyses, reviews, research, studies and resources from within and outside the UN system. These include national and sector-specific development visions and strategies, national budget allocations, and development financing from domestic and international, private and public sources, regional and global reports;
• Capture data on regional and cross-border issues which impact on the country’s development trajectory;
• Ensure a highly participatory CCA process involving a wide range of national stakeholders – government, development partners, international financial institutions, private sector, civil society, international NGOs, trade unions, youth, women, children and other vulnerable groups of persons at risk of or already left being behind;
• Employ innovative approaches to inclusive and participatory data collection and analytical processes;
• The CCA design and tools will facilitate identification of those left behind or at risk of being left behind across all the themes examined;
• The evidence and data, where it is possible, needs to be disaggregated not only by income, gender, geography and age, but also other grounds of discrimination prohibited under international law. Social, cultural, economic, political, legislative and other systemic drivers of exclusion should be examined and described.

Work arrangements

• The CCA/Cooperation Framework Task Team

Under the overall guidance of UN Resident Coordinator, the UNCT has established a UN CCA Task Team, that is composed of programme staff from UN Agencies, nominated by the Head of Agency and coordinated and chaired by the UN Data Management, Monitoring/Reporting Officer.

• Supervision and reporting arrangements

Under the overall guidance of the UN Resident Coordinator, the consultant will be supervised by the chair of the CCA Task team. The consultant will work on a daily basis with the CCA Task Team who will oversee and guide their work.

• Responsibilities of the CCA Task Team

The CCA Task Team under the leadership of UN Resident Coordinator is responsible for the successful execution of the CCA process by managing and quality assuring the work and deliverables of international consultant.  In particular, the Task Team will:

• Guide the consultant in preparing the CCA Inception report;
• Facilitate the review of the CCA Inception report, proposed data collection tools and CCA methodology;
• Provide the consultant with all available key Government, UN and other stakeholder documents pertinent for understanding the country situation. NB: All UN Agencies will make available all necessary documents for review in the context of this exercise.
• Identify all the key stakeholders to be consulted during this study;
• Organise meetings and focus groups and arrange transportation for the consultant;
• Provide timely feedback on the evolving draft of the CCA so that it meets the desired quality;
• Prior to finalisation of the CCA report, facilitate the necessary consensus building with key stakeholder and final approval by the UNCT;
• Through the Resident Coordinator’s Office, draw upon the technical capacities, assets and expertise of UN global and regional levels ( e.g. Peer Support Group, Regional Economic Commissions etc) for a high quality CCA right from design of the TOR to finalisation of CCA.

• Responsibilities of the International consultant (Lead Facilitator)

Under the overall guidance of the CCA Task Team, the international consultant will lead in facilitating the UN CCA process and will be specifically responsible for the following:

• Lead the design and presentation of the Inception Report, detailed CCA methodology and tools including for data collection and analysis, review and reporting to fulfil the consultancy objectives;
• Conduct consultations with key stakeholders (Government, international development partners, civil society, private sector and municipalities);
• Lead in preparing a high quality analytical CCA report following the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework Guidelines for UN Common Country Analysis;
• Prepare presentations to UNCT and national stakeholders as may be needed;
• Integrate into research design, analysis and report the UN Guiding/Programming Principles: i) Leave no one behind; (ii) Human rights-based approach; iii) gender equality and women’s empowerment; iv) resilience; v) accountability; and vi) sustainability;
• Preparation of a high quality, evidence based and analytical CCA report for Turkmenistan;
• Supervise and quality assure the work of the national consultant.

Deliverables for the UN CCA International Consultant

Deliverable 1 Desk Review

Desk review of all the available studies, evaluations, surveys produced by the country, as well as the PFD 2016-2020 Evaluation Results and develop an Inception Report, that includes detailed CCA Work Plan for completing the assignment, tools and methodologies, as well as other data collection methods proposed for in-country visits and out-country (on-line surveys, BigData). Develop questionnaires and guidance for the national consultant’s visits to velayats.

Location: Home Based

Duration: 5 working days (July 2019)

Payment schedule: 10%

Deliverable 2 In-country mission

In-country mission and Focus Group discussions, including UN Theme Groups, Result Groups and SDG Ambassadors, IFIs, Dev Partners, Non-Resident Agencies and others, as identified by the CCA Task Group.

Facilitator will present preliminary CCA report for validation by UNCT, CCA Task Group and Theme/results groups. During this workshop, the collective UN comparative advantage of UN in Turkmenistan in supporting 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will be analysed.

Location: Mission

Duration: 5 working days (end-August 2019)

Payment schedule: 10%

Deliverable 3 Draft CCA Report (see Annex 1)

This must include discussion of findings, conclusions and recommendations from desk review and primary data gathered. This must address all the objectives of the study.

Max. 30 pages (English), including Executive Summary (5 pages), the assessment of country context and the 2030 Agenda, including a consideration of existing data and data gaps and the enabling political, policy and legislative environment, the rights-based analysis of the drivers of inter-sectoral and development challenges, including the underlying and root causes of inequalities and discrimination, capacity gaps of rights holders and duty bearers, the UN comparative advantage and the UN and national capacity development assessment, the risk and opportunities, future scenarios and contingencies (risk analyse disaggregated), identification of priorities areas of development intervention, of key issues and challenges and suggestions of areas of opportunity for the UN intervention.

Location: Home-based

Duration: 10 working days (August-September 2019)

Payment schedule: 30%

Deliverable 4 Final CCA Report

Max. 30 pages (English) plus essential annexes and 2,500 words Executive Summary (submitted in hard and soft copy). To be assessed using UNDG Quality Checklist for CCA developing.

Location: Home-based

Duration: 10 working days (August-September 2019)

Payment schedule: 50% of total value of contract (upon approval of the CCA final report)

Compétences

• Knowledge of the UN system and UN common country programming processes;
• Excellent knowledge of 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, and SDG nationalization and reporting processes;
• Excellent understanding of development risks, hazards, vulnerabilities and challenges of upper-middle income countries, including those linked to climate change;
• Ability to integrate into research design, analysis and report the UN Guiding/Programming Principles: i) Leave no one behind; (ii) Human rights-based approach; iii) gender equality and women’s empowerment; iv) resilience; v) accountability; and vi) sustainability;
• Ability to design and implement participatory, inclusive, and innovative methods and tools;
• Ability to deliver a high-analytical report in a very short time;
• Ability to lead a research team and work effectively and constructively in a multi-agency setting.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Masters and equivalent) in develoment studies, economics, social sciences, international relations or ny other related field;

Experience:

• At least 5 years’ experience of conducting country/national level situational analysis, some of which must be related to 2030 Agenda for sustainable development/SDGs;
• Previous experience of conducting UN Common Country Analysis is an asset;
• Substantial professional application of human rights, gender equality, environmental sustainability, results-based management, and capacity development in research;
• At least 1-year experience in CIS or Central Asia;

Languages:

• Excellent analytical writing and oral presentational skills in Russian and English.

1. Application procedure & documents to be submitted

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications on or before suggested deadline online through the jobs.undp.org electronic portal.

1. Technical Proposal - explaining why they are the most suitable for the work, providing a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work, and highlighting their relevant work experience and skills for the assignment. The consultant’s curriculum vitae, outlining detailed qualifications, experience and skills should be presented in the UN P.11 form filled. References specified in P11 should be available and containing information for reference check, at least 3. Blank P11 form can be downloaded from http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc;
2. Financial proposal – This will include the fees, travel costs (in particular for missions, living allowance and others) considered inherent to the consulting. The financial proposal shall indicate the overall amount of the proposed all-inclusive (LUMPSUM), and shall be presented according to the breakdown costs as per template provided at the following link http://www.tm.undp.org/content/turkmenistan/en/home/procurement.html 

Financial Proposal with the references to (1) the daily rate for the assignment and within the timing scale indicated in the present TOR, and (2) any other expenses (including transportation costs, accommodation costs, the possibility of vaccination and etc.). Template of the form can be found at: http://www.tm.undp.org/content/turkmenistan/en/home/operations/jobs. The UNDP will enter into an Individual Contract based on a lump sum amounts. The financial proposal shall represent a detailed, justified and “all inclusive” amount.  In order to assist UNDP in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount, including: a daily fee for the tasks and an estimated duration as specified in this announcement, travel (to and from the missions), per diems, any other possible costs (including vaccinations, dwelling, communication etc.);

Proposals not meeting the above requirements will be rejected.

1. Evaluation criteria

The award of the contract will be made to the consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as having received the highest combined score of the technical and financial scores.

• Technical Criteria weight: 70%
• Financial Criteria weight: 30%

Only candidate obtaining a minimum of 70 points out of 100 points at the technical evaluation will be considered for the financial evaluation.

• Criterion A: Relevant educational background (max 10 points)
• Criterion B: 5 years’ experience of conducting multi-disciplinary country/national level situational analysis related to 2030 Agenda or SDGs (max 30 points)
• Criterion C: 1 year of previous experience in CIS or Central Asia (max 5 points)
• Criteria D: Previous experience of conducting UN Common Country Analysis (max 5 points)
• Criteria E: Substantial professional application of human rights, gender equality, environmental sustainability, result-based management and capacity development in research (max 20 points)
• Criteria F: Knowledge of Russian and English (max 10 points)
• Criteria G: Interview (20 max points)

The financial score for the financial proposal will be calculated in the following manner:

• Sf = 100 x Fm/F, in which Sf is the financial score, Fm is the lowest price and F the price of the proposal under consideration.
• (Total Financial Maximum points = 100 points);
• Total Score.
• The technical score attained by each proposal will be used in determining the Total score as follows:
• The weights given to the technical and financial proposals are: T= 0.7, F=0.3
• The Total score will be calculated by formula: TS = T x 0.7 + F x 0.3
• TS - Is the total score of the proposal under consideration;
• T - Is technical score of the proposal under consideration;
• F - Is financial score of the proposal under consideration.

Additional requirements for recommended contractor:

Recommended contractors aged 65 and older, and if the travel is required, shall undergo a full medical examination including x-ray, and obtain medical clearance from the UN-approved doctor prior to taking up their assignment. The medical examination is to be cleared by the UN physicians, and shall be paid by the consultant.

Annex 1 - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cpKRQ8OGZXCTPvF6lAjdgSz_hT98G_aa/view?usp=sharing