Antecedentes

BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT:

Strengthening local governance has been a key focus of not only the government of Bangladesh, but also of different development partners/ agencies. Considering the importance of the issue, UNDP has been working to strengthen the local governance system in Bangladesh for more than a decade. UNDP-led support projects to the LGIs have played an important role in reforming the Union Parishad (UP) and Upazila Parishad (UZP). Since the Upazila Governance Project (UZGP) and Union Parishad Governance Projects (UPGP) were phased out in mid-2017, UNDP in collaboration with SDC and DANIDA planned to support UZP and UP through one project entitled Efficient and Accountable Local Governance (EALG). Objective of the EALG Project is to strengthen the capacities of local governments and other stakeholders to foster participatory local development service delivery for the SDGs. The Project has three components, which are ‘Strengthening Upazila Parishad’ (SUZP: Component-1); ‘Strengthening Union Parishad’ (SUP: Component-2) and ‘Policy for Effective Local Governance’ (PELG: Component-3). All three components of the project will have a common policy output to provide space for support to the overall devolution process.

OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT:
The objective of the study is to identify the most relevant policy recommendations with regards to integration of Union, Upazila and Zila Parishad planning process for strengthening LGI systems in Bangladesh and develop strategy and tools for advocacy, dialogues and consultations with policy makers and stakeholders for facilitating implementation of the policy recommendations.

SCOPE OF WORK:
The following list reflects the main activities that the consultant is expected to carry out within the contractual period.

Key tasks include:

• Review the existing acts, rules, regulations, circulars, mandates and functions of Upazila, Union and Zila Parishads;
• Review different policy studies/reports/recommendations/policy papers developed by different authorities including research and academic institutions, projects funded by the government and development partners as well as the plans and strategies of the Government related to strengthening LGI systems in Bangladesh and develop a bibliography of the studies.
• Analyse the study recommendations as well as the existing context and identify the critical issues towards developing an integrated system for enhancing efficiency and accountability of the LGIs in Bangladesh;
• Identify most relevant policy recommendations with regards to integration of Union, Upazila and Zila Parishad planning process for strengthening LGI systems in Bangladesh through consultation and discussions with Government and non-governmental stakeholders;
• Develop strategy and tools for advocacy, dialogues and consultations with policy makers and stakeholders for facilitating implementation of the policy recommendations.

The primary stakeholders for this study is relevant Ministries, Policy makers and officials of Local Government Division (LGD), Director, Local Government (DLGs), Deputy Director Local Government (DDLGs), line department Officials and public representatives of UZPs and UPs, civil society representatives, development partners, Local Government Experts/Academia etc. The study will be carried out by individual consultant under the direct supervision of UNDP and LGD.

Deberes y responsabilidades

Expected Outputs and Deliverables
•Tasks 01: Inception report with detailed methodology, work plan. Days required: 05 Days;
•Task 02: Interim report with review the existing acts, rules, regulations, circulars, mandates and functions of Upazila, Union and Zila Parishad as well as different policy studies/reports/recommendations/policy papers developed by different authorities and the plans and strategies of the Government related to strengthening LGI systems in Bangladesh and develop a bibliography of the studies. Days required: 15 Days
• Task 03: Interim report with identification of critical issues and the most relevant policy recommendations with regards to integration of Union, Upazila and Zila Parishad planning process for enhancing efficiency and accountability of the LGIs in Bangladesh through consultation and discussions with Government and non-governmental stakeholders. Days required: 15 Days
• Task 04: Interim report with a draft strategy and tools for advocacy, dialogues and consultations with policy makers and stakeholders for facilitating implementation of the policy recommendations. Days required: 15 Days
• Task 05: Final report with reflections of lessons-learned, feedback of stakeholders and experiences of events organized along with a final strategy and tools for effective advocacy, dialogues and consultations for implementation of policy recommendations. Days required: 10 Days

Institutional Arrangement
The consultant will report to the Project Coordinator, Efficient and Accountable Local Governance Project, who will also carry out a performance evaluation at the end of the assignment. While arranging advocacy, dialogues and consultations with stakeholders, the EALG Project will provide necessary logistic supports in organizing any event with project costs.
 

DURATION OF ASSIGNMENT, DUTY STATION
60 working days over a period of 4 months tentatively from November 2018. Duty station will be in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Competencias

COMPETENCIES
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills;
• Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities;
• Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
• Ability to plan, organize, implement and report on work;
• Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines;
• Comprehensive knowledge of information system and design principle;
• Outstanding communication, project management and organizational skills;
• Excellent presentation and facilitation skills.
• Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;
• Positive, constructive attitude to work;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
Academic Qualifications:
Minimum Masters degree in Public Policy, Development Studies, Political Science, Public Administration, Governance or Social Science field.

Experiences:
•At least 5 years’ proven experience of policy analysis and preparation of analytical reports. 
• Minimum 3 years’ experience in undertaking policy research in the fields of local governance, government administration, decentralization and public policy. List of completed researches need to be enclosed.
• Proven understanding on acts, rules, regulations, policies and practices related to local government institutions and Government administration. 
•Experience of conducting coordination, collaboration and liaison with different partners including Government, non-Government and development partners.

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT:
Excellent command over Bangla and English.

PRICE PROPOSAL AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENT
Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Lump Sum Amount. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, living allowance and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the following deliverables/outputs:
•First Payment: Submission of inception report and methodology with detailed work plan which is acceptable to LGD and UNDP [20% of total contract amount];
• Second Payment: Submission of interim report with review the existing acts, rules, regulations, circulars, mandates and functions of Upazila, Union and Zila Parishad as well as different policy studies, reports, recommendations, plans and strategies related to strengthening LGI systems in Bangladesh and develop a bibliography of the studies which is acceptable to LGD and UNDP [20% of total contract amount];
• Third Payment: Submission of interim report with identification of critical issues and the most relevant policy recommendations with regards to integration of Union, Upazila and Zila Parishad planning process for enhancing efficiency and accountability of the LGIs in Bangladesh through consultation and discussions with Government and non-governmental stakeholders which is acceptable to LGD and UNDP [20% of total contract amount];
• Fourth Payment: Submission of interim report with a draft strategy and tools for advocacy, dialogues and consultations with policy makers and stakeholders for facilitating implementation of the policy recommendations which is acceptable to LGD and UNDP [20% of total contract amount];
• Fifth Payment: Submission of final report with reflections of lessons-learned, feedback of stakeholders and experiences of events organized along with a final strategy and tools for effective advocacy, dialogues and consultations for implementation of policy recommendations which is acceptable to LGD and UNDP [20% of total contract amount].

EVALUATION
The consultant will be selected on the basis of relevant expertise and financial offer received.
In the second stage, the price proposal of all qualified consultant who have attained minimum 70% score in the technical evaluation, will be compared. The contract will be awarded to the consultant offering the best value for money based on the cumulative method.
In this methodology, technical criteria weight is 70 and Financial Criteria weight is 30. According, the maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proposal.
A formula is as follows:
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
The proposal obtaining the overall highest score after adding the score of the technical proposal and the financial proposal is the proposal that offers best value for money. The technical and financial proposal should be submitted following the UNDP guideline and formats. UNDP Procurement reverses the right to accept or reject any. Only candidate obtaining a minimum of 49 points and above would be considered for the financial Evaluation.

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Proposers who shall not submit below mentioned documents will not be considered for further evaluation.

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
2. Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references; P11 can be downloaded from the link: http://www.bd.undp.org/content/bangladesh/en/home/operations/jobs/ 
3. Financial Proposal: Financial Proposal has to be submitted through a standard interest and availability template which can be downloaded from the link: http://www.bd.undp.org/content/dam/bangladesh/docs/Jobs/Interest%20and%20Submission%20of%20Financial%20Proposal-Template%20for%20Confirmation.docx
4. Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment and submit evidence by the consultant which would substantiate the technical requirements

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