Antecedentes

UNCDF is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s least developed countries (LDCs). It creates new opportunities for poor people and their communities by increasing access to inclusive finance and investment capital.  It can provide seed capital both grants and loans as well as technical support that will improve poor peoples’ lives.

UNCDF works to enlarge peoples’ choices: it believes that poor people and communities should take decisions about their own development. UNCDF works in challenging environments – remote rural areas, countries emerging from conflict – and paves the way for others to follow. Its programmes are designed to catalyze larger investment flows from the private sector, development partners and national governments, for significant impact on the SDGs. Established by the General Assembly in 1966 and with headquarters in New York, UNCDF is an autonomous UN organization affiliated with UNDP.

The Better Than Cash Alliance is a partnership of governments, companies and international organizations hosted at UNCDF that accelerates the transition from cash to digital payments in order to reduce poverty and drive inclusive growth.

Billions of dollars in cash payments and transfers are made daily in emerging and developing economies, including payment of salaries, social welfare and relief, payments to suppliers, remittances, etc. The problems with these cash payments include a lack of transparency, accountability and security, as well as inefficiency.  Furthermore, the individuals who receive the cash payments are often part of the 2 billion excluded from the formal financial sector.  This means they are excluded from access to a range of appropriate and affordable financial services to help them save safely, take advantage of economic opportunities and reduce their vulnerability to risk.

Shifting these payments from cash to digital has the potential to improve the lives of low-income people, particularly women, while giving governments, the development community and the private sector a more transparent, time and cost efficient, and often safer means of disbursing payments.

The Better Than Cash Alliance partners with governments, companies, and international organizations that are the key drivers behind the transition to make digital payments widely available by:

• Advocating for the transition from cash to digital payments in a way that advances financial inclusion and promotes responsible digital finance;
• Conducting research and sharing the experiences of our members to inform strategies for making the transition;
• Catalyzing the development of inclusive digital payments ecosystems in member countries to reduce costs, increase transparency, advance financial inclusion-- particularly for women-- and drive inclusive growth.

The Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA) is partnering with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Latin American Forum of Government Treasuries (Foro de Tesorerías Gubernamentales de América Latina - FOTEGAL) to develop a standard methodology to assess the cost savings of Treasury Single Accounts and the digitization of government payments that can ensure comparable data and indicators across Latin American countries. The methodology will be tested in three or four Latin American countries. For this purpose, the Better Than Cash Alliance is hiring a Technical Expert on public financial management and treasury performance measurement to work together on the development of a standard methodology and indicators and to carry out the implementation of this methodology in three or four countries, as agreed with the Better Than Cash Alliance. These selected countries will include Costa Rica, Dominican Republic as confirmed participants in the study and one or two additional countries pending confirmation.

Deberes y responsabilidades

Under the supervision and direction of the Head of Research, Better Than Cash Alliance, key responsibilities are as follows:

1. Literature review on cost savings and government treasury efficiency measurement.
2. Review the experience of countries in the region in measuring the efficiency of the Treasury Single Account and cost savings due to payment digitization (i.e. Argentina, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Uruguay and others as relevant).
3. Taking into account the methodologies identified, review the publicly available data in institutional websites of both national government agencies and international organizations (i.e. IMF, IDB, World Bank). 
4. Prepare an initial conceptual model and proposal for the TSA and government payments efficiency measurement methodology for a selected group of Latin American countries.
5. Present the proposal to FOTEGAL’s Directive Committee and BTCA’s Editorial and Publications Committee respectively.
6. Review and adjust the methodology based on feedback by the IDB, BTCA and FOTEGAL’s Members.
7. Conduct data collection for the analysis of TSA and government payments efficiency in three or four selected countries. Data collection may include travel for in-situ data collection to at least two of the countries involved (travel expenses will be covered by BTCA and the IDB).
8. Review, clean and analyze the data collected.
9. Work with the Senior Technical Expert to identify the key findings, lessons and recommendations.
10. Prepare final report analyzing the findings, drawing lessons for countries of the LAC region and advancing recommendations for the countries participating in the study.
11. Presentation of the final report to FOTEGAL and BTCA’s Editorial and Publications Committee respectively.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

1. Detailed project workplan.
2. Draft proposal of TSA and government payments efficiency measurement approach, including: literature review, review of regional experiences measuring TSA efficiency, review of available data sources, proposal of measurement approach and methodology.
3. Presentation of the proposal to FOTEGAL’s Executive Committee and BTCA’s Editorial and Publications Committee respectively.
4. Revised measurement approach and methodology based on the feedback received.
5. Data collection, cleaning, and review for the three or four Latin American countries selected to participate in the study, as well as preparation for the data for the analysis of TSA and government payments efficiency in selected Latin American countries.
6. Final report, including literature review, review of regional experiences and data sources, definition and description of the approach taken and its methodological considerations, analysis of the results, conclusions and recommendations.
7. Presentation of the final report to FOTEGAL and BTCA’s Editorial and Publications Committee respectively

Institutional Arrangement

1. The project will be developed by a Technical Expert and a Senior Technical Expert under the supervision of BTCA’s Head of Research and an IDB representative.
2. The work is carried out in collaboration with the Forum of Latin American Government Treasuries (Foro de Tesorerías Gubernamentales de América Latina – FOTEGAL).
3. Interim and final presentations will be made to FOTEGAL’s Executive Committee and BTCA’s Editorial and Publications Committee (EPC) and their feedback may lead to the review of the deliverables.

Duration of the Work[1]

1. The assignment will require an estimate of 80 working days.
2. The project is expected to start in mid-March 2019 and be completed by August 2019.
3. The presentation of the final report may take at FOTEGAL’s annual meeting in Q3 2019.

Duty Station

1. The expert will be home-based. The assignment will include travel to at least two of the countries participating in the study for in-situ data collection. Costa Rica, Dominican Republic are confirmed participants in the study, and one or two additional countries are pending confirmation. Travel costs will be covered by the Better Than Cash Alliance.
2. If additional travel is required, it will be agreed with the experts and covered by the Better Than Cash Alliance and/or the IDB, sponsors of this project.

[1] The IC modality is expected to be used only for short-term consultancy engagements.  If the duration of the IC for the same TOR exceeds twelve (12) months, the duration must be justified and be subjected to the approval of the Director of the Regional Bureau, or a different contract modality must be considered.  This policy applies regardless of the delegated procurement authority of the Head of the Business Unit. 

Competencias

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrates ethics and integrity by modeling UN values and ethical standards;
• Demonstrates political acumen and calculated risk taking;
• Impeccable diplomatic skills and knowledge of protocol; essential
• Demonstrated excellent writing, editing and communications skills to an international standard including correspondence, reports, talking points and briefing material; essential
• Builds own competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation;
• Creates and promotes open communication;
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
• Conducts fair and transparent decision making;
• Displays cultural and gender sensitivity and adaptability;
• Shows strong corporate commitment.

Functional Competencies:

Professional

• Project management lifecycle;
• Ensures the full implementation of a project to obtain results;
• Focus on impact and results for clients and stakeholders;
• Excellent analytical skills;
• Builds trust in interactions with others;
• Strong IT skills, including software relating to RM and project management;
• Proven cross-cultural communication. The candidate(s) should be able to function effectively in an international, multi-cultural environment;
• Experience in Africa, Asia or Asia Pacific is preferred;
• Conceptualizes more effective approaches to program development and implementation and to mobilizing and using resources;
• Anticipates constraints in the delivery of services and identifies solutions or alternatives;
• Makes effective use of UNCDF’s and other BTCA member resources and comparative advantage to strengthen partnerships;
• Creates networks and promotes initiatives with partner organizations;
• Creates an environment that fosters innovation and innovative thinking;

Technical:

• Demonstrated expertise on public financial management, government treasury account management and results measurement;
• Ability to undertake single treasury account efficiency measurement;
• Experience monitoring and evaluating government single treasury account activities and the savings resulting from the digitization of government payments;
• Knowledge of performance assessment systems in Latin American national treasuries;
• Working knowledge of global best practices and existing methodologies for single treasury account performance management, results measurement and monitoring & evaluation systems;
• Working knowledge of international donor organizations procedures and the state of the literature on PFM and TSA management;
• Good knowledge of program and project management skills and procedures.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in economics, finance, public finance/economics, public/business administration, statistics, social sciences, international relations or other advanced degree related fields.

Experience

• Minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible experience in public financial management, including government treasury management and results/efficiency measurement.
• At least 3 years of a robust experience in assessing the efficiency and cost savings achieved through TSA implementation and the digitization of government payments.
• Robust experience working in Latin America and the Caribbean is desirable.

Languages

• Written and spoken fluency in English and Spanish is required. Working proficiency in Portuguese is desirable, but not required.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Payments will be based on an all-inclusive daily fee and paid upon the achievement of key milestones and deliverables as described in section D. The approval of disbursement will be based on a timesheet submitted by the expert and approved by BTCA’s Head of Research.

Recommended Presentation of Offer

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;
3. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive daily fee, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided. 

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

The scoring of application will be based on a combined scoring method:

a) Qualifications and interview will be weighted 70% of the total score. The qualifications (CV) to carry out the assignment will be assigned a weight of 30% and the interview will account for 40% of the total score.

The Better Than Cash Alliance will conduct a review of a profile (technical evaluation) that matches applicants experience and expertise to the key tasks outlined in the consultancy. These are detailed under each of the following:

• Experience in public financial management, including government treasury management and results/efficiency measurement (50 points);
• Experience in assessing the efficiency and cost savings achieved through TSA implementation and the digitization of government payments (30 points);
• Working knowledge of international donor organizations procedures and the state of the literature on PFM and TSA management (20 points);

Only the top candidates obtaining a minimum of 70 points in the review of profile will be considered for Technical Interviews.  Technical interviews will explore the same key work areas, in greater depth, with the same weighting.

Technical proposal = Review of a profile through desk review (30%) + Technical Interview (40%) + Financial Proposal (30%)

 b) The financial proposal will be weighted a max of 30%.

(NOTE: THE SYSTEM DOES NOT ALLOW MULTIPLE UPLOADS OF DOCUMENTS THEREFORE APPLICANTS MUST MAKE SURE TO UPLOAD ALL REQUIRED DOCUMENTS IN ONE FILE)