Antecedentes

The United Nations Development Program Bangladesh’s (UNDP) upcoming “Partnerships for a Tolerant, Inclusive Bangladesh” (PTIB) project will promote diverse and constructive narratives already present in the country in support of tolerance. UNDP will support a better understanding of the challenges peaceful narratives face, and help Bangladeshis develop platforms and media for disseminating their ideas. UNDP partners with youth groups, interfaith activists, the private sector, multinational companies (including Google, Facebook, and Twitter), government agencies and international donors to maximize the capacity and appeal of local organizations supportive of peaceful development. Since August 25, 2017, an estimated 722,000 refugees have fled violence and human rights abuses in Myanmar, seeking shelter in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar District. The rapid influx of refugees into districts which already face significant levels of poverty and environmental fragility has put immense strain on infrastructure, the local economy, and contributed to a rise in tensions in the region. Many Bangladeshi host communities remain nearly as poor and open to exploitation as the refugees themselves. The scale and visibility of the international response (though still insufficient) has led to widespread perceptions of unfair or preferential treatment for Rohingya refugees. The prospect of inter-communal tensions, recently between Rohingya themselves, or along the complex religious and ethnic lines which further divide both groups, could have catastrophic implications, including for women and children caught in the middle.

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is now looking to hire an experienced National  Researcher who can assist UNDP to research and better understand avenues for promoting stability, inclusivity and tolerance in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar District, following the Rohingya influx. This individual would conduct research and provide expert recommendations to understand the drivers of possible tensions and peaceful alternatives in affected communities. This would form a part of UNDP’s broader “Partnerships for a Tolerant, Inclusive Bangladesh” (PTIB) project, which promotes diverse and constructive narratives already present in the country in support of tolerance. UNDP will support a better understanding of the challenges peaceful narratives face, and help Bangladeshis in Cox’s Bazar reaffirm a long cultural tradition of harmonious coexistence. UNDP partners with research groups, universities, government agencies and international donors to maximize the capacity and appeal of local organizations supportive of peaceful development.

The National Researcher, in close coordination with the PTIB Project Manager in Dhaka, the RCO Peace & Development Advisor, the Portfolio Manager of the Governance Cluster, and in Cox’s bazaar the mapping unit will provide programmatic support to the management of the Partnerships for a Tolerant and Inclusive Bangladesh Project. The consultant works from home and will have 8 missions and total of 25 working days in Cox’s Bazar.

Deberes y responsabilidades

The successful candidate will responsible for:

Supports the strategic development and expansion of the PTIB research facility to Cox’s Bazar, from design through implementation, focusing on achievement of the following results:

1.            Undertake analysis of the Survey Data of quarterly perception surveys

2.            Contribute to Social Tensions Mapping Unit analysis

3.            Draft and edit Political Economic Analysis on Social tensions

4.            Support on the Unit analytical aspects of monthly report

5.            Undertake meetings with stakeholders in Dhaka and Cox’s Bazar

Competencias

Corporate Competencies:

1. Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
2. Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
3. Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning

1. Shares knowledge and experience;
2. Actively works towards continuing personal learning, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills;
3. Excellent communication skills (written and oral);
4. Sensitivity to and responsiveness to all partners;
5. Respectful and helpful relations with all partners and colleagues.

Development and Operational Effectiveness

1. Confidentiality;
2. Ability to effective coordination with partners in and outside the UN organizations;
3. Knowledge of UNDP and GoB Financial Rules and Regulations is an advantage;
4. Capability to engage in team-based management;
5. Ability to formulate and manage budgets and work plans;
6. Ability to implement new systems and affect staff behavioural/ attitudinal change.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education

Master’s degree in Development Studies, International Relations, Public Administration, Political Science, Social Science or relevant field, or Bachelor’s with additional of 3 years of experience.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in research in governance and social science related research, 8 years for Bachelor’s;
• 5 years of progressively responsible in advocacy or implementation of activities to promote tolerance and inclusivity in Bangladesh, 8 years for Bachelor’s;
• Exceptional writing and oral communication skills in English and Bangla required; Knowledge of Rohingya/ Chittagonian dialect preferred;
• Experience in drafting and editing high-profile conceptual and analytical papers required;

Language Requirements

Fluency in written and spoken English and Bangla

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on a 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, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below percentages:

Travel;

The assignment is home based, and requires 8 missions to Cox’s Bazar. All envisaged travel costs must be included in the price put forward in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed

 Evaluation Method and Criteria

Prospective national consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis:

 The award of the contract should be made to the proposed consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and

b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

* Technical Criteria weight; [70%]

* Financial Criteria weight; [30%]

 Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 point or 70% will be considered for the Financial Evaluation

 Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.

 Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 70 points)

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS

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 (LINK Given Below with Sl. 04);
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 below: http://www.bd.undp.org/content/bangladesh/en/home/operations/jobs/ 
3. Technical proposal, including a) a brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment.
4. Financial Proposal: Financial Proposal has to be submitted through a standard interest and availability template which can be downloaded from the link below:

http://www.bd.undp.org/content/dam/bangladesh/docs/Jobs/Interest%20and%20Submission%20of%20Financial%20Proposal-Template%20for%20Confirmation.docx

Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

Incomplete proposals may not be considered.

For any clarification regarding this assignment please write to e-bidbox.bd@undp.org [Please mention above JOB ID as email reference]