Antecedentes

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network, working in some 170 countries and territories. In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH), we are committed to helping the country through strengthened national and local capacities to carry out political, economic and social reforms and development. Annually, UNDP implements nearly USD 30 million in BIH through its four key focus areas: Justice and Security, Social Inclusion and Democratic Governance, Rural and Regional Development, and Energy and Environment.

As part of the rural and regional development interventions, UNDP works on improving sub-national government capacity to plan, identify priorities and deliver results; stimulates economic recovery and job creation through entrepreneurial activity, investment, increasing the competitiveness of local producers and income generation; improves local priority infrastructure and service delivery, and promotes the sustainable use of natural resources and energy efficiency. In this context, UNDP also supports agricultural development, having in mind its importance for improving income streams and quality of life of rural dwellers. While recognizing growth and income opportunities in agriculture, UNDP is also aware of risks associated with delivering development support in the sector (including in relation to the distribution of plant material/animals and related diseases outbreaks, distribution of chemical products commonly used in agriculture production, etc.). The objective of this assignment is to contribute to strengthening UNDP’s capacities for managing risks associated with agricultural support activities, by preparing a practical Preparedness and Response Guideline/Toolkit. 

Deberes y responsabilidades

Under the direct supervision of the Project Coordinator, the Consultant will develop the Preparedness and Response Guideline/Toolkit for projects delivering agricultural development support to beneficiaries. In addition to defining the measures to prevent the risks associated with such support measures, the Guideline/Toolkit will also specify steps and actions to be taken in case the risks materialize (e.g. contamination, disease outbreak, etc.). It will also stipulate the formal involvement of relevant authorities as part of regular procedures for delivering UNDP agricultural development support to the beneficiaries. Importantly, the Guideline/Toolkit will include specific steps to be taken in order to ensure timely communication of identified risks to the beneficiaries.

The assignment entails the following tasks:

1. Identification of risks associated with delivering agricultural development support to beneficiaries;
2. Development of the Draft Preparedness and Response Guideline/Toolkit for UNDP’s agricultural development support to beneficiaries;
3. Finalization of the Guideline/Toolkit and Reporting

The expected timeframe for the assignment is May to July 2019, with the estimated level of effort of 20 days. The entire assignment will be delivered in English language.

Task 1: Identification of risks associated with delivering agricultural development support to beneficiaries

The Consultant is expected to:

• Deliver a workplan for the assignment that will include: i) detailed list of relevant UN, UNDP, domestic and international documents that could influence the development of the practical Guideline/Toolkit (e.g. UN/UNDP SOPs, regulations, policies, studies, methodologies, etc.), including best practices; ii) list of interviews/meetings to be conducted with relevant stakeholders, including institutional partners, as well as other relevant UN Agencies (e.g. FAO, IFAD). The workplan will be approved by UNDP.
• Identify key UNDP Country Office units/departments that need to be part of the risk management process (e.g. procurement, program, communication, management etc.);
• Identify key institutional partners (relevant agencies to deal with agriculture and food related risks/hazards);
• Develop a list of potential risks that are relevant for the UNDP's development support in agriculture sector (including those risks specific for different agricultural sub-sectors, e. g. livestock, vegetables, fruits, grains etc., if relevant) with particular focus on the direct support to end beneficiaries (e.g. those related to the procurement and distribution of plant material/animals, procurement and distribution of chemical products commonly used in agriculture production, etc.);
• Identify the likelihood of risk occurrence and their potential impact;

The time foreseen for this task is 3 days.

Task 2: Development of the Draft Preparedness and Response Guideline/Toolkit for UNDP agricultural development support to beneficiaries

Based on the findings from Task 1, the Consultant is expected to draft the standard Preparedness and Response Guideline/Toolkit for management of identified hazards/risks stemming from UNDP’s agricultural development support in BIH. This Guideline/Toolkit should be a practical reader-friendly document, describing protocol to be followed, including the responsibilities of the UNDP units/departments in case the hazards/risks materialize (using a decision tree, where relevant). The Guideline/Toolkit should contain up to 10 pages, and should be designed along the following main chapters:

• Risk Assessment:  
• Classification of risks identified under Task 1 per stages (e.g. Business as Usual, Incident, Emergency, Crisis).
• Preparedness and Risk Management:
• Identification of actions to be undertaken for each identified hazard/risk both in terms of prevention and response;
• Definition of bodies/units/organizations and hierarchy in managing those actions (e.g. UNDP units, coordination body and, eventually, task groups);
• Description of relevant protocols/response actions in line with the identified classification and stage of the event, including activation, mobilization and engagement of human and other resources, as well as risk communication (internal as well as external PR management plan in case of materialized hazards/risks, definition of communication lines within and beyond UNDP with relevant institutions and stakeholders);
• Guidance on how to manage procurement practices (requirements for different kind of plants, livestock etc.), taking into account risks/hazards, as well as on embedding risk mitigation into the programme/activity design phase, etc.
• Review UNDP’s Country Office capacities to effectively deploy the proposed Guideline/Toolkit and recommend eventual improvement measures.
• Eventual need to connect with relevant institutional stakeholders (ministries, agencies, inspectorates etc.).

The time foreseen for this task is 14 days.

Task 3:  Finalization of the Guideline/Toolkit and Reporting

• Presentation and finalization of the Guideline/Toolkit

The Consultant will organize a debrief session to present to UNDP draft Guideline/Toolkit prepared and submitted under Task 2.  During the session s/he will also inform on the whole process, issues and challenges faced or that might need attention in the following period. After the session the Consultant will receive feedback and comments from UNDP which will be used to create the final version of the Guideline/Toolkit.

• Final report

Together with the final version of the Guideline/Toolkit the Consultant will submit a final narrative report with all relevant information regarding the process, such as the achievement of objectives, results and outputs, as well as on the lessons learnt.  The report should be submitted to UNDP in English language and the final version must take in consideration all the comments received.

The time foreseen for this task is 3 days.

Deliverables/outputs

Competencias

Corporate Responsibility and Teamwork:

• Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Plans, prioritizes and delivers tasks on time;
• Strives for and promotes excellence in performance continually;
• Participates effectively in a team-based, information-sharing environment, collaborating and cooperating with others;

People Skills:

• Demonstrates ability to work harmoniously with persons of different national and cultural backgrounds;
• Recognizes and responds appropriately to the ideas, interests, and concerns of others;
• Builds trust and engenders morale by displaying open, transparent and credible behavior;
• Respects individual/cultural differences; utilizes diversity to foster teamwork;
• Ensures others’ understanding of, involvement in, and adaptation to a change process.

Partnering and Networking:

• Communicates sensitively and effectively across different constituencies;
• Ability to work as a member of a team as well as work autonomously.

Results-Orientation:

• Plans and procedures quality results to meet established goals.

Communication:

• Technical writing skills, formulates written information clearly and persuasively;
• Strong communication skills;
• Presents information in a clear and articulate manner.

Job Knowledge and Expertise:

• Strong analytical skills;
• Knowledge and experience on agricuture disaster risk management;

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Academic Qualifications/Education:

• University degree (bachelor’s degree or equivalent) in agronomy, plant protection, food safety, economy, environment or development or other related fields.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of relevant working experience in the areas of agriculture, food safety, plant protection.
• Strong understanding of agriculture related risks, including risk management, preparedness and response.
• Good knowledge of state and entity laws or EU legal documents relevant for the consultancy.
• Proven knowledge and previous experience in preparation of practical response plan (guideline) for handling frequently occurring types of risks relevant for most common agricultural production.

Languages Requirements:

• Fluency in written and spoken English language is required for this assignment.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 point would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

Shortlisting Criteria

Technical Evaluation Criteria

EVALUATION

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual 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%

Applicants are required to submit an application including:

• Proposal:

  • Cover Letter clearly stating how the candidate matches the position, highlighting experience that
    match ToR requirements;

  • Provide an example from his/her professional experience.

• Completed and signed the?Offeror’s template Confirming Interest and Availability (please follow the link: https://popp.undp.org/_layouts/15/WopiFrame.aspx?sourcedoc=/UNDP_POPP_DOCUMENT_LIBRARY/Public/PSU_%20Individual%20Contract_Offerors%20Letter%20to%20UNDP%20Confirming%20Interest%20and%20Availability.docx&action=default);
• Latest personal CV, including past experience from similar projects, and email, telephone and any other contact details for references;
• Financial proposal which will separately specify professional fee, indicating number of anticipated working days, travel costs (air-ticket or use of private vehicle), living allowance, and all other applicable costs.

Please scan all above mentioned documents and upload as one attachment only online through this website.

Note:

• For an assignment requiring travel, consultants of 65 years or more require full medical examination and statement of fitness to work to engage in the consultancy.
• Due to large number of potential applicants, only competitively selected candidates will be contacted for remaining steps of the service procurement process.