Antecedentes

Following the recent reforms repositioning the UN development system[1], the UN Maldives’ Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) is the most important planning and implementation instrument of the UN system in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda) in the country with a commitment to leave no one behind and in line with human rights and other international standards and obligations. It will outline the UN’s collective response to national development priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the period of 2021-2025 and prepared and implemented in full consultation with the Government and other stakeholders, including development partners, international financial institutions, civil society, trade unions, private sector and beneficiaries.

The UN Maldives’ new UNSDCF is expected to be a vehicle for supporting economic transformation, peaceful societies through sustainable development strategies specific to Maldives’s country contexts, and leveraging funding for financing for achieving the SDGs.

The United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in Maldives is among the first countries that will be formulating a new UNSDUNSDCF under the new guidance issued in 2019[2]. It has launched the process of preparation and formulation of the 2021 – 2025 UNSDCF with the final independent evaluation of the ongoing 2016-2020 UNDAF[3] and the Common Country Analysis (CCA) kick off retreat in December 2019. The CCA is the UN system’s independent, impartial and collective assessment and analysis of a country situation that lays grounds for developing the UNSDCF. It is currently under preparation and will be made available when it is ready.

The UNSDCF will be centered around a set of priority areas where the UN will contribute to Maldives’ development process over the next five years. These priority areas will be identified, in consultation with the Government and other stakeholders based upon the findings of the CCA, the UN’s cooperative advantages vis-à-vis the Government and other development actors, and be aligned with the Governments Strategic Action Plan 2019-2023 (SAP).

[1] https://undocs.org/a/res/72/279

[2] United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework Guidance, June 2019 https://unsdg.un.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/UN-Cooperation-Framework-Internal-Guidance-Final-June-2019_1.pdf

[3] Final Evaluation Report of Maldives UNDAF 2016-2020, http://www.un.org.mv/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Maldives_UNDAF-Final-Evaluation-Report-11-July-2019-5.pdf

Deberes y responsabilidades

Grounded on the UN development system’s policy expertise, its comparative advantages, normative agenda, and ability to leverage, influence and unlock a broad range of resources for development, the UNSDCF is expected to reflect:

1. the expectations national stakeholders have of the UN development system’s contribution to national development;
2. a shared vision and strategic priorities of the UN system, framed within the broader landscape of partners;
3. how the UN system and its partners will contribute to accelerating progress towards the 2030 Agenda, and
4. the financial and non-financial commitments of the UN system and partners in the wider context of the financing required to reach the SDGs in the country.

As indicated in the UN Cooperation Framework Guidance, the formulation of the UNSDCF will entail, but not limited to, the following:

1. Desk review and development of a brief Inception Report outlining the consultant’s approach to work, including the action plan and timeline;
2. Facilitating the UN internal visioning exercise; UN comparative advantage analysis; capacity analysis; and developing a theory of change;
3. Capturing discussions of the UN Strategic Planning and Prioritization exercise and help to choose strategic priorities and related development results (outcomes) in which to invest its collective efforts, capacities, and resources;
4. Preparing the UNSDCF narrative in accordance with outline as reflected in Annex 3 UNSDCF Outline of the Consolidated Annexes to the UNSDCF Guidance[1] , first and final drafts;
5. Developing a results matrix, including indicator definitions;
6. Facilitating UNSDCF validation workshop, and
7. Facilitating establishing the optimal and country tailored UNSDCF governance structure.

Accountable to the Resident Coordinator, the international consultant will formulate the UNSDCF 2021-2025 document.

An international consultant is responsible for supervision and quality assurance of the national consultant’s work.

MAIN DELIVERABLES AND TIMEFRAME

Under the overall guidance of the Resident Coordinator, and in close consultation with the UNCT,  the international consultant is expected to deliver the following:

[1] Consolidated Annexes to the UNSDCF Guidance, May 2019, https://unsdg.un.org/resources/consolidated-annexes-cooperation-framework-guidance

DURATION AND PAYMENT INSTALLMENTS

The international consultant is expected to complete the formulation of the UNSDCF within 40 working days intermittently during 15 March and 31 August 2020.

The international consultant should indicate the lump sum and breakdown in the financial proposal following the template attached.

The international consultant’s payment shall be made in three instalments:

1. 20% upon submission of an acceptable inception report;
2. 40% upon submission of the first draft UNSDCF, incorporating draft Results Matrix and the Legal Annex;
3. 40% upon submission of the Final UNSDCF document.

Competencias

Corporate Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards and acts in accordance with the Standards of Conduct for international civil servants;
• Advocates and promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism.

Functional Competencies

• Knowledge about the UNDP programmes would be an advantage;
• Proven strong analytical abilities;
• Ability to work under pressure with several tasks and various deadlines;
• Ability to actively generate creative, practical approaches and solutions to overcome challenging situations;
• Excellent writing, presentation/public speaking skills;
• A pro-active approach to problem-solving;
• General IT Literacy

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education

• Advanced university degree (Master’s and equivalent) in development studies, economics, social sciences, international relations or any other related field;

Experience

• A minimum of 10 years of the relevant professional experience; (experience between 11-15 years or over 15 years of experience will be granted extra points)
• Profound knowledge of the UN system and UN common country programming processes, in particular, the new CCA approach and new UNSDUNSDCF Guidance and its operationalization
• Profound knowledge of 2030 Agenda for  sustainable development/SDGs; and SDG localization and reporting and monitoring processes;
• Previous experience of formulating UN system assistance framework document is an asset;
• Substantial professional application of human rights, gender equality, women’s empowerment, environmental sustainability, results-based management, resilience, and capacity development in research; with excellent understanding of inclusive economic growth, decent work, development risks, hazards, vulnerabilities and challenges of upper-middle income countries, including those linked to climate change;
• Experience in the discourse around UN development system reforms and related trainings/workshops of the UN System Staff College and other UN entities; 
• Ability to design and implement participatory, inclusive, and innovative methods and tools;
• Ability to deliver a high-analytical report in a very short time and ability to work effectively and constructively in a multi-agency setting;
• At least 1-year experience in Maldives/South Asia or other relevant SIDS experience is highly desirable;

Language requirement

• Excellent analytical writing and oral presentational English 

Application process

Interested international 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.
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: (to be inserted)

The UNDP will enter into a contract based on a lump sum amounts. The financial proposal shall represent a detailed, justified and “all inclusive” amount. 

Evaluation criteria

The award of the contract will be made to the international 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 candidates 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: Profound knowledge of the UN system and UN common country programming processes (previous experience with

CCA/UNDAF formulations, evaluations and/or reviews; familiarity with the new CCA approach and the new UNSDUNSDCF Guidance and its operationalization; Extensive experience in Results-Based Management principles, Theory of Change; logic modeling/logical framework analysis, quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis, report writing; and participatory approaches) (max 20 points)

-  Criterion C: At least 10 years’ experience of preparing multi-disciplinary country/national level situational analysis and report writing related to 2030 Agenda or SDGs (max 20 points)

-  Criteria D: Substantial professional application of human rights, gender equality, environmental sustainability, result-based management and capacity development in research (max 15 points)

-   Criterion E: 1 year of previous experience Maldives and South Asia (max 5 points)

RECOMMENDED PRESENTATION OF OFFER

• Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template;
• A Cover Letter, A Detailed P11, indicating all experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate;
• Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided. 

Note: Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into one single file