Antecedentes

UNCDF is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s least developed countries. It creates new opportunities for poor people and their communities by increasing access to microfinance and investment capital.  UNCDF focuses on Africa and the poorest countries of Asia and the Pacific, with a special commitment to countries emerging from conflict or crisis.  It provides seed capital – grants and loans – and technical support to help microfinance institutions reach more poor households and small businesses, and local governments finance the capital investments – water systems, feeder roads, schools, irrigation schemes – that will improve poor peoples’ lives.

Recently, UNCDF has formulated its strategy ‘Leaving no one behind in the digital era’ based on over a decade of experience in digital finance in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. UNCDF recognizes that reaching the full potential of digital financial inclusion in support of the Sustainable Development Goals aligns with the vision of promoting digital economies that leave no one behind. The vision of UNCDF is to empower millions of people by 2024 to use services daily that leverage innovation and technology and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. For further detail on UNCDF strategy, refer to; https://www.uncdf.org/article/4931/global-strategy-leaving-no-one-behind-in-the-digital-era

UNCDF in Myanmar

UNCDF has been operating in Myanmar since 2012 with a capital mandate to expand savings-led financial inclusion and use localized investments to drive poverty reduction and sustainable development. The country program seeks to improve financial service access and usage to achieve equitable, sustainable, and inclusive growth within the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan (MSDP), which includes the use of innovate solutions to bring formal services for people at the bottom of the pyramid. In 2020, a new Financial Inclusion Roadmap will be launched in conjunction with the Government of Myanmar, as the nation’s highest-level financial inclusion policy document.

In a pre-pandemic scenario, the need for digital products such as digital loan repayments or electronic cash transfers was a good accomplishment for the financial sector and humanitarian and development actors. Unfortunately, in the current COVID-19 pandemic, with an increasing number of destroyed livelihoods, restricted mobility, and a stringent need for maintaining social distancing, digital payments became critical to deliver resources to vulnerable population in hard-to-reach areas; and critical to reduce the number of contagions.

Deberes y responsabilidades

Under the supervision of the UNCDF Myanmar Country Coordinator and in close collaboration with the Asia Regional Manager (based in Bangkok) and UNCDF Global Digital Lead (based in Kuala Lumpur), the Policy Expert Consultant will complete the following activities and deliverables.

Scope of Work

The Policy Expert Consultant will help the Government of the Union of Myanmar to design and implement policies and regulations that support the responsible and inclusive digitization of payments in the country. The Expert will assess the needs of the regulator and industry while supporting ongoing activities such as the microfinance integration platform and the respective rules and regulations.

The consultant will advocate and support the development of policies that  transition from cash to digital payments, and drive inclusive digital payments, with the objective of decreasing inequality, reducing costs, increasing transparency, and accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and attain social distance consequence of COVID-19 health crisis.

Workstreams

(1) Support  the regulator (Central Bank of Myanmar and the Ministry of Planning, Finance, and Industry), in the development of policies and regulations that ensure an inclusive payment ecosystem.

(2) Understand the regulatory needs from the private sector and advocate for the ones aligned to an inclusive payment system. Understand the regulatory needs to deliver interoperable electronic cash transfers (G2P Payments).

(3) Support and coordinate with the UNCDF Myanmar Digital Payment Expert and understand the regulatory needs of the activities that the Expert is implementing.

(4) Knowledge management: Sharing the experiences to inform strategies for making the transition from cash to inclusive digital payments;

Expected Outputs, Activities and Deliverables

The above-mentioned activities have been outlined based on some of the broader outcomes that have been outlined above and are representative and can be more than that and adjusted to the circumstances.

Duration of the Work and Duty Station

Maximum number of working days:  The consultancy will be for a period of up to 170 days spread over a period of 12 months with the possibility of extension for another year subject to funding availability, continuing project needs and consultant’s satisfactory performance assessment.

Duty Station:  The consultant will be based in and operate from UNCDF office in Yangon.

Travel:  The consultant may be requested to travel to Bangkok UNCDF Regional office, or Kuala Lumpur, or other destinations. All this travel will be requested by UNCDF management on a need basis and will be compensated on a reimbursable basis and following the UNDP/UNCDF rules and regulations that state that consultants shall only be paid the most direct and most economical ticket, as will be quoted by the official UN travel agency.  Any amount in excess of the said quotation, such as class and airline preference of the consultant, shall be borne by the consultant and the daily living allowance will be paid in amounts not exceeding the UN established rate.

UNCDF cannot guarantee residence permits or visas for consultants. Consultants are responsible for securing their work documentation with limited support from UNCDF.

The schedule of travel will be negotiated with the consultant according to the requirements of the programme.

Provision of Monitoring and Progress Control

The consultant will work under the supervision of the UNCDF Myanmar Country Coordinator and in close collaboration with the Asia Regional Manager and UNCDF Global Digital Lead. The consultant will also receive strategic guidance and technical guidance from the National Programme Office and from UNCDF’s Policy Lead Specialist.

UNCDF will provide feedback on the work of the consultant to ensure the quality of deliverables as per the expectations of UNCDF and that the work is aligned with the broader project objective.

The consultant is responsible for providing his/her own laptop during the course of this engagement

Payments

Payment will be made on a periodic basis upon satisfactory completion AND acceptance of deliverables. All payments are subject to the clearance and approval of the direct supervisor.

•  The deliverables stated above will serve as conditions for disbursement: (i) submission of an invoice and Certificate of Payment (COP); (ii) review, approval and written acceptance of each deliverable by the UNCDF; (iii) submission of a time-sheet and expenses with relevant supporting documentation; and (iv) an authorization of payment disbursement from a direct supervisor.
• Payments are subject to UNCDF’s approval of the Project Progress Reports and the acceptance of the finalized documents, after incorporating the relevant feedback.

• Final payment shall require a signed performance evaluation of the consultant.

Schedule of payments:

Competencias

• Excellent organizational, inter-personal and analytical skills;
• Strong written, communication and presentation skills;
• Focus on impact and results for clients and stakeholders;
• Excellent drafting skills, strong operational and analytical skills, and the ability to work within a team
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education:

• A Master’s degree in economics, administration, social sciences, or related discipline. Or equivalent of related experience

Experience: 

• Minimum 4 years of experience in developing contexts is mandatory
• Minimum 3 years demonstrated experience working on policy related to digital payments
• Experience working with a regulator is mandatory
• Previous working experience in South East Asia is preferred but not mandatory.
• Experience working with international organizations is preferred but not mandatory.
• Experience in projects with financial inclusion and digital financial services is preferred but not mandatory.

Language Requirements:

• Written and spoken fluency in English is mandatory.
• Other regional languages, such as Burmese, are an asset but not mandatory.

Application process:

Interested individuals must submit the documents mentioned below as proposals in order to demonstrate their qualifications (Note: the system does not allow multiple uploads of documents. Applicants must make sure to upload all documents in one PDF file).

All applications must contain the following information in SINGLE FILE:

• Cover letter with a summary statement of competencies and motivation rationalizing how the applicant meets the qualifications and can deliver the requirements of the Terms of Reference (TOR);
• Earliest availability and proposed schedule for consultancy;
• Personal CV or P11, Personal History Form with names and current contacts of 3 referees (available from http://sas.undp.org/documents/p11_personal_history_form.doc)
• Signed financial proposal for the assignment outlining: all-inclusive fee (including professional fees and other professional expenses, such as insurance, taxes, etc.). Template for this is available at http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=29916).

Failure to submit all the below mentioned documents may result in rejection of the application.

Note: The system allows to upload only 1 document, so make sure your pdf all the above-mentioned documents into 1 document for your submission

Evaluation: 

Step I: Screening: Applications will be screened and only applicants meeting the mandatory criteria will progress to the pool for shortlisting.

Step II: Shortlisting (30 points)

UNCDF will produce a shortlist of candidates and technically evaluate candidates from 1 to 100% as per experience requirements in the Terms of Reference. As applicable, only applicants scoring 70% or more shall be considered for an interview.

Shortlisting scoring:

20%- Education/ Qualification

50%- Mandatory Experience.

30%- Preferred Experience.

Step III   Interview (70 points): As applicable, only applicants scoring 70% or more in the shortlist scoring shall be considered for an interview.

Step IV: Financial Evaluation: Only candidates with scores above 70% of the technical evaluation (70 Points or above) will be considered. 

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal: lowest priced proposal/price of the proposal being evaluated x 30%.

Financial Evaluation (Total 30 marks):

All technical qualified proposals will be scored out 30 based on the formula provided below. The maximum points (30) will be assigned to the lowest financial proposal. All other proposals received points according to the following formula: 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

Award Criteria

The contract shall be awarded to the applicant whose offer have been evaluated and determined as:

Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and Having received the highest combined weight (technical scores) 70% + financial 30%= 100%.

Both individual consultants and individual employed by a company or institution are welcome to apply. 

Any individual employed by a company or institution who would like to submit an offer in response to a Procurement Notice for IC must do so in their individual capacity (providing a CV so that their qualifications may be judged accordingly). Women candidates or women-owned businesses are strongly encouraged to apply. UNCDF is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

/ma