Antecedentes

Strengthening local governance has been a key focus of not only the government of Bangladesh but also different donor agencies. Considering the importance of the issue, UNDP has been working to strengthen the local governance system in Bangladesh for more than a decade. UNDP lead support projects to the LGIs have played an important role in reforming the Union Parishad (UP) and Upazila Parishad (UZP) tier of government. UNDP in collaboration with SDC and DANIDA through EALG project, is planning to support UZP and UP to improve service delivery through improved governance. The project has three major program components, including Strengthening Upazila Parishad (SUZP: Component-1); Strengthening Union Parishad (SUP:Component-2) and Policy for Effective Local Governance (PELG: Component-3)to strengthen overall decentralization/ devolution process.

Objective:

Strengthen the capacities of local governments and other stakeholders to foster participatory local development service delivery for the SDGs (especially achieving the goals and targets of 1,1.3, 4,5,6,11-b,15, and 16.7). This project has the following three components;

1. Strengthening Upazila Parishad (SUZP)
2. Strengthening Union Parishad (SUP)
3. Policy for Effective Local Governance (PELG)

1: Strengthening Upazila Parishad (SUZP) Component puts emphasis on Strengthening Capacities of Upazila Parishad to Improve Service Delivery. It would enable strengthening the governance framework of Upazila Parishad for inclusive, effective and accountable planning and improved service delivery. Moreover, it will work to improve the financial management of Upazila Parishad for improved funding absorption capacity and accountability, strengthened downward accountability of the UZP Committees through effective and inclusive public engagement mechanisms and practices, and strengthened the ability of Women Upazila Parishad Members to fulfil their role and duties in council work.

2: Strengthening Union Parishad (SUP) Component focuses on enhancing Capacities of Union Parishad for Participatory Local Development. It would attempt to: i. strengthen the capacity of the Union Parishads to provide pro-poor, effective and accountable services; ii. Make the Union Parishads (UP) more climate-resilient through prioritizing resilience measures in the UP development plan; and iii. Empower and institutionalize the space for the poor and marginalized citizens specially women to get engaged in the decision-making process of UP.

3: Policy for Effective Local Governance (PELG): This component provides policy support to the Government of Bangladesh for establishing effective local government irrespective of tiers.

Deberes y responsabilidades

The scope of the work for this assignment is outlined below:

• Prepare and submit an inception report: The inception report is to be prepared based on a methodology report for this assignment has already been produced, and using the consultant’s methodology and plan of implementation of the assignment.
• Conduct an action research: The aim of this action research is to collect recommendations from the key stakeholders on the following issues:
  • What can be the priority SDGs for UPs and UZPs regarding their mandate, capacity and resources?
  • What types of tools can be useful for them to assess their status on the prioritized SDGs?
  • How the assessment can be done?
  • Who can be engaged in the process for data generation and what will be the data sources?
  • Any further comments and recommendations?

For collecting data, the consultant will  need to design tools, methods and other instrument as applicable and will collect data using the tools from the agreed stakeholders.

Prepare a report on action research: Using the findings and recommendations of the action research, the selected consultant will prepare a report and will submit to EALG for review and accept.

• Prepare Tools and Guideline on SDGs for the LGIs (UPs and UZPs): The aim of developing this tools and guidelines will be to support LGIs to assess present status of their respective constituencies on the prioritized SDGs.
• Piloting the tools and guidelines and finalize: The consultant will need to test the tools and guidelines in one UP and one UZP to understand feasibility of the tools. Addressing the learning and feedback from the piloting, the tools and guidelines will be finalized upon approval from the EALG/LGD.
• Prepare a training module for the tools and guidelines: Once the tools and guidelines are approved, the consultant will develop a training module for the LGIs in Bangla for operationalizing the tools and guidelines in the field.
• Conduct training: Finally, the consultant will need to conduct training for EALG staff specially for the DFs.

The overall objective of this assignment is to design a set of tools and necessary guidelines on the prioritized SDGs so that these can be useable to the LGIs (Union Parishod and Upazila Parishad) for data collection to develop a baseline on their constituencies for making SDG decisions.

The specific objectives of this assignment are:

• Prioritizing SDGs considering available recommendations, information and resources
• Designing tools and guidelines on the prioritized SDGs
• Designing a training module for training on the tools and guidelines
• Conduct training for the District Facilitators on the tools and guidelines

The timing of the tasks are as follows:

• Phase	Duration	Proposed time
  Inception work: Inception Meeting with the project team Review necessary documents and a methodological report already available to the project Prepare inception report incorporating understanding of the assignment, operational plan and work methodology and tools (how the assignment will be completed, who will be consulted, what are the tools to be used, etc.) Submission and obtain approval on the inception report	03 days	Within two weeks of signing the contract
  Prioritizing SDGs considering available information and resources: Develop tools and methodology Presentation of tools to EALG management Finalization of tools and methodology Conduct consultations Prepare a report including a list of prioritized SDGs, including key indicators and proxy indicators, recommended tools and methods for SDG tools preparation, etc.	20 days	Within eight weeks of signing the contract
  Designing tools and guidelines on the prioritized SDGs Draft the tools and guidelines Field test/piloting the tools and guidelines engaging UP representatives and other stakeholders Adjust the tools and guidelines using field test/piloting learning and feedback Submission of tools and guidelines in Bangla and English to EALG management	15 days	Within twelve weeks of signing the contract
  Designing training module for training on the tools and guidelines: Design a training module in Bangla Submission the training module to EALG	15days	Within fifteen weeks of signing the contract
  Conduct training for the District Facilitators on the tools and guidelines: Conduct one batch training for the DFs and PMU staff (cost of venue and logistics will be borne by EALG Project)	5 days	Within sixteen weeks of signing the contract

Geographical Coverage of EALG:The geographical coverage of the project are selected 18 UZPs under 9 districts from 8 divisions, and 251 UPs (30 from each district) under the 9 districts.

 Deliverables: 

Based on the scope of the work outlined above, the deliverables from the consultant/ institute are as follows:

• An Inception Report
• An Action Research Report (at best ten pages long) incorporating a list of priority SDGs, stakeholders’ opinion/ recommendations
• A set of tools and guidelines for LGIs for SDG prioritizing, present status assessment, and setting targets (in English and Bangla)
• A training module on the tools and guidelines for the LGIs (in Bangla)
• Conduct oneBatch Training on the tools and guidelines.

   

Institutional arrangements:The consultant will independently conduct the assignment but can take necessary guidance from LGD and UNDP. The consultant will be closely working with the Project Management Team of EALG and will be reportable to the Project Coordinator, EALG.

Duty Station: Dhaka with field visit

Methodology:The consultant will propose their methodology in the proposal. However, there are some indications in the different parts of this TOR about the methodology (such as consultations with the key stakeholders) that must be included in the proposal.

Competencias

All the key personnel must possess the below competencies.

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards (human rights, peace,
• understanding between peoples and nations, tolerance, integrity, respect, and impartiality;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional Competencies:

• Demonstrates openness to change, flexibility, and ability to manage complexities;
• Proven strong written, analytical and communication skills

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

I. Academic Qualifications:

Minimum Master ‘s Degree in social sciences, Political Science, Public Administration, Governance and/or Development Studies.

II. Professional Qualifications:

1. Minimum 5 years’ experience in the conduction of action research/ research on LGIs issue.
2. Minimum 5 years of progressive experience in developing guidelines/ modules for LGIs or any other government institutions
3. At least 02 experience of completing similar assignments in the past 5 years
4. Experience in delivering at least 05 creditable training for LGIs or government stakeholders on Monitoring and Evaluation/ research/ study/ data collection
5. Working experience with UN organizations/Donors/Govt./INGOs on the SDGs

Payments

Remuneration of the successful contractor will be fixed and bids should be submitted on this basis. No adjustment will be given for the period and determined by the specified outputs as per this ToR. The price should take into account all HR costs and professional fees, travel costs, subsistence and ancillary expenses. The financial proposal shall specify the total lump sum amount and must be all-inclusive (professional fees, travel costs, living allowances, medical allowances, communications costs etc.)

UNDP shall effect payments, by bank transfer to the consultancy consultant’s bank account, upon acceptance by EALG/UNDP of the deliverables specified in the ToR. Payments will be based on milestone deliverables upon submission of invoice and upon certification of the work completed.

 Evaluation Criteria:

A cumulative analysis weighted-scoring method will be applied to evaluate the consultant. Award of the contract will be made to the consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as

• Responsive/ compliant/ acceptable with reference to this ToR, and;
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation, with the ratio set at 70: 30 respectively (this reflects the high-level skills mix required).

Only consultants obtaining a minimum of 70% of maxim achievable score (49 points) in the technical analysis would be considered for financial appraisal, and ultimately therefore, for contracting.

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.

• Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
• 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:
• Financial Proposal: Financial Proposal has to be submitted through a standard interest and availability template which can be downloaded from the link:
• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment (maximum of 250 words) and submit evidence by the consultant which would substantiate the technical requirements
• Selection Process:The consultant will be selected on the basis of the relevant expertise and financial offer received.
• Reporting: The consultant will consult and provide regular updates to the Project Coordinator, EALG and Policy and Coordination Specialist, Democratic Governance Portfolio, UNDP

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