Background

UNDP strives to have a workforce, which reflects diversity and gender balance, and applies an equal opportunities approach. UNDP does not solicit or screen for information in respect of HIV or AIDS status. All selections are on merit.

Background:

The UN General Assembly, and all its 193-member countries, in September 2015 adopted a global development vision entitled Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This 2030 Agenda was designed as a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity.  It lays out 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets, to stimulate global action over the next 15 years on issues critical to humanity and the planet. India committed to these SDGs at the September 2015 UN Summit and the SDGs officially came into force on 1 January 2016.

The UNDP India Country Programme Document (CPD 2018-2022) signed with the Government of India (GoI) aims at transformative change and development impact at scale. In line with this, UNDP has initiated active support to many state governments in mainstreaming SDG’s within their schemes and programmes as a part of an UN system wide to SDG roll out for visioning and planning in India.

In view of India’s commitment to the 2030 Agenda, Haryana has set ambitious targets for itself for achieving the SDGs within the state and has formulated its SDG Vision 2030 document. To implement the ambitious targets set for itself in SDG VISION 2030, the Government of Haryana has partnered with UNDP to establish SDG Coordination Centre (SDGCC) under the aegis of Swarna Jayanti Haryana Institute for Fiscal Management (SJHIFM) as part of the Finance and Planning Department. UNDP is looking for  expert individual consultants to develop and document two good practice cases from the departments of Haryana with an aim to facilitate learning and scale up replication in other areas. This Terms of Reference (TOR) outlines the basic framework and deliverables in documentation of good practice cases from the departments of Haryana Government.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of the assignment:

  1. To have a collection of practices that have been successful in achieving their identified goals and have excelled in delivering necessary social services to their intended beneficiaries.
  2. To present a broad range of effective initiatives with the belief that these can be replicated in other parts of the state and country to greater benefit.
  3. To facilitate learning from these initiatives through proper process documentation and analysis of impact, replicability, and sustainability.

Thematic areas for good practice cases:

  1. Haryana Parivar Pehchan Patra Yojana or Haryana Family Identity Card Scheme,
  2. Saksham Yuva Yojana Haryana

 

Criteria to assess cases of good practice:

Six evaluation criteria will be used for short listing good practices:

  1. The nature, scope and scale of the problem that an initiative aimed to address in a context. The nature of the problem to be studied in terms of its social, economic, political, or region-specific context. Its scope would be analysed keeping in mind whether it was a long-term or short-term problem and its scale to be highlighted by studying its outreach potential. The number of project beneficiaries will be a critical indicator for ascertaining the outreach of the project and, therefore, its potential to create an impact.
  2. The extent of innovation made in the initiative.
  3. Optimal utilization of existing resources.
  4. Whether the initiative achieved the results it had aimed for at the planning stage.
  5. Sustainability: sustainability factor will be adequately verified by examining the initiative against criteria such as: social support (continued participation of beneficiaries and local communities, robustness of grassroots organizations, creation of local assets for community); technical soundness; government commitment; financial viability; stakeholder commitment; environmental impact and protection; resilience to exogenous factors, etc.
  6. Potential for replication: Initiatives that can be easily replicated and up-scaled in different contexts and settings will be preferred to highly localised initiatives with low replication potential.

Process of documenting case studies:

  • SDGCC will provide a good practice information template (Annex-1) and coordinate with the concerned State department to initiate the process.
  • The consultant will gather & analyse secondary data on the given case by visiting the departments. Then, primary information will be gathered in the form of living testimonies by interviewing the beneficiaries and project/programme authorities to fill up the gaps identified through secondary data or to substantiate claim made in Annex-1
  • On completion of the case documentation by the contracting consultant, SDGCC will randomly select few cases for verification and make a field trip or hold a round table with concerned departments.

Structure of Case study:

The case will be presented in a simplified format for easy reference and understanding. The sections will describe the various features of the good practice:

  1. Abstract: A crisp overview of the innovative aspects of the case study and its impact, qualitative and quantitative change (situation before & after intervention) and highlighting the key factors that make it a ‘good practice’.
  2. Rationale: Description of the situation or the problem at hand and the difficulties in social service delivery that contributed to the genesis of the good practice.
  3. Objectives: explaining progressive aspect of the scheme and good practices that led to change.
  4. Key Stakeholders: information on the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders at different levels of the scheme/programme. A clear idea on the level of influence of each stakeholder and their role in the initiative.
  5. Implementation Strategy: detail description of the process flow and the strategy used in implementing the initiative.
  6. Resource Utilisation: overview of resources – human, infrastructural, technological etc., – that were utilised optimally in the initiative.
  7. Impact: Impact in both quantitative and qualitative terms. For quantitative impact, the data obtained from official records of the initiative held by implementing officers. The qualitative perspective, experiences shared by the beneficiaries.
  8. Key Challenges: list out all sorts of challenges faced by the implementors and explain how they overcome them.
  9. Replicability and sustainability: adequate and suitable information for prospective replication that could be tailored according to the local need.
  10. Conclusion
  11. Factsheet

Key Deliverables by the consultant:

  • Assessment of information received in Annex-1 template.
  • Collection of secondary data on the case from the department and its analysis.
  • Conducting interviews and developing individual testimonies of the beneficiaries and implementing authorities.
  • Signed human interest stories, photographs, and testimonials.
  • At least 100 high resolution pictures clips with signed consent form.
  • High-quality write-up of good practice case in a given format as per section-6 of the TOR.
  • Draft case study for feedback and presentation to the department, if required.
  • Finalization of cases of good practice in consultation with concerned department and its approval.

The Consultant will directly report to the Regional Head, North Region, UNDP and his team and will work in close coordination with the State Government to achieve the above deliverables.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

  • Strong analytical, research and writing skills
  • Expertise in data collection and analysis
  • Ability to work under pressure and deliver high quality results on time
  • Initiative and independence
  • Excellent organizational and communication skills.
  • Well versed in interacting with internal departments, HOD’s, Directors and senior government officials

Corporate Competencies:

  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
  • Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards
  • Creates and promotes an enabling environment for open communication

Required Skills and Experience

Educational Qualification:

  • Post- graduation level degree in social sciences/development studies from a reputed institute
  • PhD holders will be given preference

Skills & Experience:

  • Minimum 10 years’ experience in social research
  • Proven track record in writing quality academic articles and reports
  • Excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills, analytical and interpersonal abilities 
  • Candidates in and around Chandigarh/tri-city region will be given preference for the assignment

Language:

Fluency in written and oral English and Hindi

Duration of the Work:

The consultant shall be engaged for a period of 2 months from the date of appointment. The term may be extended on mutually agreed terms and conditions.

Payment Schedule:

  • 20% on submission of inception report
  • 30% on submission of the draft case with pictures and signed consent forms
  • 50% on submission of the final version

Institutional Arrangement:

  • The assignment is home/field based with occasional meetings and interactions with the team and partners in person, and the Individual Consultant will coordinate directly with the SDGCC Haryana team to ensure that the deliverables are achieved within the specified period
  • Costs pertaining to official travel, any kind of miscellaneous charges i.e. internet, phone, relocation charges etc. would not be reimbursed separately
  • The consultant will be required to have all the equipment and software’s necessary to execute the task; and will carry own laptop to work/ meetings whenever required
  • Individuals working with institution may also apply, contract would be issued in the name of the institution for the specific services of individual
  • All the outputs developed by the consultant under this contract would be the property of UNDP. UNDP will have sole copyright to all the products

Documentation required:

  • Personal CV, indicating all experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the candidate
  • Sample writing work from atleast 2 assignments
  • At least three (3) professional references

Evaluation Criteria:

Short listing would be done based on the following criteria

  • Educational Qualification - 30 Marks ;
  • Relevant Experience - 40 Marks ;
  • Financial – 30 marks

Financial Proposal:

Technically qualified consultants will be requested to submit their Lumpsum Cost  i.e. consultants who score more than 70% i.e. 49 marks with respect to the above-mentioned evaluation criteria. Consultant should not specify their consultancy fee on their CV or with the submission. The CV will not be evaluated further in case the consultant submits the same.

For any clarifications, please write to ic.india@undp.org 

UNDP 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.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.