Background

The Joint Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Fund in Timor-Leste aims to increase investment in sustainable development. Timor-Leste currently does not have a holistic, national, integrated financing framework to ensure sustainable investments in the SDGs. This Joint SDG Fund proposal aims to assist the government of Timor-Leste to develop and establish a holistic and Integrated, National Financing Framework (INFF). The value of this work has taken on even greater significance since the COVID-19 pandemic – in part because of the greater demands on public financing but also because Timor-Leste’s reserves through its Petroleum Fund have also been affected by the global economic downturn. Development financing is currently heavily reliant on financing from Timor-Leste’s petroleum fund. To reduce the reliance on petroleum funding, the Joint SDG Fund will help diversify financing sources and grow the fiscal space. Three financing areas have been identified for catalyzing strategic investments – health (to be supported by WHO), diaspora (to be supported by IOM) and climate finance (to be supported by UNDP).

The INFF will help to improve the governance and coordination, articulate a financing strategy and strengthen the monitoring and oversight framework.

Current scope of work is focused on an effective framework for monitoring of SDGs’ financing, and feeding the lessons into policy implementation and design – National Monitoring and Oversight Framework. Linking planning and financing functions requires the ability to connect and monitor how the outcomes of short-term policies contribute towards longer-term objectives. For public and private finance flows to contribute effectively to SDG outcomes, it requires policies that promote and incentivize these contributions. The design and implementation of these policies should be informed by information on what is being invested, what progress is being made and the outcomes generated by different types of investment.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope and Objective of work

The objective of this assignment is to support the ANAPMA on designing the SDG aligned National Monitoring and Oversight Framework. The work will be focused on reviewing and identifying the national SDG aligned indicators, improve national program and policies and ensure their better linkages with the program budgeting process. Furthermore, the given assignment requires the review of data flow across government departments for monitoring of national programs and policies and development of relevant recommendations on streamlining SDG data flows among Government ministries and agencies.

The process of operationalisation of technical assistance under the given scope of work will be implemented under the leadership of UNDP Country Office and ANAPMA with close coordination with the Ministry of Finance and in collaboration with other national partners and parallel processes. The Adviser will provide overall technical guidance and quality assurance through the process of designing the National Monitoring and Oversight Framework, including but not limited to the following activities:

Design of SDG aligned National Monitoring and Oversight Framework (February – June, 2022), 50 working days

• Review government’s existing strategies, policies, institutional structures to make sure that the assessment is grounded in the national priorities and sustainable development as it is stated in Timor-Leste Strategic Development Plan;
• Provide guidance and substantive inputs to the process of technical discussions with relevant stakeholders in close cooperation with ANAPMA team within series of workshops during development of the of SDG aligned National Monitoring and Oversight Framework;
• Review the list of national SDG targets and indicators, including the baseline and target values assigned to each national SDG indicator and identify the existing gaps and areas for improvement in the national SDG monitoring/reporting framework;
• Review the best international practices on measuring the SDG progress (collection, processing and analysis of SDG data) and present to the ANAPMA and relevant stakeholders;
• Identify data gaps on monitoring of national SDG indicators and develop recommendations on addressing those data gaps through national statistical system, periodic and stand-alone surveys or administrative data;
• Consult the national working group on SDG implementation with recommendations on effective ways of addressing the gaps in the national SDG monitoring framework (missing baselines and target values) in line with international best practices;
• By reviewing the mid- and long term national and sectoral development programmes of Timor-Leste and provide recommendations on filling the existing gaps with regard to the national SDG indicators;
• Building on international best practices, develop a set of recommendations on enhancing the national SDG monitoring and reporting system in Timor-Leste, which inter-alia reflects on optimization of data flows across Government agencies and reporting through Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Information System (PMES)/ Dalan Ba Futuru;
• Coordinate with the INFF team and the Ministry of Finance on SDG budgeting indicators, to ensure that the National Monitoring and Oversight Framework is aligned with
• Develop manuals, templates and training materials for national monitoring and oversight in line with PMES;
• Deliver training of trainers to ANAPMA staff  and support the delivery of training to Government entities on monitoring and oversight issues;
• Finalize SDG aligned National Monitoring and Oversight Framework considering the results of stakeholders consultations.

Expected deliverables

Institutional arrangement

• Under the overall guidance of the Executive Director of ANAPMA and UNDP Resident Representative, the Consultant will work closely with the country economist, the INFF team, the relevant national stakeholders.
• The final approval authority for the outputs of the consultant is under Resident Representative attest.   
• The IC will maintain pro-active communications with the ANAPMA, UNDP Country Economist and INFF team and provide an interim updates, highlighting main findings and any specific concerns or issues that need to be addressed during subsequent meetings and discussions.
• The assignment is base in Dili, Timor-Leste, as the consultant will be attending meetings, workshops and other engagements at ANAPMA office in Dili, and other locations as needed.
• If any unforeseen travel outside the individual Dili city is requested by UNDP or ANAPMA, the expenses will be covered by UNDP in line with applicable rules and regulations and upon prior written agreement. In such cases, the individual will receive living allowances not exceeding the United Nations (UN) Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) rate for such location(s).

Duration of the work?

The expected duration of this assignment is 50 days with a start date of April 10, 2022, and planned to be completed by June 22, 2022.  The timeframe and expected deliverables are shown in the table under section D above.

Duty station

The selected consultant will be Dili, Timor-Leste for the majority of the assignment.

Competencies

Competencies:

• Demonstrating/safeguarding ethics and integrity. 
• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.
• Self-development, initiative-taking.
• Acting as a team player and facilitating team work.
• Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively
• Creating synergies through self-control.
• Managing conflict.
• Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others. Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member.
• Informed and transparent decision making.

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness, by modelling the UN/UNDP's values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UN/UNDP; and
• Displays cultural, gend0er, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualification

• At least Master degree in the field of Development Studies, Public Policy, Public Administration, Finance, Economics or other closely related social fields.

Professional Experience

• At least 10 years of experience in the field of governmental SDGs monitoring and reporting, public administration, development finance, public financial management, private sector development, budgeting and planning. Previous experience with a development partner or government is a very strong advantage;
• Research experience in areas of public or private financing policy for sustainable development is required;
• Demonstrated ability to engage in strategic analysis, and sectoral analysis;

• Experience in country level work rooted in public policy reforms in close collaboration with government;

• Proven ability to lead consultations and facilitate dialogue among senior government officials and other senior stakeholders required;
• Experience with the UNDP and/or UN agencies desirable;
• Practical experience and knowledge of the SGDs, long-term planning, policy formulation, statistical reporting and analysis, systems-thinking and analysis;
• Excellent writing skills required, as demonstrated by previous research/analytical reports on relevant topics; and proven list of reports and publications

 Language requirement:

• Fluency in English (written and spoken), and an ability to summarize and present information effectively.
• Knowledge of Portuguese, and/or Tetum is an advantage.

SCOPE OF PRICE PROPOSAL AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS

Lump Sum Amount

The financial proposal must be expressed in the form of a lump sum all-inclusive cost linked to deliverables specified in TOR Section C, supported by a breakdown of costs as per the template provided. If in-country travel is required during the mission to Timor-Leste, UNDP will cover all the costs of transportation, hotels and meals.

If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP. 

Schedule of payments

Per deliverable/s upon submission of its completion deliverables report and accepted by UNDP, each deliverable as per the timeline mentioned in section D (expected outputs and deliverables).

RECOMMENDED PRESENTATION OF OFFER

Individual consultants interested in the assignment must submit the following documents to demonstrate their qualification:

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP (the template to be downloaded from the procurement notice link).
2. Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experiences from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (2) professional references (to be downloaded from the procurement notice link).
3. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided (the template to be downloaded from the procurement notice link).  

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF THE BEST OFFER

The candidates will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis OR combined scoring method

The applications will be evaluated using weighted scoring method, where the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

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%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points of the technical criteria will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Detail Criteria

Note: Only candidates obtaining a minimum 49 points of the technical criteria will be considered for the financial evaluation.

Annexes (click on the hyperlink to access the documents):

• Annex 1 - IC Contract Template (for information);

• Annex 2 -  Financial Proposal Template using the template provided by UNDP (to be completed at later stage upon request by UNDP);
• Annex 3 – IC General Terms and Conditions (for information);
• Annex 4 – RLA Template (if consultant wishes to be recruited through an employer) - (for information).
• Annex 5: Annexes to the ToR