UNDP Jobs - 61706- Consultancy: Peer reviewers for UNDP’s Regional Hu

Consultancy: Peer reviewers for UNDP’s Regional Human Development Report on inequalities in Europe and Central Asia

Location :

Home-based

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

13-Feb-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Estimated February 2016 – June 2016

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Approximately 10 working days

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.

Background

UNDP Regional Human Development Reports (RHDRs) (http://hdr.undp.org/en/regional-reports?field_region_tid=302) are flagship publications that offer empirically grounded human development perspectives on important regional issues, in ways that can support regional (multi-country) and national programming. Past RHDRs (http://hdr.undp.org/en/regional-reports?field_region_tid=302&=Apply) focusing on the Europe and Central Asia region (1) include:

Beyond Transition: Towards Inclusive Societies (2011);
Living with HIV in Eastern Europe and CIS (2008);
Bringing Down Barriers: Central Asia Regional Cooperation for Human Development and Human Security (2005);
Roma and the Displaced in Southeast Europe (2005);
Reversing the Epidemic (2004);
Avoiding the Dependency Trap (2003);
The Human Cost of Transition (1999);
Poverty in Transition (1998); and
The Shrinking State (1997).

UNDP’s next RHDR in this region is devoted to inequalities (an annotated outline is annexed to these ToRs.) This RHDR builds inter alia on:

The UNDP-led regional Dialogue on Inequalities (http://www.eurasia.undp.org/content/rbec/en/home/ourwork/sustainable-development/development-planning-and-inclusive-sustainable-growth/dialogue-on-inequalities/), which seeks deeper understandings of the causes, trends and nature of inequalities in this region, as well as the design and implementation of appropriate policies, particularly in light of the emerging post-2015 development agenda;
UNDP’s global Humanity Divided (http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/Poverty%20Reduction/Inclusive%20development/Humanity%20Divided/HumanityDivided_Full-Report.pdf) study on inequalities in developing countries; and
UNDP’s regional study on Poverty, Inequality, and Vulnerability in the Transition and Developing Economies of Europe and Central Asia (http://www.eurasia.undp.org/content/dam/rbec/docs/Poverty%20Inequality%20and%20Vulnerability.pdf).
External (non-UNDP) peer reviewers play two important roles in the production of RHDRs:
Quality assurance: Peer reviewers’ analysis and assessments of draft RHDR chapters, boxes, background papers, and other content, and suggestions for improvement, can help improve the report quality; and
Partnerships: Peer reviewers’ professional status and institutional affiliations can help raise the RHDR’s visibility and strengthen the partnership networks that help to determine the RHDR’s ultimate impact. Peer reviewers engaged under these ToRs may be asked to serve on RHDR advisory boards, either for report as a whole or for individual chapters/other components.

Notes:
(1) - Reference in these ToRs, and in the work to be done therein, is to Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo (as per UNSCR 1244 (1999)), Kyrgyzstan, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine.

Duties and Responsibilities

UNDP is looking to engage a limited number of peer reviewers, to provide quality assurance vis-à-vis and strengthen partnerships vis-à-vis the RHDR within this framework. Peer reviewers will:

Be regional experts on inequalities—particularly in terms of their links to measurement, gender, labour markets, social protection, health, natural capital, and inclusive governance issues; and
Possess institutional affiliations that can add value to the partnerships needed to boost the RHDR’s impact.

Peer reviewers will work under the supervision of UNDP regional advisors based in UNDP’s Istanbul Regional Hub (IRH), or of IRH senior management. The specific nature of their duties, expected deliverables, and the timeframe under which these will be supplied, will reflect the peer reviewers’ sectoral expertise and partnership attributes, and will be specified in the relevant contractual arrangements.

Competencies

Demonstrates commitment to human development principles and values;
Shares knowledge and experience;
Provides helpful feedback and advice;
Strong statistical and IT skills;
Plans and produces quality results to meet established goals;
Generates innovative, practical solutions to challenging situations;
Conceptualizes and analyses problems to identify key issues, underlying problems, and how they relate;
Demonstrates substantive and technical knowledge to meet responsibilities and post requirements with excellence;
Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
Responds positively to critical feedback and differing points of view.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master degree (preferably Ph.D. level) in political science, economics, law, health, or other development-related field.

Experience:

At least 5 years of relevant experience in academic, research, or government institutions, working on issues of inequalities, exclusion, and vulnerability in Europe and Central Asia;
Prior experience with UNDP or other international organisations is an asset.

Institutional affiliation(s):

Association with leading global or regional universities, think tanks, research institutes, networks or similar such institutions.

Language skills:

Excellent English skills are required;
Writing and editorial skills in Russian are considered an asset.

Evaluation of applicants:

Applicants will be evaluated according to a cumulative analysis reflecting the combination of their qualifications and financial proposal. Contracts will be awarded to applicants whose offer is evaluated and assessed as:

Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Evaluation criteria:

Technical Criteria: 70% of total evaluation (max. 35 points)

Criterion A: Institutional affiliations (maximum 10 points);
Criterion B: Analytical skills, language skills (maximum 10 points);
Criterion C: Academic qualifications/education (maximum 10 points);
Criterion D: Experience (maximum 5 points).

Financial criteria: 30% of total evaluation (max. 15 points)

Only the highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Application procedure:

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online. The application should contain:

A cover letter explaining why the applicant is the most suitable candidate for the advertised position (please paste the letter into the “Resume and Motivation” section of the electronic application);
A completed P11 form, including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank forms can be downloaded from http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc ); please upload the P11 instead of your CV;
A financial proposal*—specifying a total lump sum amount in USD for the tasks specified in this announcement. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (number of anticipated working days, and any other possible costs).
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.

Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

*Please note that the financial proposal is all inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services).

Payments will be made upon confirmation by UNDP of satisfactory delivery of the contract obligations.

Individual consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org

General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://on.undp.org/t7fJs.

Annex I—RHDR Annotated Outline (https://www.wetransfer.com/downloads/1b9e6d9f99e1805a3581f885d07243dd20151113111105/2e446df26eee1de02b378f632d798f4d20151113111105/d33050).