Background

National Human Development Reports have been used throughout the world to promote the concept of human development with the aim of stimulating dialogue on principal development issues and to monitor the status of human development by providing facts and figures, which measure progress and pinpoint areas that require improvement.

National Human Development Reports represent a locally led movement for change. In the preparation and a follow-up process, they focus on national policy formulation and consensus building among national stakeholders. By contributing to the debate on alternative approaches and helping to develop a shared vision, the reports identify new prospects for national human development.

The UAE has gone through significant improvements putting it among the category of countries with very high human development. Consequently, the latest Human Development Report ranked the UAE as one of the most developed countries in the world, with happy and contented citizens and resident expatriates, as well as sustainable growth in many other fields, including economy, trade, investment, information, technology, green economy, tourism, infrastructure and human development and social inclusion. It has also shown impressive growth in youth empowerment, gender equality and in the political and economic empowerment of women. These successes are due to the vision, wise policies and crucial foundations put in place by the country’s prudent leadership.

Understanding the specific development challenges on a national level is essential in order to be able to meet them. UNDP believes this can only happen through independent research and rigorous academic investigation. For the second time, with the support of UNDP, UAE University aims at producing the autonomous National Human Development Report 2017. This report is set to become a key advocacy tool for UAE University and UNDP, enabling the government to form more effective policy in the country, addressing its most critical development challenges.

The report will set out key recommendations for UAE and shall identify challenges and outline several proposals for closing gaps in economic, social, political and cultural inequalities. In addition, this joint cooperation will result in co-organizing an international forum to launch the report and provide a platform for dialogue to the relevant stakeholders across the countries to offer both a means of gathering intelligence on a nation’s development priorities as well a means of developing innovative, and locally-owned, ways to address these priorities.

The national HDR contains six chapters on the following topics: Education, Health, Economy, Demography, Labour Market, Statistics (Human Development Index). The compilation of the chapters, the design of the report and its translation are expected to be finalised by September. The launch event, however, will take place no later than November.

In light of the above, UNDP UAE is seeking experts in Human Development to review and provide commentary on the HDR chapters

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will work on reviewing and commenting of the material. The consultant is given the following specific tasks:

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

• Demonstrates strong analytical skills;
• Promotes team work and contributes towards building team consensus;
• Builds positive relationships with clients;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Excellent teamwork and leadership skills.

Development and Operational Effectiveness:

• Ability to analyse and understand policy and development planning process;
• Ability to apply organisational policies and procedures;
• Strong analytical skills.

Management and Leadership:

• Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Supports teams effectively and shows conflict resolution skills;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors;
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.

Required Skills and Experience

• Ten years minimum experience in Human Development and proven experience with HDRs
• Post graduate in social studies , Sociology or any relevant areas.
• Fluency in Arabic

How to Apply:

• Personal CV or a P11 Personal History Form, 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;
• Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work (if applicable) with emphasis on the proposal on scope of work, deliverable(s) and knowledge transfer;
• Technical proposal indicating which chapter(s) would be reviewed and including the duration needed to complete the task as well as the proposed lump sum
• Scan all documents into 1 pdf folder and then upload;