Background

As national governments are adapting “Agenda 2030” and the “Sustainable Development Goals” in national legal frameworks, development plans and national fiscal systems, a similar process is now emerging at the subnational level and requires tools and policy guidance for local states, provinces, and districts to localize (and track) the SDGs.

In this context, the UNDP Regional Hub for Asia-Pacific (BRH) developed the “Local and Urban Governance Diagnostic tool for SDGs” to provide ‘evidence-based’ information for subnational and local governments to mainstream relevant SDGs in local development plans and budgets (multi-year or annual), considering most critical priorities, vulnerabilities, resources but also local governance opportunities and challenges. The tool is piloted in Pakistan, Indonesia and the Philippines and has raised interest from countries beyond Asia-Pacific.

While UNDP will support the roll out of the tool in Asia-Pacific countries at the subnational/local level (starting with Myanmar in 2017) experience from the pilot countries highlighted the need for the tool to be enhanced to allow subnational/local governments to track and report on SDG progress.

In this context, UNDP wishes to procure the service of a senior consultant/researcher with recognized international expertise in developing/implementing research tools to monitor poverty and/or service delivery at the subnational/local level, particularly in the Asia and Pacific context.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective and Scope of Work

The main objectives of this consultancy are to: 1) support the rollout of the ‘Local and Urban governance diagnostic’ in selected countries (at the subnational/local level), 2) develop a tool/methodology to track SDG indicators at the subnational/local level, 3) provide technical recommendations to improve the tool’s overall efficiency and effectiveness and, 4) produce knowledge products on SDG localization.

More specifically, the consultant shall:

Support the rollout of the ‘Local and Urban governance diagnostic’ in selected countries (at the subnational/local level), this shall include desk work and missions to Myanmar, Philippines and possibly Vietnam (approx. 10-15 days of mission per country) to:

1. Build commitment and partnerships with national, local stakeholders and development partners for SDG localization and the use of the “Local and Urban governance diagnostic tool’.
2. Map and assess existing local development monitoring systems that can be utilized/adjusted to help plan and track SDG progress at the subnational/local level.
3. Conduct a data mapping of the indicators needed for the ‘Local and Urban governance diagnostic”. Suggest revision of indicators, modifications of data sources, adjustments of the methodology, etc.
4. Develop a consolidated set of tools (survey questionnaires) and guidelines for the “Local and Urban governance diagnostic” and for tracking SDG progress at the subnational/local level.
5. Define sampling methodology and implementation plan to conduct the ‘Local and urban governance diagnostic tool’ and ‘track SDG progress’ the at subnational/local level;
6. Identify and possibly out-source (with UNDP country office’s approval) national/local implementation partner/s (including: research institutes, government departments, local experts, NGOs, enumerators) (Note: In Myanmar, the budget for recruiting enumerators and collecting data will provided by UNDP CO).
7. Provide trainings and tools (including mentoring and on-the-job trainings) to implementing partners, enumerators and other relevant stakeholders.
8. Closely coordinate with the national/local implementing partner/s, enumerators and provide regular technical support and quality assurance (remote and country missions) during the entire process from planning, implementation, analysis and reporting.

The consultant will also closely work with the UNDP Regional Advisor on local governance and decentralization to:

1. Enhance the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the tool/s;
2. Develop additional modules and features, chiefly to track SDG progress and the subnational/local level; engage civil society and private sector, etc.
3. Liaise with IT/data visualization experts for the development of the online dashboard,
4. Produce a set of knowledge products (regional research paper, country case-study) based on a review of country experiences (i.e. The Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, Myanmar, etc.) in localizing the SDGs in Asia-Pacific, including utilization the ‘Local and Urban governance diagnostic tool’.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

1. Inception reports and implementation plans developed for Myanmar (by end of November 2017)
2. Local and Urban governance diagnostic tool’ enhanced, including with new indicators/methodology to track SDG progress at the subnational/local level (by end of November 2017)
3. Surveys and data collection conducted for Myanmar (by end of January 2018)
4. Data analysis and preliminary findings produced for Myanmar (by end of March 2018)
5. Knowledge products produced (at least 1 regional research paper and 3 country case-studies) based on a review of country experiences in localizing the SDGs in Asia-Pacific

• First case study by end of November 2017
• Second and third case study by end of March 2018
• Regional research paper on SDG localization at subnational level by end of March 2018

              6. Final report and recommendations (by 15 April 2018)

Institutional Arrangement

The consultant will work under the overall supervision of Regional Programme Advisor on Local Governance and Decentralization in the UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub and in close coordination with the relevant UNDP country office and the related local governance/SDG localization projects.

Duration of the Work:

The period of the assignment will cover maximum 45 working days between 15 October 2017 and 30 April 2018.

Duty Station:

This assignment is home-based and output-based with travel to selected countries in Asia-Pacific (incl. at subnational level).

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism.

Technical Competencies:

• Analytic capacity and demonstrated ability to process, analyse and synthesise complex, technical information;
• Proven ability to support the development of high quality knowledge and training materials, and to train technical teams;
• Proven experience in the developing country context and working in different cultural settings.

Communication:

• Communicate effectively in writing to a varied and broad audience in a simple and concise manner.

Professionalism:

• Capable of working in a high pressure environment with sharp and frequent deadlines, managing many tasks simultaneously;
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills.

Teamwork:

• Projects a positive image and is ready to take on a wide range of tasks;
• Focuses on results for the client;
• Welcomes constructive feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

Requirements for Experience adn Qualifications:

Education:

• PhD in social sciences, economics, international development or other related fields.

Experience:

• At least 15 years of relevant experience (incl. academic research) in local governance, local development, social sciences, public administration reform.
• Recognized international expertise in developing assessment tools and methodologies to track/monitor local development, and localized international development goals (such as MDGs and SDGs).
• Experience in producing and analyzing development data
• Experience working in Asia and the Pacific, including with local development actors.
• Ability to work under pressure and time constraint, and produce quality deliverables.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, especially in English.

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payment :

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Lump Sum Amount. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. The UNDP Regional Programme Advisor on Local Governance and Decentralization will review the quality of the deliverable and authorize payments as per the below payment schedule.

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the Cumulative analysis. The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70%). and financial criteria (30%). Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 700 points)

• Criteria 1: Relevance of Education (Maximum 200 points)
• Criteria 2: Mix of academic and practical experience in local governance, local development, social sciences, public administration reform (Maximum 125 points)
• Criteria 3: Relevance of experience in area of specialization (Maximum 125 points)
• Criteria 4: Excellent knowledge of the political, economic, social situation and local development for the Asia-Pacific (Maximum 125 points)
• Criteria 5: Proven ability to write papers that straddle the academic and implementation worlds (Maximum 125 points)

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% of the total technical points would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Documents to be Included When Submitting the Proposals:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document:

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability and Financial Proposal that indicates the daily rate/fee of the candidate, in USD.
• Personal P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate
• Brief documents/reports (or hyperlinks) highlighting the applicants previous work/research related to monitoring of local development indicators preferably in Asia-pacific.

Incomplete proposals may not be considered.

Annexes:

Annex I - TOR_ Senior Consultant for the enhancement and roll out of the “Local and Urban Governance Diagnostic tool for the SDGs” in Asia-Pacific.  (Ver.181017)

Annex II- General Condition of Contract

Annex III - Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual IC, including Financial Proposal Template

All documents can be downloaded at :http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=41041