Background

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a global organization with 18,000 staff working in approximately 170 offices globally. UNDP works in development and crisis settings with the aim to achieve the eradication of poverty, reduction of inequalities and exclusion, and sustained development results. Coming together under the new framework of the Global Policy Network (GPN), the Crisis Bureau (CB) and the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) sit at the core of UNDP’s global policy, programming, and knowledge capacities for crisis prevention and recovery.

The current revitalization of these functions aims to better capture UNDP’s knowledge, innovation and good practices and lessons learned from country, regional and global experience, drawing from a network of internal and external expertise, in order to address complex problems. To this end, UNDP has re-established Communities of Practice (CoPs), of which UNDP has a rich history, to promote and support knowledge flows within and across the GPN areas of work and enrich UNDP’s global policy and programme functions.

HIV, Health and Development (HHD)

UNDP’s Strategic Plan 2018-2021 sets out the direction for a new UNDP, optimized to help countries achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. UNDP’s work on HIV and health makes a powerful contribution to the new Strategic Plan and to Agenda 2030 and the commitment to ‘leave no-one behind’. The 2030 Agenda and SDGs recognize that health and development are intrinsically linked, and that investments in health and other areas of development are mutually reinforcing.

UNDP is a founding cosponsor of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), a partner of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and a co-sponsor of several other international health partnerships. UNDP’s work on HIV, health and development, as described in the HIV, Health and Development Strategy 2016-2021: Connecting the Dots, leverages UNDP’s core strengths and mandates in human development, governance and capacity development to complement the efforts of specialist health-focused UN agencies. UNDP delivers three types of support to countries in HIV, health and development. 

First, UNDP helps countries to mainstream attention to HIV and health into action on gender, poverty and the broader effort to achieve and sustain the Sustainable Development Goals.  For example, UNDP works with countries to understand the social and economic factors that play a crucial role in driving health and disease, and to respond to such dynamics with appropriate policies and programmes outside the health sector. UNDP also promotes specific action on the needs and rights of women and girls as they relate to HIV.

Second, UNDP works with partners to address the interactions between governance, human rights and health responses. Sometimes this is done through focused or specialized programmes, such as promoting attention to the role of the law and legal environments in facilitating stronger HIV responses, including the use of flexibilities in intellectual property law to lower the cost of drugs and diagnostics. UNDP also works to empower and include marginalized populations who are disproportionately affected by HIV, such as sex workers, men who have sex with men and people living with HIV. Beyond these focused efforts, UNDP plays a key role in ensuring attention to HIV and health within broader governance and rights initiatives, including support to municipal action on SDGs, sustainable responses for Health and HIV such as improving sustainability of AIDS financing, sustainable health procurement, strengthening of national human rights institutions and increasing access to justice for key populations.

Third, as a trusted, long-term partner with extensive operational experience, UNDP supports countries in effective implementation of complex, multilateral and multisectoral health projects, while simultaneously investing in capacity development so that national and local partners can assume these responsibilities over time. The UNDP/Global Fund partnership is an important part of this work, facilitating access to resources for action on SDG 3 by countries that face constraints in directly receiving and managing such funding.  UNDP partners with countries in crisis/post-crisis situations, those with weak institutional capacity or governance challenges, and countries under sanctions. When requested, UNDP acts as temporary Principal Recipient in these settings, working with national partners and the Global Fund to improve management, implementation and oversight of Global Fund grants, while simultaneously developing national capacity to be able to assume the Principal Recipient role over time.

In 2020, UNDP will assume the chairmanship of the UNAIDS Committee of Cosponsoring Organizations (CCO). The CCO serves as the forum for the Cosponsoring organizations to meet on a regular basis to consider matters concerning UNAIDS, provide input into UNAIDS policies and strategies and acts as a standing committee of the UNAIDS Program Coordinating Board (PCB). The CCO Chair represents the interest of all UNAIDS Cosponsors, facilitates communication with the Secretariat, coordinates and convenes the UNAIDS Global Coordinators (GC) meetings and acts as a lead voice of the cosponsors at the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB).

In 2019, as part of the establishment of the GNP, the HHD Group launched the Community of Practice (CoP) on HIV and Health. The CoP plays a vital role in taking advantage of existing networks, both internal and external to UNDP. The CoP on HIV and Health aims to improve programming and delivery on the ground through streamlined real-time advice and practical support, to support delivery of the accountabilities under the UNAIDS Unified Budget, Results and Accountability Framework (UBRAF).

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the Manager SDGs and UNAIDS, the consultant will act as CCO Liaison Officer, contributing to the coordination of CCO related activities and facilitate the CoP on HIV and Health to support delivery on the UNDP accountabilities under the UBRAF. In this role the Liaison Officer will work closely with the UNAIDS Secretariat and collaborate with all UNAIDS Cosponsors and HHD global and regional teams.

The CCO Liaison Officer will:

• Support UNDP in its role as the CCO Chair including preparation for CCO and GC meetings in coordination with the UNAIDS Secretariat and undertake follow-up actions with Cosponsors as needed and requested. This will amongst other areas involve assisting in drafting the agenda of CCO and GC meetings, taking notes at CCO and GC meetings (and in related meetings/conference calls), and assisting in drafting reports and minutes;

• Assist in strengthening collaboration between UNDP, the UNAIDS Secretariat and other Cosponsoring Organizations and partners, including playing a positive role in the smooth flow of information among the Cosponsors, the Secretariat and UNDP as the CCO Chair;

• Assist in the preparation of presentations of the Chair of the CCO to the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board;

• Represent and maintain excellent relationships with the UNAIDS Secretariat and the Cosponsors;

• Facilitate the CoP on HIV and Health, including fostering active engagement among CoP members and scanning the internal and external environment for relevant content for the CoP members;

• Provide support on any other tasks relating to UNDP’s role as CCO Chair.

Duration

• The contract will enter into effect upon signature of both parties and is expected to last for one (1) year with a maximum of 261 days.

Fees

• The consultant will quote his/her fee  based on an all-inclusive daily rate including all foreseeable expenses

Payment:

• Payments will be made based on the completion of tasks and upon submission of a time sheet and certificate of payment request, indicating deliverables achieved and days worked to be verified and cleared for payment by the direct supervisor.

Travel:

 The consultant will be based in New York and is expected to undertake the following travel during the assignment:

• Three missions to Geneva (5 days each), dates to be determined;

• All travel including unforeseen missions must be agreed upon with the supervisor prior to travel and will be paid by UNDP in accordance with the UNDP travel policy. All related travel costs for missions as indicated above must be excluded from the financial proposal;

• The fare will always be “most economical” and any difference in price with the preferred route will be paid for by the expert;

• The Security in the Field courses must be successfully completed prior to commencement of travel;
• 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 ttps://dss.un.org/dssweb/;
• Consultants are responsible for obtaining security clearances and any visas needed in connection with travel with the necessary support from UNDP.

Institutional Arrangements:

•  The consultant will be office based;
• The consultant will report to and be directly supervised by the Manager SDGs and UNAIDS in the UNDP HIV, Health and Development Group, based in New York;
• The Consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment;
• The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own laptop.

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 favoritism.

Functional Competencies:

• Ability to integrate knowledge with broader strategic, policy and operational objectives;
• Ability to analyze and understand development cooperation, with emphasis on functional issues related to analysis, advocacy, and partnership building.
• Professional and/or academic experience in one or more of the areas of the health and development field.

Project and Partnership Management:

• Ability to produce high quality outputs in a timely manner while understanding and anticipating the evolving client needs.
• Ability to focus on impact and results for the client, promoting and demonstrating an ethic of client service.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Ability to work independently, produce high quality outputs.
• Sound judgment, strategic thinking and the ability to manage competing priorities.

Communications:

• Strong ability to write clearly and convincingly, adapting style and content to different audiences and speak clearly and convincingly.
• Strong analytical, research and writing skills with demonstrated ability to think strategically.
• Strong capacity to communicate clearly and quickly.
• Strong inter-personal, negotiation and liaison skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

 ·        Graduate degree in social policy, public policy, politics, economics, development studies, knowledge management or a related area.

Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of professional working experience in relevant fields related to HIV and health (required);
• Proven experience in coordination and organizing and managing events and workshops;
• Proficiency and proven experience in the use of Microsoft Office suite (e.g. Word, Excel, Power Point), Microsoft SharePoint web-based platforms and Yammer or other relevant social media-based platforms/tools, as well as experience in the development of presentations, organization of webinars is required.
• Country office experience with UN organizations or with UNDP (desirable).

Languages:

• Fluency and excellent writing and communication skills in English.

Evaluation Method

• Applicants will be screened against qualifications and competencies specified below through a desk review and interview process. Applicants will be evaluated based on: Combined scoring method that combines the results of technical (70%) and financial (30%);
• The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:             

1. Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
2. The highest ranked e based on a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the evaluation criteria.

Evaluation Criteria

Technical Evaluation Criteria (maximum 70 points):

• Technical evaluation will include an interview (education and Professional experience 45 points + interview 25 points) only persons obtaining a minimum of 32 points will be invited for interview. Only the top 5 candidates will be interviewed;
• Of the total 70 points only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points will be considered technically responsive.