Background

United Nations Development Program (UNDP) works to support the ongoing peace and confidence building process by promoting initiatives that encourage dialogue and cooperation between the communities of Cyprus.

The European Commission, as part of its support to confidence building measures, initiated a new "Support to the Bi-Communal Technical Committees Facility". This support facility will seek to enable cooperation and to build confidence with a view to contributing to a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus issue.

The Bi-Communal Technical Committees were established by the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities under the auspices of the United Nations, to address issues that affect the day-to-day life of people, through encouraging and facilitating greater interaction and understanding between the two communities.

Technical Committee on Health is now implementing  a bi-communal project for identification and distribution of vectors of medical importance in Cyprus. As part of the project, a surveillance network will be established with the aim to:

• Identify mosquito vectors both native and invasive species at an island level focusing in regions at higher risk for disease transmission
• Map mosquito distribution to prioritize regions for which enhanced measures should be taken to control the mosquito population to promote public health
• Enhance capacity building of local communities to identify mosquitoes of medical significance and to perform surveillance programs
• To increase public awareness on protection measures against mosquito bites

Within this context, UNDP is seeking a Quality Control / Quality Assurance (QC/QA) Expert to support the Project scientists and to ensure overall project quality control / quality assurance.

Duties and Responsibilities

The QC/QA Expert will be expected to travel to Cyprus twice during the Project’s timeline and will spend 3 days onsite per each mission. Dates for local presence required for the purpose of this assignment will be communicated to the Consultant at least 1-month prior to the expected mission dates.

Under the overall guidance of the Programme & Communications Analyst and in collaboration with the Scientists and Co- Chairs of the Technical Committee on Health, the QC/QA expert will be responsible for:

• Quality control at each stage (data collection, analysis and reporting);
• Assisting the local scientists with development of management plans including standardized protocols for monitoring;
• Review and quality control of the Layman’s Report

Deliverables / Outputs

• Deliverable/output 1: Quality control of management plans including standardized protocols for monitoring;
• Deliverable /output 2: Quality control of the Layman’s Report

Competencies

Professionalism

• Shows pride in work and in achievements.
• Demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter.
• Is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results.
• Is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns.
• Shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations.

Communication

• Speaks and writes clearly and effectively.
• Listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately.
• Asks questions to clarify and exhibits interest in having two-way communication.
• Demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.

Planning & Organizing

• Identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required.
• Allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work.
• Foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning.
• Monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary.
• Uses time efficiently.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: 

• PhD Degree in Medical Entomology

Experience: 

• At least 10 years of relevant international work experience in similar projects
• Completion of at least 4 similar projects

Language Requirements: 

• English language

Application:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• CV or Personal History (P11): Applicants are required to submit CV or a P11 Form. The UNDP P11 Form can be downloaded from: http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/corporate/Careers/P11_Personal_history_form.doc

• Reference; Contact details of 3 references.

Financial Proposal:

Applicants are requested to submit financial proposal in Euro for the outputs listed below which should be detailed as follows:

The financial proposal shall cover all expenditures including fees, health insurance, vaccination, international (all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel) or local travel (place of residence to office and office to place of residence), cost of living and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services. Leave benefits (annual, sick, paternity, maternity) are not applicable to Individual Contractors and absent days including weekends and office holidays are not payable.

Logistics of the Assignment:

The Consultant shall arrange her/his own travel and accommodation. Please note that the consultant will need to provide his/her own laptop and other relevant equipment for working purposes.

Evaluation / Selection Process

All applicants will be screened against qualifications set above. Candidates fully meeting the requirements will be further evaluated based on the criteria below.

Technical Criteria (CV review and interview/desk review) – 70% of total evaluation– max. 70 points

CV review: 20 points:

• Educational qualification as defined in the ToR (10 points)
• Experience as defined in the ToR (10 points)

Only candidates who obtained at least 70% of points from the CV review (who will score at least 14 points) will be eligible to be invited for an interview/desk review.

Interview/Desk review: 50 points

• Relevant work experience - 50

Only those individual consultants who obtained at least 70% of points from the CV review and Interview/desk review (49 out of 70) will be considered for financial proposal evaluation.

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 30 points.

Financial scores will be calculated using the formula [lowest offer / financial offer of the candidate x 30].

UNDP applies the “Best value for money approach” – the final selection will be based on the combination of the applicants’ qualification and financial proposal.

Payment Term:

Payments shall be made upon the submission and certification of each output ,the certification of payment.