Background

UNCDF is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s least developed countries. It creates new opportunities for poor people and their communities by increasing access to microfinance and investment capital.  UNCDF focuses on Africa and the poorest countries of Asia and the Pacific, with a special commitment to countries emerging from conflict or crisis.  It provides seed capital – grants and loans – and technical support to help microfinance institutions reach more poor households and small businesses, and local governments finance the capital investments – water systems, feeder roads, schools, irrigation schemes – that will improve poor peoples’ lives.

Recently, UNCDF has formulated its strategy ‘Leaving no one behind in the digital era’ based on over a decade of experience in digital finance in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. UNCDF recognizes that reaching the full potential of digital financial inclusion in support of the Sustainable Development Goals aligns with the vision of promoting digital economies that leave no one behind. The vision of UNCDF is to empower millions of people by 2024 to use services daily that leverage innovation and technology and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. Please refer to the link for further information: https://www.uncdf.org/article/4931/global-strategy-leaving-no-one-behind-in-the-digital-era

UNCDF launched its Digital Finance interventions in Nepal in 2013 and focused on creating an inclusive environment for inception and scale-up of digital financial services.  UNCDF has been supporting the digital financial service providers, banks and other stakeholders in the country to develop the eco-system. 

In 2017, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank of the country, issued the Payment Service Provider (PSP) license to the first set of non-bank companies. This led to a growing number of registered customers using mobile wallets for a range of payment services. UNCDF worked with its partners IME Digital and Prabhu Pay to implement and scale last mile adoption of digital financial services. Considering Nepal is an agro based economy with more than 60% of her population engaged in agriculture, UNCDF with its partners Prabhu Management, SunFarmer and Swift/IME Digital developed use cases around dairy value chain digitization, Pay-as-you-go for solar irrigation pumps, farm operations digitization and digital credit market place. These pilots provided in-depth learning on linking digital with agriculture to drive adoption of digital services at the last mile.

In 2018, NRB launched the Nepal Financial Inclusion Portal with technical support from UNCDF. NFIP is a data reporting and management tool that allows NRB to automate data collection and map level of financial inclusion in the country. UNCDF is also closely engaged with NRB, to support in formulation of data-based policies.

In 2019, UNCDF provided Laxmi Bank investment and technical support for delivering data-driven remittance-linked financial services that leveraged blockchain technology. UNCDF is also supporting Prabhu Management co-design digital credit products for smallholders together with dairy cooperatives. 

These interventions are generating a plethora of data points that hold potential for creating new opportunities for sustainable development and inclusive growth. UNCDF requires the advisory services of a Data Consultant to:

1. Set up UNCDF’s data collection system for partner interventions in country.
2. Conduct research on thematic topics relevant to UNCDF’s country learning agenda.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Research and Results Measurement Analyst (RRM Analyst) and Regional Technical Specialist - Asia, the Data Consultant will:

1.  Set up UNCDF’s data collection system for partner interventions in country:

• Develop a data system that tracks aggregated programme results. 
• Design partner monitoring tools and train partners in data collection and reporting.

• Analyse project and programme performance and extract relevant findings for strategic decision-making.

2.  Conduct research on thematic topics relevant to UNCDF’s country learning agenda:

• Identify secondary datasets and research relevant to the implementation of the programme and develop and update the country evidence base.
• Conduct analysis of secondary sources on digital financial services uptake and usage to identify to programme priorities and inform market engagements.
• Conduct thematic research on financial health and the digital economy using primary and secondary data sources.

The table below shows the detailed activities and deliverables and indicative timeline and estimated efforts.

Competencies

• Excellent organizational, inter-personal and communication skills;
• Able to work effectively in a team and in an international environment;
• Excellent writing and data analysis skills, proven ability to extract actionable insights from data.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

A Bachelor’s degree in economics, statistics, public/business administration, social sciences, technology or related discipline. A Master’s degree in the same is preferable but not mandatory.

Experience: 

• At least two (2) years of experience in conducting data analysis, developing analytical reports and dashboards to inform strategic decision making in the public or private sector is mandatory;
• At least one (1) year working knowledge of current developments in fields of big-data, data collection and analysis programs, GIS mapping and reporting methods is preferable but not mandatory;
• Experience in conducting socioeconomic research is preferable but not mandatory;
• Experience in innovation and technology for inclusive finance is preferable but not mandatory.

Language:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of Nepalese or Hindi is preferred, but not mandatory

Timeline, duration of assignment, duty station and expected places of travel:

• Timeline: April 2020 – March 2021
• Kathmandu, with local travel
• Total Number of Working Days for Assignment: Up to 200 working days within 12 months

Standard travel costs and living expenses:

Home-based with internal travel as requested by UNCDF. Travel will be processed according to UNCDF Policies.

Progress Controls & Payments:

Payment will be made against satisfactory completion of each deliverable. All payments shall be disbursed only upon written confirmation of acceptance of the outputs and authorization for payment by the Research and Results Measurement Analyst (RRM Analyst). Disbursement of the final payment shall require a signed performance evaluation of the consultant.  

The payment schedule will be as follows:

Application:

Interested individuals must submit the following as proposals in order to demonstrate their qualifications: (NOTE: the system does not allow multiple uploads of document. Applicants must make sure to upload all documents in one PDF file).

All applications must contain the following information:

• Cover letter with a summary statement of competencies in relation to the TOR deliverables; Earliest availability and proposed schedule for consultancy;
• Curriculum Vitae and or Completed P11 Personal History Form with names and current contacts of 3 referees (available from http://sas.undp.org/documents/p11_personal_history_form.doc);
• Financial proposal for the full assignment outlining: Total professional fee (including other professional expenses, such as insurance, taxes, etc. Please use the form available at http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=29916).  

  Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.

   

  Please note that UNCDF cannot guarantee residence permits or visas for consultants. Consultants are responsible for securing their work documentation. In the case of national consultants, applicants that are not nationals of the duty station requested will have to prove their residence status. 

  ?Evaluation: 

  Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

• Preliminary Evaluation - Step I: Screening;
• Technical Evaluation Weight - 70% x (Step II: 20 Points + Step III: 30 Points + Step IV: 50 Points = 100 Points);
• Financial Evaluation Weight - 30% = Step V.

Step I: Screening

Applications will be screened and only applicants meeting the mandatory criteria (listed under education and experience) will progress to the pool for shortlisting.

Step II: Desk Review – 20 points

UNCDF will conduct a desk review to produce a shortlist of candidates and technically evaluate the candidates. Only candidates that obtained 80% of the points at this stage shall be invited for the next step.

Shortlisting scoring:

20%- Education/Qualification;

50%- Mandatory Experience;

30%- Preferred Experience.

Step III: Written test – 30 points

A written test will be administered to the top 4 shortlisted candidates. The test will be scored with pass/fail, the minimum score to pass being 70%.

Step IV: Interview – 50 points

A competency-based interview shall be conducted for all the candidates who passed the written test.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% on the total of Steps II (20 points) + III (30 points) + IV (50 points) will be considered as technically qualified and will be reviewed further for financial evaluation.

Step V: Financial Evaluation

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

Lowest priced proposal/price of the proposal being evaluated x 30.

Award Criteria

The contract shall be awarded to the applicant whose offer have been evaluated and determined as: Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and having received the highest combined weight technical (desk review, written test and interview) 70% + financial 30% = 100%.

Both individual consultants and individuals employed by a company or institution are welcome to apply.  

Any individual employed by a company or institution who would like to submit an offer in response to a Procurement Notice for IC must do so in their individual capacity (providing a CV that their qualifications may be judged accordingly).

Women candidates or women-owned businesses are strongly encouraged to apply.