Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. 

Since 2012 UN Women Bangladesh Country Office (BCO) has been working on Disaster Risk Reduction/Climate Change Adaptation (DRR/CCA) supporting disaster and climate vulnerable women from the most disaster-prone parts of the country and generating knowledge through series of research and studies to create evidence on how gender inequality drives vulnerability and marginalization and determine ways in which achieving gender equality can lead to a more resilient and empowered Bangladesh. UN Women’s efforts to mainstream gender in DRR/CCA & humanitarian policies strategies and actions, with the belief that such gender responsive DRR/CCA & humanitarian programmes and policies will lead to resilience building and empowerment of women and girls, is acknowledged by the stakeholders.  UN Women has been able to motivate some of the concerned parties through knowledge generation and sharing, advocacy and field operation as show case, to strive for achieving gender targets in Sendai framework. 

UN Women together with UNDP and UNOPS have jointly developed a 4-year programme, the “National Resilience Programme”, combining its technical fields of expertise – notably in risk governance, disaster risk reduction, gender mainstreaming in policies and programmes, and infrastructure resilience. The National Resilience Programme aims to sustain the resilience of human and economic development in Bangladesh through inclusive, gender responsive disaster management and risk informed development. It will address national capacity to manage risks from natural hazards and achieving resilience against disaster and climate shocks and stresses. The programme will be implemented by 4 government agencies namely Department of Disaster Management (DDM), Department of Women Affairs (DWA), Programming Division of Planning Commission and Local Government and Engineering Department (LGED) with technical support from UN Women, UNDP and UNOPS.

UN Women Bangladesh is seeking to recruit a National Consultant to provide the required financial/procurement/administrative support to Department of Women Affairs in delivering National Resilience Programme. Further details of the expected roles and responsibilities for the consultant are found below:

Duties and Responsibilities

The Consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Programme Specialist -DRR,CCA,HA, to ensure achievements of following tasks:

• Provide administrative and logistical support to Department of Women Affairs part of National Resilience Programme 

i. Provide administrative support to DWA on routine delivery and reporting of programme supported activities and finances; 

ii. Organize and maintain files, communication products; maintain mailing lists.

iii. Assist sub-project team for procurement of equipment and services as appropriate;

iv. Manage payroll of DWA support staffs;

v. Prepare monthly GoB Reports 

vi. Deposit VAT & Tax to GoB Treasury comply with Govt. policies

vii. Undertake all logistical, administrative and financial arrangements for organization for meetings, workshops, events, and missions;

viii. Make travel arrangements for the Programme Team, PD and GoB officials including travel requisitions and claims;

ix. Provide administrative support for the audit of programmes/ projects and support implementation of audit recommendations;  

x. Undertake project closure formalities including submission of terminal reports, transfer and disposal of equipment, processing of semi-final and final revisions, and support professional staff in preparing the terminal assessment reports;

xi. Draft minutes in meetings, as delegated; 

xii. Drafting letters (Bangla and English), translating document

• Provide support the country office finance business processes mapping and monitoring and implement the internal standard operating procedures in finance in consultation with the direct supervisor and office management:

I. Prepare detailed cost estimates and participate in budget analysis and projections as Required

II. Maintain financial records for UN Women and government/national counterparts as required

III. Timely review of cash position for local accounts to ensure sufficient funds on hand for disbursements.

IV. Timely identification and recording of receipts for income application.

V. Daily review of zero-balance account bank statements in Atlas to monitor impress level; identification and recording of contributions

VI. Daily and accurate preparation of bank reconciliations

VII. Timely preparation of Monthly Cash Flow forecast for use by Finance Officer; and Liaison with UN Agencies to obtain estimates of their cash requirements.

VIII. Prepares periodic accounting records by recording receipts and disbursement (ledgers, cash book, vouchers etc.) and reconciling data for recurring or financial special reports.

IX. Compiles and verifies budget and accounting data by researching files, calculating costs and estimating anticipated expenditure from readily available information sources under the project;

X. When authorized, make disbursement from petty cash fund, maintains record of these disbursements and balance accounts as required;

XI. Responsible for financial closure of all relevant components under the programme including submission of Terminal Report, transfer and disposal of equipment and processing semi-final and final revisions

• Provide administrative support to the financial management of National Resilience Programme

i. Provide administrative support in monitoring and preparation of budget and the finances of programmes/projects, and in the preparation of FACE forms;

ii. Prepare the Fiscal Year budget and clearing the fund in timely manner;

iii. Checking the accounts of departments of line Ministry

iv. Process all types of payment requests for settlement purpose including quarterly advances to the partners upon joint review with the PD following the existing UN Women financial rules and regulations;

v. Maintain of financial statement and monitoring of GoB expenditure (GoB economic code wise)

vi. Provide support to maintain the NEX accounts

vii. Ensure submission of the financial reports of GoB monthly, quarterly and yearly and as and when required;

viii. Raising E- requisitions in Atlas for development projects; register good receipts in Atlas.

ix. Prepare periodic accounting records by recording receipts and disbursements (ledgers, cash books, vouchers, etc.) and reconciling data for recurring or financial special reports;

x. Prepare quarterly Fund Authorization and Certification of Expenditures (FACE) and ensure timely submission to UN Women;

xi. Comply and verify budget and accounting data by researching files, calculating costs, and estimating anticipated expenditures from readily available information sources, in particular partner agencies;

Others 

i. Any other related activities as assigned by PD, DWA and UN Women Programme Specialist.

In addition to general administration responsibilities, also supervise directly and indirectly tasks of the other support staff under the project

Deliverables linked with Mileston Payment: 

Duration of Assignment and Duty Station: The consultant is expected to be based in Department of Women Affairs in Dhaka from 1st June 2021-31st December (20 working days each Month). total 140 w/d over a period of seven month 

Supervision and performance evaluation:

The national consultant will receive guidance from the Programme Analyst and will be under the direct supervision of the Programme Specialist- DRR,CCA,HA.

INPUTS:

UN Women will provide of office space at DWA and other logistics support (laptop, internet, talk time) to support day by day administrative works and perform the deliverables

Travel and DSA:

No DSA will be paid at the duty station. If unforeseen travel outside the duty station is required for this assignment, upon prior agreement/approval from UN Women such travel expenses shall be borne by UNWOMEN and the individual contractor/SSA shall receive a per-diem not to exceed United Nations daily subsistence allowance rate in such other location(s) and actual travel cost.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UN Women;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Accounting or related field.

Experiences

• Minimum 07 years of relevant work experience in programme finance, administration, procurement and programme management support;
• At least 03 years of experience in working for UN Agencies is essential;
• Experience working with Government (based in government office) is must;
• Knowledge of gender issues is an asset.

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

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, only  and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the SSA in completing the assignment.
The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon
completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below percentages

Evaluation Method and Criteria:
Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology.

Cumulative analysis-

The award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant up on Cumulative Analysis/evaluation and determined as:
1. Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
2. Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the
solicitation;
Only candidates obtaining a minimum 70 mark in technical evaluation will be considered eligible for financial evaluation.
Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 70 points out of 100)

Criteria-01; Educational Qualification- Max Point 10
Criteria-02; Experience in programme operations (finance, administration, procurement etc.) - Max Point 15
Criteria-03; Experience in working for UN Agencies - Max Point 20

Criteria-04; Experience in working with Government (based in government office)- Max Point 25

The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 70. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Only the candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% of total points (49) will be considered as technically-qualified candidate.

Interested candidates will submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications.
 

To be included as part of the proposal:

• A brief expression of interest: a brief narrative presenting your suitability for this assignment ·
• UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment
• Sample work
• Financial proposal: Propose the daily fees in BDT ( per date rate * 140 days). No other charges will be quoted. If there is any nominal logistical cost, taxes, commission etc may occur from Candidate’s side, will be included in daily rate Personal History Form (P11)
• Sample of at least two relevant evaluation reports. 

Only applications including all items mentioned above will be considered.

NOTE: Documents required before contract signing:

UN Personal History Form;
Full medical examination and Statement of Fitness to work and travel for consultants with travel involved. (This is not a requirement for RLA contracts);
Security Certificate BSAFE: EN: https://agora.unicef.org/course/info.php?id=17891
Individual subscribers over 65 years of age are required to undergo a full medical examination including x-rays at their own cost and obtaining medical clearance from the UN Medical Director prior to taking up their assignment;
Release letter in case the selected consultant is government official.
Only applications will all items mentioned above will be considered

Note: The individual consultant who does not meet the above eligibility criteria shall not be considered for further evaluation. Necessary documentation must be submitted to substantiate the above eligibility criteria