Procurement Notices

1. BACKGROUND

1. The UN Volunteer (UNV) Programme (Headquarters in Bonn, Germany), administered by UNDP, promotes volunteering for peace and development.  Volunteering is an important means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the world leaders in September 2015. 
2. Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has been supporting UNV’s activities through Japan Trust Fund, mainly to promote Japanese nationals’ global leadership development and active participation in the UN System’s development work.  One of the MOFA-funded programmes is the “Program for Global Human Resource Development for Peacebuilding and Development through Volunteer Assignments”.  This program has been effective and expanding over the past nine years, providing opportunities for Japanese young and mid-career professionals to be assigned to diverse UN entities to acquire practical knowledge, skills and field experience to contribute to UN peace and development activities.  Replicating the success of this programme, a new thematic initiative, “Japan-UNV Global Health Volunteers Initiative” is proposed to be supported by the Japan Trust Fund, in line with the health-related SDGs and Japan’s policy priorities.
3. Japan’s Strategy on Global Health Diplomacy (June 2013) sets a vision to prioritize global health in its foreign policy and to promote Universal Health Coverage (UHC), which is among the 17 SDGs. The Government of Japan (GoJ) has been a key player in mainstreaming global health issues in the international policy dialogues, based on the concept of UHC. GoJ announced in February 2016 its “Basic Plan on Strengthening Counter-measures for Infectious Diseases that Pose a Threat to Global Society”.  This Plan highlighted the urgency of “capacity building of global health experts who will serve for UN agency or related organization”.   In May 2016, GoJ-hosted G7 Summit announced “G7 Ise-Shima Vision for Global Health”.  Moreover, one of the three pillars of the Sixth Summit of Tokyo International Conference on Africa’s Development (TICAD VI), to be held in Nairobi in August 2016, is “Resilient Health Systems for Quality of Life”.  These policies guide GoJ’s future actions and health partnerships in the international community.  

2. SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ANALYTICAL WORK

Under the overall supervision of Chief, Partnerships and Communications Division at UNV Headquarters in Bonn, Germany, and in close communications with the UNV Liaison Analyst assigned in UNDP Tokyo Representation Office, the Consultant is expected to perform the following duties:

Major tasks:

1. Analyze the implementation mechanism, success factors and lessons learned related to the “Program for Global Human Resource Development for Peacebuilding and Development through Volunteer Assignments”, so as to inform the design of newly proposed “Japan-UNV Global Health Volunteer Initiative” to be funded by Japan Trust Fund. 
2. Scan, map, analyze and identify, through in-depth profiling and relevant stakeholder consultations, the most relevant, capable and willing entity(ies) that can collaborate with UNV, as a national coordinator in charge of identification/recruitment of suitable candidates for UN Health Volunteer assignments and pre-assignment orientation/training for the “Japan-UNV Global Health Volunteer Initiative”.  This task needs to be informed by thorough understanding of GoJ’s current policy imperatives related to ODA, international cooperation through the UN System especially UNV, global human resources development, as well as UNV’s Strategic Framework and Partnerships Strategy.
3. Based on tasks 1) and 2), recommend the most suitable Japanese entity(ies), equipped with required resources, institutional set-up, experiences and track record in the global public health capacity building and international development cooperation, that can be designated as a national coordinator for “Japan-UNV Global Health Volunteer Initiative”.

Expected deliverables:

1. Progress report at mid-point.
2. Final report with recommendations of the national coordinator for “Japan-UNV Global Health Volunteer Initiative”, with succinct analysis of each relevant entity identified through this consultancy.

Note:

1. UN Health Volunteer assignments for Japanese nationals will cover a wide range of areas essential for global health and UHC.  These will include, inter alia, health systems development, health emergency preparedness and management, infectious diseases early warning system/control/response, community mobilization, health/hygiene education/communications/advocacy, water/sanitation and health data management. It is anticipated that candidates’ profiles will include general practitioners with clinical experience, medical specialists, maternal and newborn health practitioners, midwives, community organizers in refugee camps/host communities, training of health personnel, health-related data specialists, health communications specialists, partnership building and stakeholder coordinators. 
2. As a pilot, priority countries will be selected from the regions in the greatest needs including Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle-East (e.g. refugee health crisis).
3. Identified Japanese young and mid-career professionals will attend a pre-assignment training (duration TBD), to be implemented by a suitable organization in Japan.
4. UNV coordinates the UN Volunteer assignments with relevant UN entities, such as UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, UN Women, UNHCR and WHO, for Japanese nationals (e.g. government/municipality officials, private sector employees, lab technicians, researchers, data analysists, graduate students, NGO staff, etc.).  Detailed criteria for selection of candidates will be established.