| Overview : TERMS OF REFERENCE Reference | PN/FJ/046/19 | Location | Home based with a 2 days travel to Moorea, French Polynesia, additional travels might be required | Application deadline | 17th July 2019 | Type of Contract | Individual Contractor | Post Level | International Consultant | Consultancy Title | Parliamentary Oversight of Climate Finances Methodology | Languages required: | English | Duration of Initial Contract: | 30 days between the July to the November 2019 |
BACKGROUND Public Finance Management is throughout the Pacific a topic of importance for international and local partners equally. Numerous stakeholders, institutions and international actors have been engaged in reinforcing the frameworks, tools and actors linked to PFM. Parliament and supreme audit institution function in public financial management across the Pacific Islands region have been identify as an area requiring strengthening. A specific focus of UNDP in this regard is the parliament’s role in budget scrutiny; effective external audit of government budget execution by the supreme audit institutions, inclusion of citizens and civil society in budget processes, thorough and transparent parliamentary oversight of the external audit, and follow-up with government on recommendations. Strengthening of public Finance Management and Governance in the Pacific Project (hereafter PFM) aims to strengthen oversight over public financial management in the Pacific region, though improving the budgetary scrutiny, public financial oversight and accountability capacities of parliaments, supreme audit institutions and civil society within the region, aligning with international public financial oversight and accountability standards, and fostering citizen engagement and oversight. Strengthening of Public Finance Management project is funded by the European Union (EU) and Implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Public Finance Management (PFM) and Governance is an emerging topic in the UNDP Pacific Office, deriving from ground work done mainly through the anti-corruption and parliament projects as well as the Pacific Risk Resilience Project. This work on Climate Finance has resulted in the development and testing in the region of climate tagging tools as well as capacity building of Ministries to better identify and document the investments that were made related to disaster preparedness. Parliaments, Supreme Audit Institutions and engaging with climate The Agora platform, which compiles resources on Parliament work, notes that “where climate change is being ‘mainstreamed’ across a range of sectors and departments, effective oversight requires considerable coordination. The responsible parliamentary committee needs to monitor the government department responsible for climate change, but also the relevant budget lines and activities housed in other departments. Most notably this will include departments of energy, infrastructure and planning or agriculture and economics, but as climate change is mainstreamed into more and more fields, virtually all departments will have some activities aimed at tackling climate change and building resilience.” In 2017, the Nepalese Parliament and UNDP published a Climate Finance Handbook which provided a comprehensive look into the roles and tools that could allow Parliamentarians to monitor and exert oversight on Climate Finances. The handbook and most of the existing tools for Parliament rely heavily on the level of sophistication and detail provided on climate finance by the Public Finance Management system of the country. In the Pacific this is often a challenge as climate tagging is only in its infancy and public finance management systems are rarely digitized. Parliamentarians therefore heavily rely on research and analytical capacity within and outside their institution to be able to scrutinize climate finances. This consultancy aims at identifying innovative tools and approaches that could enhance this scrutiny and oversight while taking into account the reality of public finances in the Pacific. The consultancy will work closely with the Resilience and Sustainable Development portfolio of UNDP and the Parliamentary support projects of the Effective Governance portfolio. |
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Scope of Work The objective of this consultancy is i) conduct a desk-based review of tools and resources available for Parliaments, CSO and Supreme Audit Institutions to engage in monitoring of specific cross-sector issues such as climate change finance; ii) present to the Polynesian Parliamentary President’s Conference on the potential entry points for Parliamentary oversight work on cross-cutting PFM issues such as climate and blue economy; and iii) in coordination with the Resilience and Sustainable Development team of UNDP Pacific, finalize recommendations on entry points, guidelines on tools and activities and proposed workplan to implement activities to be implemented under the PFM project. Expected Outputs and Deliverables The key products to be delivered are as follows: No | Deliverable schedule | Indicative completion date | No of working days | 1 | Draft report (around 10 pages) including: - Overview of existing platforms, tools and initiatives on oversight/accountability of Public Finances attached to cross-cutting issues and more specifically climate finance, inclusive of tools developed to track SDG related expenditures;
- Specific overview of initiatives existing in the Pacific including implementing partners and results;
- Synthesis of emerging lessons learnt/debates/way forward in the oversight of PFM related to cross-cutting issues including potential international standards/guidelines produced on related questions;
- Initial recommendations on entry points in the Pacific region, taking into account the current level of PFM system sophistication and capacity of Parliament, SAI and civil society.
| 25th August 2019 | 15days | 2 | Presentation on the above report including feedback from UNDP Pacific office, at Polynesian Parliamentary President’s Conference | 10th September 2019 | 5 days – inclusive of travel | 3 | Report (est.5 pages max) on the consultations held with UNDP Pacific relevant teams, country specific contacts provided by UNDP and feedback from regional conference including: - Refining of recommendations on entry points for activities on oversight and accountability of climate finances by Parliament (primary target), SAI and CSO (secondary targets) in the Pacific region;
- Based on preliminary selection with UNDP, description of suggested tools
| 5th October 2019 | 5 days | 4 | Based on feedback and consultations held by/with UNDP, draft a workplan/concept note (10-15 pages max evolving from deliverable 3 report) for the activities to be undertaken under the PFM project and in partnership with the Resilience and Sustainable Development UNDP Pacific team on Climate Finance oversight in the Pacific including: - Target audience identification and description (specific group within Parliaments for instance);
- Methodology of specific tools selected from previous report;
- Proposed timeframe and strategy for implementation;
- Identification of entry points for projects working on climate finance to collaborate with initiative;
- Presentation on workplan for target audience (power point/other) for further dissemination, kick-start of activities.
| 10th November 2019 | 5 days |
Timeframe The envisaged time frame of the consultancy is a total of 30 days between the f July to the November 2019. The duty station for this assignment is home based with a 3 days mission to Moorea, French Polynesia. Travel costs to and from Moorea and living expense during mission will be covered by consultant (to be included in Financial Proposal). In the eventuality unforeseen additional missions to the Pacific or beyond are required, UNDP will cover the travel and per diems at UNDP official rates. The Consultant Profile The prospective consultant should have some experience working with and/or advising on climate finance, PFM oversight or other relevant field. Institutional Arrangement The Consultant will report to the Project Manager, Public Finance Management Project, Effective Governance. Reporting is to be undertaken as per Deliverables and Activities outlined above. The Consultant to provide their own IT (computer). |
COMPETENCIES Corporate competencies: - Demonstrates integrity and fairness by modelling UN values and ethical standards;
- Demonstrates professional competence and is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results;
- Display cultural, gender, nationality, religion and age sensitivity and adaptability.
Functional Competencies: - Demonstrated ability to work harmoniously in a multi-cultural environment;
- Ability to work on own initiative as well as a member of a team and to work under pressure;
- Excellent relationship management;
- Excellent communication, facilitation, presentation and reporting skills;
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REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE Education - Minimum Master’s level qualification in domains related or relevant to to Governance, Accountability, Parliament, Public Financial Management or Climate action;
Experience - At least 5 years of experience working on either/or _or a mix of_ Public Financial Management, Parliament, Supreme Audit Institution, Climate Finance, cross-cutting issue oversight and accountability, experience in the Pacific Islands Region preferred but not essential;
- Experience working with and in-depth understanding of parliamentary functioning essential, preferably on oversight functions, demonstrated understanding of PFM oversight mechanism and Climate Finance an advantage;
- Demonstrated experience in researching and writing analytical reports in English on related issues, ideally on Parliamentary oversight of climate finance;
- Previous experience working with Parliament (preferred), SAI or civil society on their oversight capacity and in developing countries will be a distinct advantage.
PRICE PROPOSAL AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS Daily Fee The IC shall quote an all-inclusive Daily Fee for this consultancy work. The term “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, consumables, etc.) that could be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment are already factored into the daily fee submitted in the proposal. If applicable, travel or daily allowance cost (if any work is to be done outside the IC’s duty station) should be identified separately. Payments Payments shall be done on a monthly basis and based on actual days worked, and upon verification of completion of deliverables and approval by the IC’s supervisor of a Time Sheet indicating the days worked in the period. General Notes on Financial Offer - • UNDP shall not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the Consultant wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using his/her own resources;
- • In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed;
Cumulative analysis The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70%). and financial criteria (30%). Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment. Technical Evaluation Method and Criteria The candidates meeting the minimum requirement will be assessed on the following basis: Criteria 1 | Experience working on either/or _or a mix of_ Public Financial Management, Parliament, Supreme Audit Institution, Climate Finance, cross-cutting issue oversight and accountability, experience in the Pacific Islands Region preferred but not essential. | 20% | Criteria 2 | Experience working with and in-depth understanding of parliamentary functioning essential, preferably on oversight functions, demonstrated understanding of PFM oversight mechanism and Climate Finance an advantage; | 20% | Criteria 3 | Demonstrated experience in researching and writing analytical reports in English on related issues, ideally on Parliamentary oversight of climate finance | 10% | Criteria 4 | Previous experience working with Parliament (preferred), SAI or civil society on their oversight capacity and in developing countries will be a distinct advantage | 10% | Criteria 5 | Minimum Master’s level qualification in domains related to Governance, Parliamentary work, Public Financial Management including Finance, Accounting, Economics. | 10% | Financial offer | 30% |
Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation. Payment for Services The International Consultant – Parliament and Climate Finance shall receive payment in four instalments from UNDP as follows: - 30% Upon signature of the contract and submission of timeline for deliverable 1;
- 40% Upon submission and clearance of Deliverable 3;
- 30% Upon submission and clearance of Deliverable 4.
DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS. Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document: - Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP (Annex II).
- Personal CV, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references.
- Financial proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided (Annex II)
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Incomplete, joint proposals and proposals sent to the wrong mailing address will not be accepted. Individuals applying for this consultancy should apply and will be reviewed based on their own individual capacity. The successful individual may sign an Individual Contract with UNDP or request his/her employer to sign a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA) on their behalf by indicating this in the Offerors letter to Confirming Interest and Availability using Annex II. Annexes Proposal Submission All applications must be clearly marked with the title of the consultancy and submitted by 5.00pm, 17 July 2019 (Fiji Time) electronically to etenderbox.pacific@undp.org. For further information concerning this Terms of Reference, please contact, UNDP Pacific Office on email: vaseva.cerelala@undp.org Incomplete applications will not be considered, and only candidates for whom there is further interest will be contacted. Women applicants are encouraged to apply |
Annex II OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP CONFIRMING INTEREST AND AVAILABILITY FOR THE INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTOR (IC) ASSIGNMENT Date (Name of Resident Representative/Bureau Director) United Nations Development Programme (Specify complete office address) Dear Sir/Madam : I hereby declare that : I have read, understood and hereby accept the Terms of Reference describing the duties and responsibilities of [ indicate title of assignment] under the [state project title]; I have also read, understood and hereby accept UNDP’s General Conditions of Contract for the Services of the Individual Contractors; I hereby propose my services and I confirm my interest in performing theassignment through the submission of my CV or Personal History Form (P11) which I have duly signed and attached hereto as Annex 1; In compliance with the requirements of the Terms of Reference, Ihereby confirm that I am available for the entire duration of the assignment, and I shall perform the services in the manner described in my proposed approach/methodology which I have attached hereto as Annex 3 [delete this item if the TOR does not require submission of this document]; I hereby propose to complete the services based on the following payment rate : [pls. check the box corresponding to the preferred option]: An all-inclusive daily fee of state amount in words and in numbers indicating currency] A total lump sum of state amount in words and in numbers, indicating exact currency], payable in the manner described in the Terms of Reference. For your evaluation, the breakdown of the abovementioned all-inclusive amount is attached hereto as Annex 2;
I recognize that the payment of the abovementioned amounts due to me shall be based on my delivery of outputs within the timeframe specified in the TOR, which shall be subject to UNDP's review, acceptance and payment certification procedures; This offer shall remain valid for a total period of ___________ days [minimum of 90 days] after the submission deadline;
I confirm that I have no first degree relative (mother, father, son, daughter, spouse/partner, brother or sister) currently employed with any UN agency or office [disclose the name of the relative, the UN office employing the relative, and the relationship if, any such relationship exists]; If I am selected for this assignment, I shall [pls. check the appropriate box]: Sign an Individual Contract with UNDP; Request my employer [state name of company/organization/institution] to sign with UNDP a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), for and on my behalf.The contact person and details of my employer for this purpose are as follows:
I hereby confirm that [check all that applies]: At the time of this submission, I have no active Individual Contract or any form of engagement with any Business Unit of UNDP; I am currently engaged with UNDP and/or other entities for the following work :
Assignment | Contract Type | UNDP Business Unit / Name of Institution/Company | Contract Duration | Contract Amount | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Assignment | Contract Type | Name of Institution/ Company | Contract Duration | Contract Amount | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
I fully understand and recognize that UNDP is not bound to accept this proposal, and I also understand and accept that I shall bear all costs associated with its preparation and submission and that UNDP will in no case be responsible or liable for those costs, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the selection process.
If you are a former staff member of the United Nations recently separated, pls. add this section to your letter: I hereby confirm that I have complied with the minimum break in service required before I can be eligible for an Individual Contract. I also fully understand that, if I am engaged as an Individual Contractor, I have no expectations nor entitlements whatsoever to be re-instated or re-employed as a staff member.
Full Name and Signature: Date Signed : Annexes [pls. check all that applies]: CV or Duly signed P11 Form Breakdown of Costs Supporting the Final All-Inclusive Price as per Template Brief Description of Approach to Work (if required by the TOR)
BREAKDOWN OF COSTS SUPPORTING THE ALL-INCLUSIVE FINANCIAL PROPOSAL Breakdown of Cost by Components:
Cost Components | Unit Cost | Quantity | Total Rate for the Contract Duration | - Personnel Costs
| | | | Professional Fees | | | | Life Insurance | | | | Medical Insurance | | | | Communications | | |
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