| Overview : To apply, interested persons should upload the combined* Technical Proposal/Methodology (if applicable), CV and Offeror’s Letter to “UNDP Jobs” by navigating to the link below and clicking “APPLY NOW”, no later than the date indicated on the “UNDP Jobs” website. Applications submitted via email will not be accepted**: - UNDP Job Site – https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=94848 (cut and paste into browser address bar if the link does not work) * PLEASE NOTE: The system allows the upload of one (1) document ONLY – if you are required to submit a Technical Proposal/Methodology, this document along with your CV/P11 and Offeror’s Letter, MUST be combined and uploaded as one. NOTE: The Financial Proposal should not be uploaded to “UNDP Jobs” **. <IMPORTANT> **Please email the password-protected Financial Proposal to procurement.bb@undp.org. The subject line of your email must contain the following: “BBRSO##### Financial Proposal – Your Name” If the password for your Financial Proposal is required, it will be requested by the Procurement Unit. Any request for clarification must be sent in writing to procurement.bb@undp.org within three (3) days of the publication of this notice, ensuring that the reference number above is included in the subject line. The UNDP Barbados & the Eastern Caribbean Procurement Unit will post the responses*** two (2) days later, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to: - http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=71791 (cut and paste into browser address bar if the link does not work) A detailed Procurement Notice, TOR, and all annexes can be found by clicking the above link. *** UNDP shall endeavour to provide such responses to clarifications in an expeditious manner, but any delay in such response shall not cause an obligation on the part of UNDP to extend the submission date of the Proposals, unless UNDP deems that such an extension is justified and necessary. Background: The Joint Programme “Universal Adaptive Social Protection to Enhance Resilience and Accelerate the SDGs” is the first UN joint initiative to be implemented in the Eastern Caribbean under the Joint SDG Fund “Leave no one behind and Social Protection” window to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs. The Joint Programme (JP) aims to strengthen people’s resilience through predictable access to adaptive and universal social protection in Saint Lucia, Barbados, and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) from January 2020 to January 2022. It will be implemented by five UN participating Agencies: UNICEF and the World Food Programme (WFP) as co-leads, in cooperation with the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Women. The Joint Programme amounts to a total of USD 4.8 million, including USD 3 million from the SDG Fund plus agencies’ contributions. Through UN inter-agency collaboration, the Joint Programme addresses existing bottlenecks in social protection at three levels: the community level, the national level with governments and key institutions, and at the regional level with other OECS countries through the OECS Commission. The programme will utilize research, analysis, monitoring and evaluation to support the evidence-based development of an adaptive system progressively moving towards universal coverage of social protection, while facilitating replication and expansion to Eastern Caribbean Countries (ECC) through (sub)regional exchange under the OECS framework. This will also include strengthening the OECS Commission to support the scale-up and sustainability of interventions and implementation across the ECC. Ultimately, the JP will support vulnerable communities to have increased access to social protection programmes that are gender-sensitive and risk-informed and, at national level, governments will be better able to assess the needs of the population and better use social protection systems to reduce poverty and to minimize the impact of shocks on vulnerable populations. UNDP’s expertise and experience directly relevant to the Joint Programme includes its support to poverty and inequality reduction and integrating gender equality and climate change considerations into programmes. The agency has led the development of institutional policies for national and sector-level climate change adaptation, through the formulation of National Adaptation Plans in Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Guyana and Suriname. Working with International Financial Institutions (IFI), regional institutions such as the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), national and local governments, UNDP has supported the design of preparedness policies and systems, including Early Warning Systems (EWS) in Barbados, Dominica, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and worked directly with communities in Dominica to undertake emergency response training. UNDP as a Participating UN Agency (PUNO) will contribute five activities under two outputs in the joint programme for Saint Lucia and Barbados related to strengthening institutional capacities for integrated service delivery and supporting innovative finance for sustainable and adaptive social protection systems and programmes. Following the design of the JP, the COVID-19 pandemic was identified in the Caribbean in March and, in response, the Saint Lucian Government implemented a state of emergency, closed its borders and instituted a partial evening curfew until April 1st when it implemented a 24-hour curfew for 1 week. This was followed by the reintroduction of a partial curfew. It launched its economic relief programme on April 29th. This quick response, coupled with contact tracing, contained the spread of the virus to just 27 cases, with no fatalities. Prior to the pandemic, tourism directly and indirectly comprised 42 percent of GDP and accounted for 50 percent of employment. As a result of the months long border closure and subdued tourism sector globally, the loss of jobs and economic activity is expected to increase the rate of indigence from 1.3 percent to 18.3 percent.[1] Even after the restart of the crucial tourism sector, it is likely that deep recessions across the island’s main trading partners, consumer uncertainty, and more specifically uncertainty about air travel, will strongly suppress new demand for tourism services. A UNDP/UN Women/UNICEF Human and Economic Impact Assessment (HEAT) of the COVID-19 pandemic projected that in 2020, 2 in every 5 individuals of working age would be unemployed as a result of a double-digit decline in GDP. These impacts will be compounded exponentially in the event of a second wave of the disease, the probability of which has increased since May, with the OECD projecting that this would reduce global output by a further 1.5%. The UN Agency joint report concluded that these factors would lead to a significant increase in the levels of poverty, particularly among women and children. In addition to the responses of the existing social protection system, the Government has responded to the increased social protection needs through a series of policy measures including shoring up the National Insurance Corporation (NIC) and extending benefits to non-contributing workers who have become unemployed to ensure continued basic services for those who are affected, particularly the most vulnerable. Nonetheless, it is unclear whether the scale and scope of these measures were and are enough to cover the needs of the most vulnerable and, more specifically, whether the measures responded to the differential needs of women and men. This analysis will be crucial in improving the targeting of these social protection interventions and ensuring that the systems do not reinforce existing structural inequalities. [1] UNICEF (2020) The socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on children and young people in the Eastern Caribbean Area, p.13. | 
