Procurement Notices

Consultancy Title:   Transparency and Accountability Consultant

Project Name: Governance for Resilient Development in the Pacific (Gov4Res)

Duty Station: Fiji (60%) and Bangkok (40%) with travel to Asia Pacific countries

Tentative Travel

Duration of the Contract:

• Contract period: Six months 
• Number of working days: 131 working days (21.75 days per month) 
• Commencement and ends dates of assignment: 1st July – 31st December 2020

Consultancy Proposal (CV & Financial proposal Template) should be uploaded on UNDP e-tendering Portal (https://etendering.partneragencies.org) ID Ref: 0000005913 no later than, 22nd  May 2020 (New York Time). Any proposals received after the due date/time will not be accepted. Any request for clarification must be sent in writing, or by standard electronic communication to procurement.fj@undp.org. UNDP will respond in writing or by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all consultants. Incomplete, late and joint proposals will not be considered and only offers for which there is further interest will be contacted. Failure to submit your application as stated as per the application submission guide (Procurement Notice) on the above link will be considered incomplete and therefore application will not be considered.

NOTE:

Proposals must be sent/uploaded through UNDP e-tendering Portal. Candidates need to upload their CV and financial proposal -using UNDP template

If the selected/successful Candidate is over 65 years of age and required to travel outside his home country; he/she will be required provide a full medical report at their expense prior to issuance to contract. Contract will only be issued when proposed candidate is deemed medically fit to undertake the assignment.

Objectives

The assignments under this ToR are aligned to Output 2 under Gov4Res project and Output 3 of the GCCF project. Under the Gov4Res, the assignments are framed around output indicator “2.1 Accountability: there is risk informed, independent scrutiny of government” and “2.2 Voice of society: there is risk informed engagement and scrutiny by civil society”. Under GCCF, the assignments will be carried out in responding to Output 2 and 3 with a focus to effectively deliver Output Indicator “3.1 Number of pacific island countries with increased capacity to implement climate related budget reforms that integrate gender, human rights and poverty considerations” with particular activities related climate audits, engaging with parliamentarian for budget scrutinizing with climate change perspective. The assignment in order to support output 3 and 4 which pertain to regional support will also require supporting countries in Asia for instituting reforms that are to be replicated across the region.

Background

The Gov4Res Project works with Pacific island countries to ensure that countries adapt their decision making and governance systems towards more resilient development. The projects theory of change rests on a core assumption that Pacific island people will be more resilient to the impacts of climate change and disasters if countries manage all development through a risk-informed approach. This is consistent with the Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific (FRDP) which calls for the ‘mainstreaming’ of climate and disaster risk treating risk management as fundamental to all development decisions.

The Gov4Res project has three outcomes areas: 1) government planning and financing systems enable gender and socially inclusive risk-informed development; 2) country oversight and accountability systems require gender and socially inclusive risk-informed development; and 3) regional organisations, policies and practices are actively supporting gender and socially inclusive risk-informed development.

The project is being delivered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pacific Office, in partnership with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

In Asia, Strengthening the Governance of Climate Change Finance to Enhance Gender Equality (GCCF) has been supported by the government of Sweden. Support to Pacific is one of key components of GCCF programme and within that support accountability and transparency activities around strengthening key institutions (such as Parliaments, SAIs and CSOs). This entails supporting parliament for budget scrutiny with climate change lens, working with PASAI for working on different options for expenditure audits, possibly climate performance audits. This will lead to government being held accountable for effective climate investment in Pacific. The project has also a strong regional angle and supports south- south and peer to peer learning for replication of reforms across the region. This provides an opportunity of taking reforms from Pacific to South and East Asian countries and vice versa. 

Scope of work/Expected Output

The consultant is required to work with UNDP Fiji Office and SDG Finance Team at UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub to support the implementation of the ongoing Gov4Res Project in the Pacific, and the GCCF regional project in Asia. The consultant will provide technical inputs on specific products, with a focus on governance, transparency, accountability, engagement with CSOs and parliaments in Pacific countries and Asia.

The consultant is also expected to provide substantive and administrative support in reporting to the donors of the project, including progress reports, and country work-plans. The scope of works can be divided into 3 areas:

• Support an implementation of the overall Output 2 both under Gov4Res project in the Pacific and Sweden supported GCCF.
• Provide technical inputs and quality assurance on the delivery of output 3.1 under Sweden supported GCCF project in Asia.
• Provide substantive support in reporting to the project donor, in particular progress reports, and work-plans for both Gov4Res project in the Pacific and Sweden supported GCCF.

Submit the expected written outputs above in printed and soft versions; MS Word (.doc) format including power point presentation. Final evaluation report to be submitted in English.

Resources Provided

The consultant will be provided with working space in the UNDP Pacific Office and UNDP Bangkok Office, as and when necessary. The consultant is responsible for his/her own computer but can use UNDP printing facilities as well as internet access as needed, while on the UN premises.

Supervision/Reporting

The Transparency and Accountability Consultant will work under the supervision of the Gov4Res Project Manager at the UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji and the Governance and Public Finance Management Specialist (GCCF Project Manager) at UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub.

Requirement for Qualifications & Experience

The consultant should possess the following competencies:

• At least 10 years of proven experience working with government partners. Working with high-level officials in Asia is an asset.
• Demonstrated, substantive knowledge on governance, and accountability issues
• Proven experience in policy analysis, and advisory role to senior government stakeholders.
• Excellent analytical and writing skills
• Excellent organizational and communication skills.
• Proven experience in overseeing and ensuring technical soundness of research and analysis products
• Work experience in an international organization is an advantage.
• Knowledge of UNDP’s policies, procedures and practice is an asset.
• Ability to work as a part of a team, sharing information and coordinating efforts with multi-country teams

Qualifications:

• Education:

Minimum Masters degree in development studies, political science, law, social sciences, or other related fields. 

• Language Requirements:

Excellent English communication skills, both written and oral

Payment Schedule (if required):

The method of payment is output-based lump-sum scheme. 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, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. The payments shall be released upon submitting the required deliverables with satisfactory by or before the due dates agreed with the team as per below percentages:

Evaluation

Cumulative analysis

The proposals will be evaluated using the cumulative analysis method with a split 70% technical and 30% financial scoring. The proposal with the highest cumulative scoring will be awarded the contract. Applications will be evaluated technically and points are attributed based on how well the proposal meets the requirements of the Terms of Reference using the guidelines detailed in the table below:

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract may 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 a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation where technical criteria weighs 70% and Financial criteria/ Proposal weighs 30%

• Technical Criteria weighting; 70%

• Financial Criteria weighting; 30%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the Technical Evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation. Interviews may be conducted as part of technical assessment.

Proposal Submission

Shortlisted candidates may be contacted for an interview.

Offerors must send the following documents.

• CV including names/contacts of at least 3 referees.
• A cover letter indicating why the candidate considers himself/herself suitable for the required consultancy
• Completed template for confirmation of Interest and Submission of Financial Proposal.

Individuals applying for this consultancy 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

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on a 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, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC 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.

In general, UNDP shall not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their 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 the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Bid Submission Address

https://etendering.partneragencies.org

BU Code: FJI10

Event ID: 0000005913

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Please use the bidder’s guide for submission of proposal

For any clarification regarding this assignment please write to procurement.fj@undp.org

Women candidates are encouraged to apply.

• *The Fiji Office covers Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu