The UNODC POPHL is providing technical assistance to the Asian Center for Drug Policy (ACDP), the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) for the Drug Recovery in the Philippines: Strengthening Evidence-Based Policies and Practice (tentative title), to be held in April 2021.  The Conference, which is structured as a series of four weekly webinar-forums, is aimed at recognizing that drug use and drug use disorders are a significant public health problem in the Philippines, and at generating solutions, measures, policies to better manage it.

The Conference will have four themes:  1) Magnitude of the Problem (international and local); 2) Public health consequences of drug/substance use (at the individual, family, community and societal levels); 3) The Science of Drug/Substance Use (biomedical/clinical and socio-cultural); and 4) Public health policies and interventions (prevention, diagnosis, treatment, recovery and reintegration).  A summary of recommendations and resolutions will be presented in the last session of the series.

The methodology includes lead discussion groups for each major theme, which groups shall be tasked with: 1) performing exhaustive literature review on the theme/topic; 2) receiving and reviewing local research paper submissions; 3) recommending speakers/panelists for the webinar/forums, 4) formulating an executive summary based on literature review and worthwhile local papers; and 5) organizing the specific webinar to present executive summary followed by research presentations (pre-taped video or poster presentations).

The Asian Center for Drug Policy is a fledgling consortium that envisions itself to be “a regional coalition of academic institutions, civil society organizations, government agencies and private organizations that promote objective and open dialogue on the effectiveness, direction and content of drug policies at the national and regional level.  It shall co-create, deploy and disseminate evidence-based, comprehensive and integrated solutions to the problem of drug abuse in particular and substance abuse in general.”  (2018, ACDP MOU).  Until August 2019, the Secretariat was housed at the Development Academy of the Philippines which “subsidized” the technical and administrative secretariat services. Since September 2019, however, this subsidy had run out, and there has been no formal designation of a secretariat.

UNODC POPHL aims to provide technical support in the form of Technical and Administrative Secretariat Services to the Asian Center for Drug Policy for the Research Conference and complementing activities. This activity comes under the RenewHealth/USAID project through its Year 2 funding, and contributes to the achievement of Output 3.1.2 CBDR Policy Research and Development.

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK

For the period 15 January  to 14 June 2021, the Consultant will provide administrative and technical secretariat services to the Research Conference organizing team.  Consultant will be directly reporting to and supervised by the Senior Policy Adviser of UNODC Manila.

OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The UNODC seeks a consultant to support the implementation of activities under the Health and Drugs programme, particularly for the activity indicated above. The Individual Consultant shall provide technical and administrative secretariat services to the UNODC and the Asian Center for Drug Policy.

Under the supervision of the UNODC Senior Resident Policy Advisor in the Philippines, the Consultant will organize, coordinate and document meetings of the Research organizing team, and the thematic area teams.

The following task and deliverables table shall guide the Consultant’s work:

INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT

Under the supervision of the Health and Drugs Team together with the UNOC Senior Resident Policy Advisor, the consultant is expected to constantly update the Senior National Program Officer on the progress of his/her work related to the project, at least weekly during the contracting period, to ensure that targets are met in a timely manner. 

DUTY STATION AND DURATION OF WORK

Duty Station: Manila, Philippines (with possible travel within the country) The Consultant is expected to work remotely and provide his/her own laptop, workspace, internet connection for the work requirement. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and declaration of State of Public Health Emergency in the Philippines, all work and travel of the Individual consultant shall be done within the guidelines and protocols set by the local and national government and in compliance with community quarantine policies.

Duration of work: 65 person days spread over 5 Months (schedule of report submissions and other related documents is as indicated in the Expected Outputs and Deliverables clause). Regular updating/reporting to the designated coordinator assigned for the particular project is as stated above.  

Competencies

Corporate Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN mission, vision, values, and ethical standards
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Promotes UNDP’s agenda in meetings

Other Competencies

• Ability to work in close collaboration with a group of national and international experts, to meet strict deadlines and plan the work according to priorities;
• Demonstrates capacity to plan, organize, and execute effectively;
• Initiative, good analytical skills, mature judgment and ability to work under tight schedule while respecting deadlines achievement, ethics and honesty;
• Ability to establish effective working relations in a diverse environment
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Builds strong relationships with internal and external clients;
• Demonstrated ability to function in a team environment and to deal with complex multi- stakeholder environment
• Good ability to use information and communication technologies as tools and resources;
• Excellent written communication and presentation/public speaking skills, focus on results, ability to interact productively in a teamwork environment

Required Skills and Experience

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF THE BEST OFFER

All applications will be reviewed by the UNDP Philippines’ evaluation committee.  An assessment of the best offer will be made using a Combined Scoring method where the qualifications will be weighted 70% and the financial proposal or price offer will be weighted 30%. 

Minimum passing score is 70 over 100 obtainable points. Only those who obtain the minimum passing score will be considered qualified and shortlisted. 

SCOPE OF PRICE PROPOSAL AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS

1. The Contractor should send the financial proposal based on a lump-sum amount for the delivery of the outputs identified below. The total amount quoted shall be “all inclusive” (professional fees X number of person-days, communications, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor should be factored into the final amount submitted in the proposal. 
2. Travel, as deemed relevant by UNDP and compliant with government guidelines on community quarantine, will be arranged and paid for by UNDP and should not be included in the financial proposal.
3. Medical/health insurance must be purchased by the individual at his/her own expense, and upon award of contract, the Contractor must be ready to submit proof of insurance valid during contract duration
4. The contract price will be fixed output-based price..
5. Payments will be done upon satisfactory completion of the delivery by target due dates. Outputs will be certified by the Senior Policy Advisor prior to release of payments.

Recommended Presentation of Offer

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
2. UNDP Personal History Form (P11) or Curriculum Vitae (following the template attached) indicating all past experiences from similar projects or requirements, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
3. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided, and clearly stating the payment percentage as indicated in this TOR. If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA),the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.  

Offerors must upload in one (1) file the aforementioned documents (1-3). They must submit the abovementioned documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications at the given link https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=96215. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document. 

Incomplete submission of required documents may result in disqualification.

Please see deadline of submissions above.

In view of the volume of applications UNDP receives, only shortlisted offerors will be notified.