Senior – Consultant to Develop a Programme Document at UNDP

Job Overview 

• UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.
• UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

• The UNDP Regional Service Centre for Africa (RSCA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with additional offices in Dakar, Senegal and Nairobi, Kenya, and a Finance Sector Hub in South Africa, serves UNDP’s 45 Country Offices in sub-Saharan Africa and develops high-quality knowledge and policy. RSCA is the organisation’s main interface with regional and continental bodies such as the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities and implements UNDP’s Regional Programme for Africa. The Regional Programme supports Africa’s transformation agenda by 1) enhancing inclusive and sustainable growth, 2) widening political participation and giving everyone a voice, and 3) developing responsive institutions which deliver desired services and promote inclusive processes of state-society dialogue. Other areas of work led from the Centre on a regional and continent-wide basis include: supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), improving countries’ public finance management, mitigating the impact of HIV and AIDS, building capacity for disaster risk management and climate change mitigation and adaptation, enabling access to sustainable energy and sustainable use of natural resources, promoting gender equality and empowerment, and enhancing food security in the Sahel. The Centre also provides support to countries on aid and development effectiveness and South-South Cooperation.
• The Inclusive Growth (IG) Team, RSCA focuses on integrating UNDP’s economic, social and environmental work into a coherent sustainable development policy and programming framework. It seeks to provide an integrated package of services covering all strands of sustainable development, in particular on inclusive and sustainable growth that improves productivity, inclusion, resilience and maintains and improves natural capital and the environment. Within the sustainable development framework and the evolving COVID-19 pandemic impacts in Africa, IG Team’s work is increasingly integrating poverty, inequality, economic growth, employment and livelihoods and social protection with ecosystems, biodiversity, climate change and access to green energy with the particular focus on the informal economy.
• Indeed, in the evolving aftermath of the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic much attention has been brought on the informal economy in Africa. This was driven by the fact that the informal economy contributed significantly to GDP and was by far the main source of income and employment in sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for up to 85.8 percent of all forms of employment, yet this significant population continues to exist outside formal arrangements and often found to be living on the edge: highly vulnerable to poverty, low earnings and irregular incomes and bad working conditions.
• Unsurprisingly, the immediate response to the pandemic largely consisted of addressing the immediate health and formal economy needs as well as generating the evidence of the socioeconomic impacts at the country and regional levels to design more effective national recovery plans. Although African governments initial relief measures focused heavily on sectors such as airline losses, trade, infrastructure, and formal businesses, there has been unprecedented emergence of the recognition that the heaviest impacts could be in the informal economy as evidence of impacts trickled through to the formal economy, and for that matter to the large populations engaged in the informal economy. Recent World Bank estimates suggest that between 42-49 million people – largely in the informal economy in sub-Saharan Africa – will be pushed into extreme poverty this year.
• While the COVID-19 pandemic has brought the informal economy to the centre stage in sub-Saharan Africa, wide-ranging knowledge of effective policies and programmes to trigger recovery and sustain inclusive and resilient growth remain limited. Current policy and programmatic approaches, on the one hand, have focused on a generic private sector development approach from a supply-side perspective to improve the productivity of beneficiary informal MSMEs through the provision of access to resources (business skills, finance and technologies) without paying much attention to the specific needs of the more marginal, vulnerable informal actors for tailored products and services that ensures economic inclusion. On the other hand, policy and programmatic approaches have adopted a safety-net perspective and focused on the provision of immediate relief or short-term injection of cash to informal workers and MSMEs without considering the longer-term, perpetual needs for building productive capacities, resilience (such as through extension of social protection), and sustainability (supporting greener approaches).
• Both approaches crucially do not pay much attention to giving voice and empowering the informal economy actors, particularly the more marginal and vulnerable workers and MSMEs, to shape and tailor data and analysis and policy and programmatic approaches that reflect their needs and aspirations. Finally, both approaches largely neglect the required support to the viability and creativity of informal economy to be an engine of innovation and growth.
• The IG Team believes that a new integrated approach to engaging and empowering the informal economy is needed to overcome the shortcomings of current policy and programmatic approaches, which do not take sufficient account of economic inclusion, empowerment and the long-term needs of recovery and sustainable, inclusive and resilient growth that are being demanded. Current approaches risk the exclusion of the very informal economy actors that need the most support and/or without due consideration of their specific needs and aspirations, as well as not being couched in the long-term needs of the informal economy actors. Put differently, the approach sees the development of integrated policy and programmatic approaches through the eyes of informal economy actors, from the assets and strategies they adopt to the constraints and challenges they face in achieving sustainable and trans-formative jobs, livelihoods, and MSMEs. For example, can social assistance play a formidable role in enabling the more marginal, vulnerable informal economy actors to gain equal opportunities to access resources (skills, finance, technology, etc.) that improves their productivity and production. Furthermore, can deliberate programmatic approaches help informal workers manage risks and losses of income associated with the precariousness of their employment and livelihoods. And finally, can social assistance be applied to incentive’s the innovation capabilities of the informal economy.
• The overall objective of this assignment is the conceptualization and development of an integrated programmatic approach – through the development of a programme document – that addresses the multidimensional challenges and opportunities facing informal economy actors and crucially sees these actors as agents of change and transformation of their lives, livelihoods, economies, communities and countries.

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF THE WORK

• Under the direct supervision of the Policy Specialist, Social Protection and Inclusive Growth and Policy Specialist, Economics, Inclusive Growth Team of UNDP RSCA, the select consultant will develop a programme document by undertaking the following tasks:
• Hold regular consultative meetings with the IG Team to develop a good understanding of the assignment as well as the knowledge and technical resources required to prepare the programme document.
• Develop a draft annotated outline for the programme document to be shared with the direct IG Team supervisors and finalize it after feedback is received.
• Assemble existing data on the informal economy in sub-Saharan Africa (including from the ongoing project on community-based social protection) including in different country contexts for the relevant sections of the programme document.
• Also, engage select colleagues of UNDP Accelerator Labs, and in particular, the innovative data generated through informal economy actors on their needs, coping and adaptative solutions, and innovations for the relevant sections of the programme document.
• Based on the data and analysis generated and in further consultation with the IG Team, develop a draft integrated programmatic approach for consultations across RSCA thematic areas/teams and hubs.
• Hold consultations with RSCA thematic areas/teams (such as governance, gender, youth, digitization, accelerator labs, NCE, trade) and Regional Hubs on the initial integrated programmatic approach and explore areas of collaboration across thematic areas and country contexts.
• Finalize the integrated approach with concrete areas of collaboration identified with RSCA teams and Regional Hubs.
• Where required, identify, and explore external partnerships on specific thematic areas of the integrated programmatic approach not available internally in UNDP RSCA (teams and hubs).
• Develop a first draft of the programme document based on the information generated through data, analysis, and internal consultations for submitting it for review.
• Finalize the programme document based on the feedback received.

 EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND DELIVERABLE

• Annotated Outline of the Programme Document.
• Expected completion time:
• 10 Working days – the deliverable shall be reviewed and approved by Policy Specialist, Social Protection and Inclusive Growth, and Policy Specialist, Economics, Inclusive Growth Team, RSCASubmission of draft integrated programmatic approach for review and acceptance.

Expected completion time:

• 10 Working days – the deliverable shall be reviewed and approved by Policy Specialist, Social Protection and Inclusive Growth, and Policy Specialist, Economics, Inclusive Growth Team, RSCA.
• Submission and approval of the first draft of the Programme Document
• Expected completion time:
• 25 Working days – the deliverable shall be reviewed and approved by Policy Specialist, Social Protection and Inclusive Growth, and Policy Specialist, Economics, Inclusive Growth Team, RSCA
• Submission and approval of the finalized Programme Document.
• Expected completion time:
• 25 Working days – the deliverable shall be reviewed and approved by Policy Specialist, Social Protection and Inclusive Growth, and Policy Specialist, Economics, Inclusive Growth Team, RSCA

INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT / REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS

• The consultant will work under the guidance of the Inclusive Growth Team, RSCA. The consultant will however report directly to the Policy Specialist, Social Protection and Inclusive Growth and Policy Specialist, Economics and Poverty, Inclusive Growth Team, UNDP RSCA who will provide approval on and acceptance of outputs.
• The consultant is expected to engage with key RSCA Teams and Hubs identified for the purposes of enlisting collaboration on an integrated programmatic approach. The consultant is also expected to engage identified external partners where the direct supervisors feel there is a need to close a programmatic gap and develop partnerships.
• The consultant will be supported throughout the process of developing and finalizing the Programme Document through access to key documents, knowledge resources, Inclusive Growth staff, UNDP Accelerator Labs colleagues and data, as well as contacts and consultation arrangements with RSCA thematic teams and hubs.

 DURATION OF THE WORK

The duration of work will be 50 working days distributed over 3 months.

An estimated 5 working days of Lead Time (LT) will be allowed for the direct supervisors in the IG Team to review outputs, give comments, certify approval/acceptance of outputs, etc.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

• Knowledge of the diverse development constraints, challenges and opportunities related to the informal economy in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Broad-based knowledge of social protection approaches and mechanisms is a strong asset.
• Capacity to work in multicultural settings and engage and work with a diverse set of thematic and programmatic experts.
• Extensive experience in designing programmes and writing programme documents with a particular focus on deciphering and elaborating integrated programmatic approaches is a strong asset.
• Strong communications, networking and teamwork skills.
• The ability to deliver on a tight deadlines schedule is also an asset.
• Core Competencies:
• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.
• Required Skills and Experience

  Education:

• Master’s degree in development studies, social policy, public policy, politics, economics, or a related area

Experience:

• 10 solid years of progressively responsible experience in programme design and development with a particular emphasis on innovation and integrated approaches.
• Language: Excellent knowledge of English, including the ability to set out coherent and compelling descriptions and arguments in programmatic design and programme documents;
• Capacity to communicate fluently with different thematic and programmatic experts;
• Proficiency in French will be considered a strong asset.
• Important Note:
• The Consultant is required to have the above-mentioned professional and technical qualifications
• . Only the applicants who hold these qualifications will be shortlisted and contacted.

Price Proposal : The Consultant shall submit a price proposal in accordance with the below instructions:

• A Lumpsum Fee- The Consultant shall submit an all Inclusive Lump Sum Fee: which should be inclusive of his/her professional fee, local communication cost, insurance (inclusive of medical health). The number of working days for which the daily fee shall be payable under the contract is
• 50 working days.
• Evaluation Method And Criteria: Upon the advertisement of the VA, a qualified Individual Consultant is expected to submit both the Technical and Financial Proposals. Accordingly; Individual Consultants will be evaluated based on Cumulative Analysis as per the following scenario:
• Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation. In this regard, the respective weight of the proposals are:
• Technical Criteria weight is
• 70%
• Financial Criteria weight is
• 30%
• Only candidates obtaining a minimum of
• 49 points in Technical Evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation
• Criteria Max & Points: Technical Competence (based on credentials and technical proposal): 70%
• Criteria a. Master’s degree in the preferred subject and high demonstration of knowledge and experience of the informal economy in Africa. 35 pts
• Criteria b. Sound knowledge and experience on the theme of social protection especially in Africa. 15 pts
• Criteria c. Demonstration of innovation and integrated programmatic design and development. 15 pts
• Criteria d. Proficiency in French. 5 pts
• Financial
• Max 30% – 30 Points

PAYMENT MILESTONES AND AUTHORITY

• The prospective consultant will indicate the cost of services for each deliverable in US dollars
• All-inclusive lump-sum contract amount when applying for this consultancy. The consultant will be paid based on the effective UN exchange rate (where applicable), and only after approving authority confirms the successful completion of each deliverable as stipulated hereunder.
• The qualified consultant shall receive his/her lump-sum service fees upon certification of the completed tasks satisfactorily, as per the following payment schedule:
• First installment: Approved annotated outline of the Programme Document, and draft integrated programmatic approach for review and acceptance
• Percentage of payment: 30%
• Second installment: Approved first full draft of the Programme Document.
• Percentage of payment: 30%
• Third and Final installment: Approved finalized version of the Programme Document.
• Percentage of payment: 40%
• Documents to be included when submitting the proposals: Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Proposers who shall not submit the below-mentioned documents will not be considered for further evaluation.
• Personal CV or P11 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;
• Confirmation of Interest and Availability & Financial Proposal: Interest and Availability to perform the task and Financial Proposal must be submitted through a standard template Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual IC, including Financial Proposal Template
• Technical Proposal including:
• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment and a methodology on how they will approach and complete the assignment.
• A brief description of the approach to work/work plan on how he/she will approach and complete the assignment.
• Financial Proposal: As per the template provided.
• Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows you to upload a maximum of one document.