National Consultant for Providing Technical Supports in Establishment of South-South Cooperation Cell at ERD

Background

Knowledge for Development Management (K4DM) for ERD UN wing, a joint initiative of the GoB and UNDP Bangladesh has been undertaken in the context of UNDAF Action Plan during the period 2014-16. In the context of declining ODA and increased emphasis on results, the project aims to :

a) simplify programming procedures and improve knowledge management

b) promote new knowledge and resource partnerships under the canopy of South-South and Triangular as well as Public-Private Partnership modality and

c) support a common expert pool, strategic knowledge generation and innovative programming.

The project aims to work in conjunction with UNDP supported other projects at ERD and GED to achieve its objectives. The project is mainly anchored in the UN wing of ERD but it will seek to reach out to all Implementing Partners including line ministries, ’civil society, think-tanks, academia, eminent personnel and grassroots and ultimately create an inclusive ecosystem to enable attainment of results stipulated in the UNDAF, especially in the area of UNDP supported results. The Programme is executed by UNDP and it’s implementation authority is Economic Relations Division of Ministry of Finance. Implementation period is September 2014 to June 2018. Total budget of the project is USD 3.00 million which is funded by UNDP as project aid.

One of the major components of the project relates to promotion of South-South and Triangular cooperation. This activity is likely to require formulation of befitting policies from time to time, identification of scopes for attracting South-South and Triangular cooperation to address national development challenges. At the same time, this output will be attained through consultations and development of business case to engage both public/ private entities along with NGOs and other stakeholders in the delivery of development services as a part of or to supplement UNDP projects. Joint studies and analysis of scope and advocacy will be organized to create interest among implementing partners and those private organizations to join hands to address development challenges.

South-South Cooperation (SSC) is a broad framework for collaboration among countries of the South in the political, economic, social, cultural, environmental and technical domains. Involving two or more developing countries, it can take place on a bilateral, regional, sub-regional or interregional basis. Collaboration in which traditional donor countries and multilateral organizations facilitate South-South initiatives through the provision of funding, training, and management and technological systems as well as other forms of support is referred to as triangular cooperation.

Recent developments in South-South cooperation have taken the form of increased volume of South-South trade, South-South flows of foreign direct investment, movements towards regional integration, technology transfers, sharing of solutions and experts, and other forms of exchanges. The UN Framework (2012) identifies the following five priority objectives for the UN support to SSTC: (i) support national and regional development efforts; (ii) strengthen institutional and technical capacities; (iii) improve the exchange of experience and know-how among developing countries; (iv) respond to the specific development challenges of developing countries; and (v) increase the impact of international cooperation.

The newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) stresses the importance of South-South cooperation in implementing the post-2015 development agenda. In particular, Goal 17 “Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development”, places emphasis on the critical role of South-South. In the national context, the Seventh Five Year Plan and The National Policy on Development Cooperation (NPDC) of Bangladesh have along with other sources of development resource mobilization equally put emphasis on institutionalization and promotion of SSC.

Under “Knowledge for Development Management (K4DM) for ERD UN Wing” project supported by UNDP, initiatives has been taken for conducting stocktaking exercise through exploring ongoing successful initiatives of South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) in ERD and in the other Ministries/Divisions and Governmental, Non-Governmental and development partner organizations in Bangladesh and also in the other parts of the world. The report will also try to analyse the existing status of South-South and Triangular cooperation along with its potential benefits for Bangladesh;

SSC in Bangladesh is gaining momentum. However, these efforts in many cases are sporadic, scattered and agency/institution specific and in some cases are based on practice rather than policy and documentation. Moreover, many of the southern countries including development partners are facing difficulties in communication and getting response from Bangladesh during their initiatives in extending SSC. Therefore, it is required to have a SSC country nodal point and a framework for better organization of information that would provide the basis for better decision making, effective strategies, and establishment of seamless procedures and credible institutions. Otherwise, the very notion of SSC becomes rather abstract and risks being perceived as a series of discreet and unrelated activities without having a common thread linking them together.

In the above context, ERD, in consultation with the Prime Minister’s Office has decided to establish a South-South and Triangular Cooperation Cell at ERD with the objective of streamlining sporadic initiatives of South-South cooperation initiatives and identifying strategic guidelines for promotion of the same in a more systematic and structured way. The cell, on behalf of the Government, will work for necessary coordination, communication and collaboration for promotion of Southern solutions within different countries. An international development cooperation framework will be developed for guiding South-South and Triangular cooperation.

Objective:

The main objective of the consultancy is to assist ERD in establishment of a South-South Cooperation Cell as well as to develop a ‘Cooperation Framework’ for promotion of South-South and Triangular cooperation initiatives both in the national and global context.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

The following list reflects the main activities that the consultant is expected to carry out during the mission:

Key tasks include: 

• Analyze, through necessary consultation with relevant stakeholders, the need and justification for establishment of a South-South Cooperation Cell at ERD in current global and national context with a special focus on how Bangladesh can be benefitted and contribute through establishment of this Cell; 
• Identify, through necessary consultation, scopes and areas of engagement and structure of the South-South Cooperation Cell and short, medium and long term plan of actions for the Cell;
• Review and synthesize with the existing rules, regulations and policies of the Government and finalize the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the South-South Cooperation Cell along with recommendations for administrative and policy process;
• Provide necessary technical support to ERD in inter-ministerial collaboration and communications with international stakeholders in promotion of South-South and Triangular Cooperation;
• Produce, through necessary consultation and sensitization with relevant stakeholders and review examples of other countries, a draft South-South Cooperation Framework for Bangladesh along with its implementation guidelines;

 Expected Outputs and Deliverables

• Tasks 01: Inception report with detailed methodology, work plan. Days required: 05 Days;
• Task 02: Interim report on assessment of needs and justification for establishment of a South-South Cooperation Cell at ERD along with scopes and areas of engagement as well as structure and short, medium and long term plan of actions for the Cell. Days required: 10 days;
• Task 03: Interim report with final Terms of Reference (ToR) of the South-South Cooperation Cell along with recommendations for administrative and policy process. Days required: 5 days;
• Task 04:  Report on result of inter-ministerial collaboration and communications with international stakeholders in promotion of South-South and Triangular Cooperation. Days required: 10 days;
• Task 05: Production of a ‘South-South Cooperation Framework’ for Bangladesh with reflection of feedback received from consultation/seminar/workshop and sharing sessions with national and international stakeholders. Days required: 10 days;

Institutional Arrangement 

• The consultant will report to the National Project Director, Knowledge for Development Management (K4DM) for ERD UN wing project (Additional Secretary, UN Wing) and the relevant Assistant Country Director of UNDP.

 Duration of the Work

• Total duration of the assignment is 40 working-days over a period of 5 months.

Duty Station

• The duty station of the consultant is Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Travel:

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. In general, UNDP should 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 case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Deliverables are linked with the payment schedule:

• Deliverable 1: Submission of inception report and methodology with detailed work plan and acceptable to ERD and UNDP [20% of total contract amount];
• Deliverable 2: Submission of interim report on assessment of needs and justification for establishment of a South-South Cooperation Cell at ERD along with scopes and areas of engagement and structure and short, medium and long term plan of actions for the Cell and acceptable to ERD and UNDP [20% of total contract amount];
• Deliverable 3: Submission of interim report with final Terms of Reference (ToR) of the South-South Cooperation Cell along with recommendations for administrative and policy process and acceptable to ERD and UNDP. [20% of total contract amount];
• Deliverable 4: Submission of a report on result of inter-ministerial collaboration and communications with international stakeholders in promotion of South-South and Triangular Cooperation. [20% of total contract amount];
• Deliverable 5: Submission of a ‘South-South Cooperation Framework’ for Bangladesh and its implementation guidelines with reflection of feedback received from consultation/seminar/workshop and sharing sessions with national and international stakeholders and acceptable to ERD and UNDP. [20% of total contract amount];

Competencies

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills;
• Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities skills;
• Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
• Ability to plan, organize, implement and report on work;
• Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines;
• Comprehensive knowledge of information system and design principle;
• Outstanding communication, project management and organizational skills;
• Excellent presentation and facilitation skills.
• Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;
• Positive, constructive attitude to work;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Required Skills and Experience

Educational Qualifications:

• Masters degree in International Relations, Public Policy, Political Science, Economics or related social science fields.

Experience

• At least 7 years’ relevant experience of working in the national and international level;
• At least 3 years’ experience of working with the public policy, policy analysis and policy formulation process;
• Proven experience of preparation of strategy, strategic plan or cooperation/development framework (evidence needs to be produced);
• Experience of completion of at least one assignment in the field of international development cooperation;
• At least two years’ proven experience of dealing with the issues of international strategies or economic cooperation;

 Language requirements                                                                                                                         

• Fluency of English and Bangla language is required;

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on 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 and as per below percentages-

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. Lodging, meals and transport cost for field visit related to this assignment will be paid by the project as per UN standard.

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.

Travel and DSA:

No DSA will be paid at the duty station. If unforeseen travel outside the duty station not required by the Terms of Reference is requested by UNDP, and upon prior agreement/approval, such travel shall be UNDP’s expenses and the individual contractor shall receive a per-diem not to exceed United Nations daily subsistence allowance rate in such other location(s).

Evaluation Method and Criteria:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology.

Cumulative analysis-

The award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant up on Cumulative Analysis/evaluation and determined as:

1. Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
2. Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation;

Only candidates obtaining a minimum 70% mark in technical evaluation will be considered eligible for financial evaluation.

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 70 points)

• Criteria 1 Educational Qualifications – Max 10 Points
• Criteria 2- Years of relevant experience of working in the national and international level– Max 15 points
• Criteria 3- Years of experience of working with the public policy, policy analysis and policy formulation process;- Max 10 points
• Criteria 4- Proven experience of preparation of strategy, strategic plan or cooperation/development framework (evidence needs to be produced)– Max 15 Points
• Criteria 5- Experience of completion of at least one assignment in the field of international development cooperation – Max 10 Points
• Criteria 6- Years of experience of dealing with the issues of international strategies or economic cooperation- Max 10 Points

Financial Evaluation (Total 30 marks)

All technical qualified proposals will be scored out 30 based on the formula provided below.

The maximum points (30) will be assigned to the lowest financial proposal. All other proposals received points according to the following formula:

p = y (µ/

Where:

• p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated;
• y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal;
• µ = price of the lowest priced proposal;
• z = price of the proposal being evaluated.

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 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; P11 can be downloaded from the link below: http://www.bd.undp.org/content/bangladesh/en/home/operations/jobs/
• Technical proposal, including a) a brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment; b) a brief methodology, on how you will approach and complete the assignment, including a tentative table of contents for the final report; and c) a list of similar assignment with topic/name of the assignment, duration, role of consultant and organization/project
• Financial Proposal: Financial Proposal has to be submitted through a standard interest and availability template which can be downloaded from the link below:

http://www.bd.undp.org/content/dam/bangladesh/docs/Jobs/Interest%20and%20Submission%20of%20Financial%20Proposal-Template%20for%20Confirmation.docx

Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.