Consultant for Sustainable Development Planning and Implementation

Background

UNDP works in more than 170 countries to simultaneously reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development that leads to transformational change, and brings about real improvements in people’s lives. We promote an integrated approach to achieve sustainable development that tackles the connected issues of multidimensional poverty, inequality and exclusion, and sustainability, while enhancing knowledge, skills and production technologies to reduce risks and sustain development gains for both people and the planet. We help countries build their capacity to integrate environmental considerations into development plans and strategies, including through managing and sustainably using natural resources; ensuring that natural wealth is used to improve people’s lives; promoting economic recovery and livelihoods; and developing social inclusion policies and social protection for those in need, thus supporting the achievement of 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)were adopted in September 2015 by world leaders as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a plan of action for people, planet, peace, partnership and prosperity (Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld ).  Consisting of 17 goals, 169 targets and 228 global indicators (Where relevant, SDGs indicators are to be further disaggregated by income, sex, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability and geographical location, or other characteristics, in accordance with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics), the SDGs continue and build on the development journey ensconced in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The SDGs represent a broad and dynamic agenda which is global in nature and universally applicable, while taking into account different national realities.  This presents different opportunities (and constraints) in all countries, recognizing that no ‘one size fits all’.  This process of adaptation of the universal agenda and the SDGs should also be cognizant of other important principles including:

• The SDGs should address and incorporate in a balanced way all three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental. They should be construed in the context of planetary well-being, in their global, regional and national dimensions
• The commitment to ‘leave no one behind’ has been hardwired into Agenda 2030. The idea that ‘no goal should be met unless it is met for everyone’ is well established in the SDGs. There is now also a political consensus emerging that leaving no one behind is one of the key elements of the agenda.

The EU has made strong commitment to integrating the SDGs through release of the following:

• Communication from The Commission to The European Parliament, The Council, The European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions:  Next steps for a sustainable European future: European action for sustainability {SWD(2016) 390 final}

This report clearly highlights the intent of the integration SDGs by…..”Since 2010, sustainable development has been mainstreamed into the Europe 2020 strategy, confirmed by the current Commission and built around education and innovation ("smart"), low carbon emissions, climate resilience and environmental impact ("sustainable") and job creation and poverty reduction ("inclusive").”  Communication from the European Commission highlighted “Sustainable development has long been at the heart of the European project”National Sustainable Development StrategiesSetting objectives and measuring progress in achieving them with indicators are two closely related features that are typical for serious strategic management approaches in general, and for virtually all Sustainable Development strategies in the EU-27 in particular.  Being strategic is about developing an underlying vision through a consensual, effective and iterative process; and going on to set objectives, identify the means of achieving them, and then monitor that achievement as a guide to the next round of this learning process.In 2008, the Romanian Government with support from UNDP, prepared a revised National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS) as an obligation that Romania has undertaken as an EU Member State in conformity with agreed Community objectives and the methodological guidelines of the European Commission.  In terms of general orientation, the document addressed strategic objectives for the short, medium and long run: 

• Horizon 2013:  To incorporate the principles and practices of sustainable development in all the programmes and public policies of Romania as an EU Member State. 
• Horizon 2020:  To reach the current average level of the EU countries for the main indicators of sustainable development. 
• Horizon 2030:  To get significantly close to the average performance of the EU Member States in that year in terms of sustainable development indicators.

With the advent of the SDGs and the need to review progress on sustainable development at the national, regional and global processes, the Government of Romania now seek to update the National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS) to reflect the SDGs and to undertake dedicated nationalization processes to foster national ownership of Agenda 2030.This concept note supports a two-stage process:

• To prepare a strategic National Sustainable Development Vision up to 2030 that reflects the principles and ideals of Agenda 2030 and provides the ambition for Romania to implement the SDGs
• A longer-term capacity building support which will foster national ownership and achievement of SDGs in Romania.

Stage 1: National Sustainable Development Strategy PreparationThis stage will be completed by April 2018 and would include the development of 50-60 page strategic vision document that updates the sustainable development vision for Romania.  This will be undertaken by:

• An initial kick-off workshop with a range of Romanian experts who will be involved in the development of the strategy
• A preliminary rapid integrated assessment of the current 2008 NSDS to identify alignment of the current strategy to SDGs
• Development of thematic inputs by the relevant Romanian experts to be integrated into the overall vision document
• Several consultative workshops or focus group exercises to verify the content and substance of the Vision strategy
• Finalizing a draft strategy 

Duties and Responsibilities

This assignment will be based within the Sustainable Development Cluster of the Istanbul Regional Hub (IRH), and the overall function of the assignment will be to help the SD cluster support the Government of Romania to develop a new National Sustainable Development Strategy that supports SDG implementation in its vision and intent.  This will be achieved by delivering the following outputs and upon confirmation by the Certifying Officer of satisfactory delivery:

• Deliverable 1: An inception report defining the process and methodology for developing the NSDS for Romania (Payment schedule; 10% of total amount; 15 days after start of the contract)
• Deliverable 2: Using the Rapid Integration Assessment methodology review the existing National Sustainable Development Strategy to determine alignment with the SDG, targets and including an assessment of the available indicators and comparison to the global indicators (Payment schedule; 20% of total amount; 1 month after start of the contract)
• Deliverable 3: Results of a consultative process with Romanian experts and elaboration of inputs to be included in a revised NSDS and delivery of a draft NSDS (Payment schedule; 40% of total amount; 2 months after start of the contract) 
• Deliverable 4: Brief report on the outcomes from the stakeholder consultative process to review and agree on the NSDS content (Payment schedule; 20% of total amount by end of the contract duration) 
• Deliverable 5: Final NSDS inclusive of the comments from the NSDS process and presentation to Government of Romania (Payment schedule; 10% of total amount by end of the contract duration)

Competencies

Corporate Competencies: 

• Demonstrates commitment to UNDPs mission, vision and values. 
• Exerts strict adherence to corporate rules, regulations and procedures.
• Familiarity with the internal control framework and results-based management tools is a must.
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional Competencies: 

• Client orientation, Management and Teamwork
• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback.
• Remains calm, in control and good humoured even under pressure. 
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities. 
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude. 
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities. 
• Ability to work well as part of a multi-disciplinary team. 
• Development and Operational Effectiveness. 
• Ability to perform a variety of specialized tasks related to Results-Based Management, including support to design, planning and implementation of programme, managing data, monitoring and evaluation, results reporting. 
• Ability to establish and maintain contacts with senior-level government officials, programme partners and other organizations. 
• Excellent interpersonal skills are essential part of the job. 
• Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, is required to obtain, evaluate and interpret factual data and to prepare accurate and complete reports and other documents.

Knowledge Management and Learning 

• Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the programme and office through leadership and personal example. 
• Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more Practice Areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills. 

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in Law, Social Sciences, International Relations, Development, Economics or other related fields is a requirement

Experience:

• At least 7 years of proven work experience on sustainable development related issues in international organizations or public administration is a requirement
• Relevant experience on developing national strategy documents and liaising with government officials in the ECIS region shall be considered an asset.
• Relevant experience and knowledge on mainstreaming and addressing development goals in a government or international organisation setting shall be considered an asset.
• Proven experience in programming and project management in the areas of sustainable development 
• Proven experience in partnership building, research writing and working in a team shall be considered an asset.

Language skills:

• Excellent writing, editing, and oral communication skills in English;
• Romanian considered an asset.

Evaluation of Applicants

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.

The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• 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. 

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 35 points:

• Criteria A (Relevance of education) – max points: 2.5
• Criteria B (relevance of work experience on sustainable development related issues in international organizations or public administration and experience and knowledge on mainstreaming and addressing development goals in a government or international organisation setting) – max points: 10
• Criteria C (experience on developing national strategy documents and liaising with government officials in the ECIS region) max points: 5
• Criteria D (experience in programming and project management in the areas of sustainable development) – max points: 2.5 
• Criteria E (experience in partnership building, research writing and working in a team) – max points: 5
• Criteria F (Romanian language) - max points: 5
• Criteria G (Sample Review) – max points: 5

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 15 points.Only candidates who will obtain at least 70% of points in desk review will be considered for financial evaluation. A verification interview will be done with the selected candidate.Application procedures

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain:

• Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position, and two written samples of your previous work (a short analytical document or an executive summary of a report) in English. The application system does not allow multiple documents to be uploaded. Please paste the samples to the back of your P11 to upload one single document to the system. 
• Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees 
• (blank form can be downloaded from http://www.eurasia.undp.org/content/dam/rbec/docs/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc); please upload the P11 instead of your CV. 
• Financial Proposal* in USD - consisting of a) total all-inclusive lump sum amount for professional fee for tasks specified in this announcement b) travel costs to/from duty station. c) mission related costs for 3 missions to Bucharest  (including i) travel costs and ii) per diem for 5 working days for each mission)

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials*Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination, personal security needs and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services...).. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel.  Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner. Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.orgGeneral Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://on.undp.org/t7fJs.

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.