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Consultancy - Gender and Social Environmental Standards Specialist

home-based with 15 days travel to bvi

  • Organization: UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
  • Location: home-based with 15 days travel to bvi
  • Grade: Consultancy - International Consultant - Internationally recruited Contractors Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Environment
    • Women's Empowerment and Gender Mainstreaming
  • Closing Date: Closed

Background

On September 6, 2017, the British Virgin Islands (BVI) suffered extensive damage and widespread devastation from the passage of Hurricane Irma (HI). The territory was further impacted by Hurricane Maria (HM) on September 20, 2017. These hurricanes followed the torrential rainfall event over the period August 7 and 8, 2017. All social and economic sectors suffered substantial impacts due to these events.  Essential services such as health, social services, telecommunications, electricity, water, sewerage and waste management systems were, and continue to be, severely compromised.

The Government of the Virgin Islands (GOVI) has obtained a loan of USD 65 million from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) for financing for a project to assist in the recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction of social and economic infrastructure to overcome the cumulative damaging effects of the floods, HI and HM.  The scope of the Project includes, among other things, the rehabilitation and reconstruction of critical social and economic infrastructure, such as roads, water and sewerage, docks, schools, education and other public buildings. Also included in the scope are: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) equipment for various sectors and school supplies, provision of technical assistance (TA) for a climate risk and vulnerability assessment, design and contract supervision services, and psychosocial support to targeted groups.

As part of the Project’s implementation, the Government has requested UNDP to provide technical assistance for a year, including, as applicable, the procurement of supplies required for carrying out the Technical Assistance in accordance with the Agreement. Towards this, UNDP has established an Implementation Support Team (IST) in the British Virgin Islands for one year to support the implementation of post Hurricane Irma Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Loan (RRL).

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective

The objective of the consultancy is to provide technical support to mainstream Gender and incorporate Gender and Social and Environmental Standards (S&E standards) within the implementation of the CDB Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Loan in the BVI.  

Reporting lines

The Consultant will report directly to the Head of Project Office (BVI). The Consultant will liaise with the Engineer/Project Management Expert and the Procurement Specialist in the UNDP IST, BVI, to provide updates on the status of the work and seek inputs or clarifications.

Key Responsibilities

  • Conduct an assessment on current capacities and policies to conduct and incorporate Gender and S&E standards within the implementation of the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Loan and the wider Recovery Framework;
    • Develop a questionnaire to capture relevant information on awareness andapplication of Gender and S&E standards within Government, the Recovery and Development Agency (RDA) and contractors.
    • Review and analyze policies in place that support the mainstreaming of Gender and S&E standards within the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Loan and the wider recovery framework.
    • Review and analyze data captured through the questionnaire and research.
    • Conduct face-to-face interviews with representatives of Government, RDA, NGOs and contractors.
    • Identify possible capacity limitations and drawbacks related to Gender and S&E standards, likely to affect the implementation of the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Loan.
    • Identify key capacity gaps and propose measures to address them.
    • Produce a report with key finding and recommendations.
  • Conduct three trainings on Social and Environmental Standards and application to Reconstruction and Recovery processes, using IFIs S&E standards, including but not limited to CDB.
  • Propose a Grievance Mechanism tailored to BVI, to be used by Government and the RDA in support of the RRL based on international best practices.
  • Prepare a draft stakeholder engagement plan.
  • Prepare a draft code of conduct for workers and contractors for interacting with communities.
  • Prepare draft recommendations and policies on Gender and S&E standards that could be used by Government and other stakeholders to strengthen recovery.

Deliverables

The Consultant will submit the following deliverables:

Product

Deliverable

45 day consultancy per

1

Workplan to conduct Capacity Assessment on Gender and S&E standards

2 days

2

Survey Questionnaire and Interview Guide/Questions

4 days

4

Planning of three half day workshops on S&E standards

6 days

5

Delivery of workshops

10 - 13 days

6

Comprehensive Report providing key finding and recommendations on the application and implementation of Gender and S&E standards.

25 days

7

Propose a Grievance Mechanism tailored to BVI, to be used by Government and the RDA in support of the RRL. 

30 days

8

Prepare a draft stakeholder engagement plan.

35 days

9

Draft a code of conduct for workers and contractors for interacting with communities.

40 days

10

Prepare draft recommendations and policies on Gender and S&E standards that could be used by Government and other stakeholders to strengthen recovery.

45 days

Competencies

  • Good interpersonal and teamwork skills and proven ability to work in a multi-cultural setting and teams with diversity of background and skills, while at the same time being capable of working independently to agreed work plans
  • Demonstrated organizational and planning skills, and ability to meet deadlines and to manage multiple tasks effectively and efficiently
  • Excellent organizational skills, ability to prioritize tasks and to work effectively in teams, delivering through and with others;

Required Skills and Experience

Education

  • Masters degree in field related to international development, with specific academic background related to social and environmental sustainability, or similar field.

Experience:

  • At least 10 years of experience related to Gender and Social and Environmental standards and impact assessment in an international development context;
  • Experience developing and conducting training related to Gender and Social and Environmental standards applied to recovery processes.
  • Experience in working with recovery and reconstruction settings.
  • Experience or strong familiarity with the work of IFIs and/or other multilateral, bilateral and civil society development partners.
  • Familiarity with the Carribean Development Bank  Gender and S&E Guidelines a plus.

Language Requirements

  • Excellent fluency in English, both written and verbal communication.

Execution arrangements

  • The consultant will be required to carry the first 15 days of the duties of this consultancy in the BVI.
  • The consultant should be able to assume duties within one week of signing the contract.
  • The consultant will be responsible for all the the equipment, communication devices and tools that may be required for the implementation of the assignment. UNDP IST will be responsible for providing office space.

Application Submission process:

Interested individuals are invited to submit offers to undertake tasks over a 15 days period.

  1. Technical Proposal/CV: The offer should include: a cover letter, an updated CV and a work plan for the assignment.;

Note: The above documents need to be scanned in one file and uploaded to the online application as one document.

Shortlisted candidates (ONLY) will be requested to submit a Financial Proposal.

  1. The financial proposal should specify an all-inclusive daily fee (based on a 7-hour working day - lunch time is not included - and for 45 working days).
  2. The financial proposal must be all-inclusive and take into account various expenses that will be incurred during the contract, including: the daily professional fee; cost of travel from the home base to the duty station and vice versa, where required; living allowances at the duty station; communications, utilities and consumables; life, health and any other insurance; risks and inconveniences related to work under hardship and hazardous conditions (e.g., personal security needs, etc.), when applicable; and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services under the contract.
  3. The Financial Proposal is to be emailed as per the instruction in the separate email that will be sent to shortlisted candidates.
  4. If the 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 a 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.

Evaluation process

Applicants are reviewed based on Required Skills and Experience stated above and based on the technical evaluation criteria outlined below.  Applicants will be evaluated based on cumulative scoring.  When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

  • Being 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 where technical criteria weighs 70% and Financial criteria/ Proposal weighs 30%.

Technical evaluation - Total 70% (70 points):

Criteria of desk review:

  • Number of years (higher than 10) of relevant experience applying Gender and Social and Environemtnal Standards in recovery contexts – 30 points
  • Track record of conducting similar analysis/surveys consultancies services related to recovery processes – 30 points
  • Experience drafting policies and recommendations to mainstream Gender and Social and Environmental Standards within recovery processes – 30 points
  • Experience in the region, including the Caribbean and/or SIDS.– 10 points

Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (70 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (100 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

Financial evaluation - Total 30%

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

p = y (µ/z), 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

Contract Award

Candidate obtaining the highest combined scores in the combined score of Technical and Financial evaluation will be considered technically qualified and will be offered to enter into contract with UNDP.

Institutional arrangement

The Consultant will be supervised by the Head of the Project Office in BVI.

The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own laptop

Annexes (click on the hyperlink to access the documents):

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.
This vacancy is now closed.
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