Support to Develop Resource Mobilization Strategy & Action Plan for the ILO Office for PICs

Introduction

Resource mobilization is becoming more and more challenging. Ambitious aid targets, new development cooperation modalities, and the surfacing of new development actors are key drivers of significant and far-reaching changes to the aid architecture and development funding patterns. Extra-budgetary funding to is increasingly linked to assessment of agencies’ multilateral effectiveness, commitment to policy coherence and the principles of UN reform, but also to a variety of political or contractual conditions.

The primary objective of the ILO Country Office (CO) for Pacific Island Countries is to assist Governments and Employers' and Workers' Organizations of its 11 Pacific Island countries in their efforts to reduce Decent Work deficits (as part of a global goal) and to pursue development for dignity through the achievements of rights at work, employment, social protection and social dialogue. CO-Suva also looks after two National Coordinators Offices, based in (Apia) Samoa and (Port Moresby) Papua New Guinea. The ILO has been promoting Decent Work through various means of action including technical co-operation in Pacific Island Countries. CO-Suva is currently undertaking processes to ensure resource mobilization and program development is increasingly proactive and strategic. The proposed Resource Mobilization Strategy will be a key document to promote this effort.

Scope & Objectives

In order to complement the ongoing and potential programmatic work that serves the constituents in the Pacific Island Countries and be sufficiently and proactively responsive to regional challenges, ILO in the Pacific is seeking to strategize and plan future sources of funding to support its mandates in a programmatic manner. This calls for a robust forward-looking resource mobilization strategy which takes into account the changing donor landscape as well as assesses lessons learned from current resources mobilization efforts within the ILO and other UN agencies. The strategy must also explore new mechanisms and development partners and outline a systematic and strategic integrated approach to leveraging existing and new partnerships as well as recommend how to diversify ILO resources base.

To this aim, ILO seeks a qualified consultant to undertake a resources mobilization strategy with a proposed results-oriented action plan. The overall purpose of the consultancy is to envisage a clear spectrum of current and potential funding opportunities for the ILO in the Pacific. In addition, the consultant will be utilizing her/his experience in developing sample proposals along the guidelines as well as following-up on actions and recommendations.

Required Tasks & Outputs

Under the guidance of the ILO Country Office in Suva (ILO-Suva) the consultant will be required to perform and complete, but not limited to the following tasks for this assignment:

1. Review existing resource mobilization processes utilized by the Regional Office for Asia Pacific in general and CO-SUVA in particular.
2. Review existing ILO resource mobilization strategies and action-plans globally and identify applicable frameworks for CO-SUVA.
3. Identify key resource mobilization opportunities in the region including, but not limited to, government, private sector and UN funding mechanisms.
4. Develop action plan for pursuing new key resource mobilization opportunities (traditional and non-traditional) and obtaining funding for the ILO biennium programme.  
5. Prepare an annex of sample successful proposals that align with the different formats required by development partners, donors and Trust Funds
6. Prepare pointers on ILO’s comparative advantage in the region that can be used in proposals

Required qualifications

g. Recommend approaches to improve and develop strategic partnerships and engagement with key development partners in the region;

h. Utilize the existing donor mapping database to identify development partners’ interest, priorities and existing mechanisms for funding opportunities.

i. Propose how CO-SUVA can be most efficiently informed about new calls for proposals as they arise.

j. Undertake research on ILO ‘products’ that have worked in the Pacific Island Countries, how we have replicated them in the local context or how we can create new suitable ‘products’ for the PICs that would attract donor funding

k. Undertake consultations with programme staff, specialists, and relevant colleagues in Regional Office for Asia Pacific PARDEV, PROGRAM, and Residents Coordinators Offices in Fiji, Samoa and PNG to inform the strategy, specifically focusing on the following lines of enquiry:

        a. How can the strategy integrate with existing ILO and in harmony with UN processes, for example the allocation of RBTC, the UN Pacific Strategy, and the decent work country programme.  

        b. Existing internal and external barriers to effective resource mobilization and how these might be overcome

        c. ILO’s comparative advantage  in the Pacific and how these can be effectively and consistently communicated to development partners

l. Develop an results-oriented resource mobilization strategy that will:

      a. Be a reference document for all staff in CO-Suva, identifying how different team members can contribute to resource mobilization (specialists/program/project staff) 

      b. Propose specific processes for resource mobilization

      c. Propose specific ILO strengths that should be highlighted in external communications to development partners

      d. Provide samples and guidelines that contribute to accelerate the capacity building of CO-SUVA team  

Deliverables

The consultant will complete and submit the following deliverables, to the satisfaction of ILO:

Qualification

- Advanced university degree in development, economics, development finance, internal relations, political science and other relevant social sciences relevant.

-  At least fifteen years’ experience working with multilaterals and bilateral organizations in strategic planning, fund raising, resource mobilisation and/or partnership development

- Experience of development work ideally in post-disaster and crisis settings

- Knowledge of the ILO internal resource planning and funding schemes is an asset

-Advanced skills in English writing and analytical thinking