Consultancy – Climate, Land, Energy and Water (CLEWS) Expert

UNDP is the knowledge frontier organization for sustainable development in the UN Development System and serves as the integrator for collective action to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP’s policy work carried out at HQ, Regional and Country Office levels, forms a contiguous spectrum of deep local knowledge to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. Within this context, UNDP invests in a network of field-based and global technical expertise across a wide range of knowledge domains and in support of the signature solutions and organizational capabilities envisioned in the Strategic Plan. 

The Global Policy Network (GPN) is the engine for thought leadership, UNDP’s programmatic work and a vital delivery mechanism of our integration function. The GPN also draws on expertise globally to provide more effective responses to the complex development challenges countries face in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and responding to crisis in an integrated and coherent manner. The Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan, which is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Within the GPN, BPPS works closely with UNDP’s Crisis Bureau (CB) to support emergency and crisis response.

The SDG Integration Team sits at the center of the GPN with the aim to advance and connect UNDP’s integrated services across sectors and countries. The SDG Integration Team builds a coherent and consolidated menu of services emphasizing direct short- to medium-term engagements to support national implementation and monitoring of the SDGs (building on the MAPS engagements), qualitative and evidence-driven analysis for accelerated progress, and knowledge sharing of integrated policy solutions to respond rapidly to requests from country offices.

The SDG Integration Team will support the GPN’s offer through four distinct workstreams:

1. Integrated policy solutions for SDG implementation 
2. Evidence-informed analytical support for SDG implementation and reporting
3. Knowledge, innovation and capacity development for accelerated SDG progress
4. SDG communication and advocacy

Workstream 2 supports countries in formulating evidence informed policies using state-of-art tools and data. In this effort UNDP has been partnering with key agencies, academia and think tanks to tailor tools to country needs and make them available to governments, including building capacities in countries to have lasting impact.

One of the tools that UNDP has mobilized jointly with DESA, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and others is the Climate, Land, Energy and Water Systems (CLEWS) framework designed for integrated assessment of natural resource systems. CLEWS was developed to provide policy makers and analysts with a means to simultaneously address matters pertaining to food, water and energy security, while both taking into account how the utilization of these resources is contributing to climate change as well as how changes in climate might impact the use of these resources. Through a better understanding of the interlinkages of these resource systems, the tools help to guide policymakers how to make polices that are coherent and help move multiple SDGs simultaneously. 

UNDP-DESA are looking for a modelling expert who is familiar with energy and water sector modeling. The expert will support ongoing projects in countries. This will entail gathering of data, conduct of national workshops, preparation of policy notes, and consultations with governments to ensure the national projects are aligned with national priorities.

SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ANALYTICAL WORK

The expert will support the following tasks:

1. Assist in collection and management of data and information needed to conduct quantitative analyses;
2. Review policy documentation in economic development, social inclusion, and resource systems such as energy, water, land-use/agriculture and climate, related to the participating countries, and produce working papers with relevant insights and findings for the project team as required;
3. Participate in country missions (tentatively scheduled for Mexico, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, and Indonesia - will need to be confirmed with the respective Governments on timing) to support the implementation of workshops, take part in meetings with focal points and provide on-site substantive support;
4. Elaborate substantive documents such as economic, energy and social country profiles in relation to CLEWs modelling;
5. Support research to identify institutional arrangements that are conducive to successful CLEWs modelling development to inform coherent sustainable development strategies and produce working documents as required;
6. Coordinate the preparation of policy notes with country teams (starting with Bolivia and Mexico), and ensure delivery of a final set of policy notes with modelling teams that convey clear messages to policymakers;
7. Collect experiences from national counterparts of country projects, evaluations, and additional sources to draft a lessons-learned report on capacity building in the use of modelling tools;
8. Support the finalization of a narrative report that showcases best practices and successes of country projects in influencing national policies;
9. Support the finalization of a modelling user’s guide for policymakers to help them better understand how and when to use modelling tools for policy decisions. 

Expected outputs and deliverables:

The international consultant will be employed for 128 working days starting on 11 July 2019 with all tasks completed no later than 31st January 2020.

Core Competencies:

Professional and Innovation

• Team Work - Work collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise

• Leadership – Responsible for own work, takes initiative, inclusive in decision-making, creates excitement for work through demonstrated excellence.

Technical/Functional:

• Development and Operational Effectiveness.

• Ability to contribute to strategic thinking, planning and monitoring;

• Ability to integrate knowledge with broader strategic and policy objectives;

• Innovative Approach to Problem-Solving

• Ability to capture, develop, share and effectively use information and knowledge.

Academic qualifications:

• A Master’s level university degree in international/regional development, economics, political science, social science or related field is required.

Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible experience in economic, social and environmental sciences research and analysis, policy formulation, application of sustainable development principles in development programmes or related area is required.

• Knowledge of application and experience of working in countries is required. Experience working with the CLEWS model will be an asset.

• Minimum 2 years experience working with United Nations, UN agencies or similar international organizations is required.

• At least 3 years of experience working with governments in capacity building initiatives is required.

Language:

• Fluency in written and spoken English and Spanish are required.

Application Procedure

The application package containing the following (to be uploaded as one file):

• A cover letter with a brief description of why the Offer considers her/himself the most suitable for the assignment;

• Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects and specifying the relevant assignment period (from/to), as well as the email and telephone contacts of at least three (3) professional references

   

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.

• If daily fee: The financial proposal should specify an all-inclusive daily fee (based on a 7 hour working day - lunch time is not included - and estimated 21.75 days per month).

• Or If lumpsum: The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around the specific and measurable deliverables of the TOR. Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR, and deliverables accepted and certified by the technical manager. 

• 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; (excluding mission travel); 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.
• In the case of unforeseeable travel requested by UNDP, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. 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.

• 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.

   

The Financial Proposal is to be emailed as per the instruction in the separate email that will be sent to shortlisted candidates.

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 1. Experience in in-country modelling applications. Weight = 30%; Maximum Points: 30;
• Criteria 2. Experience in capacity building of governments. Weight = 20%; Maximum Points: 20;
• Criteria 3. Experience in working with the UN, UN agencies or other international organizatons. Weight = 20%; Maximum Points: 20; and

Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (70 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

Financial evaluation - Total 30% (30 points)

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 report to Tasneem Mirza, Strategic Specialist, SDG Integrator Team, BPPS; and Thomas Alfstad, Interregional Advisor, of the Economic Analysis and Policy Division of UN-DESA.

For BPPS ICs: The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own laptop.

Payment modality

• Payment to the Individual Contractor will be made based on the actual number of days worked, deliverables accepted and upon certification of satisfactory completion by the manager.
• Payments will be made in 3 bi-monthly installments based on the deliverables submitted. 

The work week will be based on 35 hours, i.e. on a 7 hour working day, with core hours being between 9h00 and 18h00 daily.

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

Annex 1 - UNDP P-11 Form for ICs

Annex 2 - IC Contract Template

Annex 3 – IC General Terms and Conditions

Annex 4 – RLA Template

Any request for clarification must be sent by email to cpu.bids@undp.org 

The UNDP Central Procurement Unit will respond by email and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.