Consultancy – Expert for the United Nations Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to Develop Programme Report (UNPRPD) – UNDP

The United Nations Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD) is a unique collaborative effort that brings together UN entities, governments, disabled people’s organizations and the broader civil society to advance the human rights of persons with disabilities around the world.

The UN entities participating in the UNPRPD are the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the World Health Organization (WHO). The UNDP Inclusive Political Processes Team serves as the Technical Secretariat for the Partnership.  The UNPRPD also works closely with multiple civil society organizations including the International Disability Alliance (IDA) and the International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC).

The UNPRPD is supported by the UNPRPD Fund, a Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) established to mobilize resources for the Partnership. The UNPRPD MPTF is administered by the UNDP Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office (MPTF Office) and builds on the experience developed by the MPTF Office in managing multiple Multi-Partner Trust Funds and joint programmes around the world.

Since 2012, the UNPRPD has funded over 50country level joint UN programmes worldwide to support CRPD implementation as well as 5 regional initiatives to strengthen the voices of persons with disabilities, and 8 global initiatives to develop strategic resources on the rights of persons with disabilities. 

In 2020, UNPRPD mobilized to respond to the global COVID-19 pandemic and the disproportionate effect this was having on persons with disabilities by developing a $2 million USD global program on COVID-19 response and recovery efforts. This type of large-scale program was a first for UNPRPD in terms of size and scale as well as the speed with which UNPRPD responded to the evolving context. The program leveraged the experiences of nine UN entities, OPDs, broader civil society, as well as 44 UN Country Teams, resulting in one of the most complex programs that UNPRPD has funded.

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

Existing key program documents will be reviewed for evidence of progress, achievements, and impact, as well as the risks and challenges. A sample of program participants (one from each of the main partners – 11 in total) will be invited to interview to further capture lessons. All lessons will be assessed against the goals and objectives of the global program and/or overall program framework, e.g., UNPRPD strategic elements that are central to its programs. In addition, lessons that may inform future programs will also be captured.

Under the supervision and guidance of the UNPRPD TS team the following tasks are expected:

• Biweekly meetings with TS
• Prepare workplan
• Review and systematize documents available
• Prepare structure of the report to be shared with TS for feedback
• Prepare interview questions
• Attend workshop on lessons learned with partners
• Arrange and conduct bilateral interviews
• Draft edited report
• Include compiled feedback and make changes as necessary
• Support launch and dissemination of report

Deliverables 

Detailed timeline and workplan will be agreed with consultant at the beginning of the contract.

Core Values and Guiding Principles:

Integrity

• Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UNDP in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct;

Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity

• Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;
• Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP and the UN;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Technical/Functional Competencies:

• Strong theoretical understanding of policy and programmatic issues related to the promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities rights in the context of developing countries and global pandemic.
• Strong analytical and writing skills

Academic qualifications:

• Master’s degree (or higher-level qualification) in Disability Studies, Social Science, Development Studies, Global Health or equivalent.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of previous experience in research and/or monitoring and evaluation including data compilation and analysis required
• Very good understanding of human rights in particular of persons with disabilities, required.
• Proven experience in drafting high quality reports, required.
• Experience around response and recovery programming during COVID 19 global pandemic is an asset.

Language:

• Excellent level of written and spoken English is required;

Application Procedure (if all documents will not be uploaded application will not be considered valid)

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;
• 3 samples of written reports
• A one-page methodology on how the offeror will conduct the work within the assignment period;

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.

• 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.
• This consultancy is a home-based assignment, therefore, there is no envisaged travel cost to join duty station/repatriation travel. 
• 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% (700 points):

• Criteria 1.  Relevant experience in research and/or monitoring and evaluation including data compilation and analysis Maximum Points: 300;

• Criteria 2. Quality of methodology submitted Maximum Points: 200;

• Criteria 3. Proven experience in drafting high quality reports Maximum Points: 200;

Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (490 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (700 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

Financial evaluation – Total 30% (300 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 work under the guidance and direct supervision of Manager of Technical Secretariat and will be responsible for the fulfilment of the deliverables as specified above.

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

Payment modality

• Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified above and deliverables accepted and upon certification of satisfactory completion by the UNPRPD manager. 
• 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.