Finance and Administrative Support – Vanuatu

The Spotlight Initiative (SI) is a global partnership between the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG), including harmful practices.  The thematic focus of the SI for the Pacific region is Domestic Violence/Intimate Partner Violence (DV/IPV), which is primarily men’s physical and sexual violence against women, including psychological violence and emotional and economic abuse and controlling behaviours such as controlling when women can leave the house, access to finance and extreme jealousy.  This document outlines the proposed SI interventions in Vanuatu aimed at eliminating VAWG, through the six pillars of work which comprise the initiative (Laws and Policies, Institutions, Prevention, Services, Data, Civil Society/Women’s Organisations).

Vanuatu continues to have the highest prevalence rates of violence against women and girls globally, with 60% of ni-Vanuatu women aged 15-49 years having experienced physical and/or sexual violence; of those who have experienced violence, 42% have also been raped. The prevalence of sexual abuse against girls under the age of 15 years (almost 30%) is also one of the highest in the world.  For more than one in four women in Vanuatu (28%), their first sexual experience is forced. Data on the experience of women and girls with disabilities is limited, however research from other countries shows that women and girls with disabilities are at considerably higher risk of physical and sexual abuse and neglect rates. This situation is exacerbated during emergencies and displacement; given Vanuatu’s status as one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, there is a need to integrate GBV services into emergency planning and response activities.

The Government of Vanuatu is committed to preventing and eliminating all forms of violence and discrimination against women, children and vulnerable groups under the National Sustainable Development Plan. Despite this commitment, there are limited resources in the responsible Ministries to take this agenda forward. The SI provides an opportunity for a multi-sector, coordinated and holistic approach to addressing violence against women and girls working through multiple stakeholders including the UN, Government, service providers, church and civil society. It will also be aligned with the work done by PIFS and SPC on gender issues and specifically on DV/IPV, particularly in the areas of institutional strengthening, prevention, data and partnerships with civil society and women’s organizations.

UNDP as part of the Spotlight Initiative is supporting the implementation of various activities in partnership with the Government of Vanuatu, Civil Society and private sector. As part of the UNDP Effective Governance Team; and under the overall guidance of the designated Spotlight Focal Point, the Admin and Finance Associate will ensure the smooth implementation of all activities, planning workshops, recruitment of potential consultants, procurement of goods and services for the project.

Scope of Work

• Administration and implementation of procurement and financial services for the SPOTLIGHT INITATIVE project

• Provide support and assistance to the SPOTLIGHT INITATIVE team inmanagement of Project initiatives/ activities.

• Facilitation of knowledge building and knowledge sharing

• Enhanced learning and professional development.

• Other functions, as required.

   

  Expected Outputs and Deliverables

  Administration and implementation of operational and financial services for the SPOTLIGHT INITATIVE project

• Assist the SPOTLIGHT INITATIVE team with planning, formulating, tracking of the project budget;

• Ensure full compliance of the project with UNDP rules and regulations on financial processes, financial records, reports and audit as well as effective and the internal controls frameworks;
• Track project delivery through ATLAS and other tools;
• Maintain an Activity-based expenditure table to monitor expenditure on a real-time basis; ensure that the expenditures are in line with the approved Annual Work Plan;
• Carry out an analysis, as needed, on the expenditure projection based on the deviation of the actual expenditures from the AWP and keep the members of the SPOTLIGHT INITATIVE Team, Government and UNDP informed of the risk of under-delivery;
• Provide the information/reports on the financial/accounting situation of the project and propose solutions to improve the situation;

• Oversee that the financial/accounting data is accurate in Atlas and take timely corrective actions on erroneous data;

• Accuracy verification of Combined Delivery Reports;
• Provision of necessary financial reports and analyses for donor reporting;

• Verification and reconciliation of various expenditures reports from the Responsible Party(ies);

• Preparing payment requests and processes vouchers in Atlas as per activities.

Provide administrative support for the SPOTLIGHT INITATIVE Team

• Maintain SPOTLIGHT INITATIVE Project documentation in electronic and/or hard copy format (including financial records such as supporting documents for vouchers and POs), according to UNDP policies and guidelines;

• Maintains and regularly updates project counterpart contacts database;

• Review and compile necessary documentations during procurement process, in support of the Procurement Associate;

• Review and verifies invoices and common services expenses charged to the PMU budget (rent, utilities, phone, miscellaneous);

• Organize project-related meetings in Suva for key partners;

• Provide communication support (electronic and hard copy correspondence, etc) to all SPOTLIGHT INITATIVE Team.

• Procurement administration

• Asset management

• HR administration

   

  Facilitation of knowledge building and knowledge sharing

• Advice to Project staff on UNDP administrative and reporting, in particular, on budgetary issues;
• Organize trainings for the project partners on financial management;
• Synthesize lessons learned and best practices in programme and project finance;
• Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice.

Institutional Arrangement

IC will report to UNDP Spotlight Focal point

Duration of the Work

October 2021- December 2021 ( 60days)

Duty Station

• Vanuatu

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills;
• Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities skills;
• Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
• Ability to plan, organize, implement and report on work;
• Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines;
• Comprehensiveness knowledge of UNDP processes and procedures in finance and procurement of goods and services
• Proficiency in the use of office IT applications and internet in conducting research;
• Outstanding communication, project management and organizational skills;
• Excellent presentation and facilitation skills.
• Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;
• Positive, constructive attitude to work;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Educational Qualifications:

Minimum requirement of Diploma in Accounting/ Finance, Business Studies, Public Administration and Management, and related fields.  

Experience

• Minimum of seven (7) working years in the field of practice office administration and finance and if relevant specific work experience with UNDP/UNFPA/UN Women/UN agencies will add value.

Language requirements

• Fluency of English language is required.

• Knowledge of a local language will add value

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Lump Sum Amount. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below:

• Deliverable 1: Follow up and Progress report on Spotlight Grantees/ Procurement for DPP Office – 33%

• Deliverable 2: Follow Up and Progress Report on Spotlight Grantee – 33%

• Deliverable 3: Follow up on the LOA activity with DPP , submit Face Form for Acquittal – 34%

In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Evaluation Method and Criteria

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70%). and financial criteria (30%). Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 70 points)

• Criteria 1 Relevance of Education/Experience background of office and project operation – Max 10 points

• Criteria 2 Knowledge and skills of past or current working experience in the UN agencies or CROP agencies based in Fiji Max 15 Points

• Criteria 3 Relevance of experience in area of specialization in the areas of: Finance and Public Administration, business studies, Accounting and Management, Finance or Office Management – Max 20 points

• Criteria 4 Relevance of experience in key areas project team management of administration and finance or general office operations of administration and finance – Max 20 points

• Criteria 5 Relevance in knowledge sharing and digital innovative approaches to project implementation. – Max 5 Points

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Documentation required

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document:

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided in Annex II.

• Personal CV, indicating all experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references.

• Financial proposal, as per template provided in Annex II. Note: National consultants must quote prices in USD.

Note: Successful individual will be required to provide proof of medical insurance coverage before commencement of contract for the duration of the assignment.

Incomplete, joint proposals and proposals sent to the wrong mailing address will not be accepted and only candidates for whom there is further interest will be contacted.

Individuals interested in this consultancy should apply and will be reviewed based on their own individual capacity. The successful individual may sign an Individual Contract with UNDP or request his/her employer to sign a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA) on their behalf by indicating this in the Offerors letter to Confirming Interest and Availability using Annex II.

Annexes

• Annex I – Individual IC General Terms and Conditions

• Annex II – Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual IC, including Financial Proposal Template

All required templates are available on the UNDP Procurement website: www.pacific.undp.org.

Proposal Submission

• All applications must be clearly marked with the title of the consultancy (Finance and Administrative Support) with reference (PN/FJI/078/21)and submitted via UN Job shop by 17 September 2021.

• Note: UNDP Jobs only supports single document upload hence ensure that the proposal is consolidated and submitted as one single document.

• For further information concerning this Terms of Reference, please contact UNDP Pacific Office by email: [email protected].

Women applicants are encouraged to apply