International Consultant – Development of a Common Country Assessment (CCA) for Jamaica and The Bahamas

Following recent reforms repositioning the UN development system, new Cooperation Frameworks (CF) will be the most important UN planning and implementation instrument in support of the 2030 Agenda in the country and will be prepared and implemented in full consultation with the national Government. In the Caribbean, the next MSDF will outline the collective UN response to national SDG priorities agreed with national Governments for the period of 2022-2026. In this vein, it will be first and foremost a partnership with national governments, a compact for UN Country Teams and a commitment to national stakeholders

The selected consultant will have the overall responsibility for organizing and conducting the CCA exercises with the support of the two national consultants and under supervision of the RCO. The development of the CCA will entail, but not be limited to the following:

1. Developing a structural outline and methodology for both CCAs in line with the UNDG guidance on the CCA process with focus on innovative approaches to inclusive and participatory data collection (including consultations with various stakeholder groups) and analytical processes;
2. Incorporating all the analysis provided to the consultant by the RCO and the Interagency Programme Team;
3. Facilitating discussions with key national and international stakeholders as required, on the draft CCA to validate and enrich the findings;
4. Drafting and revising the CCA report in line with the findings from the validation sessions, as well as UN Development System review/feedback;
5. Submitting the final CCA documents.

The selected consultant will fully adhere to all aspects of CCA outlined in the Consolidated Annexes to the Cooperation Framework Guidance?(Annex 2 that indicates the elements of CCA) as well as UN CCA Companion Piece that offers “how to” guidance, tools and examples of how a CCA should be developed (to be shared with the selected consultant).

Under the overall guidance of the RCO and Inter-agency Programme Team (IPT), the Consultant* will lead in facilitating the CCA process and will be specifically responsible for the following:

· Lead the design and presentation of the Inception Report, detailed CCA methodology and tools including for data collection and analysis, review and reporting to fulfil the consultancy objectives;

· Engage with the national consultants and the RCO to extract analyses from the SDG Data Repository and the related analysis;

· Conduct consultations with key stakeholders (Government, international development partners, civil society, private sector and municipalities) in very close consultation with the RCO and supported by the national consultants;

· Lead in preparing a high quality analytical CCA report following the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework Guidelines for UN Common Country Analysis;

·Prepare presentations to UNCT and national stakeholders as may be needed;

· Integrate into research design, analysis and report the UN Guiding/Programming Principles: i) Leave no one behind; (ii) Human rights-based approach; iii) gender equality and women’s empowerment; iv) resilience; v) accountability; and vi) sustainability;

·Preparation of a high quality, evidence based and analytical CCA report for Jamaica and the Bahamas.

*Expanded Roles and Responsibilities can be found in Annex 3 of this document

On basis of the inputs provided to the consultant by the RCO, and guided by each country’s National Development Framework, as well as national SDG indicator framework and regional commitments and with deference to the current COVID-19 crisis and its effects on all aspects of the Jamaica and the Bahamas country contexts, including the impacts on the achievement of the 2030 agenda, the consultant will include the areas outlined in Annex 2 of this document to identify progress, challenges and gaps, as well as opportunities.

Expected Outputs and deliverables

Overall, the process of developing the CCA is expected to take 35 working days, covering the period of October 2020 to November 2020.

The indicated number of working days is tentative and should be used for orientation only. In the financial offer the consultant should indicate the expected number of working days per deliverable and the daily fees

The consultants should possess the following competencies:

Corporate Competencies

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards; Sensitivity to cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age differences. Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment; ability to exercise sound political judgment;

Functional Competencies

• Outstanding communication (spoken and written) skills, including the ability to write reports, conduct consultations and interviews and to articulate ideas in a clear and concise style;
• Good knowledge of the UN system, UN Development System Reform and the new Cooperation Framework Internal Guidelines;
• Outstanding communication (spoken and written) skills, including the ability to write reports, conduct consultations and interviews and to articulate ideas in a clear and concise style;
• Ability to review and synthesize large amounts of information rapidly, and to distinguish major trends from minor details;
• Ability to conceptualize and analyze problems to identify key issues, underlying problems, and how they relate;
• Technical competence in undertaking complex analysis which involve use of mixed methods;
• Familiarity with statistical data and knowledge of human rights and gender equality approaches;
• Ability to respond positively to critical feedback and differing points of view;
• Ability to handle a large volume of work under time constraints;
• Ability to share knowledge and experience and provide helpful feedback and advice.

Academic Qualifications:

• Advanced university degree (Masters and equivalent) in development studies, economics, social sciences, international relations or related field.

Skills and experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of professional experience of developing Strategic Framework documents and conducting country-level situational analysis;
• Previous experience of conducting UN Common Country Analysis is required;

·Experience in leading the process of assessments or research studies or projects in the social services sector in a developing country context, preferably in Jamaica and/or the Bahamas, or other Caribbean countries;

• Excellent facilitation skills with experience in leading multi-stakeholder discussions;
• Extensive knowledge of, and experience in applying qualitative and quantitative analytical methods using a wide range of analytical (including innovative) approaches;

· Substantial professional application of human rights, gender equality, environmental sustainability, results-based management, and capacity development in research;

·Understanding of risks that could impede the project from attaining results.

The consultant should also be able to work in a culturally diverse environment. In addition to the relevant qualifications and experiences, the consultant will have a proven track record and technical expertise in their field.

Language

Fluency in spoken and written English.

Additional Information:-

Any request for clarification must be sent in writing, or by standard electronic communication to [email protected] UNDP will provide responses by uploading them in the system.