Programme Design, RM & Partnerships Consultant

Since 2001, the UNDP programme in Cyprus has been delivering mainly EU funded interventions, to support Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots on confidence building measures by encouraging dialogue and cooperation, and supporting the development of environmental, economic and social infrastructure on the island.

As such UNDP in Cyprus provides a diverse package of programmatic services to a range of partners which contribute to building a conducive environment for the peace process. In particular, the implementation of confidence building measures contributes to the building of trust between the two communities while demonstrating to the public at large that the communities can work together on critical issues that are of importance to all inhabitants of Cyprus across three focus areas:

• Empowering communities to protect cultural heritage

• Strengthening inter-communal mechanisms

• Improving environmental, social and economic infrastructure

UNDP is seeking a consultant to produce a comprehensive programme document underpinned by a resource mobilization and partnership implementation strategy and action plan. These deliverables will inform the design and implementation of the next phase of UNDP’s programmatic offer in Cyprus for the period 2022 to 2025, in support of the ongoing peace and confidence building process whilst at the same time contributing to joint UNCT results.

The programme document will build on the work of UNDP in Cyprus since 2001 as well as local, regional and global lessons learnt, donor reports, relevant publications, evaluations, surveys, relevant research and analysis produced by UNDP, UN, the EU, the World Bank and other key actors both in Cyprus and in similar contexts.   The consultant is expected to incorporate innovation as a central element in the design of the programme document.

This resource mobilization and partnership implementation strategy and action plan will be utilized to facilitate a coordinated approach to mobilizing and diversifying resources through leveraging UNDP’s strong track record as the partner of choice in delivering high quality results.

During the first phase, the consultant will undertake a deep dive and analysis of the above-mentioned material and complete a horizon scanning of peacebuilding and confidence building initiatives in both communities along with a mapping of current and potential donors. (The consultant is expected to work up to 7 days for this output)

The consultant will prepare a brief inception report based on the findings of the horizon scanning, mapping and initial consultations, outlining the methodology, deliverables and milestones which will result in the formulation of the strategic objective, higher level outcome statement, theory of change, outputs and activities in accordance with a Results Based Management approach to programme and project design. The inception report will also include a road map for the formulation of the resource mobilization and partnership implementation strategy and action plan.

During this second phase, the consultant will conduct direct internal and external consultations with relevant stakeholders, including focus groups, and collect objective and perception data to support analysis, and identify key findings in support of the theory of change. This phase will result in the formulation of the initial outline of the programme including articulation of the outcome statement and links to the development of the new UNDP Strategic plan 2022 to 2025 for validation by UNDP. (The consultant is expected to work up to 15 days for this output)

During the third phase of the consultancy, the consultant will prepare a first draft of the programme/ project document. The draft document will then be validated with the UNDP and relevant national and international stakeholders through presentation of key findings and recommendations.  Based on feedback provided through this process, the consultant will proceed with the final programme document. (The consultant is expected to work up to 18 days for this output)

Based on the final approved programme document, during the final stage of the consultancy the consultant will produce the resource mobilization and partnership implementation strategy. The strategy will also include recommendations for how UNDP and IRH can collectively strategise on how best to leverage existing resources through a partnerships approach to achieving collective results at the programme level. The draft document will then be reviewed with feedback provided by UNDP at both the local and regional level. Once the final draft has been approved, the consultant will produce an action plan to accompany the strategy spanning 6 months.  (The consultant is expected to work up to 15 days for this output)

The consultant might be expected to make one trip to Cyprus for a period of 22 days as part of this assignment. This decision will be taken after assessing the Covid-19 travel restrictions.

The main expected deliverables of the consultancy are:

finalized programme document

The programme document should:

1. Define the context and rationale for UNDP support,

–  Context Analysis building on existing analysis to identify on-going drivers of fragility, including, especially, their impacts on social cohesion and reconciliation and an analysis of the main actors/stakeholders that have an impact on or are impacted by the driving factors. This analysis must be gender- and age- sensitive.

–  Existing mechanisms for peacebuilding, including defining how the programme/ project will eventually ensure national ownership and how the project builds on the previous UNDP programmes and projects since 2001 and any concrete lessons learned.

–  An analysis of existing interventions in the peacebuilding sector

2. Project content, strategic justification and implementation strategy

– Project result framework, outlining all project outcomes, outputs, activities with indicators of progress, baselines and targets (must be gender- and age- sensitive).

– Project targeting and sequencing strategy – provide justification for geographic zones, criteria for beneficiary selection, expected number and type of beneficiaries and justification, timing among various activities, any measures to ensure coherence and connection between outcomes, and any other information on implementation approach (must be gender- and age-sensitive).

3. Innovation

– Incorporating innovation into programme design, implementation and evaluation

– Harmonizing innovation with the structure and functions of UNDP Accelerator Labs

4. Project management and coordination

– Project management and coordination – present the project implementation team, including positions and roles and explanation of which positions are to be funded by the project (to which percentage). Explain project coordination and oversight arrangements and attach key staff TORs.

– Risk management – assess the level of risk for project success (low, medium and high) and provide a list of major project specific risks and how they will be managed.

5. Monitoring and evaluation

– Layout the M&E approach for the project, including M&E expertise in the project team and main means and timing of collecting data. Ensure at least 5-7% of the project budget is set aside for M&E activities, including collection of baseline and end line data for indicators and an independent evaluations in accordance with internationally accepted evaluation criteria defined by the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG)

A finalized resource mobilization and partnership implementation strategy + action plan.

1. Context Analysis

2. UNDP’s Partnerships in Cyprus

3. Resource requirements

4. Overall arching aims and objectives

5. Assumptions and Risks 

6. Partners Perception      

7. Value Proposition

8. Donor visibility, advocacy and strategic communications             

9. Action plan

10. Project Documents for new programmatic areas

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN values and ethical standards.

• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP.

• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

• Excellent analytical and organizational skills.

Development and Operational Effectiveness:

• Ability to lead strategic information collection, analysis and result-based use of information.

• Ability to lead formulation of strategies and their implementation.

• Ability to apply Resource Mobilization and Partnerships building theory to specific institutional contexts.

• Excellent writing and presentation skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:         

• Master’s Degree in social sciences, economics or International development studies.

Experience:

• At least 8 years of demonstrated relevant work experience in programme design/Resource Mobilization in development interventions at national and/or international level is required. 
• At least 5 years’ experience with peacebuilding and confidence building programmes.  Previous work experience in Cyprus, is considered an asset.
• Demonstrable extensive knowledge of results-based management.
• Previous experience of undertaking similar assignments for UNDP is considered an asset.

Language Requirements:

•     Excellent writing, editing, and oral communication skills in English.

Application

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position and a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work.
• Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of 3 referees
• (blank form can be downloaded from http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc ); please upload the P11 instead of your CV.
• Reference; Contact details of 3 references
• Financial Proposal:  Applicants are requested to submit an output based financial proposal in Euro for each phase.

Please note that due to Covid travel restriction this assignment may have to be completed remotely. In case the consultant will be required to travel to Cyprus as per the ToR, UNDP Cyprus office will provide DSA, terminal expenses and the air-ticket for international travel.

Output based financial proposal shall cover all expenditures including fees, health insurance, vaccination, international (all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel) or local travel (place of residence to office and office to place of residence), cost of living and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services/delivery of outputs. Leave benefits (annual, sick, paternity, maternity) are not applicable to Individual Contractor. UNDP will provide DSA, terminal expenses and the air-ticket for international travel.

Logistics of the Assignment:

The Consultant shall arrange her/his own travel and accommodation. Please note that the consultant will need to provide his/her own laptop and other relevant equipment for working purposes.

Evaluation / Selection Process:

All applicants will be screened against qualifications and the competencies set above. Candidates fully meeting the requirements will be further evaluated based on the criteria below.

Technical Criteria (CV review and interviews) – 70% of total evaluation – max. 70 points

CV review: 20 points:

• Educational qualification as defined in the ToR (10 points)

• Experience as defined in the ToR (10 points)

Only candidates who obtained at least 70% of points from the CV review (who will score at least 14 points) will be eligible to be invited for an interview/desk review.

Desk review/Interview: 50 points

• Relevant work experience in Programme Design Resource Mobilization Partnerships of similar nature – 15

• Experience in Peace Building and Confidence Building – 15

• Extensive knowledge of results-based management. Previous experience of undertaking similar assignments for UN/UNDP – 10

• Experience of the Cyprus context – 10

Only those individual consultants who obtained at least 70% of points from the desk review/interview (35 out of 50) will be considered for financial proposal evaluation.

Financial Criteria – 30% of total evaluation – max. 30 points.

Financial scores will be calculated using the formula [lowest offer / financial offer of the candidate x 30].

UNDP applies the “Best value for money approach” – the final selection will be based on the combination of the applicants’ qualification and financial proposal.

Payment Term: Payments upon approval of each output, and payment certificate form to be approved by UNDP Programme and Communications Analyst.

Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org