Support to the Ministry of National Unity in the Development of a National Unity Index

UNDP Global Mission Statement:

UNDP is the UN’s global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience, and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with national counterparts on their solutions to global and national development challenges.

Organizational context:

UNDP Malaysia Country Office intends to support the Ministry of National Unity to support the Government of Malaysia in expanding its national unity agenda, with the Rukun Negara as the core principle of this agenda. The collaboration is focused on three key areas of intervention: 1) Policy-level Intervention; 2) Institutional Governance and Capacity Building; 3) Grassroots Initiatives. UNDP, with its rich experience in supporting social dialogue, peace and reconciliation in countries around the world, is well positioned to support Malaysia’s national unity agenda and reinforce its high emphasis on social cohesion.

Under the first area of intervention (Policy-level Intervention), UNDP is supporting the Ministry of National Unity on its initiative to develop the National Unity Index. The National Unity Index is currently being developed by the Ministry. In this context, UNDP Malaysia is seeking an expert advisor to provide targeted advisory support to the Ministry of National Unity in the development of a National Unity Index.

SCOPE OF WORK

Under the direct supervision and the overall guidance of UNDP Programme Analyst (Governance for Development) and with close collaboration with UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, the expert advisor will work closely with the Ministry of National Unity to support the government in the development of the National Unity Index. This will include: 

1. Serving as a day-to-day expert advisor to the Ministry of National Unity throughout the development process of the National Unity Index.
2. Supporting the government to finalise the draft National Unity Index, ensuring that it is on par with an international index such as the SCORE (Social Cohesion and Reconciliation) Index (among others).
3. Develop a report on global best practices on various national unity indices worldwide and identify recommendations for Malaysia. 

WORKING ARRANGEMENTS

The national consultant will work under the direct supervision and the overall guidance of the UNDP Programme Analyst (Governance for Development) and with close collaboration with UNDP Malaysia Deputy Resident Representative. The national consultant will work closely with the Ministry of National Unity.

Fortnightly reporting will be required and each deliverable shall be presented to the Programme Analyst (Governance for Development) for review and approval.

The project will not be required to provide any facilities or other support, though the Programme Analyst (Governance for Development) or other Governance or UNDP colleagues may provide guidance.

Duration of the Work and Duty Station                      

Duration

The assignment is estimated to commence on 15 December 2020. The assignment will need to be completed by 31 March  2021 at the latest, up to a maximum of 50 working days.

Duty Station

This is a home-based assignment and the consultant shall meet with the Ministry as needed – either virtually or in person. Fortnightly meetings with the UNDP team will be done virtually or in-person.

Expected Deliverables:

The consultant will use their own equipment and software.

Intellectual Property

All information and production of the knowledge product to the assignments, as well as, outputs produced under this contract shall remain the property of the UNDP who shall have exclusive rights over their use. The products shall not be disclosed to the public nor used in whatever format without written permission of UNDP in line with the national and International Copyright Laws applicable.

PRICE PROPOSAL AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables. The financial proposal should include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including all related costs such as travel costs, per diem, etc).

The lump-sum price is fixed regardless of changes in the cost components:

• First Tranche – 20% upon submission and approval of Deliverable 1
• Second Tranche – 30% upon submission and approval of Deliverable 2
• Third Tranche – 20% upon submission and approval of Deliverable 3
• Fourth Tranche – 30% upon submission and approval of Deliverable 4

Payments are subject to the submission of deliverables duly approved by the UNDP Programme Analyst (Governance for Development), which shall serve as the basis for the payment of services.

The consultant should ideally have the following core competencies:

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards (human rights, peace, understanding between peoples and nations, tolerance, integrity, respect, results orientation (UNDP core ethics) impartiality;
• 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.
   

Management and Leadership:

• Proven leadership skills as a team leader;
• Ability to undertake multiple tasks;
• Ability to build and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders, focuses on impact and result and responds positively to feedback, timely responses to queries;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills;
• Demonstrates openness to change/comments/suggestions and the ability to manage complexities.

The consultant should ideally have the following expertise and experience:

Education Requirement:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) or a PhD in law, international law, political science, international development, international relations, social science, public policy, and other related fields

Professional Experience:

• At least 3 years proven experience in providing technical advisory support on social cohesion and national unity, 5+ years is desirable;
• Proven experience in providing policy advice on unity-related matters is highly desirable;
• Demonstrated high understanding of the Rukun Negara is highly desirable;
• Demonstrated understanding of socio-political situation and experience in Malaysia, on a wide range of unity issues, with various types of stakeholders (e.g. government, NGOs, businesses, civil society);
• Demonstrated capacity to conduct multi-discipline, cross-sectoral research;
• Expertise in writing and documenting research reports, issue or policy briefs

Language Requirement:

• Proficient in English and Bahasa Malaysia (spoken and written).

Skills

• Demonstrable research skills;
• Results-driven, initiative-taking, ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines;
• Ability to work independently or with very limited guidance.
• Highly motivated with a positive attitude and problem-solving approach;
• Good interpersonal and communication skills

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS

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

1. Document 1 : Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability at  http://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/Letter%20of%20Interest%20_Annex%201.docx?download;
2. Document 2: Technical Proposal: Brief description of why the individual considers themselves as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology on how they will approach and complete the assignment; and 
3. Document 3: Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided.  If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution and expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under 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 consultant should also indicate any travel and related costs for meetings etc. at  http://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/Financial%20Proposal%20IC2020-064-Deliverables_MYR.doc
4. Document 4: Personal CV or P11 including areas of expertise and past experiences in similar projects and at least three (3) references at http://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/P11%20for%20SC%20&%20IC.doc?download
5. Please submit this information in one file as Document 1, 2, 3 and 4.The system will only accept one attachment , please merge all documents and submit as one file.
6. Applicants must reply to the mandatory questions asked by the system when submitting the application.
7. Candidates who fail to submit all the information requested above will be disqualified.

How to Apply:

• Kindly download the Letter of Confirmation of interest and availability, Financial Proposal Template and General Terms & Conditions mentioned below;
• Read and agree to the General Terms & Conditions (refer to below link);
• Click the ‘apply’ icon and complete what is required;
• Scan all documents into 1 pdf folder and then upload;
• For clarification question, please email to [email protected]. The clarification question deadline is three (3) days before the closing. When emailing for clarification questions, please put “MyIC/2020/065″as the subject matter.

General terms & conditions to be downloaded:

• The General Terms & Conditions for Individual contract is available at: http://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/General%20Conditions%20of%20Contract%20for%20IC.pdf?download

Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA): A legal instrument between UNDP and a Company/institution, according to which, the latter makes available the services of an individual delivering time-bound and quantifiable outputs that are directly linked to payments

• The General Terms & Conditions for Reimbursement Loan Agreement is available at:http://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/Reimbursable%20Loan%20Agreement%20_%20Terms%20&%20Conditions.pdf?download? 

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF THE BEST OFFER

Evaluation Method and Criteria

Only candidates which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated, Individual Consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Combined Scoring method:

The award of the contract shall be made to the candidate whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and b) having received the highest score out of a set of weighted technical criteria (70%) and financial criteria (30%).

• The technical criteria consist of qualification review (education, experience, language) [max. 100 points]
• The financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated as the lowest priced qualified proposal received by UNDP for the assignment will be based on a maximum of 30 points.

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 100 points)

• Criteria 1: Education – Max 15 points;
• Criteria 2: Working experience – Max 40 points
• Criteria 3: Analytical, research, and writing abilities – Max 35 points
• Criteria 4: Excellent command of English – Max 10 points

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

For those passing the technical evaluation above, offers will be evaluated per the Combined Scoring method:

            a)  Technical evaluation (70%)

            b)  Financial evaluation (30%)