International Consultant – South-South cooperation in local development

Additionally, ISNC project will apply an integrated local development approach in pilot countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America to produce local development results, and collect, package and disseminate knowledge through South-South and Triangular cooperation and knowledge exchange, with the aim of achieving impact at the regional and global levels.

• Support in the consolidation and analysis of the results of ISNC implementation at the global level to identify scalable solutions for sustainable rural development to inform implementation mechanisms for the post-2015 development agenda;
• Support in identifying, systematic documentation and packaging of lessons learnt from ISNC implementation, with focus on sharing evidence-based results and experiences from the SU model application for comparative analysis of application and results, as well as synthesis for integration into regional and global debates, and enhanced discussions around triangular cooperation;
• Develop knowledge products with policy options to guide scaling up and triangular knowledge sharing and exchange with the aim of achieving impact at the regional and global levels.

Provide targeted and quality support to SSC team in the knowledge building and knowledge management and communications:

• Support the development of a global SSC geo-mapping platform to present a database of UNDP-supported SSC initiatives from across the world; and
• Support communication and knowledge sharing outreach to development partners; efficiently and effectively liaising with internal and external stakeholders.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

The following is an indicative list of deliverables, subject to modification based on the changing needs and priorities of the team:

• Assist COs in developing work plans for the implementation of ISNC project in pilot countries- Expected delivery 15 March 2015;
• Monitoring and reporting system for ISNC project is devised and established- Expected delivery 15 April 2015;
• Web site on geo-mapping of SSC is developed and launched, featured at http://undp.org/ssc- Expected delivery 30 April 2015;
• Social media profiles for ISNC project are regularly updated- Expected delivery February-December 2015, by the end of each month;
• News updates about ISNC project are drafted for SSC page, newsletter and Teamworks space- Expected delivery February-December 2015, by  the end of each quarter;
• Regular progress reports on the implementation of ISNC project are collected, summarized and disseminated among target audiences- Expected delivery February-December 2015, by  the end of each quarter;
• Liaison support is provided to pilot country offices to establish the exchange of knowledge and lessons learnt- Expected delivery July 2015;
• Publication is produced with evidence-based results on ISNC implementation and experiences from the SU model application- Expected delivery October 2015;
• Support in the production of 6 annual progress reports on implementation of ISNC project in pilot countries- Expected delivery December 2015.

Institutional Arrangement

The consultant shall report to the Lead Advisor on South-South Cooperation, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support on weekly basis. S/he is expected to work closely with the respective task managers in the team and incorporate the comments and suggestions from other reviewers.

Duration of the Work

Services will be provided over a period of 11 months (February – December 2015), with possibility of extension based on available budget, the needs of the team and satisfactory performance.

Payment

The payment will be made in an all-inclusive lump sum at the end of the month, based on delivery of deliverables.

• Proven practical knowledge of local development at both national and international levels;
• Proven ability to provide support to local development projects;
• Programme experience in Local Development in Country Office/field is an asset.
• Proven ability to produce knowledge products and facilitate knowledge exchange;
• Proven ability to develop and implement effective communications strategies, develop user-friendly, high quality communications materials;
• Proven ability to communicate issues effectively, both orally and in writing;
• Outstanding strong organizational and planning skills;
• Proven networking skills and ability to generate interest in UNDP;
• Proven ability to multi-task effectively; and
• Respect for diversity and ability to work in a multicultural team.

• Master’s degree in communications, journalism, international relations, economics, social science or related fields.

Experience:

• At least five (5) years of professional experience with multilateral development organizations in the areas of local development, communications or knowledge management;
• Strong familiarity with international development issues, including South-South cooperation;
• Good knowledge of office software packages and on-line tools.

Language:

• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English;
• Competency in French or Spanish is an asset.

Evaluation method

Applicants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ technical qualifications (70%) and financial proposal (30%).

Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed and scored using the following criteria:

• Knowledge and experience with local development at national and international levels 30%;
• Strong familiarity with international development issues, including SSC/TrC 30%;
• Experience in knowledge management, including development of knowledge platforms 20%;
• Experience in communications, media outreach with a multilateral development organization 20%;

Only Individual Consultants obtaining a minimum of 70 of the obtainable points of 100 points (70%) in technical evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Only the highest ranked candidates will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

The contract will be awarded to the applicant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• 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.