National Consultant (Conduct a Review of the Undp Maldives’ Integrated Governance Programme 2016 - 2021)

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. UNDP is on the ground in about 170 countries and territories, working with national counterparts on solutions to global and national development challenges. In the programme countries, UNDP supports stabilization, state-building, governance and development priorities in in partnership with the host governments, the United Nations system, the development partners and other partners to help the country to achieve sustainable development by eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, accelerating structural transformations for sustainable development and building resilience to crises and shock. UNDP has been a trusted development partner of the Maldives for more than 40 years, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, reduction of inequalities and exclusion in areas such governance, environment protection, climate change mitigation and adaptation. In each of its thematic areas of work, UNDP at the request of its national partners provides relevant policy advisory support, technical assistance, advocacy, and knowledge to help Maldives achieve its global commitment on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). With Maldives’s transition to Middle Income Country Status, Official Development Assistance from traditional donor sources has been on the continuous decline. UNDP is therefore working with its national partners to identify and tap into alternative and innovative financing mechanisms for development. This process involves broadening outreach and forging wide-ranging partnerships with stakeholders - including other UN agencies, the government, the private sector, philanthropic Foundations, multi-lateral and bi-lateral donors and International Finance Institutions to advance the country’s development strategies and objectives. The Maldives is a young democracy attempting to build on considerable economic and human development gains, but simultaneously still challenged by deep socio-economic, environmental and political issues. As part of the peaceful democratic transition, a new constitution was ratified in 2008. In recent years progress has been made towards democratic governance, rule of law and human rights in Maldives. Challenges remain, particularly around strengthening participation, transparency, accountability and rights-based approaches to development, as well as of mainstreaming environmental sustainability[1]. The development of effective and inclusive governance institutions and processes, consolidation of the rule of law, access to justice and evolution of an informed civil society and an independent, professional media remain nascent.[2] UNDP Maldives, under the Integrated Governance Programme of its Governance Portfolio has been supporting the consolidation of democracy through strategic streams of partnerships and technical support under key governance themes. To this end, the Government and UNDP rolled out Phase II of the Integrated Governance Programme from 2016-2020, to consolidate support to democratic governance processes in a rapidly evolving political context. The 2 Result Areas constituting IGP II are as follow; (i) Increased voice and citizen participation for stronger governance systems; (ii) Enhanced access to justice and protection of human rights. The IGP is aligned with the Government’s own priorities for UN support for the period 2016-2020, including: strengthening institutional capacities for legislative reform, enhancing access to justice and rule of law, strengthening good governance across state institutions, civil society development and the private sector, and decentralization. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, considering the tremendous challenges and refocusing of country and programmatic priorities, UNDP, along the UN Country Team in Maldives, made strategic, timely decisions which resulted in the UN official programming cycle to be shifted by one year, including the UNDAF 2016-2020 and the UNDP CPD for the same period. Subsequently, the IGP II was extended until end of December 2021 as well. In this context, as the IGP Phase II reaches the end of its programme cycle by the end of 2021, a review of IGP’s results over the past cycle, with special attention to 2019-2020, considering the significantly different operating environment with the new government on board since 2019, coupled with recommendations for strategically adjusted engagement in the current and future context is essential. It is also timely and relevant given that the new United National Sustainable Development Corporation Framework (UNSDCF) with the Government of Maldives, is also in development and will come into effect in 2021 along with the new Country Programme Document of UNDP Maldives, contributing to the UNSDCF. The review will take stock of the programme approaches against the country context, assess relevance using evidence-based information, gauge effectiveness, impact and sustainability. Based on this, it will generate timely findings, lessons learned and importantly, thematic-specific recommendations which will inform strategic re-alignments to the Portfolio to align and contribute to the government priorities and the  UN Sustainable Development Framework  until 2026. To this end, UNDP is seeking a Local Consultant to conduct this review, as part of a 2-member team, co-led and guided closely by the UNDP’s Regional Team Leader in the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific. The Local Consultant is expected to lead the Review section, while the Regional Team Leader will lead the forward-looking Strategic Recommendations Section/Paper, both in close coordination. [1] National Human Development Report, op.cit. [2] United Nations Common Country Assessment, op.cit.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work The review will cover the support provided under IGP mainly over the period  2019-2020, as the last evaluation covered for the period of January 2016 – May 2021, and the governance environment changed since the current government came in December 2018. It will broadly review the programme strategy, relevance and effectiveness through a key document desk review and key selected stakeholder consultations The methodology should outline the strategies to answer the review criteria and key questions above. The proposed methodology should consist of a desk review of project materials and deliverables and review of existing information relevant to the project context, followed by stakeholder consultations, key informant interviews and secondary reading relevant to the socioeconomic context of Maldives. As a standard broad measure, a Theory of Change (ToC) approach will be used in consultation with stakeholders, as appropriate. Discussions of the ToC will focus on mapping the assumptions behind the programme’s desired change(s) and the causal linkages between the intervention(s) and the intended country programme outcomes under the new CPD 2022-2026 which is being designed. Expected Outputs and Deliverables

1. Desk Review Report
2. Development and presentation of forward-looking recommendations and strategic direction for next programme cycle of IGP III
3. Final Review report and Forward-looking Paper

The review is expected to begin immediately, and the consultant is expected to work 30 days over a period of 2 months. Institutional Arrangement The consultant will report to UNDP DRR and will be supported by the ARR Governance and Programme Manager for Governance. A briefing and debriefing meeting will be organized with UNDP senior management at the beginning and end of assignment. Duty Station and Expected Places of Travel Home based with no travel. PAYMENT TERMS The method of payment is output-based lump-sum scheme. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive lump sum 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 be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. The payments shall be released upon submitting the required deliverables/outputs with satisfactory by the DRR UNDP as per agreement for each report in accordance with a set time schedule to be agreed in the contract. Deliverable 1 – Desk Review Report 5 June 2021 30% Review and approval of Deputy Resident Representative – UNDP Maldives Deliverable 2 – presentation of forward-looking recommendations and strategic direction for next programme cycle of IGP III 15 June 2021 20% Review and approval of Deputy Resident Representative – UNDP Maldives Deliverable 3 – Final Review report and Forward-looking Paper 5 July 2021 50% Review and approval of Deputy Resident Representative – UNDP Maldives

For an Individual Contractor who is 62 years of age or older, and on an assignment requiring travel, be it for the purpose of arriving at the duty station or as an integral duty required travel under the TOR, a full medical examination and statement of fitness to work must be provided.  Such medical examination costs must be factored in to the financial proposal above. Medical examination is not a requirement for individuals on RLA contracts.

Competencies

• Excellent research and analytical skills
• Demonstrated ability of timely completion of assignments.
• Proven ability of delivering high quality products.
• Must possess excellent communication and coordination skills.

Required Skills and Experience

• At least a Master’s degree in a field of relevance for the review (i.e. Governance, Public Policy, Social Sciences, Policy Review, Evaluations etc)
• At least 5 years of work experience in a research, reviews, evaluations reporting and/or monitoring area that required strong analytical skills.
• Contextual and local knowledge and experience in democratic governance, rule of law and access to justice, women’s empowerment and gender quality, social inclusion and cohesion, with knowledge of other areas relevant to UNDP’s and the UN’s work.
• Proven work experience in Maldives, for atleast 10 years, in a relevant area, with a lead role in programme management and programme development is required.
• Proven work experience in data collection including interviews and/or focus group discussions.
• Experience in contributing to gender-responsive evaluation or experience in gender analysis and human-rights based approaches an asset.
• Added asset is knowledge of the role of UNDP or the UN system and its programming, coordination, and normative roles at the global, regional and/or country level.
• Language proficiency in English and Dhivehi is required.

Evaluation Method and Criteria Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology: At least a Master’s degree in a field of relevance for the review (i.e. Governance, Public Policy, Social Sciences, Policy Review, Evaluations etc) with atleast 5 years of similar work experience in research, reviews, evaluations reporting and/or monitoring area that required strong analytical skills. 20 Contextual and local knowledge and experience in democratic governance, rule of law and access to justice, women’s empowerment and gender quality, social inclusion and cohesion, demonstrated through previous work experience, consultancies/ publications. 25 Proven work experience in Maldives, for atleast 7 years, in a relevant area, with a lead role in programme management and programme development is required 25 TOTAL 70 points 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: At least a Master’s degree in a field of relevance for the review (i.e. Governance, Public Policy, Social Sciences, Policy Review, Evaluations etc) with atleast 5 years of similar work experience in research, reviews, evaluations reporting and/or monitoring area that required strong analytical skills.
• Criteria 2: Contextual and local knowledge and experience in democratic governance, rule of law and access to justice, women’s empowerment and gender quality, social inclusion and cohesion, demonstrated through previous work experience, consultancies/ publications.

• Criteria 3: Proven work experience in Maldives, for atleast 7 years, in a relevant area, with a lead role in programme management and programme development is required.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) during the desk review/interview are acceptable 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:

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP in Annex II; https://www.mv.undp.org/content/maldives/en/home/jobs---procurement.html
2. Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
3. Financial proposal that indicates the lump sum rate/fee of the candidate in Maldivian Rufiyya (or USD in the case of international consultant).  In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal must include a breakdown of this daily fee (including number of anticipated working days and all foreseeable expenses to carry out the assignment);

Incomplete proposals may not be considered.  The short-listed candidates may be contacted for interview and the successful candidate will be notified.