CLIMATE AND DISASTER RISK REDUCTION RESEARCHER-WRITER for POST MANDANAS (for Filipino Nationals only)

Consultant Environment

Contract

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Background

The Philippines is no stranger to crisis in any shape or form. Situated on the Pacific Ring of Fire, it is among the most vulnerable countries in the world for natural hazards and climate impacts, weathering record-breaking storms, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions, while also suffering from protracted droughts and flash floods. The Philippines has also battled pockets of armed conflict for the past 80 years, with separatist groups destabilising peace talks and causing internal displacement for thousands of families each year, particularly in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), limiting its vast potential for development.

Development gains have been scaled back even further by the COVID-19 pandemic. What first began as a health crisis quickly cascaded into a socioeconomic crisis, with the virus so far claiming more than 16,000 lives, disrupting livelihoods of millions, and contracting the economy by 9.5% in its first year.2?The Philippines will have to carefully plan and utilise all its resources – both monetary and human - if it is going to effectively respond, recover, and get back on track to fulfilling the SDGs before 2030.

The Local Government Units (LGUs) have and will continue to play a crucial role in the crisis response and recovery process. As stipulated in the 1987 Constitution and the 1991 Local Government Code, the LGUs have the administrative and fiscal authority to both respond to and recover from crisis situations, drawing upon its own resources, experimenting with digitalisation, as well as drawing from the support of citizens through grassroots participatory governance mechanisms. However, while the LGUs were provided with greater administrative responsibility, some argue that their share of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) was inadequate, with poorer local governments struggling to fund their mandates (Manasan, 2007).

This will change in 2022, with the Philippines taking a giant leap toward realising the aspirations of democracy, decentralisation, and development by devolving a larger portion of the national budget to local governments. Under the Supreme Court’s Mandanas Ruling, LGUs are expected to receive an increase upwards of 27% (Manasan, 2020). Such a move puts local governments firmly in the driving seat; having access to a larger pool of resources to help them fulfil their mandates and deliver local public services to those who need them most.

However, local development is not expected to take place equally across the board. On the one hand, high capacity LGUs will likely absorb the new cash injection well, with many already demonstrating their ability to respond effectively to crisis, deliver essential public services, adopt new digital technologies, and draw from citizen empowerment initiatives. On the other hand, other, smaller LGUs may struggle to spend the funds due to weaker capacities; political economy challenges; poorer access to digital infrastructure; weaker civil society bases; and limited access to quality contractors. If these issues are not addressed, it is likely that the levels of disparity will widen from 2022 onwards, with high capacity LGUs becoming more advanced, and those with lower capacity being left further behind.

DILG and UNDP shall hold a 5-part policy forum for a series entitled “Decentralisation, Digitalisation, and Development: Strengthening Local Governance for Crisis Response, Recovery, Resilience and the SDGs”, or “3D” for short. The theme of each policy forum shall revolve around one of 5 policy notes. By December 2021, the policy notes shall be synthesised into a flagship report.

The series shall look at the current state of local governance in the Philippines, and through a political economy analysis, illustrate likely scenarios for 2030, when the SDGs are expected to be completed. The scenarios shall take into account the Mandanas transition that shall occur in 2022, with the main variables represented by the capacities of LGUs, civil society, and the private sector. The objectives of the flagship report are:

1. To articulate the possible impacts that the Mandanas transition may have on the Philippines’ ability to respond to - and recover from - various forms of crisis, namely COVID-19, conflict, and climate change.
2. To identify strategic areas of development support for LGUs, citizens, and the private sector, so that stakeholders stand the best possible chance of reaching the best-case scenario by 2030.
3. To unlock investments in the strategic areas of capacity building support identified by the policy notes.

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK AND OUTPUTS

In support of this study, a Consultant shall be hired to co-write one policy note and provide research and editorial support to the synthesised flagship paper for the Post Mandanas study. The Consultant will be the main writer of the policy note and will be supported by (1) a consultant specializing in public financial management and (2) a consultant specializing in peace and resilience. The researcher shall also serve as a resource person to present findings at the policy fora. The specific outputs are as follows:

1. Policy Note: LGU Preparedness to Handle Crisis Response and Recovery as well as SDGs

• An analysis of the political economy in local governance. What are the formal and informal institutions that shape decisions at the local level regarding crisis preparedness, response, recovery, and resilience?
• Do LGUs have adequate human resources, finances, skills, and incentives to support anticipatory governance and evidence-based decision-making and programming in crisis resilience? In answering this question, there will be a discussion on local systems for project management, anticipatory governance, monitoring and evaluation and public financial management focused on:
  • The availability of quality data;
  • The state of data management systems and interconnectedness with national and regional systems; and
  • The use of digital solutions.
• Are there effective mechanisms and incentives for local level accountability? Are there incentives in place for LGUs to adopt and continue NGA programs and do LGUs have the capacity to do so if they choose to? What will determine planning and budgeting at the local level? The role of citizen engagement (CSOs, NGOs, and media) should be assessed.
• Reducing risk is a cost-effective investment in preventing future losses. Risk-sensitive investments are disaster-risk informed and, in the long term, effective disaster risk management leads to sustainable development. Given this, what are the key investments by the public and private sectors for enhancing LGU preparedness to generate the highest return in development dividends?
• How can we best support LGUs for crisis preparedness, response, recovery, and resilience? Capacity building versus capacity augmentation?
• What is the local community resilience framework and how can it resolve issues related to crisis and advance development?

• How can the local community resilience framework be utilised to inform government, civil society, and other relevant stakeholders? Considering crises that are both human-made and natural.

  2. Editorial Review of the synthesized flagship report

• Synthesis of policy notes into the flagship report to ensure consistency of messaging and quality of work.

• In line with the foresight approach, provide research and technical support for relevant chapters.

EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND DELIVERABLES

Deliverables/ Outputs

Estimated Duration to Complete

Review and Approvals Required

Inception Report: including the research framework and design, data collection plan, and Gantt chart.

5 days

Senior Policy Advisor

/ Pintig Project Manager

Output 1: Policy Note: LGU Preparedness to Handle Crisis Response and Recovery

30 days

Output 2: Editorial review of synthesised flagship study.

5 days

Governance and Accountability

1. The Consultant shall directly report to the UNDP Pintig Lab Project Manager and shall be under the technical guidance of the Senior Policy Advisor. The UNDP Pintig Lab Project Manager shall regularly communicate with the Consultant and monitor the progress of their outputs.
2. The Consultant shall report progress, provide updates, or raise issues to the UNDP on a weekly basis. The Consultant is expected to be accessible to UNDP personnel through mobile and digital collaboration tools on an agreed schedule and when required.
3. Upon the direction of the UNDP focals, the Consultant is expected to coordinate with officials, personnel, and consultants of UNDP, government agencies, CSOs, private sector partners, and other stakeholders of the project.
4. All systems, reports, and video material shall be the sole property of UNDP.

Expected Duration of the Contract

The IC will be hired for 40 working days spread over 5 months beginning 15 September 2021 until 30 January 2022.

Duty Station and Travels: Home based

No work-related travels are required. All work will be done remotely. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and declaration of State of Public Health Emergency in the Philippines, all work of the Individual consultant, including meetings and coordination shall be done within the guidelines and protocols set by the local and national government.

Scope and Price of the Proposal and Schedule of Payment

1. The Consultant should send the financial proposal based on a lump-sum amount for the delivery of the outputs identified below. The total amount quoted shall be “all inclusive” all costs (professional fees x number of person-days, communications, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Consultant should be factored into the final amount submitted in the proposal.
2. Medical/health insurance must be purchased by the individual at his/her own expense, and upon award of contract, the consultant must be ready to submit proof of insurance valid during contract duration.
3. The contract price will be fixed output-based price. Any deviations from the output and timelines will be agreed upon between the Consultant and the Pintig Lab Project Manager.
4. Payments will be done upon satisfactory completion of the delivery by target due dates. Outputs will be certified by the Pintig Lab Project Manager, prior to release of payments.

Deliverables / Outputs

Due Date

Indicative Percentage of Lump-Sum Price

Inception Report, including research design

30 September 2021

20%

First draft for Policy Note: LGU Preparedness to Handle Crisis Response and Recovery

27 October 2021

25%

Final draft for Policy Note: LGU Preparedness to Handle Crisis Response and Recovery

19 November 2021

25%

Submission of Editorial review of synthesised flagship study

30 November 2021

30%

Recommended Presentation of the Offer

Interested bidders must submit the following:

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability and including the financial proposal, using the template provided by UNDP;
2. UNDP Personal History Form (P11) or Curriculum Vitae (following the template attached) indicating all past experiences from similar projects or requirements, 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 all-inclusive fixed total contract prices, supported by a breakdown of costs as per template provided and clearly stating payment percentage.

The forms/ templates / Annexes and IC General Terms & Conditions mentioned abive can be downloaded from the application portal at: http://gofile.me/6xdJm/bE9TCw8fU

For any clarification, please write to procurement.ph@undp.org

Competencies

orporate Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN mission, vision, values, and ethical standards
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Promotes UNDP's agenda in meetings

Other Competencies

• Ability to work in close collaboration with a group of national and international experts, to meet strict deadlines and plan the work according to priorities;
• Demonstrates capacity to plan, organize, and execute effectively;
• The initiative, good analytical skills, mature judgment, and ability to work under tight schedule while respecting deadlines achievement, ethics, and honesty;
• Ability to establish effective working relations in a diverse environment
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Builds strong relationships with internal and external clients;
• Demonstrated ability to function in a team environment and to deal with a complex multi-stakeholder environment
• Good ability to use information and communication technologies as tools and resources;
• Excellent written communication and presentation/public speaking skills focus on results, ability to interact productively in a teamwork environment

Required Skills and Experience

Professional Qualifications of the Successful Consultant and Criteria for Selection of Best Offer

The Offers received will be evaluated using a combined scoring method - where qualifications per CV will be weighted 70 points and combined with the price offer which will be weighted 30 points.

The CV will be reviewed using the criteria in the table below. Only offerors who will obtain a minimum of 49 out of 70 obtainable points will be shortlisted and eligible for evaluation of financial proposals

Qualification

Maximum Points Obtainable

Education

Master’s degree in political science, economics, chemistry, environmental studies, climate change, or similar fields of study.

Master’s degree – 14 points, additional 6 points for PhD

30

Experience

At least fifteen (15) years' experience in research and policy reform in local governance, climate action, disaster risk reduction, and resilience

15 years relevant experience =21 points; additional point for each additional year

40

Has at least three (3) publications on local governance, climate action, disaster risk reduction, and resilience

Three (3) publications = 14 points, additional 3 points for each additional publication

30

Language

Fluency in spoken and written English and Tagalog as indicated in the CV

Pass/fail

TOTAL

100

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Added 2 years ago - Updated 2 years ago - Source: jobs.undp.org