Consultant to Develop IncluCivity Index and Score Card for Inclusive City Investments

Consultant

Contract

This is a International Consultant contract. More about International Consultant contracts.

Background

IMPORTANT: This is a re-advertisement. Those who have applied previously may not apply again.

The UN Capital Development Fund makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 46 least developed countries (LDCs). UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development. UNCDF pursues innovative financing solutions through: (1) financial inclusion, which expands the opportunities for individuals, households, and small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in the local economy, while also providing differentiated products for women and men so they can climb out of poverty and manage their financial lives; (2) local development finance, which shows how fiscal decentralization, innovative municipal finance, and structured project finance can drive public and private funding that underpins local economic expansion, women’s economic empowerment, climate adaptation, and sustainable development; and (3) a least developed countries investment platform that deploys a tailored set of financial instruments to a growing pipeline of impactful projects in the “missing middle".

IncluCity Programme

IncluCity is a new UNCDF global initiative that aims to transform cities into spaces of equal opportunities for everyone by targeting those who are vulnerable and marginalized. Local investments are targeted to address inequalities and to provide better public services and economic opportunities. The key purpose of the IncluCity initiative is transforming cities into spaces of equal opportunities for everyone by targeting those who are vulnerable and marginalized.

The Programme contributes to the commitments under SDGs 1, 5, 9, 10 and 11 with particular focus on reducing inequalities and alleviating poverty among most vulnerable populations including women and girls through increased investments in municipal services and infrastructure. IncluCity is built on past and current experiences in inclusive economic development and municipal financing. The program unique approach ties together a focus on inclusion with the investment agenda for cities. The program focuses on the peripheries of cities with low productivity and greater inequalities and provide innovative financing solutions to address these challenges. With strong partnerships with the city mayors and municipalities, IncluCity aims to provide a comprehensive approach to city planners through technical assistance, new tools and direct financing to test innovative solutions to address growing inequalities.

The IncluCity initiative is integrated in particular with UNCDF’s International Municipal Investment Fund (IMIF) that aims to facilitate access to financing for local government capital investment projects on national and international financial markets. The Malaga Global Coalition for Municipal Finance where IMIF was originated advocates for policy reforms, regulatory changes, fiscal architecture and financial mechanisms at both global and national levels to increase financing and technical assistance for the municipalities in LDCs. is built on existing inclusive financing tools deployed by UNCDF including the gender responsive local economic assessment (LEA) and women’s economic empowerment index (WEEI).

The programme focuses on the following key outputs:

Output 1: Build Technical Capacity of Municipalities - Improved technical capacity of municipalities on inclusive plans, budgets and programs assessment of selected municipality plans and budgets to identify existing gaps. Strengthening the role of local govt. institutions responsible for inclusion and targeting vulnerable population –e.g. women development forums (WDF)

Output 2 : Increase Investments in Inclusive Municipal Infrastructure - Performance based grants in selected cities to deliver on inclusive economic development Investments in city services that support mobility, safety and security specially of youth, women, minorities e.g. bus terminals, better street lighting, paved paths for citizens with disabilities Investments in city housing projects to address growing inequality specially in slum areas Investments in city dwellers’ health and well-being through recreational spaces and parks, waste collection process

Output 3: Promote Advocacy, Knowledge Building and Networks- Knowledge exchange and replication of model for enhanced local leadership and financing to support municipalities to achieve inclusive economic development Piloting New Tools (Inclusivity Index, City Score Card). Develop new knowledge with academia and think tanks including new research in topics such as: Marginalized group’s voice and agency in urban planning and financing decisions, Innovative financing to support inclusive cities – new models Documenting best practices and lessons originating from the application of financing tools and technical assistance.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective of the Assignment

Under the direct supervision of the IncluCity programme manager, a senior consultant is required to develop technical tools for the programme that will include 1) Inclucivity Index and 2) City Score Card for Inclusive Investments. The consultant will laisse with the programme teams in countries to gather required input and to carry out consultations with partners on ground.

Scope of work

Under this assignment, the consultant is expected to undertake the following duties and responsibilities:

(i) Develop Inclucivity Index:

• Laisse with country teams and global programme manager to lead discussions on the new tool
• Review existing tools and documents related to inclusive development financing and municipal investments
• Prepare outline of the Index based on the initial feedback
• Develop detailed criteria for the Inclucivity Index for internal discussion.
• Present the draft Index to the internal and external team for feedback.
• Finalize the Index criteria and indicators
• Develop a guidance note detailing Index criteria, indicator definition and the methodology for the application of the Index.
• Finalize the Index tool and the guidance note after the feedback from CDF team.

(ii) Develop City Score Card for Inclusive Investments:

• Conduct dialogue with Inclucity team to initiate the process for the development of the tool.
• Assess the WEEI tool and other impact measurement tools used by UNCDF for municipal investments
• Review existing tools used for inclusive investments in cities including those developed by UN Habitat, UCLG and Cities Alliance
• Develop a draft city score card for review and internal feedback.
• Present and finalize the score card based on the feedback received from internal and external experts.
• Develop a guidance note for the City Score Card for details on the Scoring criteria, definitions and the methodology.
• Finalize the tools and the guidance note after internal consultations and the feedbackDeliverables and schedule of payments

Payments will be made on delivery of outputs, and upon validation and written acceptance of the output by the UNCDF programme manager in collaboration with regional technical advisor, Africa.

Deliverables

Estimated Dates of completion

% of contract amount

Deliverable 1: Outline of the Inclucivity Index based on the initial feedback

5 Nov. 2021

10%

Deliverable 2: Finalize the Index Criteria and Indicators together with the Guidance Note

27 Dec. 2021

20%

Deliverable 3: A draft city score card for review and internal feedback

14 January 2022

30%

Deliverable 4: Finalize the tools and the guidance note after internal consultations and the feedback

15 Feb 2022

40%

Duration of the Work and Duty Station

The senior consultant is expected to start in immediately upon signing of the contract and to be completed within three (3) months from the effectivity of the contract. The duty station will be home-based with virtual or face-to-face meetings when required by either the senior consultant or UNCDF.

Competencies

• Demonstrate leadership with commitment, excitement and excellence in others;
• Ability to meet goals and quality criteria for delivery of products or services;
• Demonstrates strong writing skills, particularly the ability to present persuasive, coherent and well-founded arguments;
• Demonstrates drive to achieve results in timely manner and to seek and find solutions to any problems encountered;
• Has ability to communicate clearly and persuasively
• Demonstrating/ safeguarding ethics and integrity;
• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment;
• Acting as a team player and facilitating teamwork;
• Facilitating and encouraging open communication, communicating effectively with team members and partners;
• Technical knowledge to contribute to mainstreaming of gender equality and empowerment of women in the programmatic and policy work of UNCDF;
• Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Master’s degree in business administration, finance, economics, gender, public administration, development finance, marketing or related field, required and relevant certifications strongly preferred.

Skills and Experience

• At least 5-7 years of relevant working experience in development finance, impact investing including gender financing.
• Substantive experience conducting research and analysis in the area of women’s economic empowerment with relevant regional experience and at least one other related theme: inclusive economic growth, municipal led development, poverty reduction, employment, trade, gender responsive budgeting;
• Proven experience in gender lens investing and gender responsive local economic development.
• Proven expertise in inclusive urban growth and city financing will be preferred.
• Excellent experience in developing tools, technical knowledge and papers on gender financing.
• Knowledge of and experience in producing substantive inputs to policies on issues concerning gender and poverty at the national, regional and international levels, demonstrated experience in training and advocacy work;
• Experience conducting policy advisory and capacity development services to policy makers at the global regional and national levels;
• Experience of working with the UN System or other international organizations in similar assignments;
• Strong client orientation and service delivery approach, with the ability to influence and leverage external and internal stakeholders
• Strong analytical and technical writing skills with a proven ability to produce and summarise complex evidence-based findings in a clear and engaging style

APPLICATION PROCESS

The application must contain the following documents:

• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, if applicable, on how they will approach the assignment.
• Personal CV 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;
• Financial proposal: The financial proposal shall specify a lump sum amount that is inclusive of professional fees and other incidentals that the consultant expects to incur during the performance of the work. For this purpose, please complete and submit the Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability (Please click here for document) and Financial Proposal (do not upload your financial proposal online, please send it separately to the email address [email protected] with the subject line: 102289 - Consultant to Develop IncluCivity Index and Score Card for Inclusive City Investments

Any individual employed by a company, organization or institution who would like to submit a proposal in response to this Individual Contract notice must do so in their individual capacity.

If an applicant is employed by a company, organization or institution, and s/he expects her/his employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing her/him to UNCDF under a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the applicant must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNCDF.

All documents must be submitted: electronically, both the technical proposal and financial proposal

Failure to submit all the above-mentioned documents may result in rejection of the application.

EVALUATION METHOD

Applicants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

• Technical Evaluation Weight - 70% (Step I)
• Financial Evaluation Weight - 30% (Step II)

Step I: Longlisting

The following mandatory criteria will be used at longlisting stage:

• Proven experience in gender lens investing and gender responsive local economic development
• Proven expertise in exclusive urban growth and city financing
• Excellent experience in developing tools, technical knowledge and papers on gender financing

Step II: Desk Review

A desk review will be conducted to produce a shortlist of applicants according to the criteria listed below.

Criteria

Weight

Max. Point

Criteria A

At least 5-7 years’ experience in gender lens investing and women’s economic empowerment

30

Criteria B

5 years’ experience in inclusive urban development and municipal financing

20

Criteria C

At least 7 years of work experiences in developing technical tools related to women’s economic empowerment with UN/International agencies and other development actors

20

Only applicants who obtain a minimum of 70% at the desk review will be considered as technically-qualified and will be reviewed further for financial evaluation.

Step II: Financial Evaluation

The following formula will be used for evaluation of financial proposals:

Lowest priced proposal / Price of the proposal being evaluated x 30

Award Criteria

The contact shall be awarded to the applicant whose offer have been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
• Having received the highest combined score: Technical (desk review) 70% + Financial 30% = 100%.

/mnl

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