Individual Consultant to develop a Diagnostic report for Inclusive and Risk financing for India

Consultant

Contract

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Background

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a global organization with 17,000 staff working in approximately 170 offices towards supporting governments in developing strong policies, institutions, and partnerships to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

UNDP's policy work carried out at HQ, Regional and Country Office levels forms a contiguous spectrum of deep local knowledge to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. To streamline its financial and investment engagement, UNDP launched the Finance Sector Hub, a finance and innovation platform, that draws on a critical mass of UNDP expertise, initiatives, and partnerships to support the mobilization and leveraging of resources for the SDGs and lead the implementation of the new UNDP private sector strategy and other initiatives.

UNDP’s Work on Insurance and Risk Financing

The collaboration between the insurance industry and the development sector has grown significantly over the last five years. Key initiatives, such as the Insurance Development Forum, InsuResilience Global Partnership and the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance, have evolved into significant policy and standard setting partnerships, bringing together countries, the development sector, and the private and mutual/cooperative sectors of industry. Increasingly, these partnerships are moving beyond policy to programming, with a strong focus on not only delivering insurance and risk financing solutions to countries and communities, but also on long-term transformational change of insurance markets.

UNDP’s growing work in this space has led to the creation of a flagship initiative on insurance and risk finance, and the creation of a dedicated facility for supporting UNDP Country Offices and country partners worldwide, within the newly created Finance Sector Hub. This work covers a range of critical areas where insurance and risk transfer solutions and collaboration with the industry can add significantly to achieving and delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs.) Covering inclusive insurance, sovereign risk financing, insurance investments, natural capital, health, SME development and more, UNDP will work towards developing and delivering insurance solutions together with countries and communities, as well as collaborating with partners to transform insurance markets through enhancing legislation, regulation and institutional capacity.

As part of UNDP’s growing work in the inclusive insurance and risk finance space, it has been conducting diagnostic exercises in several countries to understand the contexts, gaps and opportunities for collaboration and technical assistance. The scope of the diagnostic covers inclusive insurance, risk financing, insurance investments, natural capital, health, SMEs and insurance in development, that is tailored to a country’s development needs. The same exercise is now planned for implementation in India to review the issues relevant to the inclusive insurance and risk finance landscape in India. The diagnostic will examine supply and demand issues, the legislative and regulatory environment through to community needs relative to risk management. This exercise will also explore how UNDP can support and scale up interventions through collaborations with key partners including relevant government partners.

Diagnostic report for Inclusive Insurance and Risk Finance

As part of the increasing operationalisation of the work of the Facility - in part through the start of the work of the Tripartite Agreement between UNDP, the Insurance Development Forum, and the German government – there is a need to prepare a full diagnostic review of all issues relevant to the Inclusive Insurance and Risk Finance environment in India. This diagnostic will examine supply and demand issues, everything from the legislative and regulatory environment through to community needs, the potential for how insurance and the INFF process can be linked, for inclusive insurance and risk finance, through to insurance investments and natural capital.

Rationale and Objectives

The general objectives of the country diagnostic include:

• To assess and document the landscape relevant to inclusive insurance and risk finance in India;
• To understand how best to integrate insurance/risk finance into development frameworks and development financing;
• To open opportunities for dialogues among key stakeholders in strengthening inclusive insurance and risk finance for India; and
• To lay the groundwork for designing insurance solutions that help address the country’s development challenges

Specifically, the diagnostic will explore:

• The underlying conditions for any work in insurance and risk finance, from financial inclusion through to underlying risks;
• The gaps in information, for example, data and information related to insurance, demographics and disaster events and their impacts;
• The development needed to create an effective enabling environment to more effectively improve insurance and risk financing in India;
• The status of insurance/risk finance and to what extent it is integrated into development frameworks and development financing, including what protection measures are in place for public assets in the event of a disaster;
• The capacity of government to manage develop the inclusive insurance and risk finance interventions;
• The potential areas for exploration with partners to develop new insurance tools, products and services;
• The levels of understanding, engagement and trust of insurance and risk finance; and
• The linkages between insurance and finance sectors, as well as linkages between government social programmes with commercial insurance.

Scope of diagnostic

The diagnostic will cover significant ground across the inter-related areas of insurance and risk finance. It will articulate the evolution of the supply side, develop a picture of the demand side, the gaps and opportunities in the environment (i.e. government attitude and support, existing government insurance schemes, current legal and regulatory environment including relevant public finance allocations, regulators’ capability and passion to develop the market, the financial status of insurance companies in the country, the attitude and approach of insurance companies to develop new opportunities and reach new markets, requirements for inclusive insurance product development, etc.) and complete country profiles that cover information relevant for inclusive insurance such as, providing demographic, socio-economic and sectoral contexts.

Structurally, the diagnostic will cover the following five areas:

1. Underlying Risk and Development Information:
   1. Hazard Profile;
   2. Crisis and Disaster History (including Geographical mapping);
   3. Political Economy;
   4. Development Dynamics;
   5. Technology;
   6. Data Mapping.
2. Market Conditions for Inclusive Insurance:
   1. Overview of Current Market;
   2. Legislation, Regulation, Institutional Capacity (the enabling environment);
   3. Market Demand;
   4. Supply, Providers.
3. Market Conditions for Risk Finance:
   1. Existing Assessments of Disaster Risk;
   2. Fiscal Impact;
   3. Existing Legal and Institutional Framework;
   4. Existing Disaster Risk Finance Mechanisms and Instruments (national/sub-national);
   5. Funding gap analysis;
   6. Government preconditions for premium subsidies.
   7. Risk finance for specific sectors:

g.1 Infrastructure

• Impacts of risks on infrastructure sector
• Challenges in risk financing for infrastructure resilience
• Best practices of risk financing for infrastructure resilience

g.2 Energy

• Impacts of risks on energy sector
• Challenges in risk financing for the energy sector
• Best practices of risk financing for the energy sector

g.3 Agriculture

• Best practices in development and delivery of crop insurance (including issues of conflict resolution, technological innovations, claims management, yield estimation, challenges faced by re/insurers)
• Capacity-building needs of different stakeholders
• Mechanisms for monitoring, evaluation, learning

4 - Insurance/Risk Finance and Development Integration:

1. In Development Frameworks
2. In Development Financing

5 - Additional information for the Insurance and Risk Finance Team, specifically in the areas of Investment and Natural Capital.

Approach and Methodology1

A significant part of the diagnostic will be qualitative and based on interviews and questionnaires, which get to grips with perceptions, understanding government dynamics, exploring needs and priorities in detail. The traditional sequence of completing the diagnostic exercise is enumerated below, with room for adjustments, as needed.

1. An inception multi-stakeholder workshop after 3 to 4 weeks of desk research and initial interviews with key stakeholders and the completion of the inception report
2. Consultant engages with UN Country Office to help facilitate collection of information and data required
3. Analysis and validation of all information and data
4. Structured and recording of interviews with key stakeholders
5. Survey questionnaires completed by key stakeholders who cannot be interviewed
6. Initial draft of diagnostic completed by consultant and signed off by UNDP
7. Validation workshop with country stakeholders
8. Diagnostic final report completed by consultant and signed off by UNDP

The main objective of the assignment is to lead the development of a diagnostic report by the UNDP India Country Office for inclusive insurance and risk finance for India

Duties and Responsibilities

The assignment will involve the following:

1. Develop a list of key insurance stakeholders in country, focusing on providers of inclusive insurance and risk finance, in India.
2. Arrange and facilitate strategic engagement with key stakeholders at different levels to collect information and data along with expert comments and or perceptions of the status of the insurance industry.
3. Arrange and undertake interviews with CO support as required with key stakeholders.
4. Coordinate and collect information and data required from key stakeholders
5. Complete analysis of information and data
6. Review the regulatory framework and environment for all types of insurance , complete a finding report , complete a gaps and analysis report and develop recommendations for future development to improve the regulatory framework and the environment for insurance.
7. Facilitate with the CO an inception workshop (after 3 to 4 weeks from beginning of project and completion of the inception report) and a validation workshop ( when report is in draft final version stage) with stakeholders.
8. Report to Advisor, SDG & Innovative Finance, UNDP India and together advise UNDP institutional advisor and regional IRFF specialist of progress.
9. Prepare full diagnostic report (see below deliverable)

Expected outputs and deliverables

1. A high-level inception report, detailing work plan, timeline, a list of national government institutions with contacts of key persons, private sector, and other stakeholders to be consulted. Focusing on providers of inclusive insurance and risk finance and initial information and data collected and a scan of the environment for inclusive insurance and risk finance in a format that has been standardized by international guidelines (IAIS standards). The consultant will confirm the format and type of information and data required for India with the requisite government counter parts in consultation with UNDP at the beginning of the assignment.
2. An inception workshop where the intentions of the diagnostic are introduced to key stakeholders, initial findings from desk review are presented to facilitate discussions among participants that correspond to the research areas of the diagnostic.
3. A draft diagnostic report that presents and analyses quantitative and qualitative data, guided by the UNDP IRFF diagnostic methodology and report outline (see prescribed report outline provided below)
4. A final validation workshop where the findings and recommendations from the diagnostic exercise are presented to solicit feedback from invited stakeholders
5. Final diagnostic report on inclusive insurance and risk finance for India including a detailed summary of inclusive insurance and risk finance this report will also include full quantitative and qualitative analysis and a baseline for future UNDP engagement with different stakeholders on inclusive and risk financing

Outline of the report includes:

Underlying Risk and Development Information

1. Hazard Profile
2. Crisis and Disaster History
3. Political Economy
4. Development Dynamics
5. Technology
6. Data Mapping

Market Conditions for Inclusive Insurance

1. Overview of Current Market
2. Legislation, Regulation, Institutional Capacity (the enabling environment)
3. Market Demand
4. Supply, Providers
5. Market Conditions for Risk Finance

Existing Assessments of Disaster Risk

1. Fiscal Impact
2. Existing Legal and Institutional Framework
3. Existing Disaster Risk Finance Mechanisms and Instruments
4. Funding Gap Analysis

Insurance and Risk Finance and Development Integration

1. In Development Frameworks
2. In Development Financing
3. Additional information in the areas of Investment and Natural Capital

The assignment will be for a duration of up to 50 working days within a period of ten weeks.

Competencies

• Stakeholder management skills: Should be comfortable to interact with a range of stakeholders including bureaucrats, private sector stakeholders and UNDP team
• Analytical skills: Able to synthesize data to form coherent outputs
• Ability to effectively and efficiently interact with senior members and stakeholders
• Must be detail-oriented
• Communication skills: Able to communicate clear ideas across a variety of mediums
• Writing and presentation skills: Able to produce high quality reports and presentations
• Team skills: Able to work independently as well as in teams
• Great organizational and time-management skills

Other Considerations

UNDP may request examples of past publications from applicants as part of the evaluation process.

Language Requirement: English

Required Skills and Experience

Academic qualifications

University degree (Masters or above) in business administration, economics, actuarial science, or other relevant disciplines is required

Professional Experience

• At least 8 years of overall professional experience working on inclusive/ development finance, insurance or related fields.
• At least 5 years’ experience in qualitative and quantitative data collection, evaluation and presentation / visualization are required.
• Excellent understanding of both inclusive insurance and risk financing markets in India, as and knowledge of broader developmental issues and emergent risks (such as climate change) is required.
• Excellent understanding of topics and stakeholders relevant to the insurance sector, such as insurance legislation and regulations, institutions, industry capacity, industry trends, and consumer outlook is highly desirable.
• Excellent written and verbal English language skills with a proven record of report writing is essential.
• Ability to convey complex technical details and research findings in a concise, understandable manner, and present arguments and recommendations in a compelling manner is an asset

Evaluation criteria

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as Responsive to the requirement. Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation;

• Technical Criteria weight - 70%;

• Financial Criteria weight – 30 %

Technical criteria

1. Criteria 1: Prior Experience and knowledge of insurance sector (20%)

• Proven track record of 8 years in insurance, and finance, climate finance through public or private sector is required. The consultant should demonstrate at least 2 project/ research assignments on the insurance/ development or inclusive finance/ public finance sector. Excellent understanding of topics and stakeholders relevant to the insurance sector, such as insurance legislation and regulations, institutions, industry capacity, industry trends, and consumer outlook is highly desirable. (20 marks)

2. Criteria 2: Demonstrated Knowledge on Quantitative and Qualitative Evaluation (20%)

• At least 5 years’ experience in qualitative and quantitative data collection, evaluation and presentation / visualization are required. The consultant should demonstrate at least 1 project/ report where in the above mentioned skilled have been used. (20 marks)

3. Criteria 3: Multi-stakeholder coordination (10%)

• Consultant should have demonstrated experience via at least 2 project in coordinating multi-stakeholder groups given the task would involve coordination with public and private sector stakeholders (10 marks)

4. Criteria 4: Expertise and research credentials demonstrated through interview (20%)

• Interview with consultant to assess expertise and credentials related to deliverables. Only candidates that have scored a minimum of 70% in criteria 1, 2 and 3 (i.e. 35 marks) will be shortlisted for an interview and only those that score a minimum of 70% in the overall technical evaluation (i.e. 49 marks) will be requested to submit financial quotes (20 marks)

Financial Proposal

Technically qualified consultants will be requested to submit their lump sum rate i.e. consultants who score more than 70% i.e. 49 marks with respect to the above-mentioned technical evaluation criteria. Consultant should not specify their consultancy fee on their CV or with the submission. The CV will not be evaluated further in case the consultant submits the same.

Payment Scheduled: Payments will be deliverable linked per the following schedule of payments:

No.

Deliverables

Timelines

Payments

1

A high-level inception report

Within 2 weeks after contract signing

None

2

Inception Workshop and minutes of workshop

Within 5 weeks after contract signing

20 % upon submission and clearance by UNDP

3

a draft diagnostic report for inclusive insurance and risk finance for India, complete with full quantitative and qualitative analysis

Within 7 weeks after signing of contract

50% upon submission and clearance by UNDP

4

Final validation workshop

Within 8 weeks after signing contract

None

5

Final report that covers the key areas the CO and IRFF team advisor agree are relevant for the country

Within 10 weeks after signing of contract

30% upon submission of final report that covers the key areas the CO and IRFF agree on.

Duty station, travel and institutional arrangement

• Duty station: Delhi

• The consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment;

• The consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own working station (i.e. laptop, phone, scanner/printer, etc.) and must have access to reliable internet connection;
• The consultant is expected to be available for consultations and be in reliable email contact for a set number of hours that align with Government/UNDP business hours;
• The consultant will carry out his/her tasks under the overall guidance of the lead focal point (in this case Advisor, SDG & Innovative Finance, UNDP India);
• Payments will be made based on the agreed financial proposal (contract is based on daily fee) and released upon submission of a certificate of payment request, indicating deliverables achieved and days worked to be verified and cleared for payment by the Deputy Resident Representative.

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