National Consultant (Technical Advisor - Senior Policy Advisor to MoPH) SDG-Country Support Platform (PIP) UNDP

Contract

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

Background

UNDP Global Mission Statement:

The 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. We are on the ground in about 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. We help countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build resilience to sustain development results.

Organizational context:

UNDP Afghanistan Mission Statement:

UNDP supports stabilization, state-building, governance and development priorities in Afghanistan. UNDP support, in partnership with the Government, the United Nations system, the donor community, and other development stakeholders, has contributed to institutional development efforts leading to positive impact on the lives of Afghan citizens. Over the years UNDP support has spanned such milestone efforts as the adoption of the Constitution; Presidential, Parliamentary and Provincial Council elections; institutional development through capacity-building to the legislative, the judicial and executive arms of the state, and key ministries, Government agencies and commissions at the national and subnational levels. UNDP has played a key role in the management of the Law and Order Trust Fund, which supports the Government in developing and maintaining the national police force and in efforts to stabilize the internal security environment. Major demobilization, disarmament and rehabilitation, and area-based livelihoods and reconstruction programmes have taken place nationwide. UNDP Programmes in Afghanistan have benefited from the very active support of donors. UNDP Afghanistan is committed to the highest standards of transparency and accountability and works in close coordination with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the UN system as a whole to maximize the impact of its development efforts on the ground.

At the UN Sustainable Development Summit in New York in September 2015, the Heads of States and Governments adopted the 2030 Agenda, including 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 associated targets that are expected to guide sustainable development efforts in all countries in the 15-year period until 2030. On behalf of the Government of Afghanistan, H.E. Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah Abdullah attended the Summit. He endorsed these goals and committed to pursuing them with Afghanistan’s development partners.

ISGDs are generally viewed as an integrated agenda, the effective implementation of which requires holistic policy-making and high-level cross-sectoral cooperation, partnership, coordination, and leadership.

Additionally, effective implementation of SDGs requires forging partnerships with other actors such as the private sector, civil society, and academia. Realizing that has proved beyond the reach and current capacity of individual sectoral ministries, including Ministry of Economy.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective of the Assignment:

The Technical Advisor to MoPH will work directly under the supervision of HE the Minister to provide, help to the Government integrate SDGs into the health policies, and to assist the MoPH in introducing a “health in all policies” approach for SDG implementation at the national level. the TA will work closely with the office of the health minister and related units, Ministry of Economy, and other government concerned entities.

The above responsibilities and the following tasks may be revised during the contract period to suit the reform agenda's dynamic nature. In principle, the general duties and responsibilities of the TA will include the following tasks:

• Assessing the situation and developing a concept note to address the questions of what policies, plans and coordination mechanisms should be put into place to integrate SDGs into health policies; what institutional structures can be effective to foster the notion of “health in all policies” approach; and how can the development partners support the national mainstreaming of the health-related SDGs.

• Integrating the SDG concerned targets into the MoPH new health policy 2021-2025.

• Ensuring that related SDGs are reflected in other MoPH policies and strategic documents.
• Engaging key actors in realizing the goal of “health in all policies”.
• Considering equity issues in health policies and strategic documents.
• Strengthening communication between the government and citizens.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

• Deliverable 1 –
• Deliverable 2 –
• Deliverable 3 –
• Deliverable 4 –
• Deliverable 5 –

Payment Modality:

Payments under the contract shall be deliverable-based according to UNDP procurement formats for individual contractors. The deliverables will be reviewed by the Head of Unit. The payments will be paid upon the full completion and acceptance of contractual obligations, as accepted by the Head of Unit.

Institutional Arrangements:

The Consultant will work under the overall guidance of the H.E. the Minister of Public Helath in collaboration with the staff of the A-SDGs project and will liaise with relevant ministerial authorities as and when required.

Duration of the Work

The duration of this contract shall be completed within 6 months (With Maximum 132 Working days), after the signing of the contract, including all preparation work and on-site visits, excluding joining and repatriation travel days.

Duty Station

The duty station for the Consultant is Ministry of Public health, Kabul, Afghanistan for the entire duration of the contract. The Consultant will be required to report regularly and be present at the Ministry of public health during the working hours. The Consultant will follow the working hours and weekends as applicable to UNDP project staff. Consultant’s movement for meetings and consultations shall be coordinated by MoPH and UNDP SDG project office.

Competencies

Core competencies:

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP and the Government of Afghanistan;
• Maturity combined with tact and diplomacy;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional Competencies:

Job knowledge/technical expertise:

• Promotes a knowledge sharing and learning culture in the office;
• Ability to conduct required research, analyze and produce proposals and reports;
• Excellent analytical aptitude, communication, writing and presentation skill;
• Commitment and enthusiasm for development work;
• In-depth knowledge of development issues;
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
• Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more Practice areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in public health from a recognized academic institution. Having a PhD is preferred.

Years of experience:

• Minimum of 15 years of relevant experience in the areas of governance policy, public health, health policy, and health management, and at least 4 years in the senior level,
• At least 10 years of experience in conducting research studies and policy papers.
• High management and leadership skills.
• Excellent English skill and highly analytical skill.
• Strong communication skills and ability to work cooperatively with all key stakeholders (MoPH, MoE, UN agencies, donors, NGOs, etc.).

Language:

Excellent written and oral English skills a necessary requirement; knowledge of local language, Pashto and/or Dari is a plus.

PRICE PROPOSAL AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS

The contractor shall submit a price proposal as below:

• Daily Fee –. The Consultant shall propose a daily fee which should be inclusive of his/her professional fee, local communication cost, insurance (inclusive of medical health and medical evacuation etc.), equipment, and other costs required for performance of the contract but excluding travel, visa and DSA. The number of working days for which the daily fee shall be payable under the contract is 132 working days over a contract duration of 6 months.

Payment schedule - Payments towards fee shall be time-based and shall be made upon submission and acceptance of monthly report and certified timesheet/deliverable acceptance sheet.

EVALUATION METHOD AND CRITERIA

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

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 a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

* Technical Criteria weight 70%

* Financial Criteria weight 30%

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

Technical Criteria 70 points

Qualification, Experience and Technical Proposal (70 marks):

1. General Qualification (15 marks);
2. Experience relevant to the assignment (35 marks);
3. Technical Proposal: Brief methodology and workplan on how the consultant will approach and complete the work (please see mandatory question on jobs site for inputting response) (20 marks).

Financial Evaluation (30%):

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

p = y (µ/z), where

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals:

Interested international Consultant must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document:

1. Duly accomplished confirmation of Interest and Submission of Financial Proposal Template using the template provided by UNDP (Annex II);
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. Technical Proposal (can be attached with CV or response can be provided to mandatory question on jobs site)****:
   1. Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment;
4. A methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment and work plan as indicated above.

All materials developed will remain the copyright of UNDP Afghanistan. UNDP Afghanistan will be free to adapt and modify them in the future.

Annexes (click on the hyperlink to access the documents):

• Annex 1 - IC Contract Template (for information);

• Annex 2 - Financial Proposal Template using the template provided by UNDP (to be completed at later stage upon request by UNDP);

• Annex 3 – IC General Terms and Conditions (for information);
• Annex 4 – RLA Template (if consultant wishes to be recruited through an employer) - (for information).

Incomplete applications will not be considered and will be disqualified automatically.