National Consultant - To support revision of the Community-based Disaster Risk Management Manual for the UN Women Solomon Islands Office

Consultant

Contract

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Background

Background

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, humanitarian action, human rights and peace and security. UN Women provides support to Member States’ efforts and priorities in meeting their gender equality goals and for building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. The UN Women Pacific sub-region has four main thematic areas:

• Ending Violence against Women (EVAW);
• Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) which includes the Markets for Change project (M4C);
• Gender and Protection in Humanitarian Action; and
• Women’s Political Empowerment and Leadership.

One of the key programme areas for the agency is humanitarian action and disaster risk reduction. Natural disasters affect women, girls, boys and men differently. Research shows that women and girls are disproportionally affected by disasters, are more likely to die in disasters, and have different and uneven levels of resilience and capacity to recover. In disasters, women are likelier than men to lose their lives and livelihoods. They face strong gender-specific barriers in disaster recovery and their specific needs, leadership potential and contributions are frequently ignored and unleveraged in resilience building and disaster risk reduction. This undermines the sustainability of entire communities and leaves the most impoverished and marginalized furthest behind in disaster prevention, preparedness and recovery.

UN Women is implementing Addressing the Gender Inequality of Risk and Promoting Community Resilience in Solomon Islands (GIR Project) jointly with UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). The GIR project is designed to ensure the effective integration of gender in the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and at a broader level, to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The project aims at reducing the gender inequality of risk, promoting community resilience and delivering the commitments to gender and disability-responsive disaster risk reduction (DRR) inscribed in the Sendai Framework and the related Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific - An Integrated Approach to Address Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management (FRDP) 2017 – 2030.

Under this project, the Community Based Disaster Risk Management Facilitator’s Guidebook (CBDRM Manual) was identified as a key tool to ensure gender responsive DRR. The Manual aims at training local people and was developed based on various community-based disaster risk management tools used by NDMO over the years. The contents of the manual was simplified for people in rural and remote communities of Solomon Islands to easily follow step by step in understanding and identifying hazards, assessing vulnerability, risks and developing action plans to prepare and respond to disasters. The manual has been widely used by NDMO and other organizations working in the disaster risk reduction and management in the country.

In response to the request by the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO), followed by extensive consultations with disaster risk management organizations, a two-day cross-learning forum was held in October 2019 in Honiara. The forum provided broad recommendations to NDMO in integrating gender and social inclusion into the current draft of the community-based disaster risk management training manual.

Purpose of the consultancy

The purpose of this assignment is to support the revision of the current Community Based-Disaster Risk Management Manual and address gender and social inclusion under the overall leadership of the National Disaster Management Office.

The National Consultant will support the lead international consultant in conducting in-country consultations.

*** SPC, SPREP, PIFS, UNDP, UNDRR and USP (2016). The Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific An Integrated Approach to Address Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management (FRDP) 2017 – 2030.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of the assignment

The National Consultant is expected to support the Lead International Consultant to:

• Coordinate with NDMO, Taskforce and UN Women to implement the workplan of the CBDRM revision;
• Map out current CBDRM practices and relevant frameworks in the country;
• Take stock of lessons learned of national users and practitioners of CBDRM;
• Support national and community level consultations and collate inputs;
• Support piloting of the revised CBDRM and compile experiences and suggest further revisions:
• Advise on how to make the CBDRM more accessible and user-friendly to different groups.

Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, it is anticipated that the Lead International Consultant will undertake all work remotely, from outside of Solomon Islands. This will mean that all communication between the Lead International Consultant and the National Consultant will be done remotely.

Scope of Work/Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Gender and Protection Specialist and the Project Coordinator working in collaboration with the Lead International Consultant and CBDRM Taskforce led by NDMO, the consultant will undertake the tasks as outlined in the deliverable table in section V.

The UN Women Gender and Protection Specialist and the Lead International Consultant are based in Suva. The Project Coordinator is based in Honiara.

The National Consultant will undertake the assignment in Honiara, with up to 3 missions to other locations within Solomon Islands.

Duration of the assignment

The duration of this assignment will be up to 35 working days over six months in 2020 and 2021 as per suggested schedule of deliverables below.

Expected Deliverables

The Consultant is expected to deliver the following outputs:

No.

Deliverables

Approximate No. of Days

Deadlines

1.

• Initial meeting with the UN Women team, NDMO and Taskforce members.

• Development of work plan, including timetable of key deliverables.

  Up to 2 days

September

2.

• Map other CBDRM practices in the country and relevant national frameworks.

Up to 5 days

September

Submit an inception report with a workplan with a timeline -20%

September 15

3.

• Support planning and participate in provincial level consultations.

Up to 15 days

October

4.

• Compile inputs from the consultations.

Up to 3 days

October

Submit field consultation report -40%

October 30

5.

• Coordinate with organizations which will conduct field testing and participate in field testing.

Up to 7 days

November- January

6.

• Compile feedbacks and outcomes of field testing of the manual.

Up to 3 days

February

Submit field testing report

Final payment: 3rd Tranche – 40%

Total No. of Days = 35 days

March 8 2021

• The Consultant will submit drafts of all reports and documents to UN Women for review and comment.
• UN Women will review all documents and reports within one week of submission.
• The Consultant will then submit final documents that incorporate and respond to UN Women feedback.
• Upon receipt of the final deliverables and prior to the payment of the installment, the deliverables, related reports and documents will be reviewed and approved by UN Women within one week.
• All the deliverables should be agreed with UN Women and be provided in English electronic copy.
• All the documents, including the interview tools, and transcripts, all scoping materials including images materials and reports should be submitted in written English language.
• Note that all materials, including video footage and images will remain property of UN Women and cannot be used without UN Women’s permission.

Inputs

• UN Women will provide the Consultant with background materials.
• GIR Project partners will cover the costs of venue hire and catering and travel for all invited stakeholders in the in-country consultations.
• UN Women will cover Consultant’s travel and DSA fees (accommodation, meals, and incidentals for domestic travel within Solomon Islands.
• The Consultant is expected to work remotely using her/his own computer but may access the UN Women office for printing of relevant documents or should he/she be required to work on-site at any point during the assignment.
• During assignment’s related missions, UN Women Fiji Multi Country office will cover travel cost for consultant for the agreed upon routing and in conformity with UN Women applicable rules and regulations.
• Daily subsistence allowance will be paid to the national consultant at the applicable rate:

1. Flight costs will be covered at economy class rate as per UN Women policies.
2. DSA applicable for nights spent in the country of travel at UN standard rates.

• Throughout the assignment, the Consultant is expected to conduct up to 3 missions within Solomon Islands.

Performance evaluation

The Consultant’s performance will be evaluated based on: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered.

Financial Arrangements

Payments will be disbursed to the consultant in installments, upon submission and approval of deliverables set forth in Section “Expected Outputs and Deliverables” above and certification by the UN Women Programme Specialist for the Humanitarian Programme that the services have been satisfactorily performed.

*** NDMO has established a Taskforce to take forward the revision of the CBDRM Manual. It consists of key government and community stakeholders.

Competencies

Core Values

• Respect for Diversity;
• Integrity;
• Professionalism.

Core Competencies

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading by Example.

Functional Competencies

• Ability to think conceptually, strategically and analytically;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Results oriented, flexible and problem-solving skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Required experience and qualifications

The Consultant should fulfill the following requirements:

Education

• Diploma in Social Science (International Development Studies, Gender/Women’s Studies, Sociology, and/or a closely related discipline)

Experience and skills

• At least 5 years of experience of relevant work in the field of resilience/DRR programming;
• Proven expertise in community-based disaster risk reduction;
• Understanding of gender and social inclusion;
• Experience in working with international organizations;
• Experience in facilitating consultations and workshops
• Experience in the Solomon Islands;
• Ability to produce well written report demonstrating analytical ability and communication skill;
• Analytical skills to understand the needs and priorities of communities;
• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, IT tools, ability to use Internet and email.

Language and other skills

• Good command of English both written and oral
• Ability to communicate in Pidgin would be an added advantage
• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, IT tools, ability to use Internet and email.

Evaluation

Initially, individual consultants will be short-listed based on the following minimum qualification criteria:

• Diploma in social sciences (international Development Studies, Gender/Women’s Studies, Sociology and/or a closely related discipline);
• At least 5 years of experience of relevant work in the field of disaster risk reduction;

The short-listed individual consultants will be further evaluated based on a cumulative analysis scheme, with a total score being obtained upon the combination of weighted technical and financial attributes. Cost under this method of analysis is rendered as an award criterion, which will be 30% out of a total score of 100 points.

Evaluation of submitted offers will be done based on the following formula:

where:

T

is the total technical score awarded to the evaluated proposal (only to those proposals that pass 70% of 70 points obtainable under technical evaluation);

C

is the price of the evaluated proposal;

Clow

is the lowest of all evaluated proposal prices among responsive proposals; and

X

is the maximum financial points obtainable (30 points)

Technical evaluation will be represented through desk review of applications. Interviews and/or written tests will be organized if needed only, depending on the short-listed candidates’ qualifications.

Technical Qualification Evaluation Criteria: The technical part is evaluated on the basis of its responsiveness to the Terms of Reference (TOR).

Nr.

Criteria

Maximum points

1.

Diploma in Social Science (international Development Studies, Gender/Women’s Studies, Sociology and/or a closely related discipline) (up to a max of 10 pts)

10

2.

At least 5 years of experience of relevant work in the field of DRR; (5 years- 5 pts, 7 years – 7 pts, each year over 7 years – 1 pts, up to a max of 12 pts);

12

3.

Proven expertise in gender equality and resilience/DRR programming (up to 10 pts)

10

4****.

Experience in facilitating consultations and workshops (up to 8 pts)

8

6****.

Experience in working with international organizations (up to 5 pts)

5

7.

Work experience in Solomon Islands (up to 5 pts)

5

8

Ability to produce well written reports, demonstrating analytical ability and communication skills (samples or reference to be provided) (up to 10 pts)

10

9

Computer literary and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, IT tools, ability to use internet and email (up to 5 pts)

5

10.

Fluency in verbal and written English *(**up to 5 pts*)

5

Maximum total technical scoring:

70

Financial Evaluation Criteria: In this Second Stage, the financial proposal of candidates, who have attained minimum 70% score in the technical evaluation (at least 49 points), will be compared.

Selected Candidate

The selected candidate will be the candidate, who has accumulated the highest aggregated score (technical scoring + financial scoring).

Please note that only applicants who are short-listed will be contacted.

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Added 3 years ago - Updated 3 years ago - Source: jobs.undp.org