NATIONAL CONSULTANT TO SUPPORT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY PLANS FOR PEACE HUTS FOR INCREASED INCOME GENERATION

Consultant

Contract

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Background

Background

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, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

UN Women’s goal in Liberia is to promote women’s human rights and gender equality which are key in sustaining and furthering achievements in stability and development. In this regard, its programming in the Country is connected to five corporate priority areas: women’s leadership and political participation; enhancing women’s economic empowerment; engaging women in all aspects of women, peace, and security processes; advancing women’s rights to live free from violence and Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) and governance. UN Women also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s joint work in advancing gender equality.

UN Women through her local Partners has supported up to 38 Peace Huts since 2009 and delivered a comprehensive set of skills including capacity-building on SGBV prevention and response, reproductive health education, HIV/AIDS, prevention, peacebuilding and mediation, leadership, conflict mitigation and resolution gender, women's rights and natural resource management. In furtherance to this a study conducted in 2017 by the World Bank and UN Women concluded that development and peace building related interventions, targeted towards the Peace Hut Women of Liberia would need to focus on building their capacity to become an integrated center for knowledge acquisition and empowerment. In addition, this study recommended the strengthening of financial sustainability of the Peace Huts. Following this recommendation, UN Women has made efforts towards strengthening the sustainability of the Peace Huts by taking steps to ensure that the Peace Huts are formally Registered as Community Based Organizations (CBOs).

Further efforts by UN Women to support the Peace Huts led to the financial sustainability analysis conducted for 35 of the 38 Peace Huts. The Peace Huts were found to have various income sources, with the Village Safe Loans Associations (VSLAs) being common to them all. The assessment found that contributions to social funds and members’ dues were the mechanisms through which the operation and sustainability of the platforms was financed. Beyond these, there was little consideration by the groups for long-term sustainability.

Following the findings of the research, UN Women supported with the development of financial sustainability plans for each of the Peace Huts. Some of the actions include:

1. Reducing dependence on individual Peace Hut members and investing existing capital in businesses that are self-sustaining
2. Withholding a portion (at least 20%) of the money generated from the VSLA to invest in farming and/ or businesses
3. Provide training for Peace Hut members in business development and management to capacitate them to assess business opportunities and plan and manage businesses as organizations.

In 2019, UN Women, UNDP, and WFP received funding from the Liberia Multi-partner Trust Fund (LMPTF) to jointly implement the project “Sustaining Peace and Reconciliation through Strengthening Land Governance and Dispute Resolution”. Part of the project seeks to strengthen existing semi-formal and informal land dispute resolution mechanisms such as the Multi-Stakeholder Platforms (MSP) and the new mechanisms established through the Land Rights Act (LRA) such as the Community Land Development and Management Committees (CLDMCs), to reduce conflicts in a more transparent, effective and gender and youth responsive manner. This intervention aims to strengthen 8 Peace Huts in 5 counties: Margibi (2), Lofa (2), Gbarpolu (2), Bong (1) and Grand Bassa (1).

In view of this, UN Women Liberia seeks to hire a National Consultant (NC) to support the development of Business plans for the eight Peace Huts in reference to their existing financial sustainability plans and conduct financial management and business plan development trainings for these PHs.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of the assignment

The major objective of this consultancy is to support the development of Business plans for the 8 Peace Huts in reference to their existing financial sustainability plans and train the PH women on financial and business plan development.

Scope of work and tasks

Under the overall guidance and management of the UN Women, Liberia Country Office, Peace and Security Programme Specialist and supervision from the Programme Officer, Women Political Participation pillar and Project Specialist on Gender and Land Management, the NC will perform the following tasks:

Task 1. Desk Review and development of a consultancy Work Plan and an Inception Report that describes the methodology to be used for the Assignment

• Develop a detailed work plan for the consultancy.
• Conduct a desk review of all Relevant project documents including the existing financial sustainability plans.
• Conduct preliminary consultations with UN Women project team and the President/Leadership of the National Peace Hut Women of Liberia; and
• Draft and submit an Inception Report of the Assignment.

Task 2. Trainings on financial management and Business plan development

• Identify specific training needs for each of the selected Peace Hut as per the Sustainability plans
• Review and build on existing training modules developed by UN Women in the need areas identified and proposed. Develop new training modules where none exist.
• Develop a financial management guide for Peace Huts and submit to UN Women for approval
• Conduct trainings on financial management and Business Plan Development
• Draft and submit a training report with Pre- and Post-tests results to assess knowledge gained by the trainees.

Task 3. Develop a five-year Business plan for the selected Peace Huts for sustainable enterprise development

• Develop a business plan for eight Peace Hut women group in 5 counties. To ensure that they manage their current saving, rice, and vegetables projects as a business enterprise for profitable outcomes. Peace Huts must be engaged in this process.
• Present the approved Business strategy to the Peace Huts
• Develop an accurate record keeping system that will help the peace huts to ensure accurate records on sales and profit margin for investment and production cost
• Link Peace Huts with traditional financial institutions for access to finance and business services

Task 4: Support coordination of Women peace hut interventions.

• Mapping of all work (completed and ongoing) with Peace huts by UN Women and other UN agencies
• Identify coordination gaps in working with women peace huts and provide recommendations to address gaps.

Task 5: Conduct TOT’s for implementing partner

• Develop TOT training material for training of Implementing Partner (IP) to support Peace Huts in implementation of Business plans
• Train IP on the implementation of the designed business plan
• Support IP to pilot implementation of the business plan with one of the Peace huts.
• Draft on submit a report on TOT with implementing partner. Include Pre- and Post-tests to assess Knowledge gain.

Expected Deliverables

The NC will produce the following deliverables:

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Deliverables

Indicative Deadline

1.

Detailed Inception Report

15th September 2022

2

Training report for financial management and business plan development (Report to include Training modules designed, financial management Guide, Pre- and Post-tests results to assess knowledge gained by the trainees)

7th October 2022

3

Five-year Strategic Business plans developed for all 8 Peace Huts The plans should include guidelines for Peace Huts to identify end markets and supply chain development, focusing on market opportunities, and sustainable demand driven solutions. Peace Huts to be involved in this. Final Business plans to be approved by UN Women.

19th October 2022

4

Training report of the training facilitated for IPs for implementation of business plans. The report will capture results and recommendations, and will include annexes such as, tools, list of participants, concept notes, pre- and post-tests, materials developed for the training.

28th October 2022

5

Mapping of all work done with Women peace huts by UN Women and other UN agencies and identify coordination gaps in working with women peace huts. Additionally, provide recommendations to the address gaps.

4th November 2022

Competencies

All the deliverables, including annexes, notes and reports should be submitted in English.

Upon receipt of the deliverables and prior to the payment of the first installment, the deliverables and related reports and documents will be reviewed and approved by UN Women. The period of review is one week after receipt.

Inputs

• UN Women will provide the Consultant with a list of contacts of stakeholders relevant for the assignment.
• UN Women will provide the consultant with background materials relevant to the assignment
• The Consultant is expected to work using her/his own computer.
• UN Women will provide transportation to communities during the period of the Assignment

Performance evaluation:

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

Submission of package

1. Cover letter.
2. CV, including contact information for 3 referees.
3. Attach proof of previous work completed -Consultancy reports and Training Reports
4. Financial proposal. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount per each deliverable, including any administrative fees, based on the template in Annex 1. The lump sum costs must be accompanied by a detailed breakdown of costs calculation.

Applications without any of the items listed above will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further processing.

Please note that only short-listed candidates will be invited to the interview****.

Selected candidates will need to submit prior to commencement of work:

1. A copy of the latest academic certificates
2. UN Women P-11 form, available via http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment
3. A statement from a medical doctor of ‘good health and fit for travel’

4. Before any travel outside of Monrovia, the consultant will need to provide proof (certificate) of “Basic and Advanced Security in the Field” (which can be accessed here: undss.trip.org)

5. Evaluation

Applications will be evaluated based on the Cumulative analysis.

• Technical Qualification (100 points) weight; [70%]
• Financial Proposal (100 points) weight; [30%]

A two-stage procedure is employed in evaluating the proposals, with evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. Only the price proposal of the candidates who passed the minimum technical score of 70% of the obtainable score of 100 points in the technical qualification evaluation will be evaluated.

Technical qualification evaluation criteria:

The total number of points allotted for the technical qualification component is 100. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Technical Evaluation Criteria

Obtainable Score

Experience and skills

90

Language and other skills

10

Total Obtainable Score

100

Only the candidates who meet the minimum requirements will be longlisted, and additional documentation may be requested. Candidates with a minimum of 70% of total points will be considered as technically qualified candidates and will be shortlisted for potential interview.

Financial/Price Proposal evaluation****:

• Only the financial proposal of candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% score in the technical evaluation will be considered and evaluated.
• The total number of points allotted for the price component is 100.
• The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened/ evaluated and compared among those technically qualified candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% score in the technical evaluation. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.

Annex I: Financial Proposal

BREAKDOWN OF COSTS SUPPORTING THE ALL-INCLUSIVE FINANCIAL PROPOSAL

Breakdown of Cost by Components:

DeliverablesPercentage of Total Price (Weigh) for payment)Fixed PriceDue Date The lump sum costs should include all administration costs, per diem and expenses related to the consultancy. All prices/rates quoted must be exclusive of all taxes. The lump sum costs must be accompanied by a detailed breakdown of costs calculation.

Required Skills and Experience

Required experience and qualifications

The Consultant should fulfill the following requirements:

Education

Master’s degree in areas of Business management, financial management or any business-related field

Experience:

• At least 5 years’ experience working with Business startups in communities.
• Proven experience working on Business models, Community Development projects and small-scale income generation projects
• Proven experience of working with rural communities especially women groups
• Proven Experience of work in conducting trainings on financial management, business management, Village Savings and Loans associations (VSLA’s) for communities
• Proven Experience of applying adult learning techniques
• Previous experience in a similar assignment would be considered an added advantage.

Language and other skills:

• Fluency in English, with the ability to produce well written reports
• Excellent facilitation and training skills
• Knowledge of simple Liberian English is strongly required

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Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: jobs.undp.org