UNCDF’s financing models work through three channels: inclusive digital economies, connecting individuals, households, and small businesses with financial eco-systems that catalyse participation in the local economy, and provide tools to climb out of poverty and manage financial lives; local development finance, that capacitates localities through fiscal decentralization, innovative municipal finance, and structured project finance to drive local economic expansion and sustainable development; and investment finance, that provides catalytic financial structuring, de-risking, and capital deployment to drive SDG impact and domestic resource mobilization. By strengthening how finance works for poor people at the household, small enterprise, and local infrastructure levels, UNCDF contributes to Sustainable Development Goal-SDG 1 on eradicating poverty and SDG 17 on the means of implementation. By identifying those market segments where innovative financing models can have transformational impact in helping to reach the last mile and address exclusion and inequalities of access, UNCDF contributes to a broad diversity of SDGs.

The Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD)

The Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD) is part of Swedish development co-operation.  Its purpose is to promote local democracy in low and middle-income   countries.   For the ICLD, strengthening local democracy principally concerns strengthening local institutions and the work of these promoting equality, participation, transparency and accountability. The ICLD operates with existing   local institutions and authorities and combines collaboration with local ownership of programmes that reflect the challenges faced by partners. The focus of Swedish development co-operation partnerships is on combating poverty using a rights-based   approach.  This approach to alleviating poverty is multi-dimensional and includes people’s ability to influence their own lives and development, particularly at the local level.  The operations of ICLD therefore   form a central plank in combating poverty and promoting sustainable local democracy and development. The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions, Lund University and the Region of Gotland are the parent bodies for and constitute the board of the ICLD.

The International Training Programme (ITP)

The ICLD –UNCDF ITP has been designed to address the capacity challenges faced by local governments in southern and eastern Africa in discharging their critical roles and responsibilities as the key entry points and platforms for integrating sector and multi-stakeholder inputs into coherent interventions that support sustainable local development, poverty reductions and the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals and beyond. Several local governments in the region, and indeed in the whole of Africa have significant administrative and technical responsibilities decentralised to them without the requisite resources and competencies enabling them to fully discharge these responsibilities. This results in unfunded mandates. There is also abundant evidence that most, if not all countries in Africa, despite their level of decentralisation, are faced with the problem of lack of adequate absorptive and generative capacity in the local government sector. The local government delivery gap is huge and requires urgent attention.

Objectives of the Assignment 

The ICLD-UNCDF ITP – “Public Financial Management and Local Economic Development” is a joint venture between the UNCDF and ICLD. Its main objective is to foster institutional change through capacity building and individual learning in several areas relevant to local development in the participating countries namely Tanzania, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Botswana. It will draw from the experiences of ICLD, UNCDF’s programmes and of the participating countries within the framework of a facilitated collaborative learning process using the International Training Programme (ITP) methodology. The ITP methodology is designed to facilitate capacity development for middle or senior level managers as change agents that drive institutional and policy reform processes.

The main focus will be Municipal Asset management, Digitalization of Municipal systems and business processes, Localization of the SDG’s, Public Procurement and Financial management, Credit Worthiness for Municipalities, Innovation in Local Governance, PPP (Private-Public-Partnerships), Attracting and supporting SMME’s, Exploring Alternative ways of financing local authorities, Local revenue enhancement, Gender Responsive Participatory budgeting, and Climate Smart Investments.  The programme will also foster individual learning in several areas relevant to Public Financial Management and Local Economic Development. After completing the programme, the participant is expected to:

•           Understand and be able to use relevant tools in public financial management;

•           Use relevant tools for promotion of Local Economic Development;

•           Understand and use relevant tools to profile and implement Municipal Asset Management plans;

•           Be able to identify areas for digitalization in Municipal systems and processes;

•           Master different approaches to explore alternative ways of financing Municipal Development;

•           Understand how to establish and build Public Private partnerships for local development

•           Be able to support SMEs and Partnerships with the Private Sector

•           Understand and utilise gender enabling approaches to local development

•           Understand how to develop and implement Climate Smart Investments

•           Credit worthiness for Municipalities

Scope of Work

UNCDF and ICLD seek to recruit five National Mentors (one for each country) for the International Training Programme (ICLD-UNCDF ITP) – “Public Financial Management and Local Economic Development”. The applicant must be a national and a resident of one of the countries (i.e. South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Botswana)

Accordingly, the specific roles and responsibilities to be performed by the mentors under the ICLD and UNCDF ITP are as follows:

• Provide support to participants in thinking through and shaping the content of their change projects consistent with the stated scope and purpose of the ICLD-UNCDF ITP;
• Develop a template and/or plan to guide the participants in undertaking their change projects through planned interactive sessions to be determined between the designated mentor and their participants;
• Produce and submit quarterly and Final progress reports to the Programme Management of the ICLD-UNCDF ITP focusing, inter alia, on progress made by participants on their change projects, identified content related weaknesses and administrative and operational challenges and recommending specific corrective actions to be taken;
• Participate in the preparation and inform the content and structure of critical reflection and final reporting sessions or workshops in order to track, support and improve the capacity of participants in managing their change projects generally and adding value to programme content, design and management;
• To act as a pool, repository and sounding board for technical knowledge, assistance and advise in developing platforms to upscale and mainstream the ICLD-UNCDF ITP into national
• and regional frameworks for sustainable human skills development in the local government sector;
• Participate in the different meetings during the training organised by the programme management of UNCDF and ICLD.
• Conduct at least 2 visits in the municipalities and provide a report
• Co-host sessions held in the mentor’s own country, deliver a lecture and facilitate workshops on mentor’s areas of expertise throughout the training

• Excellent drafting and writing skills as well as strong analytical aptitude, communication and presentation skills are required;
• Good interpersonal skills and excellent team working ability;
• Ability to work independently, manage time, scheduling and logistical issues;
• Be an effective advocate of and able to articulate an agenda for policy, organizational and process change;
• Should demonstrate leadership, interdisciplinary team working and coordinating skills and the ability to work under pressure to meet changing deadlines;
• Sensitivity to diverse opinions and difficulties arising from differing social and cultural perception

• At least a master’s degree, preferably in development economics, public policy and administration, or other relevant socioeconomic sciences and/ or development studies, mandatory.

Experience

• At least Seven (7) years’ experience working in local government administration and management, and development studies related to policy development and management, regional and urban planning and sustainable local development, mandatory;
• Very good understanding of issues related to social and economic development, municipal financing, climate change, food security, decentralization, local government, gender equitable local development, local government finance, governance and accountability and policy and institutional change management processes as key components of a capacity development agenda;
• Research & development skills, including baseline surveying, gender-sensitive, interdisciplinary and multi-scale analyses as well as policy research and evidence-based policy development.
• Having a strong track-record in publications of work, i.e. technical, policy-and development-oriented publications, is an advantage;
• Good understanding of national development and local government administration and management discourse in a developing country context generally and in southern Africa is essential.
• Previous similar experiences in mentoring/supervising learners and preparing change projects and supporting the participants to institutionalize the change projects

Language Requirements

Excellent command of written and spoken English, mandatory.

Application and Evaluation Process

Note: This consultancy is open only to the nationals of South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Botswana.  All other candidates will NOT be considered for the assignment.

Application Process
All applications must contain the following information:

a)     Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability;

b)     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 the names of at least three (3) professional references (e-mail addresses, telephone numbers);

c)     Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment;

d)   Signed Financial proposal for professional fees.

This assignment is strictly limited to nationals of the countries mentioned above.  As such, UNCDF expects applicants to this assignment to submit proposals based on prevailing consultancy rates in the domestic market.  

Templates for the above are available at http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=29916).

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

Evaluation process

Applications will be rated on both technical and financial submissions. The following selection method will be used: Highest rated proposal using the combined scoring method, which assigns the weight distribution between the technical and financial proposals. The overall combined score will be 100, where weight distribution shall be 60% for the technical and 40% for the financial proposal.

Step 1: Screening

Applications will be screened and only candidates meeting the following minimum criteria will progress to the pool for shortlisting:

• Education: A master’s degree, preferably in development economics, public policy and administration, or other relevant socioeconomic sciences and/ or development studies;
• Seven (7) years’ experience working in local government administration and management, and development studies related to policy development and management, regional and urban planning and sustainable local development;
• Language: Fluent in English (Written and Oral);
• Mandatory submission of CV.

Step II: Shortlisting by Desk Review

UNCDF and ICLD will conduct a desk review to produce a shortlist of candidates based on the following:

Criteria for Technical Evaluation (100 points maximum)

• Previous similar experiences in mentoring learners and preparing change projects and supporting the participants to institutionalize the change projects – 30 points;
• Experience working in local government administration and management, policy development and management, regional and urban planning, municipal financing, climate change, food security, decentralization, local government, gender equitable local development, governance and accountability – 30 points;
• Very strong research & development record, including baseline surveying, gender-sensitive, interdisciplinary and multi-scale analyses as well as policy research and evidence-based policy development and publications – 30 points;
• Having a strong track-record in publications of work, i.e. technical, policy-and development-oriented publications, is an advantage– 10 points.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 60 points on technical will be considered for financial evaluation.

Step III: Financial Evaluation:

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal: Lowest priced proposal/price of the proposal being evaluated x 40%.

Step IV: Contract award

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

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable vis-à-vis the requirements of the TOR and the project operating environment; and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical (60%) and financial (40%) criteria.

Additional Application Information

• Individual consultants and individuals employed by a company or institution are welcome to apply.
• Any individual employed by a company or institution who would like to submit an offer in response to a Procurement Notice for IC must do so in their individual capacity (providing a CV so that their qualifications may be judged accordingly).
• P11 form will be required at the time a consultant signs an Individual contract (IC).

• UN Personal History form (UN PH11) can be downloaded from: http://sas.undp.org/documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc;
• General Terms and Conditions for ICs is provided; here: http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf

Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents (if any in addition to CV or P11) into one single file.

UNCDF is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

If you are experiencing difficulties with online job applications, please contact [email protected]

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