Background

CONTEXT/BACKGROUND

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is the UN organization that promotes volunteerism to support peace and development worldwide. Volunteerism can transform the pace and nature of development and it benefits both societies at large and the individual volunteer. UNV contributes to peace and development by advocating for volunteerism globally, encouraging partners to integrate volunteerism into development programming, and mobilizing volunteers.

In most cultures, volunteerism is deeply embedded in long-established, ancient traditions of sharing and support within the communities. In this context, UN Volunteers take part in various forms of volunteerism and play a role in development and peace together with co-workers, host agencies and local communities.

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED WORK

The IC will work under the overall guidance of the UNV Regional Manager for Arab States and the direct supervision of the Communication Analyst. The consultant will provide the necessary support for enhancing visibility and communication for UNV ROAS Work with focus on supporting quality documentation and visibility.

UNV would like to document these projects and their positive impact on Voluntarism using human interest stories.

Duties and Responsibilities

EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND DELIVERABLES

Competencies

Corporate:

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness, by modeling the UN/UNDP’s values and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
• Excellent research skills; an ability to sift through large amounts of information to identify the relevant material;
• Sound understanding of regional humanitarian, security and development issues;
• The ability to liaise with country officers and UNV partners to collect relevant information

Functional:

• Time management and organizational skills, with the ability to undertake multiple tasks and deliver under pressure;
• Ability to work independently and achieve quality results with limited supervision and within tight schedules;
• Ability to write in a clear and concise manner;
• Good teamwork and interpersonal skills;
• Excellent computer skills especially word processing software, and online collaboration platforms/tools.

Management and Learning

• Seeks and applies knowledge, information and best practices from within and outside of UNV;
• Demonstrates a strong capacity for innovation and creativity in providing strategic policy advice and direction.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualification

Education: MA in communications, journalism, English language, or any relevant field.

Work experience:

• Excellent verbal and written communications skills, namely in conducting interviews, content writing, editing and proofreading;
• A Minimum of three years of relevant experience in journalism, content writing and/or reporting in the area of humanitarian work and/or development;
• Previous experience in content development focused on the region is considered an asset;
• Proficiency in the use of online collaboration platforms (Teams, Zoom, Webex, or similar) and conducting web-based interviews;

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in spoken and written English is required.

INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT

• The individual is required to exhibit his or her full-time commitment with UNV regional office (UNVROAS)
• S/He shall perform tasks under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the communication analyst.
• The supervision will include approvals/acceptance of the outputs and deliverables as identified in the previous section;
• The individual is expected to liaise and collaborate in the course of performing the work with other consultants, suppliers and UN colleagues;
• The individual is required to provide periodical bi-weekly progress reports and when requested on any period of time throughout the assignment to monitor progress;
• The individual is required to maintain close communication with UNVROAS on regular and needed basis at any period throughout the assignment in order to monitor progress. In the event of any delay, S/he will inform UNV promptly so that decisions and remedial action may be taken accordingly; and
• Should UNV deem it necessary, it reserves the right to commission additional inputs, reviews or revisions, as needed to ensure the quality and relevance of the work.

DURATION OF THE WORK

From 10 May till 31 Dec 2021

DUTY STATION

This is a home-based assignment.

TRAVEL PLAN (OPTIONAL)

If any unforeseen travel outside the individual home-based city is requested by UNDP and not required by the Terms of References (ToR), such travel shall be covered by UNDP in line with applicable rules and regulations and upon prior written agreement. In such cases, the individual shall receive living allowances not exceeding the United Nations (UN) Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) rate for such other location(s).

SCOPE OF PRICE PROPOSAL AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS

Interested candidates should provide lump sum fees for requested services with detailed breakdown. This amount must be “all-inclusive”. Please note that the term “all-inclusive” implies all costs, including unit cost for each publication and unit cost of editing /proofreading (per 1000 words). For example, consultant should provide cost break down as follows (unit cost of publication * 10) and (unit cost of editing /proofreading - per 1000 words * 3750 words)

The contractor will be paid an all-inclusive Deliverables/Outputs based lump sum amounts over the assignment period, subject to the submission of Certification of Payment (CoP) duly certified or an invoice and confirmation of satisfactory performance of achieved work (deliverables/outputs) in line with the schedule of payments table hereunder:

RECOMMENDED PRESENTATION OF OFFER

Interested individual consultants must submit documents under points 1,2,&3 to demonstrate their qualifications. Candidates that fail to submit these documents, the application will not be considered.

1. Duly accomplished using the template provided by UNDP;
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. Samples : Sharing at least 4 samples of previous relevant work to evaluate writing, editing and proofreading skills.
4. Financial Proposal: Please do not submit financial proposal in this stage. Financial proposal shall be requested from Candidates who are considered technically responsive

When the financial proposal is requested it should indicate the all-inclusive Deliverables/Outputs based total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided. The terms “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel costs, living allowances, communications, consumables, etc.) that could possibly be incurred are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the proposal. 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 UNDP 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 UNDP.

Interested candidates shall submit required documents to Job Advertisement Website (https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_jobs.cfm) as one document not later than 17 April 2021

Interested candidates can find Procurement Notice, Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability and P11 templates on the following link: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF THE BEST OFFERS

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:

Step I: Screening and desk review:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology.

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

• Master’s degree in communications, journalism, English language or any relevant field.
• Fluency and working proficiency in written and spoken English.
• A minimum of three years of relevant experience in journalism, content writing and/or reporting in the area of humanitarian work and/or development.

Step II: Technical Review

Shortlisted candidates will undergo a technical evaluation and a submission of a proposal to tackle the assignment.

Technical evaluation Criteria max 100 points (Weighted 70):

• Master’s degree in communications, journalism, English language or any relevant field (10 points);
• A minimum of three years of relevant experience in journalism, content writing and/or reporting in the area of humanitarian work and/or development (10 points);
• Proficiency in the use of online collaboration platforms (Teams, Zoom, Webex, or similar) and conducting web-based interviews (5 points);
• Previous experience in content development focused on the region is considered an asset (5 points);
• Samples to evaluate writing, editing and proofreading skills. (40 points);

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation

For those offers considered in the financial evaluation, the lowest price offer will receive 30 points. The other offers will receive points in relation to the lowest offer, based on the following formula: (PI / Pn) * 30 where Pn is the financial offer being evaluated and Pl is the lowest financial offer received.

Step III: Final evaluation

The final evaluation will combine the scores of the desk review and the financial proposal with the following weights assigned to each:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis methodology (weighted scoring method), where the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Criteria weight: [70%]

Financial Criteria weight: [30%]

Only Individual Consultants obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70%) on the Technical evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.