Policy Consultant for the Innovation for Social Impact Partnership (ISIP) Project

Background

A. Project Title

Innovation for Social Impact Partnership

B. Project Description

In 2017, the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the United Nations Development Programme in the Philippines (UNDP) embarked on a six- year partnership to enable Philippine social enterprises to successfully attract impact investors and achieve scale, thus increasing their contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The partnership was concretized through the Innovation for Social Impact Partnership (ISIP) Project. The ISIP Project holistically tackles capacity building, technical support, and policy reforms that benefit the social entrepreneurship ecosystem in the Philippines. Its strategy is grounded on catalytic financing and technical support to social enterprises and higher education institutions. The ISIP project consists of three components: Entrepreneurship (work with social enterprises), Education (work with Higher Education Institutions with Technology Business Incubators), and Policy (work with other stakeholder of the SE ecosystem, such as government and enterprise support organizations).

While it is critical to continue the provision of tailored support to Philippine social enterprises, especially in BARMM and the larger Mindanao island, where such support is not readily available, efforts should also be reinforced in response to the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the ISIP Project in continuation, yet amended, shall support Philippine social enterprises in overcoming the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including in key areas in Mindanao such as BARMM, Davao City and General Santos City, among others, as well as allow for the implementation of activities that were disrupted due to the pandemic. The proposed activities aim to direct support to both existing social enterprises and those to be formed, for them and the communities they serve to overcome the impacts of COVID-19, enhance resilience, and reach farther towards the SDGs.

On gender equality and women’s empowerment, the ISIP project shall provide opportunities for women and women-led SEs to participate equally in activities and access all the support offered by the project. Gender-disaggregated data shall be required when designing and evaluating activities, in terms of both participating and impact. Discussion on the challenges faced by women SEs shall take place in every stakeholder engagement session to inspire solutions towards gender equality in the SE ecosystem. In Mindanao where the gender culture is largely based on the religious context, both local and expert insights shall be sought to carefully maximize women’s empowerment in local social entrepreneurship.

While the Entrepreneurship and Education components of the project will be carried out separately, the Policy component will be implemented by a UNDP Project Management Team. A Policy Consultant is being sought to support the Project Management Team in developing and implementing the Policy component of the ISIP project.  

Duties and Responsibilities

C. Scope of Work

Under the overall guidance and supervision of the ISIP Project Manager and the Programme Analyst of the Institutions and Partnerships (I&P) Programme Team, the Policy Consultant will deliver the following scope of work:

1. Review existing strategies, approaches, and activities previously designed for the Policy component (e.g., Knowledge products, Roundtable sessions, etc) and propose a gender responsive policy work plan, updates or upgrades as necessary.   
2. Develop three knowledge products, which may include policy notes based on roundtable discussions with key ecosystem stakeholders. This includes the design, conduct and documentation of research activities (i.e. survey, KII, FGD, etc), with consideration towards gender equality and women’s empowerment, as necessary to develop the above; Subject to final design and approval, possible topics may include review, mapping, analysis, and recommendations on start-up social enterprises, life-stage social enterprise support needs, innovative social solutions, impact investing, financing options and modalities, enabling policies, or ecosystem development. One of the three knowledge products will be a concept note for an ISIP successor project.
3. Develop a gender responsive Social Entrepreneurship Roadmap that includes a national framework and contains a Mindanao specific analysis and recommendations (in collaboration with key ecosystem stakeholders). This includes the design, conduct and documentation of research activities (i.e. survey, KII, FGD, etc), with consideration towards gender equality and women’s empowerment, as necessary to develop the above;
4. Co-design, present, and/or facilitate three ISIP policy events, that the UNDP Project Team will be organizing. One of the three ISIP policy events may be conducted onsite in Mindanao. These may include roundtable discussions and learning sessions in support of the above;
5. Participate and present the Social Entrepreneurship Roadmap and/or other key findings in an ISIP culminating event; and
6. Hold outreach and partnership meetings with ISIP stakeholders including government agencies, HEIs, and enterprise supporting organizations, to implement the ISIP policy component which promotes gender equality and women’s empowerment among other outcomes.

D. Expected Output and Deliverables

The Policy Consultant is expected to accomplish the following activities with corresponding deliverables:

E. Institutional Arrangements

1. The Policy Consultant shall report to and be supervised by the ISIP Project Manager, with overall guidance from the Programme Analyst and Team Leader of the I&P Programme Team.
2. The Consultant will participate in Project Steering Committee meetings when necessary.
3. Through the ISIP Project Manager, the Policy Consultant will coordinate with the contracted Firm and consultants responsible for the Entrepreneurship and Education components of the ISIP project.
4. UNDP Philippines will not provide a workstation, transportation, or ICT equipment for the Policy Consultant. The Policy Consultant is expected to have his/her own equipment, office space, and internet connectivity.
5. UNDP will provide the virtual platform for the conduct of meetings, dialogues, and webinars throughout the engagement, and the cloud-based platform where the Consultant can upload all required deliverables and relevant reference documents.
6. UNDP Philippines shall be entitled to intellectual property and other proprietary rights over all materials that have direct relation to the project.
7. Considering the COVID-19 pandemic situation in the Philippines, all work of the Individual Consultant shall be done within the guidelines and protocols set by the local and national government.

F. Duration of Work

The Policy Consultant will be engaged for 80 days spread over 11 months unless revised in a mutually agreed upon timetable by UNDP and the Consultant. Changes in the duration of the contract will be implemented through issuance of a contract amendment.

G. Duty Station and Travel

Duty station is Mandaluyong City but the Policy Consultant can work remotely during the contract, provided that s/he is able to attend meetings, if needed and as scheduled.

The Policy Consultant may be expected to travel within Metro Manila and Mindanao (Cagayan de Oro, Davao City, General Santos, OR selected BARMM areas) to conduct research activities and stakeholder engagement, and to participate in the ISIP policy events and/or ISIP culminating activity, subject to community quarantine restrictions and UNDP travel advisory. Travel related expenses, such as flights and accommodations, related to any required travel outside Metro Manila will be borne by the Project. 

Competencies

Required Skills and Experience

H. Qualifications of Successful Candidate and Criteria for Selection

The Combined Scoring Method shall serve as basis for evaluating offers. The technical qualifications will be weighted 70% and combined with the price offer which will be weighted 30%.

The Offers received will be evaluated using a combined scoring method - where technical proposal will be weighted 70 points and combined with the price offer which will be weighted 30 points.

The CV will be reviewed using the criteria in the table below. Only offerors who will obtain a minimum of 70% or 49 out of 70 obtainable points will be shortlisted and considered for evaluation of financial proposal.

This vacancy is also open to members of the academe and research institutions. Note that for staff of government-owned universities and organizations, a ‘no objection letter’ is required from the employer formally certifying that their employees are allowed to receive short-term consultancy assignments from another entity without having ‘on-leave-without-pay’ status, and include any conditions and restrictions on granting such permission. 

I. Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

The Policy Consultant must send a financial proposal based on an all-inclusive lump-sum amount for the delivery of the outputs below. The total amount quoted shall include all cost components required to deliver the services identified above, including professional daily fees X number of person-days and any other applicable costs (e.g., communication expenses, software and online tool/platform subscriptions) to be incurred by the Individual Consultant in completing the assignment.

The contract price will be fixed output-based price. Any deviation from the outputs and timelines will need to be agreed on between the Policy Consultant and UNDP through a contract amendment.

Medical/health insurance must be purchased by the Policy Consultant at his/her own expense, and upon award of contract, the Policy Consultant must be ready to submit proof of insurance valid during contract duration.

Payments will be made upon satisfactory completion of the deliverables by target due dates. Outputs will be certified by the Programme Analyst of Institutions and Partnerships prior to payments.

J. Recommended Presentation of Offer

The following documents may be requested:

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability 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;
3. At least three (3) relevant sample work – policy notes, research paper, policy roadmap, or knowledge products, indicating which section of the submitted work is the consultant’s sole work, and which sections are through joint or team effort.
4. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided. 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. Medical/health insurance must be purchased by the individual at his/her own expense, and upon award of contract, the Policy Consultant must be ready to submit proof of insurance valid during contract duration.

Offerors must upload in one (1) file the documents mentioned above.

Templates for a) P11 Personal History Form and b)  Offeror's Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability and Financial Proposal (Annex 2) are available through the link below. UNDP General Terms and Conditions for Individual Contractors  are also available:

http://gofile.me/292aN/FJEcICt8l

Incomplete submission of required documents may result in disqualification.

Please see the deadline of submissions above.

Because of the volume of applications UNDP receives, only shortlisted offerors will be notified.