Consultancy – Editor

Background

In an attempt to address the political crisis in South Sudan, H.E. President Salva Kiir called a National Dialogue on December 14, 2016. The President noted that the National Dialogue is both a forum and process through which the people of South Sudan can come together to redefine the basis of their unity as it relates to nationhood, and sense of belonging.

UNDP is providing support to enhance inclusivity, wider participation, transparency and credibility of the dialogue process. Support is provided to facilitate wider and effective stakeholder engagement and participation in the dialogue process, especially those who may potentially be excluded from the dialogue. As part of this support, UNDP seeks the expertise of an independent editor to document and edit reports and knowledge products emerging from various consultative processes to ensure and protect their integrity. It expected that the required expertise will help the dialogue process in ensuring that the voices, opinion and perspective shared during consultations are not left out of the documents that will shape the agenda and outcome of the National Dialogue process.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will work collaboratively with the Leadership of the Steering Committee of the National Dialogue, the Communications and Information Unit of the Secretariat of the National Dialogue as well as under the guidance of UNDP Chief Technical Advisor on Peacebuilding; to edit and revise a range of high-quality and politically sensitive content, including reports of local level consultations, press releases, articles, information sheets, brochures, newsletters, reports, briefing notes and key messages on the National Dialogue process.

The consultant will produce the following deliverables:

• Monthly report on proofread and edited reports, knowledge products, articles, brief and any other documents; 30 days
• Monthly report on proofread and edited reports, knowledge products, articles, brief and any other documents; 30 days
• Monthly report on proofread and edited reports, knowledge products, articles, brief and any other documents; 30 days

Competencies

Corporate Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly;
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills.

Functional Competencies:

• In-depth knowledge of conflict issues and South Sudan context;
• Ability to communicate sensitively across different focal points;
• Demonstrates excellent oral and written communication skills;
• Knowledge and understanding of UN system and familiarity with inter-governmental processes.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master degree in journalism, communications, international affairs, political/social sciences or other relevant areas of expertise or Bachelor degree with 3 additional years of relevant work experience.

Experience:

• At least five years of relevant professional experience in copy and content writing, research, editing, creative writing, journalism or related fields;
• Experience of working with the UN System or other international organizations in similar assignments;
• Solid understanding of peacebuilding issues and good knowledge of South Sudan context;

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English (written and oral) is required.

Application Procedure

The application package containing the following (to be uploaded as one file):

• Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP.
• 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;
• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a brief implementation plan on how they will approach and complete the assignment.

Note: The above documents need to be scanned in one file and uploaded to the online application as one document.

Shortlisted candidates (ONLY) will be requested to submit a Financial Proposal.

• The financial proposal should specify an all-inclusive daily fee (based on a 7-hours working day - lunch time is not included - and estimated 21.75 days per month).
• The financial proposal must be all-inclusive and take into account various expenses that will be incurred during the contract, including: the daily professional fee; (excluding mission travel); living allowances at the duty station; communications, utilities and consumables; life, health and any other insurance; risks and inconveniences related to work under hardship and hazardous conditions (e.g., personal security needs, etc.), when applicable; and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services under the contract.

• In the case of unforeseeable travel requested by UNDP, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.
• If the 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 a 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.

The Financial Proposal is to be emailed as per the instruction in the separate email that will be sent to shortlisted candidates.

Evaluation Process:

Applicants are reviewed based on Required Skills and Experience stated above and based on the technical evaluation criteria outlined below.  Applicants will be evaluated based on cumulative scoring.  When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Being responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation where technical criteria weighs 70% and Financial criteria/ Proposal weighs 30%.

Technical Evaluation - Total 70% (700 points):

Qualifications of the candidate in the required area or course applied for 20%

• Degree or equivalent in Marketing, Journalism, English, Digital Communications, or related field.

Experience of the candidate 50%

• At least five years of relevant professional experience in copy and content writing, research, editing, creative writing, journalism or related fields;
• Experience of working with the UN System or other international organizations in similar assignments;
• Solid understanding of peacebuilding issues and good knowledge of South Sudan context;

Having reviewed applications received, UNDP will invite the top three - four shortlisted candidates

obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (70 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

Financial Evaluation - Total 30% (30 points)

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

p = y (µ/z), where

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Contract Award:

Candidate obtaining the highest combined scores in the combined score of Technical and Financial evaluation will be considered technically qualified and will be offered to enter into contract with UNDP.

Payment Modality:

• Payment to the Individual Contractor will be made based on the actual number of days worked, deliverables accepted and upon certification of satisfactory completion by the manager.
• The work week will be based on 40 hours, i.e. on an 8-hours working day, with core hours being between 8h30 and 16h30 daily.