Individual Consultant for Assessment of key areas of Capacity for Resilience Programming (CARP) among ZRBF stakeholders

Background

Similar to other sub-Saharan African countries, Zimbabwe over the last decades has faced a number of economic, environmental and social shocks and stresses that has led to chronic vulnerabilities of a number of rural communities, leaving them extremely exposed to any hazard or crisis. The challenges of this situation will persist due to the effects of climate change and slow economic growth. After years of facing such simultaneous humanitarian and development challenges the concept of resilience has gained momentum in Zimbabwe as a way of addressing the long-term consequences of the effects of climate change in an unstable socio- economic environment. The government of Zimbabwe represented by Ministry of Land, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement (MLAWCRR), in partnership with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with support from European Union (EU), The Department for International Development (DfID) and the Swedish Development Agency (SIDA),  embarked on laying the ground-work for a resilience-building initiative in Zimbabwe. This culminated into setting up of the Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund (ZRBF). The overall objective of the Fund is to contribute to increased capacities of communities to protect development gains and achieve improved well-being outcomes in the face of shocks and stresses. This will be achieved through three main components of ZRBF programme aiming at;

• Increase effective evidence based institutional, legislative and policy frameworks in place at national and sub-national levels for resilience;
• Increase the absorptive, adaptive and transformative capacities to face shocks and the effects of climate change for approximately 800,000 people, in vulnerable communities frequently exposed to multiple hazards;
•  A crisis modifier that can provide early warning, early action to reduce impact of climate induced shocks for the fund in ZRBF programme areas.

On annual basis ZRBF is expected to report on a number of key outcome indicators and one among them is; Outcome indictor 5: Average score on key areas of Capacity for Resilience Programming (CARP) among ZRBF stakeholders. The Average Capacity Assessment for Resilience Programming (CARP) Score measures progress in capacity development for resilience programming. The Indicator is a competency-based model adapted from ZRBF Resilience Knowledge Hub Capacity Assessment Tool developed to assess capacity of ZRBF development partners to operationalize resilience methodologies in programming. The tool is based on a set of five core resilience competencies that inform program design and implementation:

•  Holistically Assess Risk to design and regularly revise resilience strategy;
• Adaptively Manage by optimising program set up, planning and implementation;
• Facilitate Learning by building a strong team and cultivating a mindset of resilience thinking;
• Monitor and Measure for Resilience Change;
• Intentionally Communicate, Collaborate and Influence to galvanise stakeholder action on resilience strategy.

Each of these competencies is further broken down into a priority set of 16 verifiable practices based on international development standards for a general program cycle, for which the application of a resilience lens is critical for achieving resilience focused outcomes in support of ZRBF’s overall impact. The assessment of each practice is based on progress along a four-stage scale of a learning journey – Conceptual Knowledge, Evidence of Application, Review and Reflection on evidence from application, Adaption of the practice or programme as a result of evidence and reflection. It is against this background that UNDP ZRBF Project Management Unit is looking for a seasoned consultancy with strong experience in conducting capacity assessments, good analytical skills and good interpersonal skills to conduct this assessment using the existing tools and guidance in the ZRBF Performance Indicator Reference Guide Version 2.

Duties and Responsibilities

In view of the above background, the overall objective of the consultancy will be:

• To conduct remote assessment of key areas of Capacity for Resilience Programming (CARP) among ZRBF stakeholders, under the COVID 19 context
• Generate a short report maximum 10 pages using the data collected.

The consultant will be expected to work under the supervision of the ZRBF M&E Officer with the overall guidance from the ZRBF Head of Unit (Project Manager) for a period not more than 30 days.

Specific Objectives of the Consultancy:

To develop a remote strategy to conduct this assessment in a COVID 19 environment

• its stakeholders in their future decisions and implementation of the Crisis Modifier;
• A detailed work plan for conducting the assessment that does not conflict with COVID 19 restrictions and measures; 
• Raw data in an analysable format (Excel SPSS etc);
• Final Report with clear and accurate figures for indicator reporting 10-15 pages maximum.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

High Level of Professionalism:

• Strong analytical, quantitative and problem-solving skills;
• Ability to provide clear messages on complex information;
• Ability to seek and synthesize information from a variety of sources and draw solid conclusion based on in depth analysis;
• Accuracy and attention to detail;
• Good communication skills, including the ability to write high quality reports, conduct studies and to articulate ideas in a clear and concise style;
• Excellent interpersonal skills, teamwork and adept at working with people of diverse cultural and social backgrounds;
• An understanding of and ability to abide by the core values of the United Nations.

Strong Planning & Organizing Capacity:

• Organizes and accurately completes multiple tasks by establishing priorities while taking into consideration special assignments, frequent interruptions, deadlines, available resources and multiple reporting relationships;
• Plans, coordinates and organizes workload while remaining aware of changing priorities and competing deadlines;
• Demonstrates ability to quickly shift from one task to another to meet multiple support needs;

Demonstratable Teamwork:

• Works collaboratively with partners to achieve organizational goals;
• Solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise;
• Facilitates the development of individual and multi-cultural/team competencies;
• Ability to provide substantive training and mentoring, and manage teams.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: 

• Masters in Statistics, Development or other related field of study.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of experience in developing and implementing capacity assessments;
• Strong understanding of Advocacy, dissemination and communication work in the Humanitarian and development sector;
• A good understanding of resilience concepts and its operation;
• Solid analytical skills and experience writing short reports;
• Desirable: Experience in working with government stakeholders, DfID, SIDA and EU and UN funded projects and in complying with their policies and requirements.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in both written and spoken English
• Knowledge of at least two local languages preferable

Application procedure:Applicants are requested to upload copies of:

• Latest CV highlighting the relevant experience;
• Updated P11 Form template of which can be downloaded from this website - http://www.sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc.
• A detailed technical proposal on undertaking the tasks and evidence of previous work;

Please group all your documents (CV, P11, Technical Proposal and certificates) into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document. Incomplete applications will not be given consideration.Applicants must reply to the mandatory questions asked by the system when submitting the application

Please note that only applicants who are short-listed will be contacted.

Evaluation criteria:

The Consultant will be evaluated based on qualifications and the years of experience, as outlined in the qualifications/requirements section of the ToR.  In addition, the Consultant will also be evaluated on the following methodology: Technical Criteria weight: 70%;Financial Criteria weight: 30%;

The award of the contract shall be made to the 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 weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the Terms of Reference.

“UNDP is committed to gender equality in its mandate and its staff, and equal opportunities for people with disabilities. Well qualified candidates, particularly women and people with disabilities are especially encouraged to apply”.