Individual Consultant (Research) - UNDP (Apply by: 20 May 2014)

Location :	New Delhi with travel as required., INDIA
Application Deadline :	13-May-14
Type of Contract :	Individual Contract
Post Level :	National Consultant
Languages Required :	English
Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start)	20-May-2014
Duration of Initial Contract :	Six Months ( Maximum up to Twenty Two working days per month)
Expected Duration of Assignment :	Extendable as per requirement of the assignment.

Background
Situation analysis:  Youth unemployment has become a global problem that is experienced across countries and regions. The rise of youth unemployment rates is not only observed in LDCs such as Uganda and Liberia, but also in relatively more developed countries like South Africa and Kenya, amongst members of the EU like Greece, Spain and Italy, and even the United States. Though the severity of the problem varies depending on the context, one of the common root causes is skills mismatch, the disparity between the qualifications possessed by the youth after they complete the education cycle and the skills required in the labor market. Private sector is increasingly being recognized as a significant player in delivering innovative and sustainable solutions to the skills gap problem. Companies, chambers of commerce and other private sector actors do have the necessary know-how and expertise, financial resources and networks to enhance skills delivery and training schemes in partnership with public actors. Furthermore, availability of a skilled labor force is crucial for the operations of the companies and their profitability. More private sector engagement in skills generation will lead to a win-win situation for all stakeholders. Disadvantaged people will obtain skills needed in the market and gain access to sustainable incomes and employees with up-to-date qualifications will boost the growth of firms. India, with its rapidly growing economy and increasing need for skilled labor force, constitutes an interesting example where the role of private sector in skills delivery is acknowledged especially in the recent years. Youth unemployment has been a serious problem for India, starting from 1990s and continuing up to today. Rapid economic growth has not been accompanied by new jobs, leading to the term “jobless growth.” As India is expected to have the world’s largest population in the upcoming years and the majority of its population is young, the need to integrate youth to the economy as skilled workers is eminent. A work force with the necessary qualifications to compete in the labor market is seen as the only way for India to benefit from this “demographic dividend.” Towards this path, the Government of India has emphasized the significance of skills generation and set the goal of training 500 million people by 2022. The engagement of the private sector is central in this approach and there are both new and ongoing private sector-led and public private partnership initiatives in India that can provide significant lessons-learned on how the private sector can contribute to more effective skills delivery. The core thrust of the Government of India – UNDP Country Programme (2013-17) is ‘just, sustainable human development’ with an increased focus on issues of greater equity, participation and empowerment of marginalized people (such as dalits, tribal groups, women, and population affected by HIV/AIDS) to achieve lasting transformational change. One of the programme thrust areas for UNDP India contributes to Inclusive Growth and Poverty Reduction by” strengthening inclusive and equitable growth policies and poverty reduction strategies of the government at the national and state levels to ensure that most vulnerable and marginalized people in rural and urban areas have greater access to productive assets, decent employment, skills development, social protection and sustainable livelihoods.” Youth and skill development continues to be a high priority for UNDP’s programme in India. Strategy:  In order to promote new approaches in skills development through the involvement of the private sector in skills delivery and training, the Global Alliance for Sustainable Employment (GASTE) was established on 13 June 2013*. It was co-founded by the IICPSD and the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB). GASTE has one major objective to reduce the skills gap through more private sector inclusion in skills generation and provide access to jobs for the disadvantaged groups like youth and women. The Alliance launched the preliminary findings of the "Private Sector's Role in Vocational Training and Skills Development" pilot research conducted in Turkey with 4 Turkish universities and announced the work plan forward towards strengthening the role of the private sector in skills development for more sustainable employment. IICPSD’s knowledge generation will continue under GASTE with the second phase of research, covering the prominent private sector-led and public private partnership models of India, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, the Nordics, Germany and others. The lessons-learned from this research will enhance both new and ongoing initiatives in skills generation. In turn, integration of the disadvantaged groups to the economy will be facilitated through more effective skills delivery. IICPSD will coordinate the research initiatives ongoing in different countries in cooperation with the relevant UNDP COs, regional bureaus and centers. A research consultant will be hired in each country to provide assistance to IICPSD in establishing the local academic team, conducting the research and any other field activities needed in the respective country.  Objective (s) of the assignment: The objective of the assignment is to provide administrative, research and organizational support to IICPSD’s research initiative in India on the role of private sector in skills generation, including support to the selection of at least 5 (five) cases for analysis, establishment of the local academic team, meetings with all the project partners, literature review, desk research, organization of writeshops, further research, organization of a global conference that announces the preliminary findings and the publication of case analysis.
Duties and Responsibilities
This contract aims primarily at supporting IICPSD’s research initiative in India on the role of private sector in skills   generation. General responsibilities of the position are as follows: Support the outreach activities to academics and private sector/case actors to initiate the research; Organize meetings with all project partners and ensure their active engagement through the whole process; Support the establishment of the local academic team in India that will consist of at least one academic and one assistant author per case to be analyzed; Support the selection of at least 5 (five) cases to be analyzed in coordination with IICPSD; Support the academic team for literature review and desk research for the case studies; Support the organization of case study write shops for each case and ensure the participation of all stakeholders, including key case actors, technical teams, beneficiaries as well as IICPSD experts; Assist the academic team for further research that will incorporate the findings from case study write shops; Support the organization of a global conference on private sector’s role in skills generation in India together with IICPSD  Coordinate the academic team to write a lessons-learned article that covers all the cases from India; Assist the publication of the research findings report, including the finalization of the case analysis by the academic team, editing, translation etc.; Report progress to IICPSD regularly and coordinate the whole administrative and logistical project cycle together with IICPSD focal point. Time- frame of the assignement: The work will be undertaken during a period of 6 months (consecutive) throughout the time-frame stated below with the possibility of extension depending on the progress; A draft work plan for the assignment subject to this ToR in line with the objectives, scope and tasks defined above, will be finalized and agreed upon between the research consultant and UNDP after the signing of the Contract. The deliverables of the assignment are: Inception report; Report on the establishment of the local academic team, confirmation of at least (five) cases for analysis, with minutes of meetings with all project partners; Report on the literature review and desk research, including zero drafts of at least five case studies; Report on case study writeshops and findings, including first drafts of at least five case studies; Report on the preparations for the global conference, including the document pack to be distributed to participants  Final report, including final drafts of at least five case studies. The deliverables are expected to be delivered to UNDP IICPSD and approved upon technical feedback from IICPSD in accordance with the estimated  payment schedule. GASTE’s launch - http://iicpsd.org/2013/06/14/undps-istanbul-international-center-for-private-sector-in-development-and-union-of-chambers-and-commodity-exchanges-of-turkey-jointly-launched-the-global-alliance-for-sustainable-employment/. Reporting Arrangement: The research consultant will be responsible to IICPSD Director for the completion of the tasks and duties assigned under the scope defined.The reports shall be submitted to IICPSD Director for final approval. All of the reports are subject to approval from IICPSD Director in order to realize the payments to the research consultant. Without any approval from IICPSD, the research consultant will not be eligible to receive any payment. Other information: UNDP will provide project documents and background information, and facilitate meetings with the stakeholders. All documents and data provided to the consultant are confidential and cannot be used for any other purposes or shared with a third party without any written approval from UNDP.
Competencies
Functional Competencies: Demonstrable experience in  research; Ability to co-ordinate effectively. Core Competencies: Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards; Positive, constructive attitude to work; Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability; Strong personal commitment to gender equality and human rights.
Required Skills and Experience
Education: Masters degree or equivalent in any of the relevant fields – development studies, economics, international relations, business administration, vocational education and training; PhD in a relevant area is an asset. Professional Experience: Minimum 8 years of relevant experience in the development sector having  minimum 5 years of experience  on skills development initiatives in India that focus on marginalized groups like the youth; Previous work on the integration of disadvantaged groups to the economy is preferable; Prior case analysis and research experience; Previous publication(s) on the role of private sector in skills development is an advantage. Language Requirement:  Excellent command of English is required. Submission of proposal: Proposal: Consultant shall specify his/her per day consultancy rate; Any travel with prior UNDP approval will be handled separately as per rules. CV: Consultant should submit his/her updated CV with three references. Note: Any kind of miscellaneous charges i.e. internet, phone etc. would not be reimbursed; Individuals working with institutions may also apply, contract would be issued in the name of institution for the specific services of individual; Please note proposals without financial proposal will not be considered; CV and Financial proposal can be clubbed in one file for uploading; No advance payment will be made. UNDP will reserve the right for adding a 20% contingency reserve to the individual contracts for delivery of services that are not mentioned in this Terms of Reference, and/or to cover additional needs.  Payment Schedule (Total Contractual Amount based on deliverables and days worked): Inception report - 16.66% Report on the establishment of the local academic team, confirmation of at least (five) cases for analysis, with minutes of meetings with all project partners-16.66% Report on the literature review and desk research, including zero drafts of at least five case studies-16.66% Report on case study write shops and findings, including first drafts of at least five case studies-16.66% Report on the preparations for the global conference, including the document pack to be distributed-16.66% Final report, including final drafts of at least five case studies-16.70% Cumulative analysis: The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: Responsive; Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation; Technical Criteria weight - 70%;  Financial Criteria weight - 30%.  Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.  Criteria for Technical Evaluation would be as follows: Qualifications of the Consultant (education and work experience)-20%; Experience in the development sector-10%; Experience on skills development initiatives in India that focus on the disadvantaged groups-20%; Experience on the private sector’s role in skills development-5%; Prior experience in conducting case analysis and managing research initiatives-15%. Annexe 1 Case Study Write shop The “Case Study Write shop” (CSWS) is a research method which, by examining important and yet undocumented case samples in the field of operation, aims to report on documents in a short period of time and transform them into a material of academic nature. It emerged as a derivative of the “Write shop” method pioneered by the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction in the Philippines and combined the prevailing aspects of this method with the case study construction format of the “UNDP GIM Research Overview: Case Structure Guide and Outline”. According to this model, cases are recorded quickly and effectively as professional studies by using different information sources and through the processes involved in acquiring knowledge through case-actors. A pre-study is presented to be addressed in the future, thereby facilitating more profound field research. The CSWS, developed by the joint efforts of the UNDP and Istanbul Bilgi University, was applied for the first time in Turkey to social entrepreneurship research. It was also implemented in the pilot research in Turkey on the role of private sector in vocational training. Methodology: Preparation stage The first step in the CSWS is the determination of the research topic. Following the selection of the field of operation, case studies possessing the desired information and models within that field are identified. At this point, other research and social networks can be consulted. Subsequently, a “Case Study Write shop Team” is organized and includes case writers, an expert to serve as write shop moderator, an editor to organize drafts, and other crucial members. Following the selection of the case/s to be documented and the gathering of the team, case actors who will participate in the write shop are contacted and the “Case Study Write shop Model” is presented to them. Upon inclusion of case actors in the write shop process, various resources (published materials prepared by themselves or others, articles, interviews, etc.) are required from them for preparing the pre-draft, and topics to be discussed during the write shop are sent to them. The “Write shop” Process: A write shop is held in a day convenient for the case actors and the other participants. Essentially, a pre-draft prepared using the existing resources is presented and case actors' comments are received with the moderator serving as guide. Online pre-draft sharing can be used as needed to speed the process. The first draft emerges by the end of the write shop. The second draft takes shape in accordance with the topics discussed and further research. To the final draft might be added other subjects determined as having importance for the case. Importantly, discussions are open to participants' new ideas and perspectives and they feature both analysis and integration.  Final stage:  Subsequent to the write shop, the final draft is sent to an academic board with the aim of obtaining academic qualifications for the study and undergoing an investigation and revisions. Following an examination by the board, comprised of leading expert academics, the case study is printed, after which it is shared with the public.  The chart below summarizes the implementation of the Case Study Write shop: Define and Design: Select Subject Area; Revise GIM Questionnaire; Outreach for Academic Team; Outreach to cases actor (s); Finalize the academic team; Select case (s); Train the academic team. Prepare, Collect and Analyze: Data Collection; Literature Review; Prepare the first draft (s); Organize case write shop (s); Further research with finding (s); Prepare the second draft (s); Obtain feedback from case actors; Finalize individual case studies. Analyze and Conclude: Lessons learned from cases article; Editing and publication; Update GIM Questionnaire; Select a new topic of study. For any clarification please write to sandeep.sharma@undp.org.

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