Date of Issue: 12th April 2012 Closing Date: 23rd April 2012

INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT PROCUREMENT NOTICE (Ref. No. UNDP/IC/2012/23)

Country: India Description of the assignment: Communication and Advocacy Consultant Project name: GoI-UNDP Project Support to Operationalisation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act Period of assignment/services: 30 April 2012 31 December 2012. Note that this is a UNDP funded full time consultancy position placed in the Ministry of Rural development. The consultancy does not allow the consultant to take any other consultancy assignments during the period of assignment. Duty Station: New Delhi Contract Type: Individual Contract

Important Note-Applications without Technical and financial proposal would not be considered. Proposals should be submitted on line by 23rd April 2012. Any request for clarification must be sent by standard electronic communication to the e-mail sandeep.sharma@undp.org . The Procurement unit will respond by standard electronic mail. CV, Technical and Financial proposal can be clubbed in one file for uploading on the website.

1. BACKGROUND Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) notified on September 7, 2005, aims at enhancing livelihood security by providing at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. MGNREGA is the first ever law internationally, that guarantees wage employment at an unprecedented scale. The primary objective of the Act is augmenting wage employment. The choice of works suggested in the Act addresses causes of chronic poverty like drought, deforestation and soil erosion, so that the process of employment

generation is maintained on a sustainable basis. The Act is also a significant vehicle for strengthening decentralization and deepening processes of democracy by giving a pivotal role to local governance bodies, that is, the Panchayati Raj Institutions. UNDP provides technical assistance to GoI to implement MGNREGA. UNDP has been supporting GoI since April 2006. Under the UNDP-GOI project Support to Operationalisation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the Ministry of Rural Development and UNDP have agreed on several activities. In the initial phase, operationalizing the largest workfare programme in the world and implementing its unique rights based features required establishment of strong systems of managing data and information systems, monitoring mechanisms, tools for awareness generation and communication on the programme, and technical skills to plan and implement physical assets at community level. Therefore, to enhance capacities of central and state governments as well as other implementation partners, the focus of UNDPs initial support was on development of national and sub-national communication strategies and advocacy, development of various capacity building tools to support central and state governments and development of modules and prototypes for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based Management Information Systems (MIS) and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) systems. Subsequently, capacity building efforts graduated towards strengthening management capacities, supervision, M&E and research. Once early priorities had been addressed, focus of UNDP support has been on instituting key elements to strengthen overall management, governance and monitoring of the programme. 2. MAIN OBJECTIVES, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ANALYTICAL WORK The Communication and Advocacy Consultant will be responsible for developing design and methodologies for a comprehensive communication strategy targeting different stakeholders, tracking the MGNREGA outcomes and implementation challenges as well as formulating action points to address these challenges. Communication Consultant documents important aspects of MGNREGA and supports in production of communication material for print and audio-visual media under supervision of National Project Director and Project Manager. The Communication and Advocacy Consultant will organize a cluster of journalists and design and implement a programme to sensitize them on innovations, good practices and lessons learnt in MGNREGA implementation. In the Ministry of Rural Development, the Consultant will also provide communication support to other programmes and schemes of the Ministry including Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Integrated Wasteland Development Programme (IWDP) etc. based on the requirements of the Ministry. Duties and Responsibilities: Under the direct supervision of the National Project Director / Project Manager, the Communication and Advocacy Consultant will be responsible for performing the following functions: Develop methodologies for a comprehensive communications strategy targeting different stakeholders starting from the beneficiaries, to those implementing the Programme Design and Develop communication material for dissemination and liaise with external vendors for this purpose when appropriate Track the MGNREGA outcomes and implementation challenges as well as prepare the action plan to address the issue

Disseminate findings of evaluations and impact assessment through appropriate channels Monitor that multi-pronged communications material is developed targeting stakeholders and coordinate the implementation of the communication strategy Ensure that the best practices of MGNREGA programme implementation are widely shared with State Governments, other Ministries and other relevant stakeholders Build up a district and block-level roster of communications specialists and continually update the same in order to support state governments in their endeavor to implement the Act Design, organize and implement a cluster of journalists and use innovative methods to sensitize them on innovations, good practices and lessons learnt in MGNREGA implementation Develop communication material to other programmes and schemes of the Ministry including Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Integrated Wasteland Development Programme (IWDP) etc. based on the requirements of the Ministry Any other task assigned by the ministry of Rural Development

Documentation Track implementation of MGNREGA across the country and identify issues to be documented Extract information from Programme Management Information System (MIS) and from external reports (newspapers, studies, etc) on MGNREGA Assist in documentation of important aspects of MGNREGA; undertake documentation work when needed Assist in production of communication material for print and audio-visual media Develop case studies on MGNREGA successes Develop strategies for training state government officials, PRI members and staff, block and district level staff engaged 3. KEY DELIVERABLES Monthly progress report provided to UNDP and to the Ministry of Rural Development on the activities undertaken and results achieved of the consultants work. MGNREGA Communication strategy developed targeting different stakeholders, tracking the MGNREGA outcomes and implementation challenges as well as including action points to address these challenges by end July 2012 A comprehensive documentation of sharing of best practices of MGNREGA programme implementation with State Governments, other Ministries and other relevant stakeholders by end October 2012 District and block-level roster of communications specialists created to support state governments in their endeavor to implement the Act by end November 2012 Cluster of journalists formed and sensitized on innovations and good practices in MGNREGA implementation by end December 2012

4. REQUIREMENTS FOR EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS Education: Post Graduate degree in Media Relations, Journalism, Mass Communication or similar field. At least five years (post masters) work experience preferably with rural development and poverty alleviation programmes with communication role

Experience :

 Knowledge and skills :

Experience in the field of reporting, documenting and policy advocacy Work related to large government programmes Computer proficiency in MS-Office, especially PowerPoint and Excel, understanding of MIS an asset Passion for and adequate understanding of development challenges and rural poverty reduction Familiarity with government policies, programmes and government operational systems in India Strong communication skills Good understanding of mass media (print/visual) Ability to work in small teams, and flexible ways of working Experience in developing a communications strategy targeting different stakeholders and designing and developing communications material Ability to promotes awareness of MGNREGA through dissemination of information and materials Experience in maintaining networks and knowledge assets for use in visibility and image activities

Language requirements

Fluency in English and Hindi with excellent writing skills is essential. Knowledge of regional language(s) would be an asset. DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications: 1. Proposal: (i) Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work (ii) Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work 2. Financial proposal 3. Personal CV including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references 4. P11 from which can be downloaded from below given link . http://jobs.undp.org.in/ApplyNow.aspx?VacancyID=239

5. FINANCIAL PROPOSAL Lump sum contracts

Total working days are 169 during the contract period. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount for the contract period of 30 April 2012 31 December 2012 including the anticipated number of consulting days 169. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum including the daily fee for one consulting day. Payment will be made on a monthly basis after receiving the monthly progress report provided to UNDP and to the Ministry of Rural Development on the activities undertaken and results of the consultants work. In addition, payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR (see 3. Key Deliverables). Travel; Approval for any travel envisaged during the assignment will be provided by the National Project Director and the travel cost shall not be included in the financial proposal. In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit 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. 6. EVALUATION Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology: Cumulative analysis a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and b) 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%) consisting of: * Financial Criteria weight; ( 30%) Criteria Technical Subject Knowledge Knowledge of documentation, report writing, editing Knowledge about print media and policy advocacy 10% ( To be given at the time of interview) 10% ( To be given at the time of interview) 10% ( To be given at the time of interview) Weight

Past experience in similar projects .

40 %

Financial Financial Proposal 30 %