Review of UNRWA West Bank’s Existing and Planned Knowledge Management Systems, Jerusalem

TERMS OF REFERENCE

UNRWA is the largest United Nations programme in the Middle East. It provides assistance and protection to Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic and the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). It does so by offering to a population of some 5 million registered refugees a range of human development and humanitarian services in primary and vocational education, primary health care, social safety net, community support, camp improvement, and microfinance. UNRWA’s role also encompasses advocacy and actions to address the human rights and protection needs of Palestine refugees.

Consultancy for the Review of UNRWA West Bank’s Existing and Planned Knowledge Management Systems, Jerusalem

BACKGROUND An effective and coordinated approach to knowledge management at the West Bank Field Office is a necessary requirement for the success of ongoing reforms. A rapid assessment of existing knowledge management systems (ranging from simple excel sheets to complex multi-user databases) identified dozens of regularly used research, assessment, activity and programme databases. In addition, several major corporate level programme database systems are either being rolled out or are planned to be rolled out in the next two years.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Draft a West Bank Field Approach to Knowledge Management to improve coordination between existing and planned databases with the goal of improving the usability and quality of information available to managers for programming planning and reporting.

Key Review Question: 1) Are UNRWA’s current and planned knowledge systems relevant towards meeting the needs of Senior and Programme Managers? 2) Is the necessary data available, accessible, and useable by primary staff and managers? 3) Are separate databases coordinated and interoperable? To what extent is there duplication of systems and information? 4) Are knowledge management systems able to enhance quality of management, programming, and reporting?

Methodology and Expected Work plan: The Review is expected to consist of a document review, on-site visits to at least 10 installations, and guided discussions with key senior and programme managers. The Review is expected to take 4 to 8 weeks to complete.

Expected Outputs: 1) Inception Report after initial document review is completed and no later than 1 week before fieldwork is to commence. 2) Preliminary Findings / Exit Debrief with senior programme staff and Front Office staff alongside presentation of draft report. 3) Final Report detailing: • High-level overview over current reporting systems, information sharing processes; • Assessment of UNRWAs current approach to knowledge management; • Assessment of main knowledge management needs; • Identification of main obstacles as well as potential quick wins; • 1 Gap analysis: strategic goals versus required action and resources. • 1 Risk analysis: do-nothing versus potential improvements. • 2-3 scenarios with recommendation on how to move forward.

Start date: December / January – Document Review; January 2012 – Field work; Final date: 28 February 2012. A draft evaluation report no later than 31 January 2012.

ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE  University degree preferably with technical IT qualifications with systems and networks.  Five years of relevant experience in the private sector or a United Nations body.

DESIRABLE SKILLS Professional experience developing operational policies relating to Monitoring and Evaluation, Knowledge Management and/or Business Intelligence with strong IT components.

CONDITIONS OF SERVICE The duration of the consultancy will be 8 weeks. The incumbent is expected to be based in Jerusalem.

REMUNERATION Interested candidates are requested to propose required fees for the consultancy.

APPLICATION PROCESS Applicants should submit the following via unrwa-ahr@unrwa.org clearly indicating the title of this consultancy “Consultancy for review of KMS” in the subject line of the message. The deadline for the submission of applications is 20 December 2011:

1. A Statement of Interest (maximum 2 pages) that includes – prior experience, suitability for the position, work plan, and tentative budget (salary + expenses).
2. CV (maximum 1 or 2 pages) that clearly demonstrates capacity based on previous experience.

Selection Criteria: The Statement of Interest should clearly demonstrate competency in conducting similar technical and usability reviews with large private businesses or United Nations Agencies. Priority will be given for demonstrated competency in identifying organizational strategic knowledge management priorities.

• Any annexes / files in addition to those requested above will not be considered.

UNRWA is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from both women and men. UNRWA encourages applications from qualified and experienced female candidates. Only those applicants short-listed for interview will be contacted. UNRWA is a non-smoking environment.

How to apply:

APPLICATION PROCESS Applicants should submit the following via unrwa-ahr@unrwa.org clearly indicating the title of this consultancy “Consultancy for review of KMS” in the subject line of the message. The deadline for the submission of applications is 20 December 2011:

1. A Statement of Interest (maximum 2 pages) that includes – prior experience, suitability for the position, work plan, and tentative budget (salary + expenses).
2. CV (maximum 1 or 2 pages) that clearly demonstrates capacity based on previous experience.