The objective of UNDP Ebola Cash Payments Diagnostic, Mapping and Solution Design program is to support the effort to contain, prevent, and mitigate the impact of Ebola.  A priority in strengthening the health system to adequately deal with the outbreak is the retention of formal health sector personnel, para-sector personnel (including burial services), community engagement agents, volunteers, and security personnel (in particular the police). It is essential to ensure that health care workers (HCWs) addressing Ebola are paid regularly and in a timely manner.

 Much work is already being done in this area, with many partners paying incentives to staff and volunteers in this sector. Governments also are undertaking payments to formal health care sector staff, with international support. However, as Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic evolves, it will likely require:

 a) an increase in staff that will need to be paid, requiring effective coordination around analyzing and meeting payment needs and understanding the payment options available for scaling responses, and

b) measures to guard against the breakdown of payment systems and establish alternative methods (in some cases direct payment capacities) to ensure that payments reach beneficiaries with minimum interruption.

Addressing these two concerns requires coordination and harmonization of payments of salaries and incentives to avoid the emergence of a competitive market, or significant discrepancies in payment options or incentives between sectors or schemes. 

The Consultant will serve as the project’s full-time Resident Advisor in Liberia. In this role, the Consultant will be expected to provide expertise in a range of topics relevant to the design of the payments system, with a particular focus on financial sector as a channel (including branchless banking). The Consultant will also be the lead and point of contact for all project matters in the country, including liaising with various stakeholders and providing expert assistance.

 Deliverables

 1. Provide on-site cash payments expertise to UNDP Country Office and National Cash Working Group, and transition certain responsibilities (to be defined) to UNDP staff once fielded. Specifically, provide support to the UNDP and the national cash working group in some or all of the following areas:

• Design and/or implement diagnostic studies, surveys and interviews that will help identify risks and challenges in terms of national payment regulation, service providers, payment infrastructure, delivery channels, payment solutions, and marketing and communications to access points and recipients, among others;
• Support elaboration of an informed and sound payment system for paying Ebola workers, in a manner that addresses immediate crisis response requirements while building toward a comprehensive, integrated and inclusive financial system;
• Manage and  effectively implement ongoing projects for payment solutions and overall payment system strengthening;
• Help ensure payment and incentives delivery for health care workers and social transfers by both Government and international community, with special emphasis on UN, UN-family and UN-partners’ payments and disbursements in affected areas;
• Support the targeting, identification, registration, KYC and delivery for salaries, vouchers, cash transfers and  social protection benefits with special emphasis on activities during and post crisis;
• Provide support, training and capacity building to payment system stakeholders including support to the management of cash transfer, vouchers, salary and social protection delivery channels;
• Help financial services providers identify, develop and deploy reliable delivery channels, including but not limited to: branches, mobile money, agent networks, ATMs, POS, microfinance institutions, and others;
• Design, implement, monitor and evaluate cash and liquidity management strategies for all actors;
• Design, implement and monitor client, agent and staff training as well as client enrollment strategies and programs;
• Be a local focal point for UNCDF, UNMEER non-cluster working group, and other UN-family agencies and UN-partners, communicating and developing relationships with Governments, the private sector and development organizations, participating in working groups and meetings, and preparing mission reports.

• 10+ years combined experience in developing and managing platforms for digital payments, branchless banking, mobile finance services and/or distribution networks for fast-moving consumer goods and financial services;
• Experience managing large, complex donor-funded projects in a crisis response environment;
• Strong relationship, project and stakeholder management skills;
• Demonstrated team leadership, communication and coordination ability; and
• Excellent speaking and writing skills in English.

The Consultant will report to Jesse Fripp, MD for Capacity Solutions, for the duration of this assignment.

Qualified applicants are invited to submit a CV, cover letter and writing sample by clicking the 'I'm Interested' button.  This assignment is available for immediate deployment.