Republic of Moldova

National Consultant on mediation for National Human Rights Institutions / Consultant național în mediere pentru instituțiile naționale pentru protecția și promovarea drepturilor omului

Vacancy Number: Pr15/01089

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	06 Sep 2015, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	21 Sep 2015
Reference to the project:	Supporting National Human Rights Institutions as per International Treaty Bodies and UPR Recommendations
Expected Duration of Assignment:	September 2015 – July 2016 (up to 100 working days)
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Now" button no later than 23:59, 6 September 2015. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: natalia.voronova@undp.org. UNDP will respond by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.
Supporting Documents: Termeni de Referinta Terms of Reference Anunt de achizitie a serviciilor consultantilor individuali Individual Consultant Procurement Notice Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Contacts:

Ms. Natalia Voronova.

Background

The Ombudsperson Office and the Equality Council are the only two National human rights institutions (NHRIs) in the Republic of Moldova and they play an important role in advancing human rights protection sand promotion in the Republic of Moldova. Both NHRIs have some degree of mediation involved in their work.

In May 2012, the Parliament of the RM passed the Law on Ensuring Equality, stipulating the establishment of the Council on the Prevention and Elimination of Discrimination and Ensuring Equality (Equality Council) to ensure protection against discrimination and equality of all persons who consider themselves victims of discrimination, as well as review individual complaints and deliver decisions on them. As a new institution established in 2013, the Council is in need of institutional strengthening and capacity building in human rights, equality, case management, as well as mediation.

In April 2014, the Parliament of the RM passed a new Law on the Peoples Advocate (Ombudsperson). As a result of a number of institutional weaknesses, the Ombudsperson Office remains insufficiently known among the public-at-large, and is not sufficiently powerful to act as Moldova’s main human rights institution. Therefore it is in need of institutional capacity building and mainstreaming of human rights based approach into its work, as well as requires support towards capacity building in mediation.  

The overall objective of the project “Supporting National Human Rights Institutions as per International Treaty Bodies and UPR Recommendations” is to contribute to the effective protection and promotion of human rights, equality and non-discrimination in the Republic of Moldova with particular attention to women, minorities, marginalised and vulnerable groups. The project is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, co-funded and implemented by the UNDP Moldova and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in cooperation with the Ombudsperson Office and the Equality Council.

Scope of work

The scope of the work of the National Consultant will consist in the identification of needs of both institutions in using mediation, provision of training, coaching and follow-up consultation for the Equality Council and Ombudsperson Office staff in using mediation in their respective work.

In order to achieve the objective the National Consultant shall:

• Conduct an analysis and needs assessment of both institutions in relation to the specific needs related to using mediation in their respective work;
• Draft a concise, clear and practical report on the findings and recommendations (for both institutions separately should the need be) on using mediation in their respective work;
• Based on the report and recommendations, elaborate concise, clear and usable guidelines/methodology for the Equality Council and for the Ombudsperson Office on mediation;
• Consult and test the guidelines with the Equality Council and Ombudsperson Staff in a one-day interactive session and incorporate their inputs in the final guideline;
• Elaborate training materials, prepare, organise and lead 1 one-day interactive training session for both institutions on the application of the guidelines/methodology on mediation;
• Provide support and coaching to the relevant staff on applying the guidelines/methodology of mediation on individual cases;
• Work closely with the Equality Council and the Ombudsperson Office staff members for the purposes of the assignment;
• Where necessary for the assignment, hold consultation meetings with relevant actors and stakeholders;
• Where relevant, work closely with other Consultants contracted within the project;
• Undertake other related tasks for the purposes of the assignment;
• Develop and provide regular activity reports and other narrative progress reports as specified in the deliverables for the assignment.

 For detailed information, please refer to Annex 1 – Terms of Reference.

Requirements for experience

Academic Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree or equivalent (5-year university education) in Law, Arbitration, Mediation, Communication, Psychology or other relevant field;

Years and sphere of experience:

• At least 3 years of proven professional experience in mediation, negotiation or other relevant field;

Competencies:

• Demonstrable experience in the area of mediation, arbitration and negotiation;
• Demonstrable experience conducting needs asessments;
• Demonstrable experience preparing and leading trainings;
• Demonstrable knowledge of NHRIs in the Republic of Moldova is an asset;
• Fluent knowledge of Romanian for the purposes of the assignment. Knowledge of English and Russian is a strong asset. Knowledge of one or more additional languages relevant for Moldova, including Bulgarian, Gagauzian, Romani, Ukrainian or sign language is an asset;

 Personal qualities:

• Proven commitment to the core values of the United Nations, in particular, respecting  differences of culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, language, age, HIV status, disability, and sexual orientation, or other status;
• Responsibility;
• Punctuality;
• Attention to details.

The UNDP Moldova is committed to workforce diversity. Women, persons with disabilities, Roma and other ethnic or religious minorities, persons living with HIV, as well as refugees and other non-citizens legally entitled to work in the Republic of Moldova, are particularly encouraged to apply.

Documents to be included

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information in English, Russian or Romanian to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. Cover letter:

• Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work, including a list of assignments and/or analytical documents, reports, methodologies, presentations, capacity building activities, or other task related documents the applicant has elaborated or contributed to;
• Providing a brief methodology (max. 3 pages) on how they will approach and conduct the work.

2. Financial proposal as a lump sum in US Dollars, preferably split per each deliverable. For detailed information on travel requirements, please, refer to Annex 1 – Terms of Reference;

3. Personal information (as a detailed CV or as a Personal History Form/P11) including records of past experience in similar projects/assignments and concrete outputs obtained, including names and contact details of 3 reference persons. 

Financial proposal

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in instalments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the Terms of Reference. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days).

 Payment will be made based on achieved deliverables, including a final report submitted to the UNDP Moldova Justice and Human Rights Programme Analyst.  

 Travel

 All envisaged travel costs (e.g., tickets, accommodation, meals, other relevant expenses) must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel.  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.

 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.

 No travel costs are envisaged under this assignment.

 

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