Republic of Moldova

International Consultant on communication for the Ministry of Internal Affairs

Vacancy Number: Pr15/01143

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	26 Oct 2015, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	16 Nov 2015
Reference to the project:	Strengthening Technical Capacities of the National Institutions for the Human Rights Protection and Promotion
Expected Duration of Assignment:	November 2015 – March 2016 (up to 65 working days)
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply online" button or at https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=60841 no later than 23:59, 26 October 2015. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: alexei.ghertescu@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: Terms of Reference Procurement Notice Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Contacts:

Mr. Alexei Ghertescu.

Background

The Concept Paper on the Reform of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and its Subordinated and Decentralized Units, in particular, states the need to reform the Ministry of Internal Affairs and its units in a comprehensive manner to bring them closer to the community they serve. While the demands of the population for public services are constantly increasing, the Ministry of Internal Affairs` units are not always meeting these expectations.

The main goal of this activity is to provide the Ministry of Internal Affairs Central Apparatus (Public relations department, General Department of International Relations and European Integration, Internal Protection and Anticorruption Service, etc.), and where applicable other subordinated bodies such as Border Police, General Police Inspectorate, Information Technologies Service, Civil Protection and Emergency Situations Service, Guard Service of the MIA, territorial police inspectorates, with assistance in strengthening the capacities to design and implement activities primarily focused on legislative reform, organizational efficiency, anti-corruption, case management, etc. Embedded advisors will have the advantage of working side by side with beneficiaries, understanding problems first hand and offering practical advice and expertise.

Communication is one of the strategic areas where the capacities of Project beneficiaries needs to be improved in order to strengthen their role in the democratic society, raise the public interest towards their activity, increase public trust, enhance cooperation with national and international partners, as well as with mass-media and general public.

The development and successful implementation of Communication related strategic documents and activities shall form part of the overall reform efforts to ensure that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Moldova is more open, efficient, incorrupt and accessible to all. Moreover, strengthening the capacities for results oriented communication of project beneficiaries will contribute to the timely access to information by professionals, members of the public, civil society and relevant national and international stakeholders, as well as will increase their transparency, accountability and visibility.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs shall be the main partner for this activity and will provide the necessary conditions of work and information for the embedded advisors.

Scope of work

The main objective is to enhance the institutional communication capacities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of the Republic of Moldova in order to increase its transparency, accessibility accountability and visibility by providing advice and support on effective and active internal and external communication, providing assistance in development and implementation of communication strategic documents and activities.

In order to achieve the objective it is foreseen that the Consultant will:

• Assist and advise the Public Relations Department of the MIA;
• Conduct an internal and external MIA’s and its subdivisions’ needs assessment (on conceptual and organizational level) in the field of communication;
• Support MIA and its subdivisions in developing/updating their communication strategies and action plans;
• Ensure the communication strategy and action plan are in line with other national and international strategic and legal commitments;
• Providing training of and the guidance to the MIA’s senior management and the highest level commanding personnel on the improvement of their communication skills, including, but not limited to the following areas: content of the messages for the media, communication in crisis situations, press-releases, holding activities jointly organized with the media and civil society;
• Ensure human rights based approach application, gender and minorities mainstreaming throughout the process of the communication strategy and action plan development/update. Ensure gender and minorities mainstreaming are visible throughout the strategy and action plan documents;
• Develop communication skills and trainer’s skills of MIA’s Central Apparatus divisions (press-service, General Department of International Relations and European Integration, Internal Protection and Anticorruption Service, etc.) and its subdivisions: Border Police, General Police Inspectorate, Information Technologies Service, Civil Protection and Emergency Situations Service, Guard Service of the MIA, territorial police inspectorates;
• Assisting MIA leadership in the communication with the general public, in the improvement of messages addressed to the general public, and in the improvement of public’s perceptions and MIA’s public image regarding the MIA’s role and everyday work;
• Support the application of innovative communication tools and instruments, in preparing individual communication activities, including in relations with media, organization of events and use of social media;
• Providing guidance and transfer of expertise to communication staff of project beneficiary in applying agreed upon communication and policy consultation tools;
• Improving the quality and the content of the statements and messages published on the MIA’s web-page;
• Collaborate with all relevant stakeholders and mass-media outlets throughout the whole period of the assignment;
• Organize a one-day training for press-officers and one-day training for heads of departments on external communication skills;
• Submit required reports.

Requirements for experience

I. Academic Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree or equivalent (5-year university education) in communication, journalism, social sciences, public relation or any other relevant field;

II. Years and sphere of experience:

• At least 7 years of professional experience in communication, journalism or public relations;
• At least 5 years of professional experience linked to the provision of policy advice in Communications;
• Proven experience in designing and implementation of public communication strategies, action plans or other documents, including monitoring and evaluation tools;
• Proven experience with participatory consultation processes, media relations, and information campaigns would constitute a strong advantage;
• Advisory experience with senior public sector officials or senior staff of other organisations is a strong advantage;
• Experience in providing consultancy on justice and home affairs areas is a strong advantage;
• Experience in applying communications tools and techniques, including in the analyses and use of research data;
• Proven experience in designing and delivering presentations and training programs;
• Experience in working with law enforcement agencies on similar assignments would be an advantage; 

III. Competencies:

• Demonstrated skills in knowledge transfer techniques, such as coaching and mentoring;
• Knowledge of English language; Knowledge of Romanian or Russian is a strong advantage;

IV. Personal qualities:

• Proven commitment to the core values of the United Nations; in particular, is respectful of differences of culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, language, age, HIV status, disability, and sexual orientation, or other status;
• Responsibility, creativity, flexibility and punctuality.

Documents to be included

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications: 

1. Technical Proposal: 
   1. explaining how applicant responds to each of the qualification requirements and why he/she is the most suitable for the work (particularly providing details on the previously implemented similar projects and assignments and previous experience in the fields related to this consultancy as described in the terms of reference);
   2. providing a brief methodology (max. 3 pages) on how they will approach and conduct the work;
2. Personal information (Personal History Form /P11) including records of past experience in similar projects/assignments and concrete outputs obtained and names and contact details of three reference persons;
3. Financial proposal (in USD, specifying a total lump sum amount)

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 installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR (including the final narrative report submitted to the UNDP Moldova Justice and Human Rights Programme Analyst). Payments will be performed in 2-3 installments upon the delivery of the outputs specified in the TOR.

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 fees and taxes, travel, per diem and number of anticipated working days).

Travel

All the services under the TOR shall be delivered in the Republic of Moldova. Therefore, travel and stay in Moldova will be required.

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.

 

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