Republic of Moldova

National Consultant to Support the Secretariat of the International Association of Women in Electoral Management Bodies (WEM-International)

Vacancy Number: Pr17/01499

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	02 Apr 2017, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	09 Apr 2017, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	17 Apr 2017
Reference to the project:	Enhancing Women's Political Representation through Improved Capacity and Enhanced Support in Moldova
Expected Duration of Assignment:	120 working days between April – December 2017
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Now" button no later than 02 April 2017. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: victoria.ignat@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 Individual Consultant Procurement Notice Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Background

The Programme “Enhancing Women’s Political Representation through improved capacity and enhanced support in Moldova” (short title “Women in Politics”/ WiP Programme) is implemented jointly by two UN Agencies - UN Women and UNDP, in partnership with two civil society organizations - East Europe Foundation (EEF) and the Centre “Partnership for Development” (CPD).  The implementation time frame of the programme is 2014-2017.

The Programme aims at ensuring an increased participation of women in politics and in the decision-making process by creating an environment conducive to their meaningful participation and providing support to capacity development of women before, during and after the elections at the central and local levels. The Programme also seeks to promote increased public awareness of women’s contribution to political leadership and supports the realization of women’s rights and commitments undertaken by the Government of Moldova

The programme consists of two inter-related components, and each UN Agency is responsible for the implementation of activities under particular areas of intervention. UN Women is responsible for the overall programme implementation, and is leading the specific parts related to the election legislation review and high-level advocacy for Temporary Special Measures (TSM), media capacity development, capacity of CSOs and women candidates, work with the communities and women on identifying their needs, among others. UNDP’s area of responsibility is related to the electoral assistance and administration, parliamentary affairs and capacity building of elected women and  builds further on the results achieved through the previous and on-going support to the institutional capacity development of the Parliament and the Central Elections Commission (CEC) with a focus on enhancing capacities of the Election Management Bodies on gender responsive electoral management and on strengthening capacities of elected women parliamentarians and Councillors for performing the elected official’s duties.

Specific context of the assignment

The Central Electoral Commission of Moldova and the Centre for Continuous Electoral Training (CCET) under the Central Electoral Commission of Moldova have undertaken important strides to advance gender inclusive practices in electoral management and processes with support of UNDP via the Democracy Programme/Electoral component and the Women in Politics Programme. Some eloquent examples of gender equality alignment of electoral management processes implemented by CEC and CCET include:  a) sex-disaggregated collection and analysis of electoral data on candidates, voters, electoral staffers, elected officials and beneficiaries of electoral training; b) gender-mainstreaming of CEC and CCET Strategic Plans for 2016-2019; c) mainstreaming of training materials of  CCET from the gender equality perspective and development of an in-house pool of trainers with gender expertise.

One eloquent initiative resulted from the gender equality commitment of CCET and CEC and of the institutionalized internal practices put in place to advance gender equality in electoral management is the establishment of an International Association of Women in Electoral Management (WEM-International) started by the CEC and CCET of Moldova. The aim of the association is to advocate for full participation of women in Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs), particularly in senior management positions, as well as to inspire and empower women through networking, sharing of innovative and best practices, raising awareness, education, training, and equipping EMBs with tools and techniques to enable representative and gender-sensitive EMBs.

In the course of 2015-2016, Women in Politics Programme assisted the CEC and CCET of Moldova in finalizing the conceptual framework for the establishment of the Association of Women in Electoral Management (WEM)-International. An International Working Group (IWG) was set up to drive the establishment of the Association in a participatory manner. The IWG consists of representatives of several national EMBs including Moldova, Romania, Albania, Georgia, Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo[1] ) and prominent international electoral stakeholders (International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), European Centre for Electoral Systems (ECES) and Association of Arab EMBs) and development partners (UNDP, UN Women, Council of Europe). Three meetings of the IWG, including two virtual and one in-person workshop were held during 2016.  With international expert support provided by the Women in Politics Programme, the Charter, Strategic Plan, Membership Benefits and the Declaration for the establishment of WEM-International (Chisinau Declaration) have been produced, consulted and endorsed by IWG members. The Charter is the critical document for the registration of the Association to be pursued in the immediate future.

As per agreement of the IWG following the June 7-8, 2016 meeting in Chisinau, the Secretariat of the Association is ensured by CCET/CEC before the formal registration of the Association and election of Governance bodies is completed. Also, with support of the WiP Programme, the brand identity and website (http://wem.international/) of WEM-International has been developed, with the latter being transferred for management and maintenance to the CCET.  Initial data and information are uploaded on the web-site, but it requires continuous update.

The 2017 priorities in relation to WEM-International is securing the membership basis and all legal prerequisites and documentation required for the formal registration of the association, as well as organization of several content (programmatic) activities and exchanges under the association in gender equality and elections. Fund-raising and ensuring sustainability of the Association are essential steps that need to be undertaken along with the registration of the Association.

In this context, the Women in Politics Programme seeks to contract a national consultant to support the CCET and CEC of Moldova in carrying out the Secretariat function of WEM-International in line with the objective, tasks, responsibilities and deliverables of this assignment.

[1] References to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999).

Scope of work

The consultant shall provide support to the Centre of Continuous Electoral Training and the Central Electoral Commission of Moldova in the organizational establishment of the International Association of Women in Electoral Management by providing effective support to the Secretariat of WEM-International in the annual work planning and implementation, registration processes, sustainability and programme development.

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

Requirements for experience

I. Academic Qualifications:

• University degree in Law, Political Science, Business and Administration, Project Management, Economics, Social Studies, or a related field;
• Holders of MA or/and PhD degrees in the above or connected fields will receive additional points;
• Professional certificates, internships, publications in areas relevant to the assignment (Governance, Gender Equality, Human Rights, International Organizations, Election Processes, Electoral Systems, Gender in Elections, etc.) will be scored with additional points.

II. Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years of experience- either in leading, co-leading capacity or as member of management teams, etc. with demonstrated achievements in one or several fields, including but not limited to rule of law, democratic governance, political affairs and lawmaking, gender equality, electoral management, electoral processes, strategic planning, project proposal writing and fundraising, international relations and communication;
• Experience in working with state institutions or/and non-profit organizations is an advantage;
• Experience in working with electoral management set up and electoral systems;
• Experience in working with associative and non-profit organizations, particularly with international coverage.

III. Competencies:

• Good understanding of gender equality and elections interlinkages;
• Outstanding drafting skills in English language;
• Strong proactivity and initiative capabilities;
• Excellent verbal communication skills and public diplomacy abilities;
• Good knowledge of key stakeholders in the election and gender field, including donors;
• Excellent knowledge of Romanian and Russian.
• Fluency in written and spoken English is required.

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.

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 to demonstrate their qualifications: 

• Up-to date Curriculum Vitae (CV) or Personal History Form (P11);
• Statement of purpose explaining why they are the most suitable for the work including experience in similar Projects (please provide brief information on each of the above qualifications, item by item);
• Aggregated financial proposal (in USD), specifying the amount requested per working day, (including all related costs, e.g. fees, phone calls etc.).

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.

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, taxes, travel costs, accommodation costs, communication, and number of anticipated working days).  

Travel 

WiP Programme will cover transportation (for field visits) and printing costs, therefore these costs shall not be included in the financial proposal.

In 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.

 

Disclaimer In case of discrepancies between the text published on the website and the contents of the supporting documents, the provisions, instructions and conditions included in the supporting documents (published as Adobe Portable Document Format files) shall prevail. In case of discrepancies between the English version and the Romanian and/or Russian versions of text, documents or other content published on this webpage, the English version shall prevail.

Notice UNDP, as a matter of practice, does not charge any application, processing or training fee at any stage of the recruitment process. If you have any questions as to vacancy announcements you may have received, please refer to this website. UNDP is currently aware of fictitious vacancy announcements that are being circulated through the internet, the purpose of which is to get people to register for a training and send in a fee. If you believe that you have received such a notice, please forward it, and any other related information you have received, to scamalert@undp.org. Since logos, emblems, names and addresses can be easily copied or reproduced, you are advised to take particular care in applying for vacancies, including undertaking all appropriate measures to protect against the unauthorised use of any personal information you may have provided as a result of the scam.