Republic of Moldova

SCBM/ National Consultant on Small Grants Programme

Vacancy Number: Pr17/01552

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	20 Jun 2017, 16:00 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	26 Jun 2017, 12:00 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	28 Jun 2017
Reference to the project:	Support to Confidence Building Measures IV
Expected Duration of Assignment:	June 2017 – March 2018
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Now" button no later than 20 June 2017. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: liliana.caterov@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 IC Procurement Notice Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Background

The overall objective of the Support to Confidence Building Measures” Programme (the SCBM Programme), is to contribute to an environment of trust and cooperation across the Nistru River generating new perspectives on shared interests and a shared future for people from both banks of the river while responding to their pressing development needs. The SCBM Programme represents a framework for engaging in development interventions across the security zone on both sides of the Nistru River, comprising a series of activities that strengthen, regularize and intensify interaction between otherwise divided societies, aiming to establish this interaction as a norm.

SCBM Programme consists from two main components: Business Development Project and Empowered Communities and Infrastructure Support Project.

From 2009 until the present, over 80 social infrastructure projects were implemented on both banks of the Nistru River. Projects were focused on the rehabilitation of key social institutions, such as education, environment, culture, sport and health facilities, and improvements to critical physical infrastructure, such as water supply, sewage networks and waste management. Each project aims at promoting people-to-people contacts and cross-river exchanges, in view of building confidence among the population from both sides of the Nistru river.

Along with rehabilitation of social infrastructure, capacity building support is provided to target communities by two specialized organizations, one on each bank of the Nistru River (capacity needs assessments, joint capacity building trainings, round tables, coaching and mentoring etc.). Capacity building activities aim to ensure the sustainability of the infrastructural projects and strengthen their confidence building potential.

To harness the existing confidence building potential of implemented infrastructural projects and enhance the cross-river collaboration between beneficiary communities and different actors across the river, specialized networks and partnerships (thematic platforms of collaboration) have been recently created. To facilitate the cooperation, each platform is being coordinated by platform leaders - two NGOs, one from the right and one the left banks of the Nistru River.

Based on the informal nature of the platforms, all institutions, which previously benefited from SCBM Programme support, are members (that includes the local administrations and beneficiary institutions). The participation of the institutions’ representatives will be voluntary but fostered by the possibility to obtain financial support for the implementation of joint activities through the Small Grants Programme (SGP) further implemented by the SCBM Programme.

Following the SCBM IV Work Plan, at least 30 joint projects funded through the SGP are expected to be implemented until the end of the SCBM Programme (March 2018). The beneficiaries of SGP will be communities and institutions that previously benefited from infrastructural projects and have agreed to become members of thematic platforms of collaboration. The project proposals to be submitted within the competition should address specific needs and local issues through collaboration between the two banks in six areas: education, environment, culture, sport, healthcare and local development. Projects should pursue concrete outcomes to develop partnerships and contain a consistent set of cross-river collaboration activities with clearly defined tasks. 

Given the fact that the SGP will be directly implemented by UNDP, a National Consultant is planned to be identified through an open competition. The National Consultant will be responsible for overall coordination of activities relevant to SGP implementation, including the selection, implementing, monitoring and evaluation of the funded joint small-grants projects.

Scope of work

The overall objective of this assignment for the National Consultant (hereinafter Consultant) is to assist the SCBM/Community Empowerment Project team in the effective and efficient coordination of Small Grants Programme 2017 activities.

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

Requirements for experience

I.     Academic Qualifications:

• University degree in Development Studies, Public Administration, Public Policy, Social Sciences, Economics, or other related areas;

II.    Years of experience:

• At least five years of practical work experience in the area of Community Development;
• At least three years of practical work experience in Coordination of Grant Programmes;
• Knowledge of civil society, as well as of the activities related to Community Development on both banks of the Nistru River;
• Proven experience in post-conflict setting and conflict sensitive development projects will be a strong advantage;

III.  Competencies:

• Practical skills in conducting assessments, evaluations and/or reviews of community development projects;
• Understanding of the post-conflict setting in Moldova, including on the left bank of the Nistru River;
• Good analytical and evaluation skills;
• Demonstrated communication, teamwork, presentation and advocacy skills, particularly with regard to human rights and gender equality issues.

IV.   Language Requirements:

• Fluency in Romanian and Russian is mandatory. Good knowledge of English is an asset.

Documents to be included

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information in English (preferably) to demonstrate their qualifications:

• Cover letter, explaining why they are the most suitable for this position;
• Financial proposal in USD, specifying the daily fee;
• Updated P11 form (found at the UNDP Moldova website), including past experience in similar projects and 3 references.

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). The payment for services provided by the Contractor under the SCBM Programme will be made post factum on a lump-sum deliverables basis, as per contract, after the work has been accepted by the SCBM Programme Manager. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of offers, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including fee per day, travel, per diem, mobile phone costs, number of anticipated working days, etc.).

Travel

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal.

 

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.