Republic of Moldova

MiDL-6 National Consultants to facilitate local development activities in 40 target communities (Lot 1/ Lot 2/ Lot 3/ Lot 4/ Lot 5/ Lot 6)

Vacancy Number: Pr17/01590

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	31 Jul 2017, 12:00 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	03 Aug 2017, 17:00 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	10 Aug 2017
Reference to the project:	Integrated Migration Local Development Project
Expected Duration of Assignment:	August 2017-December 2018
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted on-line by pressing “Apply on-line” link, no later than 31 July 2017. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: olesea.cazacu@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

Contacts:

Ms. Olesea Cazacu.

olesea.cazacu@undp.org

Background

The Government of Moldova explicitly acknowledges its commitment to link migration and development at the local level. Institutions at all government levels are becoming increasingly aware that migration is one of development factors; this is especially true for emigrees and their potential support to the home communities through local essential service improvement (water, sanitation, education, health and social services), skill and knowledge transfer and income generating opportunities.

Given the stringent need to further advance with the implementation of the Decentralization Strategy and embedding migration aspects into development processes, the State Chancellery together with United Nations Development Programme have designed a new Programme phase of the Migration and Local Development Project. The project is designed to support Central Public Authorities (CPAs) and LPAs to develop and implement strategic policies, methodologies and procedures related to temporary, permanent and circular migration and link them to local development processes, which will enable further design and implementation of joint service improvement and income-generating initiatives, ensuring equal access for women, children, young people the elderly, the disabled, and other population groups  in selected localities. Moreover, the project is developed as a replicable approach with potentials for scaling up, with intensive capacity building and strengthening of national and local public authorities to better plan, manage, budget, and implement public service management with participation of community members, including migrants.

The Overall Objective of the Programme is that communities affected by migration benefit from improved essential local services, namely water and sanitation, health, social and education services, and have access to income-generating opportunities, including improved employment reintegration support for returnees.

During the first 2 years of implementation (2015-2017) the project proved that the diaspora can contribute a lot back to their places of origin: it is now more engaged in home communities development through 25 Home Town Associations (HTAs), providing already over 4 mln. Lei to local development projects.

A unique model of engaging migrants in the development of their home communities was successfully developed and tested. Centered around HTAs, local public administration with improved migration management capacities, and their permanent interaction, it proved to work well in all Moldovan regions, including Gagauzia and the Security Zone, covering 6% of the country territory and about 200,000 inhabitants.

Starting with August 2015, 25 communities from Republic of Moldova have been assisted to acknowledge and effectively mainstream migration into local development, through (1) improving their institutional set-up, by designation and capacitation of specialized local migration and development (M&D) staff; (2) engaging local migrants’ communities at all stages of local planning and prioritization processes, fully mainstreaming migration-related aspects into local socioeconomic development strategies; (3) increasing the transparency and accountability of local authorities in relation with migrants, by developing online transmission systems and dedicated ‘YouTube’ channels for each locality, thus building mutual trust and confidence; (4) establishing 25 Home Town associations; (5) use crowdfunding tools aimed at ensuring and facilitating large-scale financial contributions from migrant communities, for 23 local public service upgrading projects, initiated as result of the galvanized partnerships between the LPAs and the Moldovan diaspora.

For the implementation of the second project sub-phase, additional 15 communities from uncovered rayons, and one additional from Gagauzian, were selected to benefit from MiDL assistance, thus ensuring a better territorial representation and scaling up of the HTA model, thus the total number of assisted communities reaching to 40 LPAs.  Therefore, the project will reach out to almost every rayon in Moldova where at least one Home Town Association will be created as a model of migrant community involvement in local development, increasing the scaling up potential and dissemination opportunities in a larger number of communities.

Scope of work

To ensure adequate implementation of all planned activities, MiDL/UNDP is seeking six qualified and experienced national consultants to perform the assignment in 40 target localities of Moldova (out of each 25 localities already have undergone through a complex process of integrating migration into their local activities and have established HTAs, while 15 localities will be assisted by the Consultant to initiate and successfully implement this process).

The overall objective of the National Consultants assignment (hereinafter Consultants) is to facilitate the process of capacity building of targeted LPAs to engage migrants into local planning and service provision improvement. The activities in the 15 new localities will be focused on the following:

• Setting up the participatory planning and development framework at the community level, including measures to increase transparency and gain migrants’ trust.
• Institutional enhancement of targeted LPAs [ migration focal points, working approach & methodology, communication and detailed action plan].
• Assist the establishment of Hometowns Associations [HTAs] in the newly-selected communities and provide continuous support for the due functioning and management thereof; strengthen the already established ones.
• Diagnose the local development challenges and opportunities, through the lenses of migration related processes and impact, via large consultations with the community (including migrants).
• Upgrading local development strategies, having migrants’ opinion on board and migration related issues fully mainstreamed.
• Organization of large public debates (including with internal and external migrants participation, via HTAs] on local prioritization, aiming to define the first local project proposal to be co-funded by LPAs, migrants and MiDL/UNDP. Provide support to project drafting and submission to the donor.
• Support target LPAs in launching and managing crowdfunding campaigns for the collection of funds for the identified joint projects, from potential donors (mostly targeting migrants, residing outside the community).
• Provide technical assistance in implementation of MiDL/UNDP co-funded project.
• Provide on-going coaching and mentoring for targeted LPAs on mainstreaming migration into local development practices.
• Provide support to targeted LPAs and established HTAs in developing and managing targeted communication campaigns for a meaningful engagement of migrants, at all stages of mainstreaming migration in local development.
• Ensure efficient communication among local representatives and the MiDL Project.

 In the 25 localities that have been previously assisted, the role of the consultants will consist of the following:

• Provide support to Home Town Association in its organizational development
• Support capacity building of LPAs and HTA in the field of: community participation, project writing, fundraising
• Support the HTA and LPAs in fundraising for other local projects and manage the entire crowdfunding campaign (for the collection of funds for the identified joint projects, from potential donors (mostly targeting migrants, residing outside the community)

Active participation in all Project driven capacity building activities for target LPAs and HTAs.

The present Assignment consists of 6 (six) LOTs. One consultant may apply for more LOTs and selected consultants will be contracted to work in maximum one LOT.

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

Requirements for experience

Education:

• University degree in the relevant field (economics, development studies, social science, public administration, law etc.).

 Experience:

• At least 5 years of practical experience of community development work with local public authorities and local community groups;
• Previous experience in the localities from the LOT will be considered a significant advantage;
• Proven experience in assisting local communities to design local development plans
• Proven experience in assisting local communities in project management implementation
• Proven experience of developing and delivering training modules in local governance field;
• Proven experience in organizational management and CBOs administration;
• Proven experience of migration situation in the country and experience in diaspora and migration programing will be considered an asset.

 Competences:

• Good knowledge of Moldovan rural area context;
• Knowledge and skills of MS Office, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint;
• Excellent command of Romanian and Russian, and basic knowledge of English language;
• 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;

Abilities:

• Demonstrated capacity of team-orientation work, excellent planning and organizational skills;
• Good communication and writing skills
• Sensitivity and respect for human rights and gender equality
• Ability to achieve results and deadlines in a timely manner, maintaining a high standard throughout;

Documents to be included

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

1. P11 form;
2. Cover letter, stating their interest in and qualifications for the consultancy (mentioning the lot)

3. Financial offer (1) fee per consultancy day in community, including transport costs; 2) fee per consultancy day in the office).

The United Nations Development Programme in 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.

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 (fee per day * days) of this lump sum amount (including fee, taxes, per diems, and number of anticipated working days).

 Travel

All envisaged travel costs 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.

Important: In the case the application for more than 1 (one) LOT, it should be submitted separate proposal (including financial proposal) for each LOT.

 

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