Republic of Moldova

National Gender Consultant - EDMITE Project

Vacancy Number: Pr18/01665

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	31 Jan 2018, 16:00 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	05 Feb 2018, 16:00 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	01 Feb 2018
Reference to the project:	Enhancing Democracy in Moldova through Inclusive and Transparent Elections
Expected Duration of Assignment:	February – June 2018 (up to 35 working days)
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Online" button, no later than 31 January 2018. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: eva.bounegru@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 Offeror's Letter confirming Interest and Availability Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Contacts:

Ms. Eva Bounegru.

eva.bounegru@undp.org

Ms. Liliana Grecu.

liliana.grecu@undp.org

Background

The long-standing partnership between the Central Electoral Commission and UNDP resulted in the establishment of a strong professional institution, able to provide transparent and inclusive democratic elections. The Central Electoral Commission with UNDP support, managed to move the electoral process in the Republic of Moldova to an advanced level through the development and use of the modern and innovative State Automated Information System “Elections” (SAISE).

During 2012 – 2017, UNDP offered support to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) in the areas of gender equality and human rights, institutional capacity development, strategic development of the Center for Continuous Electoral Training (CICDE) to deliver professional training to electoral officials, political party finance legislation implementation and transparent electoral reform processes. Moreover, substantial steps were taken in addressing challenges to the electoral process related to the data quality and data exchange possibilities among key registers owned by different government institutions.

Based on the solid results achieved, UNDP continues to support the CEC and CICDE to ensure the finality and sustainability of the previous UNDP interventions through the new Project “Enhancing democracy in Moldova through inclusive and transparent elections” (further referred to as the “EDMITE Project”).

The EDMITE Project will be implemented between 2017 – 2019 contributing to:

• achieving a more accurate State Register of Voters (SRV), by: (a) improving the quality and accessibility data by reengineering the Civil Status Service (CSS) systems, (b) fully developing the State Address Register and (c) facilitating data exchange and interoperability between different government agencies via M-Connect Platform;
• enhancing the inclusiveness of the electoral process through developing a remote voting tool and adjusting the SAISE system to keep up with the technical and political developments;
• supporting the legal reform in the area of elections to erase ambiguities and respond to the technical developments;
• enhancing political participation of citizens by setting up and implementing voters’ information and civic education programmes, specifically targeting vulnerable groups including women, youth, persons with different types of disabilities and linguistic minorities and the Diaspora.

According to the Moldovan Electoral Code, the CEC and CICDE are responsible to provide the media with information on the elections and the general election administration practices; communicate election related issues to the press and the public at large, implement civic education and voters’ information programmes and involve key stakeholders, such as political parties and civil society in all phases of the electoral process.

Thus, one of the objectives of the Project is to provide assistance to the CEC and CICDE to develop and implement voter information and civic education campaigns throughout 2017 – 2019 years. The goal of these campaigns is to inform the general public, including different target and vulnerable groups (women, youth, people with disabilities, linguistic minorities groups and the Diaspora) about the electoral processes and the newly adopted electoral system, as well as to improve the communication between the electoral management body and the citizens of Moldova.

In support of this goal and as part of the Plan of Activities for 2018, the EDMITE Project aims to contract a National Gender Consultant (further referred to as “Consultant”) with strong expertise in the area of gender and human rights dimensions. The Consultant will assist the CEC and CICDE in developing a Concept Paper and an Action Plan on implementing civic education activities focused on increasing women’s participation in electoral and political spheres and promoting gender equality culture within society. Additionally, the Consultant will assist the CEC and CICDE to design educational and outreach materials to be promoted and spread during different civic education activities throughout the year.

Scope of work

To achieve the stated objectives, the Consultant is expected to perform the following tasks and responsibilities:

• Study the best practices in the region (and, if necessary, globally), related international human rights standards, regarding the promotion of gender equality (including for those belonging to various vulnerable, minority and marginalized groups of society) through different programmes and campaigns related to the electoral processes;
• Develop in consultative manner a Concept Paper on implementing civic education activities focused on increasing women’s participation (including women belonging to various vulnerable, minority and marginalized groups of society) in electoral and political spheres and promoting a quota related positive measures as part of the equality culture within society;
• Develop in consultative manner and present an Action Plan with concrete activities to be conducted by the CEC and CICDE during 2018 year;
• Provide gender expert advice on all other concepts, scenarios and draft educational and outreach materials to be produced within the EDMITE Project in this timeframe taking into account informational accessibility requirements.

Requirements for experience

Academic Qualifications:

• University degree in Social Sciences, Languages, Human Rights, Law or other related field; MA or equivalent (5-year university education) in the same fields will be considered an advantage;

Experience and knowledge:

• At least 3 years of work experience in the area of gender equality;
• Proven experience in the provision of advisory services to public institutions in the area of gender equality and gender mainstreaming (e.g. Parliament, Government, Central Electoral Commission, etc.);
• Proven experience in developing/or coordinating at least one Gender Project is a strong asset;
• Proven experience in collection, analysis or application of gender and other vulnerability disaggregated data;
• Previous assignments within an international organisation is an advantage;
• Acquired trainings in the area of gender equality will be considered a strong asset;

Competencies:

• High level of familiarity with CEC and CICDE roles and responsibilities, government institutions, NGOs and donors working in the electoral and gender areas;
• In-depth knowledge of gender equality issues pertinent to the Republic of Moldova context;
• Understanding of issues related to the participation and involvement of women belonging to various vulnerable, minority and marginalised groups of society in the Republic of Moldova;
• Capacity to build strong relationships with clients, to hold consultations with civil society and women belonging to vulnerable, minority and marginalised groups, focusing on the impact and result for the client and people, and to respond positively to feedback;
• Advanced drafting and analytical skills and the ability to summarize different information in a clear and concise manner;
• Knowledge of Romanian, Russian and English languages for the purposes of the assignment;
• 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, creativity, flexibility and punctuality, ability to meet deadlines and prioritize multiple tasks.

The UNDP Moldova is committed to workforce diversity. Women and men, persons with disabilities, LGBTI, Roma and other ethnic, linguistic 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:

• Offeror's Letter confirming Interest and Availability;
• Proposal: explaining why they are the most suitable for the work including previous experience in similar Projects (please provide brief information on each of the above qualifications, item by item);
• Financial proposal (in USD, specifying a total requested amount per working day, including all related costs, e.g. fees, phone calls etc.);
• Duly completed and signed Personal History Form (P11), personal CV and at least 3 referees.

Financial proposal

Contracts based on daily fee

The financial proposal will specify the daily fee, travel expenses and per diems quoted in separate line items, and payments are made to the Individual Consultant based on the number of days worked.

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.

 

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