Republic of Moldova

National Consultant to assist the International Adviser and Mentor in the field of information technology and voters registration

Vacancy Number: Pr13/00303

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	19 Apr 2013, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	25 Apr 2013
Reference to the project:	Programme for Improving the Quality of Moldovan Democracy through Electoral Support
Expected Duration of Assignment:	66 working days
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Now" button no later than 19 April 2013. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: beatricia.revenco@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. Please note that due to the current political situation in Moldova, the CEC may be required to run a national electoral event and any dates indicated in this announcement may become unavailable to the CEC.
Supporting Documents: Terms of Reference Individual Consultant Procurement Notice Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Background

The Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Moldova is a permanent, independent electoral management body. Following a period of political upheaval and three unanticipated national electoral events, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) has now adopted a strategic plan for the period 2012-2015.

UNDP has provided electoral support to Moldova since 2008. Since 2012, this support is now provided through the UNDP Moldova Democracy Programme, with the support of Sweden. In cooperation with other international partners, we support the CEC to:

• improve the institutional environment for electoral management bodies to aid the delivery of inclusive and modern electoral processes;
• improve the public registration process for Moldovans and support the modernisation of Moldovan electoral processes; and
• embed gender and human rights concerns in formal political processes.

Voter registration has been identified as an area of vulnerability and concern in the Moldovan electoral process for many years. Responsibility for voter registration is diffused across the Moldovan public sector at both the national and the local level, and neither the process nor the responsibilities are well understood or resourced. The CEC has made a concerted effort in recent years to improve the technical base of the voter registration process and to work with other public sector partners. It has also commenced more systematic analysis of the lists compiled by local public administration. The most recent compilation, in March 2012, revealed an unacceptably low level of list quality in terms of both accuracy and completeness.

In May 2008 the Parliament of Moldova approved a law (Law 101) for the development of an integrated automated system for election management (State Automated Information System – Elections, known as SIAS) and the establishment of a State Register of Voters. This law established a longer term view for a fully electronic State Register of Voters and eventually electronic voting by all eligible Moldovan citizens. Since 2008, UNDP has supported the in-house development of the SIAS system, as well as procuring the necessary server and other hardware components. The SIAS voter registration components are not yet fully operational and are not yet fully compatible with the processes and software currently used to compile lists. It has recently been the subject of an IT performance audit by the Moldovan Court of Accounts (the supreme audit institution), and the project has agreed to assist the CEC in responding to the conclusions and recommendations of this audit.

In its Strategic Plan, the CEC has set two linked objectives that relate to the improvement of voter registration and the further elaboration and implementation of SIAS in this field.

The Democracy Programme has agreed to support the CEC in its efforts to meet these objectives, and to build the capacity of its staff to manage these tasks in the longer term. An International Consultant to act as adviser and mentor to CEC on the development of a roadmap to guide implementation of its strategic plan objectives relating to voter registration, including the use of SIAS in voter registration, and in responding to the report of the Court of Accounts (Adviser) is now in process of being contracted by the Programme.

A national consultant will be separately contracted - as a mechanism for mainstreaming the outputs of the International adviser’s mission and ensure a continuity of the processes.

Scope of work

The Programme intends to contract a Local Consultant to provide the necessary support to the Adviser and Mentor that will be assisting the Central Electoral Commission in the field of information technology and voters registration area.

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

Requirements for experience

Academic Qualifications:

• University degree or equivalent preferably in the field of Political Science, International Relations, Law, or other related fields;

Years of experience:

• Minimum 2 (two) years of experience in development of policy and strategic support in areas related to the assignment;
• Experience working with public institutions;
• Experience in the formulation of technical specifications and software development for voter registration or analogous software will be an asset;
• Experience in working with international organizations will be an asset.

Competencies:

• Demonstrated interpersonal and diplomatic skills, as well as the ability to communicate effectively with all stakeholders and to present ideas clearly and effectively;
• Excellent analytical and writing skills; and
• Proficiency in Romanian and English.

Documents to be included

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

1. Proposal explaining why they are the most suitable for the work;
2. Financial proposal;
3. Duly completed and signed P11 form as well as personal CV including past experience in similar projects and at least 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).

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 (communication expenditures, fees, per diems, travel costs, phone calls etc.).

 

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