Republic of Moldova

Team of three National Consultants to undertake methodological revision of the Small Areas Deprivation Index of the Republic of Moldova in compliance with the current policy framework and applying quality assurance mechanisms

Vacancy Number: Pr13/00337

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	16 Jun 2013, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	23 Jun 2013, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	01 Jul 2013
Reference to the project:	Strengthening the National Statistical System
Expected Duration of Assignment:	July–November 2013, estimated volume of work - up to 40 working days per consultant
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Online" button no later than 16 June 2013. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: aurelia.spataru@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 Technical Note on Elaboration of SADI of Moldova (RO) Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Contacts:

Mr. Roman Rosca.

roman.rosca@undp.org

Background

The main challenge of the regional development policy of the Republic of Moldova is to solve issues related to regional disparities caused by imbalanced economic and social development. Therefore sustainable regional development is an imperative assumed by the Government of Moldova, which has also confirmed its commitment to fairly/equally distribute the opportunities/chances for regional development throughout the country.

Considering the aspirations of Moldova's European integration, it should be noted that regional policy becomes one of the most important directions of activity of the country. In this regard, one of the actions to be undertaken by the Government before 2014, under the priority on Local and Regional Development, regards the introducing of the notions of Deprived Area and Risk Area in regulatory acts, criteria for defining such areas.

Both, the implementation of transparent and efficient mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation of regional development process, as well as the production and timely reporting of regional statistics, are the two specific objectives of the National Strategy of Regional Development.

The local authorities will be able to increase their role in completing the process of local development, to develop feasible policies for the local/regional development and to increase the capacity of different stakeholders at local level to implement these policies, only when sufficient evidence is made available through official and/or departmental statistics.

Good, reliable regional statistics have to be available in order to provide an adequate basis for analyzing regional disparities, for identification of potential growth areas and for establishing a commonly used indicator of disadvantage that will be used by all Ministries in targeting support for disparity alleviation.

The generation of disaggregated data has been increased in the recent years, but still an uneven understanding of the benefits and use of data by the staff of central and local public administration, the need for pertinent capacity building on sustainable basis is vivid.

The problems of data availability, quality and comparability are characteristic for the big range of socio-economic data at local level which are important to policy makers, managers, investors, analysts and others. It is important to identify and gradually resolve these problems by exploring various approaches and learning from advanced experience of other countries.

Small Area Deprivation Index (SADI) represents one of the monitoring and evaluation tools on implementation of regional policies. This index is useful to the central and local public administration in the process of strategic planning and management of the promoted policies. Aiming to assess the use of SADI, data users’ needs for Index adjustment, as well as public opinion on its quality, a comprehensive analysis of SADI is needed from the perspective of its users, as well as the used methodology.

Scope of work

The purpose of the assignment is to undertake methodological revision of the Small Areas Deprivation Index of the Republic of Moldova to assure its compliance with the current policy framework and quality of data sources used.

For detailed information on Tasks and Responsibilities, Expected Deliverables for each consultant, and cumulated team-leader function, please refer to Annex 1 – Terms of Reference.

Requirements for experience

1. Academic Qualifications:
• Advanced university degree in statistics, social science,  economics, and/or other;
• Other formal education relevant for the assignment;
2. Years of experience:
• At least 5 years of relevant professional experience in applied area/s of expertise;
• Experience including substantial participation in analytical works (thematic analysis, assessments, evaluations, reviews, policy advisory, etc.) in applied area/s of expertise
• Previous experience in participating/undertaking of complex team-works, joint research activities, moderating working groups, organizing national/local level consultation events;
• Experience of participation in policy-making processes;
• Experience of collaboration with Government, in particular in area/s relevant for the present assignment;
• Experience of work with development partners, in particular UN/UNDP
3. Competencies:
• Strong knowledge and understanding of area/s of expertise applied;
• Ability to analyse, plan, communicate effectively orally and in writing, draft reports, solve problems, organize and meet expected results, adapt to different environments (cultural, economic, political and social);
• Romanian and Russian languages proficiency; Good skills in oral and written English;
• Good interpersonal skills, solid judgment/decision making, initiative and creativity;
• Ability to be independent, impartial and credible in a challenging environment;
• Availability to work with UN and Project’s national stakeholders during the indicated/approved period;
• Adherence to UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Cultural and gender sensitivity

Documents to be included

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

1. Technical Proposal including:
• brief explanation of how the Applicant responds to each of the qualification requirements and why he/she is the most suitable for the work;
• own vision and working approach in undertaking the assignment;
• 1-2 samples of similar work undertaken previously (or link to access them online).
2. Personal information (as a detailed CV or as a Personal History Form /P11) including records on past experience in similar projects/assignments and concrete outputs obtained;
3. Financial proposal (in USD, specifying a total lump sum amount and the number of anticipated working days).

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 all related costs e.g. fees, phone calls etc.) and the number of anticipated working days.  The consultant shall bare costs for all supplies needed for data collection and data processing including possession of his own personal computer.

 

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