Republic of Moldova

National Consultant to revise the 2012 Annual Social Report (ASR)

Vacancy Number: Pr13/00338

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	21 Jun 2013, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	28 Jun 2013, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	01 Jul 2013
Reference to the project:	Formulation of the National Human Development Report Project
Expected Duration of Assignment:	21 working days
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Now" button no later than 21 June 2013. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail:  dumitru.vasilescu@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:

Mr. Dumitru Vasilescu.

Background

Poverty eradication remains a high-priority item on the agenda of the new Government. This is one of the fundamental priorities of the Moldova 2020 strategy, whereby implementation of the current policy framework shall consistently reduce absolute poverty by 20% until 2020. Implementation of various social protection policies, policies to further promote development of labor market, social inclusion, are some important prerogatives of the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family. The respective Ministry is annually reporting on the achieved progress through its Annual Social Report (ASR), published since 2000.

Overall, the ASR(s) reflects the outcomes of social reforms and identifies the main problems faced by the social protection system, making proposals and policy recommendations to outcome concrete situations. The Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family, has constantly thought of improving the structure and contents of such flagship report, so that to reflect new opportunities and challenges for the social protection system under reform. In the recent past, the Ministry, with strong support from UNDP, made first steps in the development and implementation of a robust methodology to measure and constantly monitor social exclusion at the national level. Such efforts materialized in several policy documents, including the 2011 National Human Development Report on Social exclusion, the 2012 Policy brief on social exclusion, the matrix of social exclusion indicators and the INEX (Social Exclusion Index). To further streamline social inclusion measures into the policy dialogue, incorporate new and recent analytical efforts, reflect new challenges faced by the social protection system, among others, the 2012 ASR will be reviewed, eventually restructured and will comprise certain new sections. The way the contents of the Report are brought to larger audiences and disseminated outside the usual circle of policy makers, will be further improved by using modern presentation tools.

Scope of work

The key objective of the assignment is to provide consistent, high quality and timely analytical support to the MLSPF in the partial re-design of the structure of the report, substance of selective chapters of the 2012 and future ASRs, further in-depth analysis on certain segments and compartments of the Report and fine-tuning of the policy recommendations. The re-working of the entire analytical report shall consistently improve the structure and contents and the way this important product is presented to the external audience.

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

Requirements for experience

Academic Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in social sciences, sociology, social assistance, or related areas.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of proven extensive experience in conducting complex researches, development and revision of national strategic documents;
• Previous relevant experience in developing similar to ASR analytical products.

Knowledge and competencies:

• Excellent knowledge and understanding of the current policy framework in the field of social protection, and excellent understanding of the key challenges faced by the national social protection system and related reforms;
• Knowledge of and exposure to a range of cross-sectoral and cross-cutting issues, including social exclusion, human development, empowerment of women, inclusion of marginalized groups, among others.
• In-depth knowledge of the national MDG framework;  familiarity with the methodology of measuring and monitoring social exclusion at national or sub-national levels is a strong asset;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills and competency in basic editing and proofreading skills; must be detail oriented and organized;
• Proficiency in written and spoken Romanian. Knowledge of English and Russian is an asset.

Documents to be included

1. Proposal:

(i)            Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work;

(ii)           Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work;

2. Financial proposal;

3. Personal CV including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references, or dully filled Personal History Form (P-11).

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 (Annex A).  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 daily fee, number of anticipated working days, etc.).  

Travel: All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to joint duty station/repatriation travel. In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

 

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