Republic of Moldova

National Consultants (up to 3) on Minority Rights Monitoring, with Particular Focus on the Field of Education

Vacancy Number: Pr13/00402

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	30 Oct 2013, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	04 Nov 2013, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	05 Nov 2013
Reference to the project:	Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Expected Duration of Assignment:	3 months
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted online only, by following the “Apply online” link, no later than 30 October 2013.  Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: violeta.fetescu@one.un.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

Ms. Violeta Fetescu.

Background

During her November 2011 mission to the Republic of Moldova, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay stated: “I have urged the Government to redouble its efforts to tackle anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim attitudes, and to ensure that members of all religious, racial and ethnic groups are better protected in both the short and the long term. It is also vital to continue to protect the rights of linguistic minorities, in a country as linguistically rich and diverse as Moldova, as well as the rights of other excluded or stigmatized groups such as people with HIV and disabled persons.”  During its candidacy for the UN Human Rights Council, the Moldovan Government committed to introduce Holocaust education in the general curriculum. A recommendation in this regard, as well as other recommendations as regards minority rights in education appear in the 2012 report of UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief Heiner Bielefeldt following his mission to the Republic of Moldova, as well as in the recommendations to the Government by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Similar recommendations in this area appear from competent Council of Europe minority rights and anti-racism monitoring bodies.

The education sector has been involved in a range of measures for restructuring the school system, including reducing  2,661 teaching positions and 1,426 non-teaching positions, closing existing schools and creating “hub schools” during the period through 2013.   Undertaken since 2010, these measures aim to reduce inefficiencies in the school system.   To date there has been a lack of competent independent monitoring on the measures taken in individual school closures and on the possible repercussions on minority rights of school closures.

Scope of work

With the guidance of the UN Human Rights Adviser (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights), the proposed action aims to strengthen monitoring of minority rights impacts of ongoing school reforms, in particular in the following areas:

• Impacts and outcomes, in minority rights terms, of school closures and school re-organization on minority rights, including primary, secondary, tertiary and university levels, where possible;
• Levels and quality of consultation with affected persons and groups, above all parents and children;
• Other minority rights aspects of education, such as efforts to improve Gagauz language education in the Gagauzian Autonomy, Bulgarian areas and elsewhere;
• Current issues in education concerning Roma and non-citizens, including opportunities for desegregation of currently segregated schools or school districts;
• Perceptions of school reform among minorities;
• Action on commitments to strengthen celebration of diversity and Holocaust education components of the curriculum;
• Impact of other aspects of the school curriculum on minority rights.           

In this regard, consultant(s) are engaged on a short term-basis, (1) to undertake preliminary research in several key school districts – including first hand field research– and environments as to current issues of minority rights in school optimization; (2) to produce monitoring report(s) on the findings; (3) to support planning and implementation of a training session for civil society organizations, in the framework of the Bureau for Interethnic Relations.

Requirements for experience

I.       Academic Qualifications:

• University degree in law, social sciences, human rights or other relevant field;

II.    Experience and skills:

• Minimum 3 years of practical experience in human rights domain, monitoring activities, conducting research;
• Commitment to human rights; knowledge of international norms and standards in the area of the rights of minorities;
• Understanding of anti-discrimination law as set out under international, European and domestic law of the Republic of Moldova;
• Practical experience in organizing and conducting trainings;
•  Knowledge and in-depth understanding of the human rights environment in Moldova, its sensitivities and challenges;
• Excellent drafting skills;
• Excellent communication and teamwork skills;
• Ability to focus on goals and adapt processes to achieving goals.
• Demonstrated competence in conducting individual interviews with affected groups according to standard human rights documentation methodologies preferred.
• Adhere to the core values of the United Nations; in particular, is respectful of differences of culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, language, age, HIV status, disability, and sexual orientation, or other status.

III.   Language requirements:

•  Fluency in Romanian and Russian. Working knowledge of one or more additional languages relevant for Moldova, including Bulgarian, Gagauzian, Romani, Ukrainian or sign language is an asset. Knowledge of English is an asset.

Documents to be included

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

1. A detailed curriculum vitae of relevant experience or P11.

2.  A written statement of not more than 1000 words:

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

(ii) Providing a brief methodology on how you would approach and conduct the work.

Financial proposal

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables. Payments are paid in installments and 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 fees, taxes, mobile phone calls, etc.). The travel expenditures are to be approved in advance by the Project Manager and shall be covered from the Project budget.

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.

 

Disclaimer In case of discrepancies between the text published on the website and the contents of the supporting documents, the provisions, instructions and conditions included in the supporting documents (published as Adobe Portable Document Format files) shall prevail. In case of discrepancies between the English version and the Romanian and/or Russian versions of text, documents or other content published on this webpage, the English version shall prevail.

Notice UNDP, as a matter of practice, does not charge any application, processing or training fee at any stage of the recruitment process. If you have any questions as to vacancy announcements you may have received, please refer to this website. UNDP is currently aware of fictitious vacancy announcements that are being circulated through the internet, the purpose of which is to get people to register for a training and send in a fee. If you believe that you have received such a notice, please forward it, and any other related information you have received, to scamalert@undp.org. Since logos, emblems, names and addresses can be easily copied or reproduced, you are advised to take particular care in applying for vacancies, including undertaking all appropriate measures to protect against the unauthorised use of any personal information you may have provided as a result of the scam.