Republic of Moldova

National Consultant to develop a Catalogue of Services for Parliamentary Constituency Offices

Vacancy Number: Pr14/00670

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	20 Oct 2014, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	27 Oct 2014, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	27 Oct 2014
Reference to the project:	Enhancing Women's Political Representation through Improved Capacity and Enhanced Support in Moldova
Expected Duration of Assignment:	40 working days between 27 October 2014 – 27 February 2015
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Online" no later than 20 October 2014. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: Victoria.ignat@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. Qualified women candidates are particularly encouraged to apply. Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.
Supporting Documents: Terms of Reference Individual Consultant Procurement Notice Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Background

In 2014, UNDP jointly with UN Women and in partnership with the East Europe Foundation (EEF) and the Centre “Partnership for Development” (CPD) started a new programme in Moldova: “Enhancing Women’s Political Representation through improved capacity and enhanced support in Moldova” (Women in Politics). The programme aims at ensuring an increased participation of women in politics and in the decision-making process by creating an environment conducive to their meaningful participation, and providing support to capacity development of women before, during and after the elections at the central and local levels.

The programme purpose is to support gender equality advocates in creating a favourable environment for advancing women’s right to participate in decision making at national and local levels by influencing legal frameworks and policies to increase women’s leadership and political participation.

Among others, the Programme intervention is related to the electoral assistance and administration, parliamentary affairs and capacity building of elected women and  builds further on the results achieved through the previous and on-going support to the institutional capacity development of the Parliament and the Central Elections Commission (CEC) with a focus on enhancing capacities of the Election Management Bodies on gender responsive electoral management and on strengthening capacities of elected women parliamentarians and councillors for performing the elected official’s duties.

In an effort to facilitate the connection between citizens and lawmakers, four Parliamentary Constituency and Information Offices (PCIOs) have been established in Edinet, Orhei, Comrat and Leova, in 2014 with support from UNDP’s Democracy Programme. The offices will serve as a 'hub' for information and education on parliamentary and democracy issues and offer a space for decentralized committee meetings, public hearings or consultations.  Moreover, the Constituency Offices are expected to provide a wide range of services to various population groups in their area, including women from vulnerable groups, and making sure that their concerns are addressed up in the political agendas of the legislators in a timely manner. 

Scope of work

In this context, in order to better assist the staff of the constituency offices in providing effective support to residents, the Women in Politics programme seeks to hire a national consultant to develop a Catalogue of Services to be provided by the Constituency Offices to residents, as well as to assess the training and capacity building needs of the staff in terms of better delivering the aforementioned services to particular groups of constituency, including women from vulnerable groups.  The national consultant will work in close cooperation and consultation with the international consultant selected under the Democracy Programme to develop the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for Parliamentary Constituency and Information Offices in Moldova, a Code of conduct for PCIOs staff and a Handbook for MPs on Constituency Relations and Representation.

The expected outputs resulted from the national consultant’s assignment are: a 1) Catalogue of Services for Residents, including women from vulnerable groups; 2) a Training Needs Assessment report of the staff of PCIOs in delivering services pursuant to the catalogue; and 3) Training Curriculum addressing the specific skills and abilities that the staff of PCIOs need to acquire/expand in order to ensure an effective delivery of aforementioned services.  

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

Requirements for experience

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree, in Political Sciences, Public Administration, Law, Human Rights or related fields. Additional points will be granted for advanced degrees in the aforementioned fields.

 Experience:

• At least 3 years of professional experience in designing and implementing capacity building interventions targeting stakeholders from public institutions, civil society organizations, or other groups relevant to the assignment;
• Experience in designing service packages for citizens would constitute a significant advantage;
• Demonstrated experience in organizing and facilitating participatory needs assessment exercises involving different stakeholder groups;
• Proven experience in designing training curricula for different target groups. Particular work addressed at women from marginalized groups would be an advantage;
• Proven experience in working with the international organizations, central, regional and public authorities is required. Successful experience in working with UN agencies is an asset.

 Competencies and personal abilities:

• Strong analytical and drafting skills;
• Excellent writing and oral communication;
• Leadership skills and ability to work with multi-disciplinary teams;
• Fluency in Romanian and Russian. Working knowledge of English is also required.

 Skills:

• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, IT tools.

Documents to be included

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

a. Cover Letter: explaining why they are the most suitable for the work including past experience in similar Projects (please provide brief information on each of the above qualifications, item by item);

b. Financial proposal;

c. Duly completed P11 form and CV.

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 number of anticipated working days, daily consulting fees, phone charges, meals, etc.). 

Travel

WiP Programme will cover transportation (for field visits) and printing costs, therefore these costs shall not be included in the financial proposal.

In 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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