UNDP Jobs

Enhancing transparent governance and prevention of corruption and conflict of interest in the units of the local self -government via strengthening the role of the civil society and media in the decision making process  is one of the goals of the project “Support to Strengthening the National and Local Integrity Systems”. One of the key mechanisms to achieve this is to enable the citizens and civil society organisations to hold the local government units accountable and responsive to their needs.

Based on the latest National State Programme for Prevention of Corruption and Conflict of Interests 2011-2015, several risk areas were identified in terms of lack of participation of the civil sector in the working procedures and lack of transparency in the service delivery of the local government units.  Delivering services effectively and transparently requires a system of accountability in which citizens will have access to information and through which they can monitor performance of the municipality and demand accountability for services they receive.  The sustainability and effectiveness of the social accountability mechanism is achieved when it is institutionalised. Thus, the implementation of the social accountability tools should be built into the local governance framework as a policy in order to ensure that the accountability chain– from citizens to the local government and vice versa is achieving its goal.

A key element in successful implementation of the social accountability tools is increase of the involvement and reliance on the civil society and media. Representing citizens’ interests, they are the main users of the accountability channels  for obtaining information from the local government units for engaging in the policy making process on a local level . In contribution to this, partnership between CSOs and media with the local government units should be established in terms of adopting new transparency and accountability mechanisms and monitoring tools that will serve to prevention of corruption and conflict of interest and more transparent services from the local government.

 

The project will focus on conducting assessment of the systemic and institutional weaknesses and capacity gaps, which prevent civil society to effectively engage in the dialogue and oversee the performance of local government units.  It will also examine existing accountability tools and capacities on a local level and suggest new, more effective ones to be implemented.

The newly developed social accountability platform should be agreed and adopted by the national and local authorities in order to internalize the new forms of accountability having in mind the specific context and institutional structures. For this purpose, the local government units should set clear procedures for interaction and feedback with citizens, allowing a structured and easy access to official information, redress mechanisms and allow civil society and media involvement in the decision making process of the municipality by using the accountability tools.

The recruited international expert is expected to work together with the social media expert and under the direct supervision of the Project Manager of the project “Support to Strengthening National and Local Integrity Systems.” The expert will also receive strategic guidance and consult with the UNDP Governance Team.

The objective of the assignment is to revisit the existing and propose new social accountability platform  for the local self-government units that would serve the purposes of preventing corruption and promoting the good governance principles. The developed social accountability platform will contribute to consolidating the civic engagement around the issues of prevention and fight against corruption and conflict of interests.

More specifically, an assessment and analysis of the existing social accountability mechanisms and tools in the local government units will be conducted. Particular attention will be paid to the operationalization of the key principles which are at the heart of the democratic governance and prevention of corruption, such as participation, transparency and voice of the citizens.

The assessment will be focused on 6 pilot municipalities but it should also provide a general overview of the level of social accountability in the country based on the existing data and surveys. 

The focus of the analysis will be on:

1. The current efforts of the key partners in civil society, media and the private sector to demand accountability from the institutions.
2. Identification of systemic and institutional weaknesses and capacity gaps, which prevent non-state actors to effectively engage and oversee the performance of local government units.
3. Specific analysis of potentials of women’s participation in designing and implementing anti-corruption initiatives through various social accountability tools.
   

This will contribute to strengthening the mechanisms for reporting by the local government units, publicly making available information about local government performance to citizens, in an understandable format.  In this context, the rapid development of the IT technologies and the fact that social media has already been changing communication patterns – will be considered as opportunity to identify innovative ways to address anti-corruption issues while capitalizing on the existing anti-corruption and accountability efforts.

This activity envisages support of the new social accountability platform with technology-enabled solutions, particularly the use of social media.  The new solutions will aim to enhance accountability of local governance and reinforce the integrity/good governance.

Based on the above-described objective of the assignment, the following tasks should be performed:

• Conduct meetings with relevant stakeholders (CSOs , media, municipal representatives, State Commission for Prevention of Corruption etc) in order to collect the necessary data on the existing social accountability mechanisms.
• Review existing data/surveys/information conducted by local NGOs about the satisfaction of the citizens with the services provided by the municipalities and their participation in the decision-making process, in order to identify any gaps in terms of ensuring transparent, efficient, and accountable performance (satisfaction surveys from CSOs and other relevant information).
  
• Compare/analyze international best practices and experiences in social accountability approaches  that may be applicable for Macedonia.
• Based on the analysis, propose what the project can do to leverage the existing initiatives and propose new ones for improved governance at local level, with specific focus on preventing corruption.
• Co-facilitate a two-day workshop (“Social Innovation Camp”) with representatives of local government units, CSOs, media and other stakeholders in order to present the new social accountability concept and facilitate the generation of practical ideas as to using social media tools in function of the social accountability platform. According to the methodology of the” Social Innovation Camp”, the social accountability ideas/solutions will be prototyped during the workshop. The expectation of the consultant during the workshop is:

- To present the social accountability concept, and possible social accountability tools/ideas/models/practices
- Facilitate/lead brainstorming of new ideas for innovative social accountability tools in order to increase transparency and prevent corruption; 
- Help participants come up with specific solutions/ideas, articulate clearly what their idea is and propose how they may make it happen by utilization of IT and web-based technology and social media platforms;
- Assist in the selection of the most interesting, innovative, viable and practical solutions. In addition to the IT (web) component, the solutions should be sustainable and should propose ways how to engage people and contribute to social progress through increase of accountability and transparency of local government units.

The following questions should guide the analysis of the social accountability scope and the recommendations as to what should be done within the framework of this project to introduce new tools towards improved integrity:

• What are the linkages between the formal and informal accountability mechanisms? How do accountability systems work?
• How are different groups able to express their voices and through what challenges are they heard?
• What are the challenge through which citizens can express their voice or demands and are able to demand transparency and accountability from the local authorities?
• What are the entry points of local governments, civil society organizations and other stakeholders for working on social accountability mechanisms?
• What social and institutional risks are there in working on these issues?
  

The methodology of work will consist of home based desk review of relevant documentation (the key documents to be selected in co-operation with the project team prior to the mission) and direct consultations with the project management and other key local stakeholders during a mission to Skopje.

 

The filed visit shall be conducted in the period between 20 August – 10 September 2012 (7 days in country, exact dates to be confirmed).

 

As described above, the first part of the mission (four-days) will focus on analysing and assessing existing accountability tools in the 6 municipalities and other mechanisms for citizens participation in the decision making process of the local government units.   The consultant will feed the findings into the practical discussions during the “Social Innovation Camp” (second part of the mission). 

The second part of the mission will focus on a Social Innovation Camp (a two-day workshop, followed by a debriefing day/wrap up day) for representatives of CSOs local government units, media and other stakeholders together with a social media expert about the social accountability mechanisms and tools and how social media and new innovative IT based solutions can support this process. The workshop should be based on critical analysis which tools would be most effective in the local government context or in the specific area of prevention of corruption and conflict of interest.  During the workshop, the expert should try and facilitate prototyping of the proposed solutions. The expert will be supported by an IT expert (expert in social media and/or experienced person in organizing/facilitating Social Innovation Camps).

The outcome of the Social Innovation Camp will be selection of 3-5 best proposals for leveraging the existing and introducing new social accountability mechanisms in the 12 pilot municipalities. The 2-3 best proposals will be funded by the project.

During the fulfilment of the assignment, the consultant will ensure regular communication with the UNDP Project Manager. The consultant shall ensure quality and timely delivery of the expected tasks and will regularly inform UNDP of the progress as well as any obstacles that might occur.

Deliverables:

• Executive summary
• Introduction, including description of the work conducted
• A comprehensive social accountability platform with recommendations for introducing specific social accountability tools
• Clear guidance and methodology for implementation of the new tools at the level of local government units and monitoring of the outcomes
• Proposal for capacity building programme for the CSOs for monitoring and reporting on performance of local government units via the social accountability tools and their active engagement in the financial and administrative work of the municipalities
• Follow-up /next steps proposal for scaling up and sustainability.
  

 

The assignment should be completed in the period from 20 August – 10 September 2012. The overall duration of the tasks covered by this ToRs has been estimated to not exceed 20 working days, including a seven (working) day mission to Skopje and related desk-work to pre-review the required project documentation and days after the mission to finalize the reporting.

100% upon successful completing of in country mission and submission of final report.

• Excellent communications and facilitation skills; and excellent analytical and negotiation skills.

Education:

• Academic Qualifications: Master Degree in law or political science, specific education in the field of civil society and social accountability will be an asset.
  

Experience:

• More than 5 years of working experience in the areas addressed by the project with a good knowledge of the state of the art approaches and international best practices. Experience in social media tools will be an asset.

Language Requirements: 

• Language proficiency in both written and oral English. Knowledge of languages of the region will be an asset.
  

The Consultant is expected to provide the following:

• United Nations Personnel History form (P-11) (CV of the Consultant);
• Brief methodology and approach on how the assignment will be carried out included detailed timetable of the proposed activities (max 10000 words);
  
• Financial proposal, indicating a total lump sum in USD for the delivery of outputs as per above description. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (consultancy fee per number of anticipated working days, travel and any other possible costs;
• Reference list of similar work/projects and contact details of the clients.
  

The evaluation of the offers will be done according to best value for money principle.
Best value for money principle takes into account a combination of the applicants’ qualification and financial proposal (70% technical and 30 % financial offer).
Only the highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job according to the Technical Criteria will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.
Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 70 points:

• Criteria A : Professional experience on similar projects  - max points: 20
• Criteria B:  Methodology/approach- max points: 40
• Criteria C : Master Degree in law or political science, specific education in the field of civil society and social accountability will be an asset. 10