Background

Since 2004, the country has been undertaking key electoral reforms which, amongst others, included the setting up of an electoral management body tasked with the responsibilities for the management and conduct of elections and referendums in Zimbabwe. These reforms sought to strengthen the democratic principles on elections in line with the local contexts as well as with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and African Union (AU) guidelines and principles governing democratic elections.  To this end, the reconstituted Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) of 31st March 2010 succeeded the earlier Electoral Commission of 2005.
Over the years, ZEC has demonstrated the need for more support to carry out its mandate in an effective, efficient and transparent manner. As part of enhancing the governance institutions in Zimbabwe, UNDP supported the ZEC in developing a Five-Year Strategic Plan in 2010 to provide a road map for strengthening the institutional capacity of the electoral management body.
The five-year Strategic Plan highlighted the need for ZEC to undertake an organizational restructuring and realignment in order to strengthen its capacity to deliver on its mandate. It also identified capacity gaps in terms of human resources, support infrastructure and financial resources. Among other recommendations, the plan noted the need for ZEC to undertake a comprehensive capacity building programme to address shortcomings in institutional, structural, administrative and operational systems and processes.
Based on the strategic plan, in January 2011 UNDP and ZEC, in partnership with EU, Denmark and SIDA, initiated an eighteen month comprehensive capacity building support project for strengthening the institutional capacity of ZEC.  The current project was supposed to end in July 2012 but has been extended by six months until January 2013 at the request of ZEC.
The overall objective of the project is to strengthen the institutional capacity of ZEC for effective and efficient discharge of its mandate. Specifically, the support is aimed at strengthening ZEC’s institutional, structural, administrative and operational systems and processes through human resource development and related capacity development interventions. The project identified three keyoutputs in the areas of institutional reform/development, professionalization of ZEC staff, and development of communication and ICT strategy.
Since its inception, the project has contributed significantly to positive institutional development of ZEC both in terms of putting in place hardware (vehicles, computers and other office equipment) as well as software (training/workshops, study tours and exposure).  Over 200 ZEC staff members have received training in a number of areas addressing identified needs, and all nine Commissioners actively participated in a number of different forums including Electoral Commissions Forum (ECF) of SADC countries.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives and Scope

  • Evaluate the relevance of the project and the impact of project interventions and contribution in building institutional capacity of ZEC to carry out its functions.
  • Assess if the outputs and outcome have been achieved and/or will be achieved, given the activities supported by the UNDP and identify challenges in the implementation of the project.
  • Assess the appropriateness and relevance of the project strategies in addressing the identified problems and hence contributing to the achievement of the stated outputs and outcomes.
  • Review and assess the efficiency of implementation and management arrangements of the Programme.
  • Make recommendations about design of any capacity development support in the future bases on lessons learned in the project implementation.
Expected outputs and deliverables

The following deliverables will be expected from the evaluation team:
  • Inception Report, detailing evaluation scope and methodology, including data collection methods as well as approach for the evaluation. The inception report should also contain a detailed work plan with timelines for agreed milestones;
  • The Draft Evaluation Report which will be shared with ZEC, UNDP and funding partners for comments and input; and
  • The Final Evaluation Report, incorporating comments from stakeholders.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:
  • Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
  • Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
  • Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
  • Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.
Functional Competencies:
  • Strong analytical and research skills with sufficient understanding of survey design, quantitative/qualitative methods and data analysis.
  • Participatory project design, management and implementation
  • Evaluation of development programmes and projects Experience in governance, rule of law, international law and human rights
  • Qualification in development, social sciences or related fields.
  • Knowledge of the local environment
  • Knowledge of UNDP procedures and programme implementation strategies will be an added advantage.
  • Good writing skills
  • Computer literacy

Required Skills and Experience

Qualification requirements for the International Consultant/Team Leader:
  • University  degree in public administration, economics, development planning, business administration, law or other relevant qualifications;
  • Extensive experience in conducting evaluations, with a strong working knowledge on institutional capacity building/development and state building;
  • Extensive knowledge of result-based management (RBM) evaluation, UNDP policies, procedures and participatory monitoring and evaluation methodologies and approaches;
  • Minimum of 7-10 years professional expertise in international development co-operation, governance issues, programme/project evaluation, impact assessment/development of programming/strategies;
  • Minimum of 7 – 10 years experience in leading multi-disciplinary multi-national teams;
  • Good professional knowledge of the Africa region; and
  • Demonstrated analytical, communication and report writing skills.
Qualification requirements for the National Expert

National consultant – Capacity development

  • University degree in area(s) such as public administration, economics, business management, development planning or law and at least 3 years of professional experience in the area of capacity development and governance issues;
  • Sound knowledge of governance issues in Zimbabwe; and
  • Experience in conducting evaluations.

The National Expert will, inter alia, perform the following tasks:

  • Review documents;
  • Participate in the design of the evaluation methodology;
  • Conduct the outcome evaluation in accordance with the proposed objective and scope of the evaluation;
  • Draft related parts of the evaluation report as agreed with the Team Leader; and
  • Assist the Team Leader in finalizing the draft and final evaluation report.
 
Period of assignment/services: 02 January 2013-4 February 2013(24 Working Days)
Proposal should be submitted at the following address;
Registry
UNDP
Arundel Office Park
Block 10
Norfolk Road, Mount Pleasant
Harare
Or by email to;
bidstechnical.zw@undp.org (for technical proposals)
bidsfinancial.zw@undp.org (for financial proposals)
Deadline:  No later than 10 December 2012 by 16.00 PM (Harare/Pretoria time; GMT +2 Hours)
Marked: “Consultancy for the Project Evaluation of Support to Capacity Strengthening of Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
Your package should contain two envelopes:
One marked “Technical Proposal” and containing CVs as described below in Section 4 and the second envelope “Financial Proposal”.  All submissions should be made in the Annex attached herewith.
Request for clarification on TORs should be sent in writing by email to procurement.zw@undp.org no later than 12 December 2012. 
 
UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.