Background

The main challenge of the regional policy of the Republic of Moldova is to ensure balanced sustainable economic and social development at the sub national level, solving the issues related to regional disparities Therefore sustainable regional development is an imperative assumed by the Government of Moldova, which has also confirmed its commitment to fairly/equally distribute the opportunities/chances for regional development throughout the country. This is confirmed both at the legislative level and at the strategic planning level. Successful implementation of the regional policy will foster and accelerate the development of the country as a whole, where the ultimate goal is to improve the quality of life of the citizens, wherever they live on the territory of Moldova.

Both, the implementation of transparent and efficient mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation of regional development process, as well as the production and timely reporting of regional statistics, are the two specific objectives of the National Strategy of Regional Development. The local authorities will be able to increase their role in completing the process of local development, to develop feasible policies for the local/regional development and to increase the capacity of different stakeholders at local level to implement these policies, only when sufficient evidence is made available through statistics.

The generation of disaggregated sub national level data has been increased especially in the recent years, when the needs for information based decision of central and local public authorities, managers, investors, analysts and other users regarding sustainable regional development increased significantly.

Considering the aspirations of Moldova's European integration, it is very important that the regional statistics, relevant for the country, to be compiled in compliance with the pertinent EU standards and best practices, taking into account the peculiarities of the Republic of Moldova. The basis for compilation of relevant and comparable statistics represents the application of appropriate classifications, including that of territorial units for statistics, NUTS classification being used for these purposes in EU being a geocode standard for referencing the subdivision of countries for statistical purposes, with three NUTS levels.

From the perspective of the alignment of the Republic of Moldova to the EU standards, in both legal and statistical fields, it is important to gradually implement and apply, also, the statistical classifications, in particular NUTS so that the informational needs of society in data disaggregated in regional perspective, internationally comparable, are met.

 This step is determinant for both the assurance of spatial and time comparability of sub-national statistical data of the R. of Moldova with the EU statistics during the integration of the country into the European community, as well as for provision of reliable evidences in the process of regional development funding, in particular from the EU sources.

Thus, the elaboration and implementation of the national classification NUTS in the Republic of Moldova, taking into consideration the advanced experience of EU states, in particular the new member-states, represents a big challenge of high political, economic and social impact for ensuring a balanced development of settlements and reduction of regional disparities in the country.

Because the breakdown of regions according to NUTS should be performed with providence, considering multiple normative/legal, institutional, political, cultural, social, geographic, environmental and economic aspects, an exhaustive study should be conducted to allow the most appropriate identification of statistical territorial units for the Republic of Moldova and elaboration of the national NUTS classification.

Regional division of the country aims to provide a single and coherent territorial breakdown for the collection and development of regional statistics, harmonized with EU standards. Further, from economic point of view this will ensure the eligibility for aid from European funds for regional development (for those regions whose development is lagging behind) that is assessed at NUTS 2 level.

Joint UN Project on Strengthening the National Statistical System of RM is implemented by the Government of the Republic of Moldova in partnership with UNDP and other 4 UN agencies, as well as the Government of Romania, and aims at improving data collection, production, dissemination and use of statistical information with particular attention to national needs and official statistics overall conformity with international, in particular EU, standards.

For more info on the context of assignment please see the Terms of References and Individual Consultant Procurement Notice on http://www.undp.md/jobs/jobdetails/483/.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of Consultancy

The Joint UN Project on Strengthening the National Statistical System is to hire one international consultant (to be assisted by two national consultants) with relevant experience who will develop feasible options for the most appropriate sub-division of the country territory taking into consideration the NUTS regulations, other EU relevant requirements and best practices, as well as the national specifics.

Once being acknowledged, the most appropriate statistical sub-division of the country out of proposed options will be sought and possible ways for its accomplishment will be developed. The proposed different versions of the country sub-division would be accompanied by justified pros and cons being recommended or checked-out with the local specialists as well as staff of specialized institutions from Romania and/or other countries with advanced experience and similar country’s context and characteristics.

Thus, based on the comprehensive study fulfilled by the consultants in close cooperation with national counterparts, the beneficiary stakeholders will be provided with the national NUTS classification and proposals of adjustments to the legal framework on regional organisation.

For detailed information on specific tasks of the International Consultant and of other members of expert team, objectives, modality of work, activities and expected outputs, evaluation standards to be followed, please refer to the  Terms of Reference and Procurement Notice, available on: http://www.undp.md/jobs/jobdetails/483/.

  Scope of Work

 Under the current assignment UNDP, in collaboration with the Ministry of Regional Development and Constructions, State Chancellery, National Bureau of Statistics and Project team, are looking for the following expertise on the part of the team of one international and two national consultants:

• To conduct a study in order to develop a set of options for most appropriate statistical sub-division of the country taking into consideration the NUTS regulations, other EU relevant requirements and best practices, as well as the national particularities;
• To develop feasible draft(s) of national NUTS classification;
• To propose corresponding adjustments to the legal framework;
• To make recommendations for regional data collection according to the proposed classification.

 The sought  international expert, besides the tasks related to the area of his/her competence, will have the function of team-leader being responsible for coordination and consistency of produced reports, as well as overall guidance of the national experts.

 Main Tasks to be performed:

• Undertake desk review [remotely and/or during mission 1][task valid for team-leader, policy expert and statistician];
• Formulate own approaches and working methodology [remotely and/or during mission 1] [Team-Leader responsible for the task with the support and participation/inputs of other two team-members];
• Carry out extensive consultation with relevant counterparts and stakeholders [during missions 1&2] [Team-Leader responsible for the task with the support and participation of other two team-members]
• Undertake situational analysis of the current policy framework and development context of Moldova and evaluation of the country preparedness from the perspective of its harmonisation with NUTS Regulations [remotely] [National policy expert responsible for the task under the conceptual guidance and participation of Team leader]
• Validation of the first findings with the national counterparts and stakeholders [remotely and/or during mission 1] [Team-Leader responsible for the task with the support and participation of other two team-members];
• Identify possible options for most appropriate statistical sub-division of Moldova taking into consideration the requirements for regional statistics and of NUTS regulation, as well as the national specifics [remotely] [Team leader (at the conceptual level) and statistician expert (as technical execution) are responsible for the task];
• Develop a comprehensive feasibility report on Moldova’s alignment with EU NUTS statistical territorial classification [remotely and/or during mission 2] [Team leader responsible for the task with participation/inputs from the policy and statistician experts];
• Establish and maintain a dialogue with national counterparts and stakeholder, consultants, Project staff;
• Advocate for the delivered results;
• Support the organisation and undertake public presentation of results;
• Develop an activity report on consultancy undertaken.

The international consultant, as Team Leader, would have to:

• process the inputs provided by the members of expert team and set up a common work plan and the methodology; distribute the tasks among the team members and observe their execution;
• ensure a common/harmonized approach to the topics and tasks of assignment;
• provide guidance to the team members throughout the stages of assignment on actions, structure & content of reports to be developed by each expert and the team as a whole;
• coordinate the process of consultation with the Project’s key partners and relevant stakeholders to validate the key findings of produced reports, to collect and consider their feedback and recommendations for improvement;
• develop, with the contribution of team members, the synthesis report on the main outputs of assignment;
• provide overall management and coordination of the experts’ work, supervision of tasks and activities under the present assignment.

 For detailed information on specific tasks of the International Consultant and of other members of expert team, objectives, modality of work, activities and expected outputs, evaluation standards to be followed, please refer to the  Terms of Reference and Procurement Notice, available on: http://www.undp.md/jobs/jobdetails/483/.

Competencies

• Strong knowledge and understanding of area/s of expertise applied;
• Ability to analyze, plan, communicate effectively orally and in writing, draft reports, solve problems, organize and meet expected results;
• Adapt to different environments (cultural, economic, political and social);
• English and Romanian (an asset for the international expert) languages proficiency.
• Good interpersonal skills, solid judgment/decision making, initiative and creativity;
• Ability to be independent, impartial and credible in a challenging environment;
• Availability to work with UN and Project’s national stakeholders during the indicated/approved period;
• Adherence to UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Cultural and gender sensitivity.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in public policy, development, economics, statistics, social and/or other related science;
• Other formal education relevant for the assignment;

 Experience:

• At least 5 years of relevant professional experience in applied area/s of expertise  - strategic planning and implementation of EU regional policies, socio-economic analyses of EU regions, with the use of regional statistics;
• Experience including substantial participation in analytical works (thematic analysis, assessments, evaluations, reviews, policy advisory, or research work) in applied area/s of expertise - analytical work on: regional development, planning, strategic thinking, evidence-based monitoring in EU;
• Development and implementation of relevant EU classifications in statistics;
• Experience of participation in policy-making processes - provision and use of evidences for planning, monitoring and evaluation of regional development policies in EU countries and (as asset) in Moldova;
• Previous experience in coordination/leading of complex team-works, joint research activities, moderating working groups, organizing national/local level consultation events;
• Experience of collaboration with Governments of EU countries and (as asset) of the Republic of Moldova;
• Experience of work with development partners, in particular EU, UN/UNDP - experience in international projects managed/funded by EU institutions, in particular specialized in regional development and statistics;

 Language Requirement:

• Excellent English, knowledge of Romanian and/or Russian is an asset.

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.