Background

Candidates who previously applied need not apply again.

UNDP supports stabilization, state building, governance and development priorities in Afghanistan. UNDP support, in partnership with the Government, the United Nations system, the donor community and other development stakeholders, has contributed to institutional development efforts leading to positive impact on the lives of Afghan citizens.

Over the years UNDP support has spanned such milestone efforts as the adoption of the Constitution; Presidential, Parliamentary and Provincial Council elections; institutional development through capacity-building to the legislative, the judicial and executive arms of the state, and key ministries, Government agencies and commissions at the national and sub national levels.

UNDP Afghanistan is committed to the highest standards of transparency and accountability and works in close coordination with the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the UN system as a whole to maximize the impact of its development efforts on the ground.

Years of conflict have damaged Afghanistan’s economic, political, physical, social and institutional structures. Reconstruction demands a secure environment in which there is credible leadership and enforced rule of law. Strong, legitimate and effective public administration structures, responsive to the needs of ordinary citizens - including the poor – are a precursor to any sustainable development. To this end, UNDP supports Afghan electoral institutions so that they can become more effective vehicles for development.

The UNDP Enhancing Legal and Electoral Capacity for Tomorrow (ELECT) project- phase I (2006 – 2011) provided technical and operational assistance to Afghan electoral bodies throughout the 2009 Presidential and provincial council elections and 2010 parliamentary elections.

ELECT II, which commenced January 2012, was conceived as a targeted and focused project providing a support and advisory role, with a particular focus on institutional strengthening and capacity development during the inter-election period. In line with the process of transition or Afghanisation, as articulated in the Kabul Conference in July 2010, the number of international staff was significantly reduced from previous years.

As the result of a project Mid-term Review and a UN Needs Assessment Mission, the ELECT II project has been extended beyond its original end date of December 2013 until December 2015, and the project objectives have been revised to now include direct electoral assistance for the conduct of the 2014 Presidential and Provincial Council Elections and the 2015 Parliamentary elections.

The overall objective of ELECT II is to support the national electoral institutions to plan and conduct credible elections, most immediately the 2014 Presidential and Provincial Council elections and the 2015 Parliamentary elections, and to better ensure the integrity of the process. Continuing long-term assistance through support to capacity building of national electoral authorities beyond 2010 is in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2096 (2013).This assistance is closely coordinated with UNAMA, UN Department for Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and UN Electoral Assistance Division (EAD).This is being accomplished through seven focused outputs:

• Output 1: Sustainability of the IEC is enhanced via both its institutional and staff capacity development;
• Output 2: A sustainable, long-term approach to voter registration in Afghanistan, which also promotes maximum participation of eligible citizens in the 2014 and 2015 elections, is developed and implemented;
• Output 3: The IEC’s engagement and informational outreach with key stakeholders, including the electorate, is enhanced;
• Output 4: The IEC’s operational management functions, and the project support services, are strengthened;
• Output 5: The conduct of key electoral operations for the 2014 and 2015 elections by the IEC is improved;
• Output 6: The electoral dispute resolution mechanism is enhanced.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope Of Work, Expected Outputs & Deliverables:

The Knowledge Archive management Specialist is part of the ELECT team of advisors under the supervision and guidance of the ELECT II Pillar One Head. Her/his primary task will be prepare and/or assist in the creation of information, recordkeeping and archive management policies, guidelines and training, and the implementation of the Knowledge and Archive Management System, ensuring that the IEC has an functional information management framework and an up-to-date easy-to-access information and knowledge portal.

In the execution of these duties and responsibilities the KAM Specialist will advise the Independent Election Commission (IEC) in Archiving, Knowledge management and electoral information dissemination platforms and will fulfill the following key functions:

Key functions:

• Creation of policies, guidelines and training for information, knowledge and records management at the IEC in line with proposals and recommendations;
• Creation of a Retention and Disposal policy and an User guideline Support for the Archiving function of the IEC;
• Design of the SharePoint KAMS Information Architecture and Information governance framework;
• Implementing, configuring and testing the SharePoint KAMS portal;
• Oversee capacity building and support for internal knowledge acquisition, management and sharing.

The KAM Consultant will perform other related tasks / duties as assigned by her / his respective supervisor, reporting to ELECT II Pillar One Head.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

Knowledge and Archive Management Advisor:

Home based:

Development of the following Information, Document and Records management policies (IDRM policies): 

• To analyze, prepare and draft the Information and Records management policy;
• To analyze, prepare and draft the Retention and Disposal Policy and relevant user guidelines;
• To analyze, prepare and draft the Information Transfer Policy;
• To analyze, prepare and draft the User Guideline for the implementation of the IDRM policies.

Working days 35, Deadline July 10, 2014

Duty station: Kabul, Afghanistan

Preparation of the SharePoint Deployment Plans consisting of:

• Implementation plan with deadlines and milestones in MS Project format prepared;
• Reference document covering the following planning information: deployment objectives, major deliverables, work organisation, work schedules, risk management and communication plans prepared.

Working days:15, Deadline August 05, 2014

Designing the SharePoint KAMS Portal consisting of the preparation of the following documents:

• Requirement Specification for the KAMS SharePoint;
• Description of functions and features of the SharePoint KAMS portal.

Working days: 20. Deadline: September 06, 2014

Preparation of the Information Architecture Documents for Deployment in SharePoint consisting of :

• Information Architecture Document containing the description of the SharePoint digital asset library organisation, document management organisation, web content services and collaboration sites prepared and configured in SharePoint;
• Information Governance document containing the policies and rules for document and records management and Taxonomies and Metadata for e-Discovery prepared and information governance objects configured in SharePoint.

Working days 35. Deadline: November 15, 2014

Technical Advice on Data Migration:

Provide Technical Advice and Support for the migration of Electoral data from the Elections of 2004-2005, 2009-2010 and 2014 in the SharePoint Digital Libraries, followed by undertaking functional and User Acceptance Tests in SharePoint as following:

• To oversee and advice on the Legacy Electoral Data migration to the SharePoint digital libraries and present the Migration Report;
• To conduct an robust assessment/s on the migration of all Electoral data to ensure that all migration has been completed, and the testing is delivered and Testing Report is prepared and verified.

Working days: 20. Deadline: December 13, 2014

Training Materials and Programs

• To generate and provide the required training materials for the training of KAMS users; to conduct specific training against these materials.

Working days: 10. Deadline for training: December 23, 2014

Price Proposal & Schedule Of Payments

Applicants have to provide a technical and a financial proposal.

The technical proposal shall describe the methodology and the approach how to fulfill the required deliverables as well as outline the major components of its implementation.

Financial proposal - Lump Sum Amount

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around the 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 travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days).

Notes:

The term “All inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel costs, living allowances, communications, consumables, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the proposal.

Individuals on IC are not UN staff therefore not entitled to DSAs. All living allowances required to perform the demands of the TOR must be incorporated in the financial proposal, whether the fees are expressed as daily fees or lump sum amount.

Working Arrangement:

 Institutional Arrangements

• The consultant will report directly to the ELECT II Pillar One Head;
• The consultant will provide updates on  development to ELECT II Pillar One Head on weekly basis;
• The consultant will liaise with IEC and ELECT Project Sections on all matters related to his/her assignment;
• UNDP ELECT project will provide office space within the ELECT Project Office;
• The consultant will be provided with I.C.T. equipment (laptop, mobile phone, mobile radio) and security devices (personal body armor and helmet) and will be fully included in the UNDP Security regime;
• Subject to availability of space, UNDP will secure accommodation at one of the following MOSS Compliant locations (costs covered by consultant): UNOCA Compound or the Green Village Compound. The consultant must take accommodation at one of these two locations due to security directives;
• UNDP will provide transport from the accommodation to the office and return.

Duration of the Work:

• The consultant will provide the services for the duration of the contract with the possibility of furher extension based on operational need of UNDP ELECT;
• The consultant will work 5 days a week during the contract period;
• The contract will total 135 working days, which includes 35 days hombe based, and 100 working days in-country. Kabul – Afghanistan. 

Duty Station:

• The Consultant will be based in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Competencies

Functional competencies

• Familiarity with current Knowledge Management technologies, including Web 2.0;
• Familiarity with Microsoft SharePoint platform;
• Demonstrated capacity to strongly promote knowledge sharing and knowledge products and systems;
• Familiarity with the area of electoral operations, institutional development, or operational / business processes;
• Initiative and sound judgment;
• Excellent writing and organizational skills;
• Demonstrated ability to work in a diverse team setting;
• Advanced computers skills.

Communication:

• Speaks and writes clearly and effectively;
• listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately;
• asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication;
• tailors language, tone, style and format to match audience;
• demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed;
• strong interpersonal and communication skills including facilitation skills in training related activities.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced degree in social and behavioral sciences, information systems,  or knowledge.

Experience:

• Five years’ experience in the design and development of knowledge management systems, organizational development, business process improvement, or organizational/systems change management;
• Knowledge of the UN system and familiarity with UNDP procedures isdesirable;
• Proven team building and leadership skills;
• Advanced computer skills and strong knowledge of SharePoint server is required;
• Previous experience in Afghanistan including knowledge of Afghanistan’s culture, tradition and Islamic context is an advantage;
• Experience of working with election commission is an advantage.

Language Requirements

• Fluency in English required;
• Fluency of Pashto and/or Dari Languages an asset.

Below is the breakdown of technical proposal on 100% which will be brought to 70%.

Evaluation Method & Criteria

The award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

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

Technical Criteria Weight – 70%

Financial Criteria Weight – 30%

The offer will be evaluated by using the Best Value for money approach (combined scoring method – using the 70% - 30% distribution for technical and financial proposals, respectively).

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70 technical points out of the 100 obtainable points would be considered for the financial evaluation.

Criteria & Maximum Marks

Technical: 100 marks

• Relevance of Education (Advanced Degree in relevant field), 10 marks;
• Experience related to the required services, 10 marks;
• Description of approach/methodology to assignment, 20 marks
• Interview results, 60 marks.

Financial: 30 marks

The assignment is based on a lump sum contract amount and payment is based only upon certification and acceptance of the deliverables and/or monthly reports received as indicated above. In the event of non-performance and pre-termination where payments cannot be made in full or may have to suspended, the final payment will be pro-rated against received and accepted deliverables.

Documents to be Included When Submitting The Proporals:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document:

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability from tow trainer  using the template provided by UNDP;
• Personal CV or P11, including at least three professional references;
• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and their proposed methodology to carry it out;
• A financial proposal that indicates the fixed total contact price for a 135 days assignment, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per the template provided.