UNDP Jobs - 50047- Senior National Expert

Senior National Expert - Democratic Governance

Location :

Suva, FIJI

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Nov-2014

Application Deadline :

07-Oct-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

50 days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Non-Renewable

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. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The September 2014 elections, which will mark Fiji’s return to democracy after a period of eight years since the 2006 coup, should transform the landscape for governance in Fiji, but there will be considerable challenges:

Re-introducing a culture of accountability after a gap of a number of years will take time for state institutions and citizens alike;
The complexity of local governance – including multiple overlapping parallel channels both within state and traditional structures, no elected leaders since 2006, and limited opportunity for meaningful participation by citizens – is affecting access to quality basic services and is in urgent need of reform;
Institutions such as the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission will need to rebuild their capacities from a reduced base of financial and human resources after many years of neglect;
The 2013 Constitution has introduced profound changes in the workings of governance institutions and their inter-relationships, which are currently little-understood by citizens and have not yet been tested;
All stakeholders, including courts, legal profession and civil society, need to focus on rebuilding trust within and between themselves, and a number of institutions will need to demonstrate the independence which the Constitution mandates them to uphold;
A lack of research and dialogues around policy reforms leaves the new government with little guidance on how to take policy reforms forward, and no social consensus;
The impact of previous drivers of conflict such as race and land on Fiji’s future stability cannot yet be predicted.

Re-engagement of multiple development partners presents many opportunities for Fiji’s development but also greater challenges of managing aid coordination effectively. A transparent mapping of governance institutions in Fiji, including the perspectives of different stakeholders, will enable development partners to support Fiji more effectively around a shared analysis of the new situation, its opportunities and challenges.

UNDP will take the lead to prepare, in close cooperation with governmental and non-governmental counterparts, as well as other UN agencies and development partners, a Fiji Democratic Governance Analysis following the formation of a Government after the election. The Analysis will be primarily intended to inform development partners, but also to foster a common understanding of issues and perspectives between them and the Government of Fiji, as well as academia, business, civil society, the media and citizens. The Analysis should be published by January 2015.

Conducting the research and drafting the report

The research as well as the publication will follow similar exercises undertaken in transition countries in the past, such as UNDP’s Democratic Governance Analysis in Myanmar (2012). It will include sections on the judiciary, the Parliament, other constitutional and statutory bodies, civil society, media, traditional structures as well as local governance. It will include a full desk review of current relevant research and surveys, establish data and baselines where possible, note research and data gaps, and conduct analysis.

In conducting the research UNDP will draw on its wide experience in conducting different forms of governance assessment, drawing on Country Offices, headquarters, regional centres.

Under the overall direction of the UNDP RR in Fiji, the research, writing and editing of the report will be led by Team Leader, together with a senior national expert to be recruited by UNDP Fiji Multi-Country Office and other international and national experts as set out below, who may be supplied by UNDP’s regional centres (APRC Bangkok and Pacific sub-regional centre in Suva) and/or by other development partners.

Assessment and scoping missions conducted by UNDP and other development partners who take part in the analysis should also be made ;available to the team.

The team will include experts covering different aspects of governance including:

Local governance and decentralization;
Conflict prevention;
Access to justice and human rights;
Parliamentary development;
Public service reform;
Media and civil society.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Senior National Expert is responsible for:

Conducting desk research on relevant recent research, studies, analyses and reports relating to governance in Fiji and disseminating these to other team members;
Advising the team leader on stakeholders to be consulted during the field mission, and assisting UNDP MCO Fiji to arrange meetings;
Participating as a core member of the research team, keeping notes of all meetings and disseminating them to team members, writing sections of the research report as directed by team leader;
Other tasks as assigned by team leader.

Institutional Arrangement

The consultant will report directly to the team leader under the overall direction of UNDP Resident Representative in Fiji;
The consultant is expected to make their own arrangements in terms of travel and other facilities. UNDP will provide the necessary information and documents as and if required and as suited for the assignment.

Duration of the Work

The consultancy will be for a period of 50 days between September 2014 and January 2015.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

Promoting ethics and integrity, creating organizational precedents;
Building support and political acumen;
Building staff competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation;
Building and promoting effective teams;
Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication;
Creating an emotionally intelligent organization;
Leveraging conflict in the interests of UNDP & setting standards;
Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning. Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member;
Fair and transparent decision making; calculated risk-taking.

Functional Competencies

Fluent in English, excellent written and verbal reporting skills;
Computer literate;
Ability to design and develop time plans and resource schedules for complex tasks and task groups;
Ability to work in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams;
Ability to work under pressure against strict deadlines.Fluent in English, excellent written and verbal reporting skills;
Computer literate;
Ability to design and develop time plans and resource schedules for complex tasks and task groups;
Ability to work in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams;
Ability to work under pressure against strict deadlines.

Required Skills and Experience

Educational Qualifications:

Minimum of Graduate degree in political science, law or a related field.

Experience

At least 10 years of professional experience in policy and programme development and/or academic research in the area of governance in Fiji;
General technical knowledge of governance reform trends and best practices in other countries;
Good knowledge of central and local government systems in Fiji.

Language requirements

Fluency of English language is required.

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on a Lump Sum Amount. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs.

In general, UNDP shall not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Evaluation Method and Criteria

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70%). and financial criteria (30%). Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.