UNDP Jobs - 54364- International Expert for Preparation of EU Home Af

International Expert for Preparation of EU Home Affairs Sector Planning Document

Location :

Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

25-Mar-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Approximately 25 days, including 2 field missions

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

Having in mind that developing national capacities to respond and effectively manage the EU accession agenda represent the overarching objective of the UNDP’s country programme, along with the good track record of UNDP’s work in some of the policy areas tackled with the EU accession process (particularly in the areas related to rule of law and anti-corruption), UNDP has been assisting the national institutions build capacities in relation to Chapters 23 and 24 since 2012.

The cooperation and assistance provided by UNDP to the relevant institutions has so far focused on facilitation and provision of technical assistance on a number of issues related to rule of law and home affairs that should help the country build the human and institutional capacities both on substantive and procedural issues related to the EU accession process.

Building on these efforts, and in line with the ongoing and planned activities under Chapter 24 of the EU acquis, the home affairs sector has been identified among priority sectors for further interventions, including for receiving support under the new Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance for the financial perspective 2014-2020 (IPA 2). In that context, it was concluded that the sector-based support under IPA 2 would require gaps assessment and designing of a longer term EU sector support programme to address the identified shortcomings.

As a well-functioning home affairs sector constitutes one of the major EU pre-accession requirements for every EU candidate country and is key to address some of the key rule of law development issues, the Ministry of Interior as a coordinating institution for Chapter 24 and UNDP agreed to continue cooperating on designing a sector based planning document on home affairs which will serve as a basic document in the programming process for IPA II. The rationale for this cooperation is seen in the fact that such a strategic planning document would allow not only for proper gaps assessment and analysis, but would also provide strategic visioning for the Government for well-planned and substituted addressing of the priority areas and issues at hand.

In that context, the relevant institutions of the country, led by the Ministry of Interior, and UNDP wish to identify an international consultant that will assist in assessment of the state of affairs in the home affairs sector and identify the further reforms needed in order to address the remaining challenges and needs. The engagement of the consultant is expected to result into finalization of a Country Sector Planning Programme for Home Affairs.

Objectives

The overall objective of the assignment is to assist the relevant institutions in the country, under the leadership of the Ministry of Interior as the coordinator of home affairs sector, to prepare the Country Sector Planning Document for Home Affairs and thus prepare the ground for EU’s effective intervention under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA II).

In view of the need to reinforce the strategic approach in planning interventions in this sector, the consultant shall perform in-depth assessment of the performance of the home affairs sector in terms of past and ongoing efforts and identify the remaining legal and practical bottlenecks with the aim to design future measures to address these bottlenecks.

The final outcome of the assignment will be to design a mid-term EU home affairs sector planning document which will define priority areas and projects that might be financed under IPA II (2016, 2017 and 2018) and prepare the ground for its proper management, monitoring and evaluation.

Duties and Responsibilities

Preparatory desk work to assess the state of affairs in the home affairs sector

Based on the documents and materials to be provided by the relevant institutions, particularly the Ministry of Interior, the consultant shall get familiarized with the current state of affairs and existing documents in the home affairs sectors in order to get prepared for the first field mission to the country and elaborate measures to consolidate the undertaken and ongoing reforms. The preparatory work shall also include review of the legislative and institutional framework that would serve as basis for the next steps in the process of preparation of the programme document.

First field mission in the country for consultations/inputs (5 days)

During the first field mission to the country, the consultant shall work closely with the relevant institutions and stakeholders including Delegation Of European Union towards preparation of a comprehensive written assessment of the state of affairs in the home affairs sector and identification of remaining bottlenecks (legislative, institutional, practical implementation aspects) on the basis of qualitative and quantitative analysis, as well as national and international relevant indicators. The mission agenda will be prepared, organized and coordinated by the Ministry of Interior.

The focus of the mission and the interviews will be on the main elements of the CPD for home affairs sector including:

Migration;
Asylum;
Visa policy;
External borders and Schengen;
Judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters;
Police cooperation and the fight against organised crime;
Fight against terrorism;
Cooperation in the field of drugs;
Customs’ cooperation;
Counterfeiting of the euro.

During the mission, the consultant shall assist the relevant stakeholders in the home affairs sector in understanding and defining the correlation between the SPD and other related policy areas, sectors, and activities and provide advice as to how to ensure synergies and linkages.

This initial assessment shall also include analysis of the capacities in the home affairs sector in line with the with the 7 key areas of assessment under the EC Guidelines for the EC Support to Sector Programmes (The 2007 EC Guidelines for the EC Support to Sector Programmes define 7 key areas of assessment, notably related to the sector policy and strategy, sector budget and it medium-term perspectives, sector and donor coordination, institutional setting and capacity, sector performance monitoring, the overall macroeconomic framework and public finance management system influencing the respective sector. The abovementioned EC Guidelines are available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/multimedia/publications/publications/manuals-tools/t105_en.htm) so to be able to provide concrete recommendations on how to strengthen the capacities and strategic approach in the home affairs sector reforms, and to prepare the ground for successful implementation of the EU home affairs sector support programme.

During the first mission, all other parameters and issues to be included in the document will be clarified and confirmed by the relevant institutions so that the consultant can proceed working on the document.

Drafting of EU home affairs sector support programme

Based on the comprehensive initial assessment and consultations, the consultant shall work on development of a comprehensive EU home affairs sector planning document under IPA II covering the period of implementation of 3 to 5 years that would aim to support the home affairs sector reforms through assistance to both state and non-state actors (As non-state actors are understood “non-governmental organisations, grassroots organisations, cooperatives, trade unions, professional associations, universities, media and independent foundations.” For more information see: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/who/partners/civil-society/index_en.htm , by defining the exact scope of interventions, its objectives and concrete measures, as well as the relevant implementation modalities.

The consultant shall take due account of the findings of the existing and planned efforts, relevant studies/reports, the nature of EU assistance and the EC Guidelines for sector support , as well as the factors of relevance of intervention in respect of EU accession, prioritisation, sequencing, complementarity with other reforms/initiatives, absorption capacity, probability of impact and sustainability.

The document shall contain short-, mid- and long-term measures to carry out and consolidate the necessary home affairs sector reforms addressing the identified shortcomings in a comprehensive and strategic manner.

It shall also contain tailor-made SMART indicators for monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the EU home affairs support programme and practical recommendations on the management, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the EU home affairs sector support programme in line with EC and international best practices and ensuring this programme’s consistency and synergy with other related strategies:

The Stockholm Programme;
EU Anti-Terrorism Strategy;
EU Internal Security Strategy in Action;
EU Strategy for Combating Radicalisation and Recruitment;
The Global Approach to Migration and Mobility;
EU Strategy towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings (2012-2016);
EU Cyber Crime Strategy;
Schengen Convention.

The document shall be drafted also with due account of the applicable EC IPA rules and procedures, implementation modalities, as well as, whenever available, the relevant programming and programme/project templates.

Upon submission of the draft document, the relevant stakeholders will provide comments/inputs that shall be reflected/incorporated in the document.

Second field mission for presentation of the final draft EU home affairs sector support programme (3 days)

Once the final draft the of EU home affairs sector support programme is ready, the consultant will be expected to perform a second 3-day mission to the country for presentation of the final draft to relevant stakeholders and final discussions in terms of fine-tuning and amending the document with any other relevant issues and considerations.

Finalization of the EU home affairs sector support programme

Upon completion of the second mission the consultant shall finalize the document to include qualitative and quantitative assessment of the state of affairs; identification of further reform needs taking due account of the applicable international standards and SMART indicators, as well as relevant existing strategic documents and studies/reports.

Deliverables:

First draft of EU home affairs sector support programme by end of March 2015;
Final sector planning document by end-May 2015.

During the entire consultative and drafting process and the provision of the deliverables, the consultant shall focus on the substantive aspects of the sector planning document in the context of IPA II and the links of this document with other strategic documents of the Government, but also on quality of the writing, formatting and style of the document.

Duration of the assignment, consultations and reporting

The assignment shall be completed in the period from end of March 2015 and finalized by end of May 2015.

The overall duration of the tasks covered by this ToRs has been estimated to not exceed 25 days, including two missions to Skopje and related desk-work to pre-review documentation and finalize the study. The first mission will take place at the end of March 2015, once the contact is finalized and to conduct the field research and interviews with stakeholders. The second mission is expected to take place approximately in the second half of April 2015.

Throughout the assignment, the consultant shall work closely with the representatives of the relevant institutions, led by the Ministry of Interior, and shall execute the abovementioned services making full use of and building on the existing legislation and the EU, international, governmental and non-governmental reports/studies/statistics in the relevant areas, as well as on the basis of in-depth quantitative and qualitative analyses, desk research, structured meetings and interviews of stakeholders within the home affairs sector.

The Ministry of Interior shall provide to the consultant electronic copies of all the relevant legislation, statistics and other materials/studies/reports (whenever available - in English), as well as answer to all assignment-related experts’ questions. The Ministry of Interior will prepare and organize the missions of the consultant, in coordination and cooperation with UNDP.

Before the end of the assignment, the consultant shall submit the draft report to UNDP and the Ministry of Interior for provision of comments. Based on the comments received, the consultant shall revise the report and submit them for the final approval.

Payment Schedule

First instalment: 50% upon successful completing of first mission to the country, relevant desk work and submission of first drat; Second instalment; 50% upon completion of the second mission and approval of the final document.

Competencies

Demonstrate integrity and fairness by modeling UN values and ethical standards;
Demonstrate professional competence and is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results;
Excellent communication and documentation skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Academic level or higher education in relevant areas related to home affairs sector;
Master and PhD degrees will be an asset.

Experience:

At least 7 years of professional experience in the areas relevant for home affairs sector;
At least 5 years of practical working experience as a consultant, advisor in international context and/or a management-level official in the home affairs sector;
Experience in conducting at least two assessments/drafting documents related to home affairs sector/sub-sector issues and strategic planning;
Experience in EU aid delivery procedures would be an asset;
Experience and knowledge of the region would be an asset.

Language:

Excellent English written and oral skills.

Application procedure:

The Consultant is expected to provide the following:

United Nations Personnel History form (P-11) (CV of the Consultant);
Financial offer (lump sum for the assignment including consultancy fee, travel and DSA. UNDP covers most direct economic air fare);
Reference list of similar work/projects and contact details of the clients.

Evaluation criteria:

Academic level or higher education in relevant areas related to home affairs sector. Master and PhD degrees will be an asset -10;
At least 7 years of professional experience in the areas relevant for home affairs sector- 20;
At least 5 years of practical working experience as a consultant, advisor in international context and/or a management-level official in the home affairs sector-15;
Experience in conducting at least two assessments/drafting documents related to home affairs sector/sub-sector issues and strategic planning - 15;
Experience in EU aid delivery procedures would be an asset;Experience and knowledge of the region would be an asset- 10.

Maximum available technical score - 70 points.

Evaluation method: Cumulative analysis

Contract award shall be made to the incumbent whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
Having received the cumulative highest 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%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum 70% from the maximum available technical score (49 points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal and will equal to 30. All other price proposals will be evaluated and assigned points, as per below formula:

30 points [max points available for financial part] x [lowest of all evaluated offered prices among responsive offers] / [evaluated price].

The proposal obtaining the overall cumulatively highest score after adding the score of the technical proposal and the financial proposal will be considered as the most compliant offer and will be awarded a contract.