UNDP Jobs - 55003- Consultant: Youth Participation and Engagement in

Consultant: Youth Participation and Engagement in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region

Location :

Amman, JORDAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

15-Apr-2015

Application Deadline :

04-Apr-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

120 workings days

Languages Required :

Arabic English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

120 workings days over 7 months (15 April 2015 – October 15, 2015)

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 Global Programme for Electoral Cycle Support (GPECS), UNDP’s most important vehicle contributing to the formulation and implementation of electoral policy, consists of country, regional, global and gender components that sustainably support policy development, knowledge management and programme support and that use a process-driven approach rather than an event-driven one. GPECS has also innovated in new areas of demand, including on developing electoral indicators, media and elections, and youth participation. The overall goal to which GPECS contributes is towards deepening democracy and accelerating human development. In contributing to this larger and longer-term goal, GPECS focuses on the intermediate UNDP Strategic Plan outcome of electoral laws, processes and institutions strengthen inclusive participation and professional electoral administration.

In the Arab region, GPECS provides global and regional technical assistance to work closely with electoral authorities, civil society organizations, media groups, regional institutions, and international organizations supporting democracy initiatives. This support enhances regional cooperation on broader issues of electoral democracy, increase regional knowledge and know-how on electoral issues, enhance capacities of regional stakeholders around issues of civic engagement and political participation, and promote policies and strategies for a greater and more effective role by women and youth in the transformational process.

The GPECS Arab regional component, supported through an agreement with SIDA, works towards building coherence in electoral support in the region through dialogue, partnership and initiatives that reinforce the participation of youth and women in political and civic life and national efforts to enhance capacity of electoral authorities to play their role in the professional, transparent, and credible administration of elections. The programme also provides technical support to countries across the Arab states on thematic issues of electoral governance and participation.

The Arab regional programme is seeking a consultant to support the implementation of its youth related activities within the region. Under the overall guidance of the Regional Electoral Advisor and in close coordination with the Regional Electoral Policy Specialist, the Consultant will support the development and implementation of the programme’s youth engagement strategy. The Consultant will work in close collaboration with national electoral teams in the region as well as programmatic staff in NY and other UN agencies’ staff to exchange information and ensure consistent service delivery.

Duties and Responsibilities

Competencies

Functional competencies:

Professionalism

Knowledge and understanding of youth engagement, standards and practice, with particular emphasis on youth mainstreaming in decision-making, political and electoral processes; knowledge of the work of the United Nation related to youth mainstreaming and youth-led development.

Planning and Organizing

Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies;
Identifies priority activities and assignments;
Allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work;
Foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning;
Monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary.

Leadership

Proven track record of excellent management and technical leadership skills and ability to delegate appropriate responsibility, accountability and decision-making authority;
Demonstrated flexibility in leadership by performing and/or overseeing change initiatives, including the analysis of complex human resources, budgetary, financial or administrative management policy and programmatic issues;
Demonstrated ability to provide leadership and take responsibility for incorporating gender and inclusion perspectives into substantive work; commitment to the goal of achieving gender balance in staffing.

Communication

Excellent drafting ability and communication skills, both oral and written;
Ability to defend and explain difficult issues with respect to key decisions and positions to staff, senior officials and members of intergovernmental bodies;
Speaks and writes clearly and effectively;
Demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.

Client Orientation

Considers all those to whom services are provided to be ‘clients’ and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view;
Monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects;
Meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client.

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.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or above) in sociology, economics, law, gender and development, urban planning, management and other social science or related field.

Experience:

A minimum of ten years of progressively responsible experience in the areas of democratic and electoral governance, youth issues, development and project management, including experience working in the Middle East.
Expertise in capacity building, advocacy, and partnerships on youth participation;
Knowledge and understanding of youth participation and engagement, standards and practices in the MENA region;
Experience in designing, developing and implementing activities including development of clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies;
Previous direct working experience with youth, youth development and participatory processes and/or the voluntary sector.
Excellent analytical and organisational skills required; ability to plan own work, manage conflicting priorities, report on work progress and deliver outputs in a punctual manner.
Fully proficient computer skills and use of relevant software and other applications, e.g. word processing, PowerPoint or equivalent, Internet and modern social media tools.

Language:

Excellent drafting ability and communication skills, oral and written in both English and Arabic.

Application Submission Process:

The application is a two-step process. Failing to comply with the submission process may result in disqualifying the applications:

Step 1:

Interested individual consultants must include the following documents when submitting the applications in UNDP job shop (Please note that only 1 (one) file can be uploaded therefore please include all docs in one file);
Personal History Form (P11), indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references (the template can be downloaded from this link: http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc);
Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, if applicable, on how they will approach and complete the assignment.

Step 2:

Submission of Financial Proposal

Applicants are instructed to submit their financial proposals in US Dollars for this consultancy to asan.amza@undp.org, using the Offeror’s letter template available here: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=21312. The proposals should be sent via email with the following subject heading: “Youth Consultancy" by the deadline for this vacancy. Proposals to be received after the deadline will be rejected. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal should be all-inclusive and include a breakdown. The term ‘all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel related expenses, communications, utilities, consumables, insurance, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the financial proposal.

Application Evaluation Process

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis methodology (weighted scoring method), where 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 score out of a pre-determined set of technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Criteria weight: [70%]

Financial Criteria weight: [30%]

Only Individual Consultants obtaining a minimum of 70% on the Technical evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 100 points:

A minimum of ten years of progressively responsible experience in the areas of democratic and electoral governance, youth issues, development and project management, including experience working in the Middle East - 20;
Previous direct working experience with youth, youth development and participatory processes and/or the voluntary sector in the MENA region– 25;
Knowledge and understanding of youth participation and engagement, standards and practices in the MENA region - 20;
Expertise in capacity building, advocacy, and partnerships on youth participation in the MENA region- 20;
Experience in designing, developing and implementing activities including development of clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies – 15 points.

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 30 points.

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

p = y (µ/z), where

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Missions (Duty Travels):

The cost of the official missions should not be factored in the financial proposals of the applicants. As such the consultant will be expected to undertake approximately 4 travels within the Arab Region countries. The countries will be identified during the implementation phases based on political situation and security conditions. The Regional Electoral Project would cover all costs related to official travel including tickets, lodging, accommodation and terminal expenses. The airfare will always be “most direct, most economical” and the Consultant will pay for any difference in price with the preferred route. The estimated travel budget will not exceed US$5,000.

UNDP will provide office space, laptop and access to internet and a printer during the assignment (the cost of this facilities should not be included in the financial proposals).

UNDP is applying fair and transparent selection process that would take into account both the technical qualification of Individual Consultants as well as their price proposals. The contract will be awarded to the candidate obtaining the highest combined technical and financial scores.

Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.

Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org

Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.