Background

Sierra Leone has made notable progress in consolidation of peace and democratic governance since the end of the 11-year civil war in 2002. This includes the successful administration of three elections, including a peaceful transfer of power in 2007 and peaceful presidential, parliamentary, and local council elections in 2012, with significantly less international involvement than the previous elections. However, a lot more remains to be done to address the underlying challenges in the country as well as to solidify democratic norms. The 2012 elections while hailed as a milestone in country’s consolidation of democratic governance also demonstrated deep seated ethno-regional political divisions – that need to be addressed. Despite major progress, young people – who constituted the majority of combatants during the civil conflict and now comprise almost 70% of the population – face a very high unemployment rate, which in turn poses a key challenge to the consolidation of peace.

In early 2013, the Government of Sierra Leone indicated its intention to initiate a major review of the 1991 Constitution. This will be done through an appointed Constitutional Review Committee, comprised of 80 members representing political parties, independent bodies, CSOs, the judiciary and the legislature. The CRC composition and TOR are currently being finalized and the constitutional review process has been formally launched in July 2013.

The overall project objective is to ensure that the constitution is prepared in an inclusive participatory manner involving all sectors of the population and adopted by popular referendum.

The UNDP Constitutional Support Programme now seeks the services of two Consultants who will work under the direct supervision of the Chief Technical Adviser to provide high level analytic, technical report writing skills to the CRC.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of key functions:

Working in partnership with the Constitutional Review Commission, specifically the Executive Secretary, the Consultants are expected to:

  • Assist in taking information and relaying that information in a more clear and understandable way;
  • Write reports on Sub-Committees meetings, workshops and public consultations;
  • Make official presentations to explain their findings and results;
  • Take notes during meetings and produce comprehensive report to be uploaded on website and included on newsletters.

Deliverables/Final Products Expected:

  • This consultancy is to be completed within 3 months (approximately 67 working days).

The schedule will be as follows:

  • Inception Report and Work Plan within 10 days of signing the contract;
  • First Draft Report – within 30 days of accepting the Inception Report and Work Plan;
  • Final Report (strategy and work plan) within 10 days of receipt of comments on the draft report.

Reporting Mechanisms:

  • The consultants will have a dual reporting arrangement: to the Constitutional Review Commission through the Executive Secretary and to UNDP, through the Chief Technical Adviser, Constitutional Review Project.

Duration of the consultancy:

  • The task is expected to take three months (approximately 67 working days) effective from the signing of the contract and payments will be based on deliverables defined under section III above.

Main Outputs of Work:

  • Appropriate documentation of actions and activities of UNDP and other partners;
  • A final statement of achievements towards UNDP’s activities during the assignment, such as quality of the coordination and communication among key stakeholders, quality and reliability of the data, support material and documents prepared and other relevant activities under the responsibility of the Consultants.

Payment Modalities:

  • Payment to the consultant will be made monthly upon satisfactory completion of the deliverables.

Impact of Results:

  • High quality reports and proper documentation of activities are critical to the Constitutional review process.

Competencies

  • High degree of integrity, professionalism, personal initiative and willingness to accept wide responsibilities; ability to take ownership, and work independently without supervision under established procedures;
  • Ability to operate in compliance with organisational rules and regulations;
  • Effective organizational, planning and problem-solving skills;
  • Ability to manage large volume of work in an efficient and timely manner, ability to establish priorities; plan, coordinate and monitor work; ability to work under pressure, with conflicting deadlines, and to handle multiple concurrent projects/activities;
  • Ability to operate effectively in a team across organizational boundaries;
  • Ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and harmonious working relations in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity and gender;
  • Proven interpersonal and organisational communication skills; good spoken and written expression;
  • Excellent coordination and communication among key stakeholders;
  • Excellent and up to date data and information available for decision making purposes.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • An advanced degree (Masters) in a Public Administration.

Experience:

  • Minimum 10 years of relevant experience in the field of  Public Administration, International Relations, Strategic Planning, and Organizational Design;
  • Work experience in a Civil Service is desired.

Language:

  • Excellent writing and oral communication skills in English.

Evaluation of Criteria and Weighting

The consultant will be evaluated against a combination of technical and financial criteria. Maximum score is 100% out of a total score for technical criteria equals 70% and 30% for financial criteria. The technical evaluation will include the following:

  • Background and minimum educational qualification as defined above-10%
  • Practical previous experience relevant to the TOR-30%
  • Substantial professional knowledge and experience in policy and strategic planning issues at international level-50%
  • English language fluency in both oral and written, proficiency in IT and evidence of good communication and writing skills-10%

Application Procedure

Qualified and interested candidates are hereby requested to apply.

The application should contain the following:

Note:

The Financial proposal should indicate consultancy fee in Leones (with a breakdown) or unit price together with any other expenses related to the assignment.

Please note that the online system will only allow you to upload one document, therefore all the job and financial proposal is to be attached to the CV and uploaded together at once.