UNDP Jobs - 57833- Consultant for Support to Civic Engagement and Inn

Consultant for Support to Civic Engagement and Innovation in Governance and Peacebuilding Programming

Location :

Istanbul, TURKEY

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

16-Jul-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

estimated August 2015 – February 2016

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

approximately 125 days

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

Within the framework of UNDP’s Regional Programme for 2014-2017, a consultant is to be hired to support the Governance and Peacebuilding Team at the Istanbul Regional Hub. The duration of the assignment will be from August 2015 until February 2016 and the consultant will focus on support to strategic planning of UNDP’s conflict prevention and peacebuilding activities; coordinating a regional and global service line on innovation for peace; and supporting the implementation of UNDP’s regional conflict prevention and peacebuilding activities more broadly. A key dimension of this role is to develop the conceptual grounding for regionalizing key products and experiences from UNDP and USAID peacebuilding efforts in Cyprus, thereby consolidating the legacy and contribution of UNDP-ACT to regional and global peacebuilding knowledge and practice.

The consultant will support the scope of activities undertaken by UNDP to incorporate innovative approaches and best practices into programming and project design and implementation, including drawing on experience from elsewhere in the region. S/he will further support efforts to regionalize and codify successful approaches taken on at the country level. The role will require substantial time to be dedicated to coordinating partnerships with other key regional actors for resource mobilization purposes.

The consultant will carry out tasks specified below and will report to the Regional Conflict Prevention Advisor and the Governance and Peacebuilding Team Leader at the Istanbul Regional Hub for the ECIS.

Duties and Responsibilities

The role will entail support to the Istanbul Regional Hub in a number of Areas of Work:

Conceptual and logistical planning for, and follow-up to, meetings and events on UNDP’s involvement in peacebuilding programming in the ECIS region, with particular focus on areas of protracted conflict;
The implementation of Citizen Engagement initiatives, with a view to developing a regional service-line on citizen-led solutions to governance and peacebuilding challenges;
Regionalization of existing methodologies and increased integration of data-driven approaches to UNDP’s peacebuilding and conflict prevention work and programming in the ECIS region; including the SCORE methodology, detailed at www.scoreforpeace.org;
Other related tasks as required, including support to Country Offices in the above areas.

Deliverables

Area of Work 1 – Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding:

Plan for, and management of, strategic retreat on regional peacebuilding programming;
Detailed report from October meeting with next steps outlined and responsible parties identified with proposed timeline for follow-up in all key areas; support to follow-up; review and improvement of proposed and ongoing conflict prevention and peacebuilding interventions in the ECIS region
Mapping of conflict prevention and peacebuilding programming in ECIS region and support to key countries (RCs and PDAs) in the development of case studies and audio/visual presentations of key projects and initiatives.

Area of Work 2 – Citizen Engagement for Governance and Peacebuilding:

Implementation of Citizen Engagement concepts following the February-April 2015 Citizen Engagement Challenge; communications outputs on progress, including blogs;
Management of a South Caucasus challenge on the Mahallae platform; including liaison with key Country Office staff on thematic areas and logistics, as well as supporting, finalizing and launching the concepts eventually selected;
Summary of extensive consultation with a broad range of potential partners (guided by liaison with all Regional Hubs) to fund grants for challenge winners globally; written input to global Research and Development event on Technology for Peace;
Formulation of an Action Plan to present Mahallae (including potentially a network of global experts) as a regional offer for generating citizen driven solutions to reconciliation, governance and peacebuilding to UNDP Country Offices, including in RBAS and other regions, along with resource mobilization for investment in the mechanism;
Implementation of cross-regional work in this area (including with Addis Ababa Regional Hub);
Inputs into civic engagement and governance and peacebuilding innovation platforms and activities, including those from UNDP New York.

Area of Work 3 – Regionalising SCORE and Supporting Follow-Up Programming:

Advice to Country Offices on operationalizing the Social Cohesion and Reconciliation (SCORE) Index methodology through incorporation into existing and planned programming work;
Production of an ECIS-wide Concept Note for the EU on incorporating SCORE into UNDP’s area-based development work;
Social media/communications output, including blogs, on the utility of the SCORE methodology in varied contexts.

Payments will be made on a monthly basis upon confirmation by the Governance and Peacebuilding Team Leader of receipt of all necessary deliverables. The amount of the contract will be divided equally across the six monthly payments.

The role will require collaboration within the Governance and Peacebuilding Cluster of IRH, as well as the rest of the Hub, engagement with the Knowledge and Innovations Team and include brief monthly progress reports to the Conflict Prevention Advisor/Governance and Peacebuilding Team Leader.

Competencies

Demonstrates extensive research planning and implementation skills;
Demonstrates commitment to human development principles and values;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Shares knowledge and experience;
Provides helpful feedback and advice;
Displays strong analytical skills;
Plans and produces quality results to meet established goals in a timely manner;
Generates innovative, practical solutions to challenging situations;
Conceptualizes and analyzes problems to identify key issues, underlying problems, and how they relate;
Demonstrates substantive and technical knowledge to meet responsibilities and post requirements with excellence;
Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
Responds positively to critical feedback and differing points of view.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in social sciences or a related field.

Experience:

At least 7 years of experience in conflict transformation/peacebuilding programming design and implementation. (10 years if the applicant does not have a Master’s degree);
Experience with the UN or UNDP in the area of governance;
Experience in organizing events (workshops, conferences) in the field of governance and peacebuilding;
Experience working in the ECIS region on peacebuilding issues.

Language:

Excellent command of English.

Evaluation of Applicants

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.

The award of the contract should 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 weighted technical (P11 desk reviews) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only the highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

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

Criteria A – Experience in ECIS with UN/UNDP in governance/peacebuilding: max points 10;
Criteria B – Experience taking innovative approaches to planning knowledge-exchange events – max points: 10;
Criteria C – Communications and resource mobilisation experience in multiple contexts - max points: 10;
Criteria D – Familiarity with data-based approaches to peacebuilding and social cohesion - max points: 10;
Criteria E – Combined score for interview – max points: 30;

Only candidates who score above 70% in criteria A-D will be considered technically qualified. Only the top three qualified candidates will be interviewed. After this point, the financial proposal will be added to the evaluation.

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

Application procedures

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website.

The application should contain:

Cover letter detailing briefly the reasons why you think you are an outstanding candidate for this job (Maximum 1000 Characters). Please paste this into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application;
Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank form can be downloaded from http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc); please upload the P11 instead of your CV;
Financial Proposal* - specifying a total lump sum amount in USD for the tasks specified in this announcement as well as travel to the duty station and back.The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (number of anticipated working days and any other relevant expenses) with the exception of travel expenses related to missions. Travel costs related to missions, if any, will be paid by UNDP in accordance to UNDP rules and regulations;
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Applications that do not include a financial proposal will be automatically disqualified. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.

*Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services. Travel costs will be covered separately according to UNDP rules and regulations

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
General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://on.undp.org/t7fJs.

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.
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.