UNDP Jobs - 58186- International Consultant on Evaluation of Central

International Consultant on Evaluation of Central Electoral Commission (CEC) Strategic Development Plan 2012-2015 Implementation

Location :

Chisinau, MOLDOVA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

14-Sep-2015

Application Deadline :

03-Aug-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

15 working days with two missions to Moldova

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

September - October 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

UNDP Moldova programme “Improving the quality of Moldovan democracy through parliamentary and electoral support” (further referred as Programme) is a multi-year institutional development programme that supports strategic development of the Central Electoral Commission of Moldova (CEC) and the Centre for Continuing Electoral Training (CCET) with the aim to strengthen the capacity of electoral administration to deliver professional, transparent and efficient electoral processes.

In 2012 the CEC prepared and approved Strategic Development Plan (SDP) for 2012 – 2015. The plan was prepared by the CEC through a wide consultative process with different stakeholders with support from UNDP Moldova. The strategic plan includes mission statement, SWOT analysis, vision and values of the CEC. It also contains detailed descriptions on strategic directions, objectives and activities.

As a result of adoption of the Strategic Development Plan the structure of CEC was aligned to meet new requirements of continuous development and modernisation of electoral processes. Furthermore, the CEC has adopted and implemented detailed yearly action plans in line with strategic plan to ensure its implementation.

Currently CEC has embarked on a process to review implementation of the current strategic plan and preparation of a new Strategic Development Plan for the period of 2016 – 2019.

As part of its mandate to support strategic development of the CEC the Programme will support the CEC in review of the current plan and will provide technical assistance and advice for preparation of the next.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of work

The Programme intends to contract an international consultant (further referred to as “consultant”) to evaluate implementation of the current CEC Strategic Development Plan 2012-2015 and to provide strategic recommendations for issues to be included in the plan to be developed for upcoming period. The results of the evaluation shall therefore serve as background for development of CEC Strategic Development Plan for 2016-2019.

The expected output of consultant’s work shall be:

Provision of independent, impartial and professional review and evaluation of implementation of CEC Strategic Development Plan 2012-2015.
Draft evaluation report on implementation of CEC Strategic Development Plan 2012-2015 and yearly action plans with detailed evaluation of implementation of each objective.
Recommend issues to be included in CEC Strategic Development Plan 2016-2019 with detailed proposals on strategic sections (mission, vision, SWOT) and individual objectives and activities.

The consultant is expected to undertake the following steps to ensure preparation of relevant, concise and clear deliverables, meeting the stated objective:

Conduct a comprehensive desk review of all relevant documentation;
Carry out interviews with CEC members, senior management and staff and the staff of CCET;
Carry out interviews with the Programme and other stakeholders including, but not limited to other government institutions, civil society organizations and international partners;
Identify and analyze the challenges and constraints confronted by the CEC during implementation of the strategic plan;
Evaluate structure and overall content of the CEC Strategic Development Plan 2012-2015 taking into account the contexts of its preparation and adoption;
Evaluate implementation of individual objectives and activities of the strategic plan;
Evaluate implementation of yearly CEC action plans (2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015) adopted in line with the strategic plan.
Assess the degree to which the overall strategic objectives have been met;
Provide recommendations on concrete formulation for the strategic objectives of CEC Strategic Development Plan 2016-2019;
Provide recommendations on concrete formulation of detailed objectives and activities for CEC Strategic Plan 2016-2019;
Mainstream gender equality principles throughout the process of SDP formulation and ensure that the new SDP represents a gender-sensitive policy document;
Undertake two missions to Chisinau, Moldova.

Institutional arrangements

The timeframe for the work of the consultant is planned throughout September – October 2015. The consultancy should involve a total of 15 working days out of which 5 shall be in Moldova. The remaining 10 working days are home-based (exact schedule is to be coordinated in advance).

The consultant will be provided with the necessary administrative and logistical support to enable the delivery of the expected outputs. The consultant will work under the overall guidance of the UNDP Electoral Specialist and in close collaboration with the Senior Project Officer and relevant staff of the CEC.

All deliverables must be submitted in English language to the UNDP Electoral Specialist in electronic form in accordance with the initially agreed schedule. Payments will be done in three instalments: 20% after approval of Deliverable #1, 40% after approval of the deliverables #2 and #3 and 40% after approval of the Deliverable #4.

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

Proposal:

Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work including past experience in similar Projects (please provide brief information on each of the above qualifications, item by item);
Financial proposal (LUMP SUM) in USD, specifying in a total requested amount per day, including all related costs, e.g. DSA, travel, phone calls etc.). UNDP shall not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket;
P-11, personal CV and at least 3 references.

For more information on the vacancy and full Terms of Reference and Procurement Notice please access the following link: http://www.undp.md/jobs/current_jobs/

Competencies

Sound knowledge about results-based management (especially results-oriented planning, monitoring and evaluation);
Extensive research and analytical skills;
Excellent writing and oral communication;
Leadership skills and ability to work with teams.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree or equivalent in Political Sciences, Public Administration, International development or related fields;
Bachelor’s degree combined with 9 years of relevant professional experience in advising/implementing/developing strategic development plans would be considered as the equivalent to the Master’s Degree.

Experience:

A minimum of 7 years of relevant professional experience in evaluation and/or advising/ developing strategic plans in Central European Region;
Working experience in the field of election administration, democratic governance, public administration, development, including participatory strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation;
Experience in evaluation, monitoring, assessment or developing Strategic Development Plans and/or other relevant strategic policy documents would be an asset;
Experience in working with election management bodies, Government and/or international organizations (successful experience in working with UN agencies is an asset);

Language:

Fluency in English;
Knowledge of Romanian and/or Russian will be an asset.

Personal qualities:

Proven commitment to the core values of the United Nations, in particular, respecting differences of culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, language, age, HIV status, disability, and sexual orientation, or other status.