Emplois au PNUD

The Permanent Electoral Authority (hereinafter PEA) is an autonomous administrative institution with legal personality and with general competence that ensures unitary application, in between two electoral periods, of the legal dispositions regarding the organization and the conduct of elections or consultations of national or local character. Besides logistical and legislative attributions, PEA guides, trains, supports and monitors the local authorities and their specific bodies as well as other categories of participants in the elections.

Local and parliamentary elections are to be held in Romania in 2012. Following the 2009 Euro-parliamentary and presidential elections as well as the 2010 and 2011 partial elections, PEA reports identified preventing and combating electoral fraud as an important challenge for the credibility of the upcoming electoral processes.

In preparation for the 2012 elections, several steps on creating a more solid institutional and legal framework have already been undertaken by PEA by drafting an Electoral Code and by using IT&C in elections in order to avoid illegal voting. However, besides the electoral infrastructure, a thorough training of the personnel involved in elections is of paramount importance for the safeguard of elections. In that respect, the Electoral Assistance Division (EAD) and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) envisaged, at the request of PEA, the development of a regional training program on preventing and combating electoral fraud addressed to PEA staff and other EMB officials from the Black Sea region as well as the elaboration of a handbook on preventing and combating electoral fraud targeting electoral officials.

The rationale of the handbook on preventing and combating electoral fraud is to build up a body of knowledge on best practices and key entry points for preventing and combating electoral fraud. It also aims to increase the awareness of all participants in elections regarding electoral fraud and to facilitate their access to key information on tools and mechanisms for detecting, assessing, preventing and combating electoral fraud.

Scope of work:

Under the supervision of the Project Manager, in the process of drafting the handbook the incumbent will engage with the following tasks:

• Conducting a theoretical and empirical analysis regarding electoral fraud;
• Carrying out a review of good practices on detecting, assessing, preventing and combating electoral fraud (this should focus not only during the election time, but also in the pre and post electoral periods);
• Gathering of good practices will not focus exclusively on the Black Sea region, but it should stress experiences worldwide;
• Reviewing entry points to enhance efficiency of preventing and combating electoral fraud mechanisms and tools throughout the Electoral Cycle, focusing on programming entry points and strategic interventions by electoral stakeholders;
• Participating in a regional workshop in order to present and validate the handbook.

The consultant is required to produce the following outputs:

• Inception report detailing the work plan and table of contents (5 days);
• First Draft of the handbook on preventing and combating electoral fraud. The handbook will be drafted in English and should include an executive summary-check and a narrative of illustrative examples. The handbook should be written in a simple language easily accessible to the widest range of election practitioners and should also be user friendly. The handbook will be discussed at a regional workshop on preventing and combating electoral fraud organized by UNDP. (35 days);
• Final draft of the handbook on preventing and combating electoral fraud which will take into consideration recommendations and comments provided by the participants in the regional workshop and the international trainers. (5 days).

Functional skills and knowledge:

• Proven qualitative research skills in electoral and democratic governance field;
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, demonstrated ability to facilitate conduct trainings, workshops, etc;
• Proficient in English, ability to communicate with a wide range of stakeholders, including government and local administration officials, UNDP specialists, companies and civil society, as well as capacity to working and collaborating on-line;
• Good analytical skills and attention to details.

Education:

• Masters Degree in social sciences or any other relevant field is required;
• PhD is an asset.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of direct work experience working in electoral and democratic governance field; experience as a researcher is an asset.