Background

UNDP is the development arm of the United Nations system, with offices in 180 countries. Globally, the organization employs 17,000 people and manages a budget of USD 5 billion each year. 

The UNDP office in Skopje employs a team of 65 and currently manages a portfolio of projects in environmental protection, good governance, and inclusive prosperity worth USD 15 million per year.

The project “Strengthening the role of youth in promoting increased mutual understanding, constructive narrative, respect for diversity, and trust in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Kosovo” is funded by the United Nations Peace Building Fund (UN PBF). The project started in May 2022 and will last until May 2024. It will be implemented by partner organizations: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), UN Women and UNESCO. The national counterpart for this project is the Agency of Youth and Sport.

As part of the project activities, UNDP in cooperation with UNFPA and the OSCE Mission to Skopje is supporting the Agency of Youth and Sport in the preparation of the National Youth Strategy (2023-2027).

In 2020 the Macedonian Parliament has adopted a Law on Youth Participation and Youth Policies with aim to support youth organization, enhance dialogue on national and local level, enhance youth development and volunteerism and promote youth participation in decision making processes at all levels. The Law on Youth Participation and Youth Policies foresees preparation of new five-year National Youth Strategy including Action plans. The National Youth Strategy is created by the Agency for youth and sport through participative, inclusive, and transparent process after consultation with the National consultative body on youth questions and submits it to the Government of Republic of North Macedonia.

In 2022 the Agency of youth and sport has started the process of Preparation of the National Youth strategy for the period 2023-2027 based on the Law on youth participation and youth policies. The process of the preparation of the National youth strategy started with research of the needs and the trends of young people in North Macedonia as well as creation of Methodology for the preparation of the National Youth Strategy.

In this context, UNDP is looking to identify a national consultant: Team Lead for the coordination and preparation of the National Youth Strategy 2023-2027.

Duties and Responsibilities

The objective of the assignment is to support the preparation of the National Youth Strategy in North Macedonia for the period of 2023-2027. The Lead Expert is expected to prepare and lead the overall offline and online consultation process for the preparation of the National Youth Strategy following an established Methodology. The Team Lead is expected to coordinate the work of 8 National experts per thematic area. The Lead expert will consolidate the different thematic inputs and design draft and final version of the National Youth Strategy. He/she will work in cooperation with a Senior Expert to support the Agency of Youth and Sport, in the preparation of the National Youth Strategy.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITITES 

The Lead Expert is expected to ensure the following duties:

1. Get familiarized with the Methodology for preparation of the National Youth Strategy and existing relevant legislation, including strategic and policy documents.
2. Lead and coordinate the work of the team of 8 thematic National experts.
3. Prepare and lead the online and offline consultation processes.
4. Prepare first draft of the National Youth Strategy based on consolidated inputs from the consultation process and inputs from the 8 thematic National Experts.
5. Prepare the National Youth Strategy.
6. Prepare final report of the assignment.  

To effectively complete the above-described tasks, the consultant should:

• Coordinate and communicate on regular basis with the team of 8 thematic National experts.  
• Coordinate and communicate on regular basis with the UNDP team and other project partners.
• Coordinate and communicate with the relevant government and non-government representatives involved in the process.

The consultant is expected to:

•  Maintain confidentiality throughout the creation process of the National Youth Strategy.
• In case of requests from the media for public statements, such statements, limited to the content of his/her assignment, shall be provided upon approval of the UNDP project manager. His/her statements do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the UNDP.

The Lead Expert will work in close cooperation with a Senior Expert.

EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND DELIVERABLES          

The Lead Expert is expected to:

1.Get familiarized with the Methodology for the preparation of the National Youth Strategy and existing relevant legislation, including strategic and policy documents.

• Conduct a desk review of all relevant documentation, the Methodology for the preparation of the National Youth Strategy, relevant legislation, Strategies and policy documents adopted by relevant Ministries and institutions.
• Conduct meetings with the Agency and Youth and Sport, UNDP, the partners, and other relevant stakeholders involved in the process. 

2. Lead and coordinate the work of the team of National experts

• Prepare and conduct half-day workshop for the 8 thematic National experts to establish methodology and procedures for their work
• Prepare all the relevant documentation for the 8 thematic National experts’ work (templates, work plan and time frame).  
• Coordinate the work of the eight National experts and consolidate their input on rolling basis.
• Coordinate the work of the Senior expert and consolidate his/her input on rolling basis.
• Communicate with the team on regular basis.
• Communicate with relevant government institutions and present the work of the team.

3.Prepare and lead the online and offline consultation processes

• Prepare and lead 1-day kick-off conference with all relevant stakeholders.
• Prepare and lead two 2-days conference with all relevant stakeholders as consultation of the draft Strategy.  
• Prepare and coordinate minimum 8 thematic workshops led by the thematic National experts.
• In cooperation with the National experts, prepare the questionnaire for an online consultation.

4.Prepare first draft of the National Youth Strategy based on consolidated inputs from the consultation process

• Consolidate the inputs from the 8 thematic National experts into a draft National Youth Strategy.
• Provide quality control of the prepared documents ensuring adherence to the principles from the Methodology for the preparation of the National Youth Strategy (2023-2027).
• Provide first Draft of the National Youth Strategy that will be published for consultation.

5.Prepare the National Youth Strategy

• Consolidate the inputs from the online and offline consultation process on the draft version of the National Youth Strategy.
• Consolidate the inputs from 8 thematic groups and coordinate with the 8 thematic National Experts during a 2-days workshop.
• Provide final version the National Youth Strategy that will be presented to the Agency for Youth and Sport and national authorities for approval.

6.Prepare final report of the assignment

• Prepare final report of the assignment providing all the relevant data for the fulfillment of the duties and recommendations for the process.

Payment schedule

The payment of the Expert in this project will be executed in two instalments. First instalment will be executed after successful submission of the deliverables 1-2-3-4 and the second instalment will be executed after the submission of deliverables 5-6.  

INSTUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT              

The Lead Expert will work under direct supervision by the Project Manager with general guidance of the Head of Democratic Governance Unit and in close cooperation with the UNDP project team and Agency for Youth and Sport, as well as with the other donors such as the OSCE Mission to Skopje and UNFPA. The Team Leader will work in close cooperation with the Senior Expert, the team of eight National Experts and the relevant national institutions.   

DURATION OF THE ASSIGNEMENT

The assignment should be completed in the period from 25 September 2022 to 15 December 2022. The exact start of the assignment will be agreed with the selected Expert upon finalization of the hiring process. The overall duration of the tasks covered by this ToR has been estimated to not exceed 40 days, including deskwork and field work.

DUTY STATION AND TRAVEL

The duty station of the Lead Expert is Skopje, North Macedonia with several travels within the country. In event of business travel, transportation to the project site will be organized by the project. If that is not possible, the consultant might be as an exception be authorized to use private vehicle to travel on project site. Reimbursement of travel costs (fuel and tolls) need to be pre-approved and will be additionally reimbursed per UNDP standard fee ($0.28 per km, including tolls). The Consultant is required to submit a list of locations visited and kilometres covered together with toll receipts. Potential overnight stay will be reimbursed upon previous approval from UNDP Project manager at UNDP standard fee.

Competencies

• Shows strong analytical and strategic thinking skills.
• Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills.
• Excellent facilitation skills.
• Demonstrates excellent organizational skills and proven ability to deliver consultancy products within deadlines.
• Ability to synthesize research and draw conclusions on the related subject.
• Writes clearly and convincingly, adapting style and content to different audiences.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Academic Qualifications/Education: MA degree or higher in fields relevant to the project (e.g., social science, law, political studies, public policies, youth development or similar field appropriate to this position). PhD is considered as asset.

Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in preparation of strategic, programming and planning documents as well as analytical studies.
• Minimum of two project lead position on a process focused on governance reforms or public policymaking in the past five years; experience in public policies processes related to the field of youth will be considered as asset.
• Experience in managing at least of one multidisciplinary team for preparation of a strategic documents on national level.  

Languages: Excellent language proficiency in both written and oral Macedonian and English. Knowledge of Albanian and/or other languages spoken in the country will be an asset.

During the assignment and the duration of the contract, the selected Expert should not exercise any other function or be part of a body related to the public institutions in charge of youth questions in North Macedonia.

1. CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF BEST OFFER

Evaluation of Offers

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the combined scoring methodology. When using this method, the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated against below criteria and deemed the most favorable:

Technical Evaluation (70% of total evaluation – maximum 70 points):

Only candidates who will obtain at least 49 points and will score at least 70% of the maximum points obtainable for the technical criteria will be considered for financial evaluation.

 Financial Evaluation (30% of total evaluation – maximum 30 points):

For the considered offers in the financial evaluation only, the lowest price offer will receive 30 points. The other offers will receive points in relation to the lowest offer, based on the following formula:  

Lowest offer

               ------------------- x 30

                Proposed Bid

The contract will be awarded to the candidate that will obtain the highest aggregate score based on the technical and financial evaluation.

1. DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED

Interested offerors are invited to submit the following documents/information to be considered:

• Offeror’s letter, as per the following form LINK;  
• Most updated CV with focus on required qualification as well as the contact details of at least three (3) professional references;
• Financial Proposal: The financial proposal must be expressed in the form of a lumpsum all-inclusive cost.

The submitted documents need to be provided in pdf format.

The financial proposal must consider various expenses, except the travel costs, that will be incurred during the contract, including: the daily professional fee; communications, any other expenses related to this assignment.

1. APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Step 1

1. Click on the "Apply now" button

2. Input your information in the appropriate sections: personal information, language proficiency, education, resume, and motivation (cover letter). You can type in, or paste your short Resume into the last box.

3. Upon completion of the first page, please hit "submit application" tab at the end of the page. On the next page, you will be asked to upload other required documents listed in the step 2.

Step 2

Interested individual consultants must submit the documents/information listed in the “Documents to submit section” above.

The system will allow only one attachment. Therefore, please upload all required documents as one file.

Failing to submit any of these documents may result in disqualification of the application.

Please note that shortlisted candidates might be interviewed.

If the deliverables are not produced and delivered by the consultant to the satisfaction of UNDP as approved by the responsible Portfolio Manager, no payment will be made even if the consultant has invested man/days to produce and deliver such deliverables.