Background

Myanmar is at an historic stage in its development. A new Constitution was adopted in May 2008 and elections were held in November 2010 with bi-elections in April 2012. State assemblies and governments have been formed at the national and region/state levels. A number of reforms have already been undertaken focusing on good governance, human rights and reaching cease-fire agreements in a number of conflict areas. These reforms are seen as positive steps, which have led to increasing engagement with the international community and allowed Executive Board of UNDP to lift mandate restrictions and to propose a fully-fledged UNDP country programme.

Under the current Constitution of Myanmar 2008 there are two levels of elected parliaments (Hluttaws) – at the Union (national) level and at the level of Regions and States. There are 14 State and Regional Hluttaws, and the relationship between the regional parliaments and the national parliament continues to evolve. The Constitution of Myanmar provides that the sub-national parliaments have jurisdiction to pass legislation in certain sectors, but at the moment the capacity of these legislatures to discharge these functions is limited. It does not appear that state/regional MPs have been significantly targeted by development partners for support.

Noting the Government’s stated commitment to decentralisation over time, and the important peace-building role that sub-national legislatures can play in the complex, multi-cultural context of Myanmar, it is imperative that support is provided to strengthen the capacity of sub-national MPs to effectively provide parliamentary functions to their states. The law-making and budgeting roles of the sub-national parliaments will also become more important as the decentralization process moves forward. A key issue is how the regional parliaments will operate vis-à-vis the national parliament as well as vis-à-vis the Region/State Governments which is still to an extent dependent on and reporting to the Union Ministries. The Myanmar Parliamentary Union has also been established with speakers and deputy speakers of all levels of parliaments meeting two times each year to discuss issues.

Every state/regional parliament is required under the Constitution to establish a Bills Committee. The Members of these Committees – and any relevant support staff - needs further specialized training to strengthen their capacity to review bills, submit reports, make recommendations and propose amendments. At the moment, because the Bills Committees have a very variable workload, attention has not yet been paid to promote public consultations in relation to Bills.

In 2013, the Government has already indicated that states and regions will get greater responsibility over their budgets. Budgets will not only need to be reviewed and passed by the legislatures, but expenditures will also need oversight. State/region parliaments are not required to establish Account Committees, but this will be important for the oversight function of state/regional budgets. Gender responsive budgeting could also be effectively introduced through the Accounts Committees. The state/regional parliaments are required to set up National Races Committees, which are mandated to promote and protect the rights of national races. These Committees have the potential to play a key role in Myanmar’s peace-building framework. There are more opportunities for women to become involved at the sub-national level and this could provide a strategic opportunity to increase women’s representation and participation.

UNDP will seek to work with the state and regional parliaments in close coordination with its Local Governance Programme, which focuses mainly on the administration of the state and regions. In this regard activities supporting the state and regional parliaments will be complimentary and provide further capacity for the state and regional parliaments to discharge their function of overseeing and representing the people. In this regard it is identified that there is a need and an interest from the state and regional parliaments for assistance. UNDP would through its Parliamentary Support Programme which also works with the Union Parliament (national level) provide a series of workshops and trainings for members of the state and regional parliaments as well as for the support staff.

The Parliamentary Support Programme will initially for 2013 only focus on two sub-national parliaments which will be pilots for the programme . Since activities supporting local governance will be piloted in Chin and Mon states, it is proposed to start the state assembly support activities also in these two states. UNDP teams have already met with the members of the state assembly in these two states who have requested capacity building for members and for the secretariat staff.  Based on the experience and result from these two pilots the programme will further seek to expand its activities to other sub-national parliaments starting from 2014. The programme will seek to provide opportunities for exchange of experience and knowledge between all sub-national parliaments. It will also seek to foster a network between the parliaments including the Union Parliament. 

Duties and Responsibilities

The Consultant will provide technical and strategic support to the Parliamentary Service and the UNDP Parliamentary Support Project.

The Consultant will be tasked with analyzing and formulating recommendations to enhance the policies and procedures of the Parliamentary Service, design capacity development activities, and coordinate the implementation of these activities.

The Consultant will work in close consultation with the Programme Specialist on all matters of day-to-day project implementation.

Under the overall guidance of the Project Advisory Committee (PAC) and under the direct supervision of the Programme Specialist, the Consultant will in general undertake the following duties and responsibilities for efficient implementation and management of the activities related to sub-national parliaments:
  • Further strengthen the relations with the parliaments and support the strategic direction of the parliamentary support project;
  • Provide technical advice on parliamentary functions and processes;
  • Provide advice on the capacity development of members of state assemblies and staff Provide technical guidance and support to project personnel and other consultants;
  • Develop a comprehensive review report on capacity development of state assemblies with recommendations for follow up;
  • Network with regional and international entities engaged in parliamentary development, including the UNDP Regional Centre in Bangkok and UNDP DGG office;
  • Disseminate the information, findings of reviews and project activities through the media and the UNDP Web site;
  • Any other task or duty assigned by the Programme Manager for parliaments.
More specifically, the Consultant will prepare and start project implementation of the following outputs of the results framework of the parliamentary support project:
  • Capacity development plan for each of the two pilot parliaments;
  • Develop the capacity of Speakers and Deputy Speakers to run the House and develop the capacity of MPs in the two pilot parliaments;
  • Capacity development activities for MPs in the two pilot parliaments;
  • Technical support on financial management is provided to Public Accounts Committees of the two pilots;
  • Technical support provided to Bills Committees for the two pilot parliaments;
  • Capacity development provided to National Race Committees in state/regional parliaments to manage complaints and mediate conflicts;
  • Support engagement between parliament, parliamentarians and constituencies;
  • Supporting engagement between the two pilot parliaments and civil society organizations to provide feedback on public perceptions;
  • Close liaison with other projects under the democratic governance and local governance pillars of the UNDP programme for Myanmar;
  • Close liaison and coordination with other UN agencies and development partners working in the two pilot states;
  • Support the development of a network between sub-national parliaments and further assist in building linkage for the purpose of supporting knowledge sharing between the Union Parliament and sub-national parliaments;
  • Review of the mandate and capacity of the NR committees to support local dialogues for supporting peace processes - Workshops on methodology and processes for organizing effective dialogues.
Expected Outcome:
  • Implementation of the key activities of the parliamentary support programme for state assemblies in Chin and Mon states initiated and implemented  in full coordination with parliament and other relevant stakeholders;
Expected Outputs:

As part of the assignment the incumbent are responsible to;
  • Baseline, indicators and activities of the parliamentary support programme conformed;
  • Agreement among the two pilot parliaments and relevant development partners and other international organization on a process for developing a Development Plan for the state assemblies which identifies needs and resources;
  • Improved capacity among relevant staff and parliamentarians in areas where capacity building activities has been initiated as according to the Annual Work Plan;
  • Improved knowledge and information available for how the sub-national parliaments can support local dialogues for supporting peace processes;
  • Improved understanding of the role and relations between the state assemblies and civil society;
  • Access to capacity building activities for state/regional parliaments through the Parliamentary Union of Myanmar.
Deliverables:

Development Plan for the two pilots developed and agreed between state assemblies, relevant development partners and international organizations:
  • Organize consultation meetings between relevant stakeholders with a view to developing an overall assistance framework for the two pilot state assemblies.
Coordinate at least 4 workshops and seminars targeting parliamentarians from the two pilots on following issues as identified in the 2013 Annual Work Plan and in coordination with other UN agencies and development partners:
  • General capacity development of MPs on issues such as function and procedures of the state assemblies;
  • Capacity building on development and human rights issues;
  • Gender budgeting;
  • Local dialogue for supporting peace processes.
Identify activities for supporting the two pilot state assemblies in relation to capacity building and technical support through the Parliamentary Union of Myanmar:
  • Identify a workshop in coordination with the Parliamentary Union of Myanmar in order to support the sub-national parliaments through the Parliamentary Union of Myanmar (In close coordination with the consultant on sub-national parliament).
Plan capacity building activities for fostering engagement between the pilot state assemblies, civil society and academia:
  • Organize workshops on consultation on relevant issues;
  • Organize preliminary and separate seminars on consultation with civil society and the parliament.
Plan for further capacity building and activities developed in supporting local dialogues for supporting the peace processes;
Annual Work Plan for 2014 developed in coordination with the two pilot state assemblies.

Institutional Arrangement:
  • The consultant will be reporting to the Programme Specialist of the Parliamentary Support Programme who will be responsible for approving the deliverables and will work closely with the Programme Specialist.
Duration of the work and duty station:
  • The consultancy will last for 120 working days which out of 60 working days will be in the field on Chin and Mon state and 60 working days in Yangon.

Competencies

Core Competencies:
  • Demonstrates Integrity by modeling the UN's values and ethical standards;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
  • Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP.
Functional Competencies:
  • Ability to consolidate information from multiple sources;
  • Able to prepare strategic information for decision makers;
  • Ability to advance and provide timely advise;
  • Ability to identify issues and to use sound judgment in applying technical expertise to resolve a wide range of problems; and
  • Ability to work under extreme pressure in a highly stressful environment;
  • Developing People/Coaching and Mentoring & Fostering Innovation and Empowerment;
  • Self-Management/Emotional Intelligence;
  • Effective communication skills;
  • Appropriate and transparent decision making;
  • Analytical and strategic thinking and results orientation/commitment to excellence; and
  • Knowledge sharing/continuous learning.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Advanced University Degree in Law, Social Sciences, International Development, Economic, Law, Human Rights, Peace Studies.

Professional Experience:

  • 10 years of increasingly responsible relevant professional experience, including experience in parliamentary development or in a parliament;
  • Knowledge of law making, including relevant international human rights standards;
  • Experience in development and conduct of training for parliamentarians;
  • Prior experience in the UN system is an added advantage.

Language Requirements:

  • Strong English language skills (both written and spoken).

FC: 04000