Background

Background of the Myanmar Legislature

The Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (the Constitution) came into force in 2008. Chapter 4 of the Constitution establishes the Union Legislature or Pyidaungsu Hluttaw comprising two Hluttaws that are generally equal in status:
  • the Pyithu Hluttaw (People’s Assembly) formed with representatives elected on the basis of township as well as population and representatives being the Defence Services Personnel nominated by the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Services. Section 109 provides that the Pyithu Hluttaw will have a maximum of 440 representatives with not more than 330 elected representatives and 110 nominated, as prescribed above;
  • the Amyotha Hluttaw (Nationalities Assembly) formed with representatives elected in equal numbers from Regions and States and representatives being the Defence Services Personnel nominated by the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Services. Section 141 provides that the Amyotha Hluttaw will have a maximum of 224 representatives with 168 representatives elected in an equal number of 12 representatives from each Region or State inclusive of relevant Union territories and 1 representative from each Self-Administered Division or Self-Administered Zone and 56 nominated, as prescribed above.
The term of the Union Hluttaw is 5 years from the day of the first session of the Pyithu Hluttaw. The current term expires in late 2015.
 
Background on UNDP Myanmar Programme
 
In April 2013, a new three year UNDP Myanmar Country Action Plan (CPAP) was signed between the Government of Myanmar and UNDP. This CPAP presented a change in the way that UNDP worked in Myanmar. Previously UNDP was working under a restricted mandate and the new CPAP shifted UNDP from a programme focused on human development at the community level to a new programme with three pillars covering (i) Local Governance; (ii) Climate Change, Environment, Energy and Disaster Risk Reduction and (iii) Democratic Governance. The Pillar 3 covering Democratic Governance in turn contains four areas of complementary work (a) Development Effectiveness; (b) Parliamentary Strengthening; (c) Access to justice and (d) Public Administration.
 
The Parliament Strengthening work started in April 2013. Together with the International Parliamentary Union (IPU), UNDP has engaged with the Union Assembly of Myanmar to identify areas where the capacity of the Union Assembly can be built in order for it to effectively discharge its constitutional mandate. Based on a series of assessment missions and discussions with senior political leaders in both the Pyithu Hluttaw and the Amyotha Hluttaw, UNDP and the IPU has develop a parliamentary strengthening component which includes a long-term, multi-faceted approach to capacity building. It covers capacity building for the Parliamentarians, the Parliamentary Administration as well as for the Regional/ State Parliaments. This assignment mainly contributes to the capacity building for the parliamentary committees.
 
Programme Activities in  2014
 
The Programme is currently supporting the Parliament in developing a strategic plan. This includes capacity building on the process of developing the strategic direction of the Parliament as well as the process of managing change. Another important element of the strategic plan to allow the Parliament to manage and prioritize development activities and ensure that they are effectively coordinated.
 
The Programme was requested to provide support in training existing staff and the large number of new staff who will be recruited throughout 2014 and 2015. A plan for developing a Learning Centre within the parliament has been approved and implementation has commenced. The initial focus of the Learning Centre will be the training of the parliamentary secretariat staff, but it will progressively increase its focus on providing capacity building programs to MP's. Longer term, the Learning Centre is expected to expand to include a focus on outreach including capacity building for staff and MPs of the Regional Parliaments, government officers, media and NGOs/INGOs and civil society groups.
 
An ICT plan has been developed and implementation of this plan has started. There will be some support for ICT infrastructure and strengthening of information management as well as capacity building and training on computer skills, ICT support and information management.
 
Management training started in 2013 and is continuing in 2014. The training has included both mid-level managers as well as executive managers. The management training has strong linkages with the work around strategic planning and change management.
 
There is also a strong demand by Committee Chairs, committee members and committee staff for capacity building initiatives to improve committee effectiveness. In response the program is developing new capacity building programs with a number of committees including the PAC and the Bills Committees, which are both, established under the Constitution. It is important, however to broaden this support to the large number of Ad Hoc (portfolio/subject) committees.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives:

UNDP is recruiting an international consultant to develop and implement further specific project activities related to:
  • Strategic Plan for the Union Parliament of Myanmar and develop coordination activities;
  • Develop training programmes and curriculums for the Learning Centre, including development and training of trainers programme;
  • Develop recommendations for implementation of ICT infrastructure project in coordination with the IPU;
  • Develop a plan for linking capacity building activities of the parliamentary committees with the Learning Centre.
Duties and responsibilities:

Under the supervision of the Parliamentary Programme Specialist the consultant will be responsible for:
  • Working with parliamentary leadership, political leaders and members and staff, in identifying areas of support and developing capacity building programmes that respond to identified needs;
  • Develop training and curriculum modules and lead the delivery of these trainings. Identify international and national specialists to assist in supporting the training program as necessary.
  • Work closely with, and mentor secretariat staff and design and pilot a training of trainers programme for staff within the Learning Centre;
  • Advise and facilitate coordination with other bilateral institutions who provide support to the parliamentary committees;
  • Coordinate with other UNDP/IPU programme initiatives to ensure that programmes successes in areas such as research support and ICT;
  • Facilitate inclusion of other UN agencies and development partners in strengthening the coordination of activities relevant for staff training;
  • Prepare mission programmes and reports and provide advice on current and future programming;
  • Coordinate with the Programme Specialist as well as other consultants in preparing knowledge products relevant to the work and functions of the parliamentary committees;
  • Identify and prepare innovative programming to be implemented in line with the Parliamentary Support Programme.

For more detail visit following links:

 http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=16315.

http://www.mm.undp.org/content/myanmar/en/home/operations/procurement.html.

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 advice;
  • Ability to identify issues and to use sound judgment in applying technical expertise to resolve a wide range of problems;
  • Ability to work under extreme pressure in a highly stressful environment;
  • Developing People/Coaching and Mentoring & Fostering Innovation and Empowerment;
  • Self-Management /Emotional Intelligence;
  • Excellent Communication skill, including the ability to write in a clear and concise manner;
  • Excellent negotiation skills;
  • Appropiate 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, Economics, law, human rights, peace studies.
Experience:
  • Specialization in democratic institutions with focus on parliamentary strengthening support;
  • 10 years of increasingly responsible relevant professional experience, including experience in parliamentary development or in a parliament;
  • 5 years of experience working in developing and/or transition countries;
  • Knowledge and experience of working in Myanmar is an advantage;
  • 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:

  • Excellent language proficiency in English.