UNDP Jobs - 59142- Consultancy on Strengthening the Rule of Law to Pr

Consultancy on Strengthening the Rule of Law to Prevent Conflict in Complex Political Transitions

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Sep-2015

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

42 working days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

3 months

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

The rule of law is a principle of governance, intimately linked with the political development of a country. In and of itself, the rule of law seek to temper or provide constraints on the arbitrary use or abuse of power. As such, rule of law is inherently dependent on the willingness of political leaders and powerful stakeholders in a society to ‘play by the rules,’ and uphold the social contract. Particularly in situations of complex transition, where a society has a legacy of previous political violence, establishing the rule of law is essential to preventing the outbreak or recurrence of conflict.

However, despite the long-standing recognition that establishing the rule of law is an important political element in achieving sustainable peace, conflict prevention actors often do not consider the wider implications of institutional and capacity deficits in the justice and security sectors. Additionally, the linkages between rule of law and conflict prevention are often not explicitly taken into account in the design, planning and implementation of rule of law programming.

Against this background, UNDP in cooperation with the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA) will initiate a project on strengthening rule of law assistance in complex political transitions as a means of supporting conflict prevention. The project will focus particularly on utilizing political analysis to inform rule of law engagement in these settings, where political and technical approaches used by peacekeeping, peacebuilding and development actors respectively might otherwise vary in trajectory and remain unlinked.

Overall, the project aims to:

create a better understanding of the linkages between conflict prevention and rule of law interventions;
identify challenges to and opportunities for implementing rule of law interventions which combine technical and political aspects in complex transitions;
suggest concrete, integrated strategies to support political rule of law engagement in complex contexts within a conflict prevention framework and;
build stronger communications and opportunities for joint practice between rule of law and conflict prevention experts and practitioners.

The first phase of the project will be a regional seminar to explore and document the range of participant experience and practices related to establishing the rule of law in settings of complex political transition (including assessing gaps and demand from rule of law and conflict prevention providers). The seminar will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 29-30 September 2015. UNPD is now therefore seeking to recruit a consultant that will contribute to this work by supporting the planning, preparation, implementation and follow up of the seminar.

Duties and Responsibilities

The primary objective of the consultancy will be to, under the supervision of the Rule of Law Team Leader and in close coordination with the Rule of Law Team, support the preparations, coordination, implementation and follow up of the seminar in Addis Ababa, through performing the following functions:

Pre-event Preparations:

Support with planning, coordination and communications related to the event’s preparations including for communications with participants, UNDP Africa Hub in Addis Ababa and other key stakeholders/partners;
Support to costing and budgeting planning, including, as needed and in coordination with the UNDP Africa Hub, contracting vendors, suppliers and parties to be contracted for the event;
Support in development of the agenda for the event, including in communicating and assigning roles for participants and contributors;
Support the development of background papers/research papers/presentations and other contribution materials to be prepared for the event sessions through active follow up, coordination and contribution to the preparatory work performed by participants and FBA;
Support in preparing a comprehensive communications and public relations strategy, establishing and updating social media links and mapping media entities to be invited to the event;
Drafting and disseminating communications materials for the event including for excerpts for UNDP publications, blogs and/or for social media;
Support in consolidating the invitation list of the event and follow up;
Support, as needed, logistical arrangements of the event, including lodging, event venues, and any other logistical support related to the event;
Technical and programmatic support to the event sessions, agenda preparations and advice on programme related matters;
Follow up on sending out invitations, save the dates and preparing a logistical note and participant package for the event;

Execution of Event tasks:

Support participants arrival arrangements and establish communication with key participants;
Support registration of event participants upon arrival and ensure seating arrangements;
Follow up with partners at UNDP Regional Africa Hub on logistical, lodging and other conference preparations, including media arrangements;
Support in executing the event sessions, ensuring technical preparations, time keeping and other related issues;
Facilitation of sessions during the event;
Ensuring updates of social-media links.

Post-Event

Support in the development and finalization of an event report in coordination with FBA, including lists of participants, discussions and final recommendations/input to research paper/ and or other input as to be decided in discussions;
Support consolidation of event related papers, biographies, photos and other related material;
Support sending out thank you notes and follow up with participants on pending requests and matters if any.

Expected output:

Successful planning, execution and post event follow up of the event, including for effective coordination, substantive, and logistical support.
Successful submission of final report, including photos, contribution material, presentations and other material.

Institutional arrangements

The consultant will work under direct supervision of the Rule of Law Team Leader and work closely with the rule of law team, the FBA and the UNDP Regional Africa Hub, including administrative and operational units. The consultant will be directly responsible to, reporting to, and seek approval/acceptance of outputs from the Rule of Law Team Leader.

Duration of the Work

The performance under the contract shall take place during a total of 42 working days, excluding joining and repatriation travel days. The target date for the start of the contract 1 September 2015.

Competencies

Knowledge and experience in planning and executing practice development related events and conferences;
Knowledge of political and social context in countries where UNDP operates;
Knowledge of rule of law support and development in countries that are experiencing political crisis and/or transitions and conflict;
Knowledge of the political aspects of rule of law development;
Ability to prepare event budgets and manage logistical aspects and coordination;
Excellent drafting and communication skills;
Excellent analytical, problem solving, negotiating and diplomatic skills;
Excellent interpersonal skills and communications skills;
Excellent planning and organisational skills;
Ability to produce and present clear and compelling analysis in writing;
Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards; promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of the UN;
Displays sensitivity and adaptability, treats all people fairly without favouritism.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree in law, international relations, political science or related field.

Experience:

At least 4 years of progressively responsible professional experience in rule of law and access to justice, preferably including experience with the UN.
Expertise on the functioning of international organizations, in particular in post-conflict and crisis settings.
Experience in organizing and managing events;
Proven experience in drafting official reports and/or papers/studies in the rule of law area
Experience on the work of the UN in country settings, including on issues related to the rule of law, peacekeeping, crisis response and conflict-prevention.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English, both oral and written, is required.

Recommended Presentation of Offer

The application is a two-step process. Failing to comply with the submission process may result in disqualifying the applications:

Step 1: Interested individual consultants must include the following documents when submitting the applications in UNDP job shop (Please note that only 1 (one) file can be uploaded therefore please include all docs in one file):

Personal History Form (P11), indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references (the template can be downloaded from this link: http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc).
Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, if applicable, on how they will approach and complete the assignment.

Step 2: Submission of Financial Proposal

Applicants are instructed to submit their financial proposals in US Dollars for this consultancy to bpps.procurement@undp.org, using the financial proposal template available here: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=43528. The proposals should be sent via e-mail with the following subject heading: “Financial Proposal for Consultancy on Strengthening the Rule of Law to Prevent Conflict in Complex Political Transitions New York, NY USA” by the deadline for this vacancy. Proposals to be received after the deadline may be rejected. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal should be all-inclusive and include a breakdown. The term ‘all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel related expenses, communications, utilities, consumables, insurance, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the financial proposal.

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer:

Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a maximum of 70 points and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a max of 30 points out of 100 points

Method:

Cumulative analysis method will be used to evaluate proposals.

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Criteria weight: 70%.

Financial Criteria weight: 30%.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points on technical part will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Technical Proposal:

Criteria to pass technical evaluation requires a minimum of 49 points out of 70 points.

Criteria 1: At least 4 years of progressively responsible professional experience in rule of law and access to justice, preferably including experience with the UN (20 points);
Criteria 2: Expertise on the functioning of international organizations, in particular in post-conflict and crisis settings (10 points);
Criteria 3: Experience in organizing and managing events (20 points);
Criteria 4: Proven experience in drafting official reports and/or papers/studies in the rule of law area (10 points);
Criteria 5: Experience on the work of the UN in country settings, including on issues related to the rule of law, peacekeeping, crisis response and conflict-prevention (10 points).

Criteria for financial evaluation (30 points).

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

p = y (µ/z), where

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Financial Proposal (30% weight of combined score)

Please submit an all-inclusive lump sum daily fee.

Financial proposals must be all inclusive and must be expressed on the basis of a daily fee. The term ‘all inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel related expenses - i.e. return travel from home to duty station (Istanbul, Turkey) if required by applicant, communications, utilities, consumables, insurance, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the daily fee.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses will be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. In general, UNDP will not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

Working arrangements:

The consultant however is expected to bring his/her own laptop and mobile phone and meet local communication costs. UNDP will provide office space, access to internet and a printer during the assignment (the cost of this facilities should not be included in the financial proposals).

Missions (Duty Travels):

The cost of the official missions should not be factored in the financial proposals of the applicants.

At this time, one mission to the UNDP Africa Hub in Addis Ababa in late September/early October 2015 for up to two weeks is expected.

Contracts will be based on daily fee in US dollars:

Payments are made to the Individual Consultant based on the number of days worked, and certification of payments by the Team Leader (Supervisor).

More information:

Existing literature and further information to get a better understanding of the work can be found from the UNDP website http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/democratic-governance-and-peacebuilding/rule-of-law--justice-and-security/. For in-depth information about the work of the Rule of Law, Justice, Security and Human Rights team, please refer to the 2014 Annual Report on the Global Programme to Strengthen the Rule of Law in Crisis-Affected and Fragile Situations.

UNDP reserves the right to have an interview.