Background

The National Assembly (NA) of Lao PDR is one among the State authorities directly elected by the people. The NA plays the role as the representative organ of the rights, powers and interests of the multi-ethnic people. It is also the legislative body that has the right to make decisions on fundamental issues of the country, and to oversee the activities of the State authorities at various levels in the implementation of the Constitution and laws, the National Socio-Economic Development Plan (NSEDP), the State budget plan (SBP)and the NA resolutions.

General elections were held in March 2016 for both members of the NA and the newly created Provincial People’s Assemblies (PPAs). The 8th Legislature of the NA is now composed of 149 members (from 132 members during the 7th Legislature) and 360 members of the Provincial People’s Assemblies. Seventy three per cent (73%) of the members are new (or serving for the first time) and 41 female members were elected (representing 27% of NA membership). The 8th Legislature has expanded into eight (8) permanent committees: Law; Economics, Technology & Environment; Finance, Planning and Audit; Social and Cultural Affairs; Ethnic Affairs; National Defense and Security; Justice; and Foreign Affairs.

The NA is envisioning another comprehensive legislation programme for the 8th Legislature with plans to adopt a total of 105 laws. The NA is expected to face several challenges in realizing its legislative duties due to a high number of first-time parliamentarians from the National Assembly and Provincial People's Assemblies. Thus, in order to support effectively the new NA and PPA Members to perform  law-making, oversight and representation functions, the level of their capacities including institutional mechanisms and processes should be improved

Duties and Responsibilities

The scope of work of the Reviewer/Editor is to review and edit selected papers and outputs developed under the NASSP between 2014 and 2016 for publication under UNDP. The three (3) selected papers and outputs are:

  • Assessments of the Lao PDR National Assembly: Consolidated Assessments’ Report of the National Assembly’s Public Engagements, Constituency Offices and Public Perception (77 pages, including Annexes)
  • Capacity Assessment and Capacity Development Plan of the Lao PDR National Assembly (145 pages, including Annexes)
  • Guide to the Lao National Assembly (61 pages, including Annexes)

In order to achieve the stated objectives, the international consultant will have to revisit the 3 papers mentioned above so they can be published under UNDP by the end of the year. More specifically, she/he will have the following responsibilities:

  • Getting familiar with the three selected NASSP documents;
  • Assembling all chapters/sections; suggesting re-writing as necessary, adding/editing boxes of interest, tables and charts bringing the manuscript to full completion including all necessary components (table of contents, foreword, preface, introduction, bibliography, tables, annexes, boxes, etc.);
  • Pointing out factual inconsistencies, inconsistencies in arguments, political nuances, faulty logic, and awkward or unclear passages and suggest solutions;
  • Drafting and/or editing manuscripts or documents to ensure clarity, consistency and readability of the text for the intended audience;
  • Ensuring all references are in order, requesting source information for tables and figures when such information is missing;
  • Reformulating the documents in a more comprehensive and accessible way, keeping in mind that the documents will be red by a variety of actors, including Development Partners, NA members, UN members and Civil Society Organizations that are not necessarily familiar with NA’s work and duties;
  • Ensuring timely incorporation of feedback received from internal and external peer reviewers into draft manuscripts or documents.

Providing inputs for the design, and the selection of photos, success stories and testimonials for the publications in consultation with the UNDP Communications Specialist and UNDP Programme Analyst.

Competencies

Functional competencies:

  • Shares knowledge and experience;
  • Plan and prioritizes work activities to meet organizational goals;
  • Builds and sustains relationships with key stakeholder groups and project team;
  • Conceptualizes and analyzes problems to identify key issues, underlying problems, and how they relate;
  • Demonstrates excellent and effective written and oral communication skills;
  • Demonstrate respect to knowledge and culture and religion in a multidisciplinary working environment;
  • Applies the required depth and breadth of knowledge and expertise to meet job demands;
  • Uses information technology effectively as a tools and resource;
  • Demonstrated flexibility and adaptability in taking on this type of consultancy.

 Corporate Competencies:

  • Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
  • Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
  • Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
  • Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • The successful candidates should possess university degree in communications, journalism, international relations, law, development-related field, or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.

Experience:

  • At least 5 years of experience in working in a media organization or international organization as a programme officer or writer/editor;
  • Previous experience in developing guides or manuals for an international organization, preferably a UN agency;
  • Previous experience working with parliaments or in parliamentary development projects;
  • Good knowledge of the political system and structures of the Lao National Assembly is an asset.