The events and developments of the past two years have led Ukraine to levels of crisis and opportunities unprecedented in its history as an independent state. In 2013-2014, large-scale demonstrations in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and other cities demanded a break with endemic corruption and called for the adherence to European standards of governance. These protests ultimately precipitated a change in government in February 2014, and were followed by Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014. This shaped the context in which armed conflict subsequently erupted in the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts (known as the ‘Donbas’). While most of the Donbas was at some point affected by military conflict, and anti-government elements had taken control of many cities and towns, forces loyal to the Government of Ukraine were able to gain back much of the territory by August 2014. Eventually, the two Oblasts ended up being de facto divided into government- and non-government controlled areas. Hundreds of thousands were displaced, especially from the areas outside government control, with roughly half of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) temporarily settling in the Oblasts’ government controlled areas. The Oblast administrations themselves relocated from their previous headquarters in Donetsk and Luhansk cities to Kramatorsk and Severodonetsk, respectively. In Donetsk Oblast, some state institutions also relocated to Kramatorsk and other towns.

European Investment Bank (EIB), in cooperation with the Government of Ukraine, provides financing for a first Early Recovery Programme (ERP) multi-sector framework loan targeting early recovery investments on critical infrastructure in affected areas, and basic needs to ensure decent living conditions for displaced people and host communities in Donetsk, Lugansk Kharkiv, Zaporizziya and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts; which was signed between EIB and the Government of Ukraine. The ERP framework loan for an amount of EUR 200 million aims to support multi-sector investment schemes in the municipal and social infrastructure sectors to cope with the consequences of the conflict in east Ukraine, as well as the flux of Internal Displaced people (IDPs) to other regions of the country. Final beneficiaries of the EIB ERP framework loan will be limited to central, regional and municipal administrations and publicly owned enterprises (with the exclusion of private beneficiaries such as private-owned utilities services operating in the affected areas). Final beneficiaries will have to comply with public procurement rules in compliance with the relevant EIB guidelines on procurement. Due to the complexity of planning and implementation, EIB requested technical assistance provision from the International Renaissance Foundation (community development) and UNDP (capacity development and project cycle support incl. monitoring). UNDP’s role will be to serve as a competence resource for the decentralized Technical Assistance Unit’s (TAU) to successfully manage the Programme at regional level and support the preparation and implementation of the sub-projects at local government levels. UNDP and IRF will collaborate in view of fostering the local participatory approach in accordance with the Social Management Plan and Stakeholders Engagement Plan developed by the International Renaissance Foundation (IRF) under ERP (Technical Assistance financed by the European Commission).

Main Objective of the Assignment

The currently on-going and proposed efforts aimed at economic recovery and governance restoration in the Donbas region are at risk if advanced measures are not taken to ensure integrity in the process and to reduce corruption risks to a minimum. Integrity measures are therefore key for a successful implementation of recovery and restoration efforts in Donbas and other regions of Eastern Ukraine. These measures include understanding the risks or vulnerabilities for corruption within operations; developing and implementing a system of community or third party monitoring; using additional diagnostic and analytical tools to follow the flow of financial resources from the donor agency to the end beneficiary and finally to build the capacity of the Ministry of Regional Development (MRD) as well as regional and local authorities to implement integrity measures that ensure the proper use and monitoring of resources.

The Senior Anti-Corruption Advisor will carry out the following tasks:

1. Support the capacity development of the relevant units and departments of oblast-, city- and rayon-level administrations in anti-corruption measures and systems in project identification, preparation, implementation (integrated project preparation and implementation cycle). In close coordination with Anti-Corruption key Programme Specialist develop clear and transparent procedures for each stage of identification and implementation of projects under EIB loan facility;
2. Support the establishment of rigorous and transparent systems and practical mechanisms related to integrity and anti-corruption for Programme monitoring and reporting to the stakeholders including EIB and final beneficiaries;
3. In coordination with Anti-Corruption Specialist (key expert) promote anti-corruption activities and advise on recommended communication channels and procedures to immediately inform MRD, PMSU and EIB of any suspicion of corruption or ineffective use of project resources.

 At the end of assignment, the Advisor shall prepare a Final report with clear description of fulfilled tasks and achieved results with recommendations on the next steps for support to UERP.

Deliverables

Deliverable 1 includes:

• Recommendations on setting up rigorous and transparent monitoring and reporting system to the stakeholders including EIB and final beneficiaries (up to 10 pages);
• Rapid assessments of final beneficiaries’ training needs on Project Anti-Corruption System (PACS) conducted and brief report prepared (up to 20 pages);
• Short Intermediate Report #1 (in English) clearly describing completed task and achieved results.

Due date: 15 May 2017.

Deliverable 2 includes:

• Schedule and methodology of trainings on PACS developed;
• Assessment of corruption risks (integrity vulnerability) related with the EIB loan facility’s operations conducted and brief report prepared (up to 30 pages);
• Short Intermediate Report#2 (in English) clearly describing completed task and achieved results.

Due date: 30 May 2017.

Deliverable 3 includes:

• Recommendations on setting up rigorous and transparent procedures for projects implementation (up to 30 pages);
• Short Intermediate Report#3 (in English) clearly describing completed task and achieved results.

Due date: 30 June 2017.

Deliverable 4 includes:

• Training materials on PACS prepared;
• 5 trainings on PACS delivered (one in each target oblast). All logistics/organizational/travel costs will be covered by the Project;
• Short Intermediate Report#4 (in English) clearly describing completed task and achieved results.

Due date: 30 July 2017.

Deliverable 5 includes:

• Recommendations on establishment of the civil society monitoring mechanism for projects implemented under EIB loan facility developed;
• 5 seminars for CSOs and local authorities on the civil society monitoring mechanism for projects implemented under EIB loan facility conducted. All logistics/organizational/travel costs will be covered by the Project;
• Final Report (in English) summarizing all completed task and achieved results with recommendations on the next steps for support implementation of UERP.

Due date: 31 August 2017.

Proposed payment schedule:

UNDP will pay the negotiated amount in three tranches according to the following payment schedule:

• the first payment (20% of the contract amount) upon successful completion of the Deliverable 1 and approval of the Intermediate Report #1;
• the second payment (20% of the contract amount) upon successful completion of the Deliverable 2 and approval of the Intermediate Report #2;
• the third payment (20% of the contract amount) upon successful completion of the Deliverable 3 and approval of the Intermediate Report #3;
• the second payment (20% of the contract amount) upon successful completion of the Deliverable 4 and approval of the Intermediate Report #4;
• the fifth payment (20% of the contract amount) upon successful completion of the Deliverable 5 and approval of the Final Report.

The payments will be processed upon the full completion and acceptance of contractual obligations whereupon the Project Manager signs the certification of acceptance.

Expected Places of Travel: 5 (five) oblasts of Eastern Ukraine.

Monitoring/Reporting Requirements

The Anti-Corruption Advisor will work under general leadership and direct supervision of the Programme key Anti-Corruption Specialist. The Anti-Corruption Advisor will report on the progress of the work performance each week and take part in meetings of staff (as applicable). The Anti-Corruption Advisor will submit the final report at the end of the assignment, which should include the achievements, lessons learned, and recommendations for further actions.

• High level of integrity and independence;
• Very good communication skills;
• Familiarity with the concepts of prohibited practices and related rules of the International Organisation.

Education:

• Master degree in law, finance, criminology, or related field;
• Certified Fraud Examiner.

Professional experience:

• Minimum of 10 years of experience in dealing with fraud and corruption, compliance and/or law enforcement;
• Experience in designing and carrying-out training and institutional capacity building schemes (at least 3 trainings designed and successfully delivered);
• Minimum 5 years of experience in advising on anti-corruption measures in similar environment;
• Experience in investigation or prosecution work will be an advantage;
• Experience on anticorruption in projects related to social/public infrastructure will be a strong advantage.

Language proficiency:  

• Fluency in spoken and written English;
• Knowledge of Russian and/or Ukrainian is a strong advantage.

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals

Applicants shall submit the following documents:

• Personal CV/P11, including information about past experience in similar projects / assignments and contact details for referees;
• Letter of interest, explaining why the applicant considers him- or herself the most suitable for the work (in English);
• Financial proposal.

Financial Proposal

Lump Sum Contract

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables. Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including number of anticipated working days).  

The Consultant will be responsible for all personal administrative expenses associated with undertaking this assignment including office accommodation, printing, stationary, telephone and electronic communications, and report copies incurred in this assignment.

Logistics costs will be covered by the Project. This does not include travel costs to join the duty station, accommodation at duty station, terminals and per diems, which shall be included in the financial proposal.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Consultant prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Evaluation Criteria

UNDP will use a two-stage procedure for evaluating applications with an evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposals are compared. The technical part will be evaluated on the basis of its relevance to the Terms of Reference. The following criteria will be rated as indicated below:

• Education – 8 points max:
  • Master degree in law, finance, criminology, or related field - 5 points; PhD or similar – 8 points.
• Experience:
  • Experience in dealing with fraud and corruption, compliance and/or law enforcement – 20 points max:
    • 10-12 years – 12 points; 13-15 years – 16 points; more than 15 years – 20 points.
  • Experience in designing and carrying-out training and institutional capacity building schemes – 10 points max:
    • 3 trainings designed and successfully delivered – 7 points; more than 3 trainings – 10 points.
  • Experience in advising on anti-corruption measures in similar environment – 15 points max:
    • 5 years – 10 points, more than 5 years – 15 points.
  • Experience in investigation or prosecution work will be an advantage – 5 points max:
    • Availability of experience – 5 points, no experience – 0 points.
  • Experience on anticorruption in projects related to social/public infrastructure will be a strong advantage – 5 points max:
    • Availability of experience – 5 points, no experience – 0 points.
• Language proficiency – 7 points max:
  • Fluency in spoken and written English – 4 points;
  • Knowledge of Russian and/or Ukrainian – additional 3 points.

Maximum available technical score - 70 points.

Selection Method: desk review with validation interview.

Evaluation Method: Cumulative Analysis.

Contract award shall be made to the incumbent whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and

b) having received the cumulative 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 70% from the maximum available technical score would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal and will equal to 30. All other price proposals will be evaluated and assigned points, as per below formula:

30 points [max points available for financial part] x [lowest of all evaluated offered prices among responsive offers] / [evaluated price].

The proposal obtaining the overall cumulatively highest score after adding the score of the technical proposal and the financial proposal will be considered as the most compliant offer and will be awarded a contract.