Background

Full-fledged negotiations between the Leaders of the Greek Cypriot Community and of the Turkish Cypriot Community have been ongoing since September 2008, under the Office of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General in Cyprus (OSASG) (also known as the Good Offices Mission). The aim of the full-fledged negotiations is to find a mutually acceptable solution to the Cyprus problem, which will safeguard the fundamental and legitimate rights and interests of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. The agreed solution will be put to separate simultaneous referendum.

The role of the OSASG is to support the Secretary-General’s Special Advisor (SASG) in Cyprus, whose mandate is to assist the parties in the conduct of negotiations aimed at reaching a comprehensive settlement.

Following the resumption of the talks in May 2015, meetings have increased in frequency and intensity, with the sides engaged in an interdependent discussion of all topics. With regard to property, as announced in a statement on 27 July 2015, the leaders agreed that the individual’s right to property will be respected and that dispossessed owners and current users shall have various choices regarding their claims to affected properties, which would include compensation, exchange and reinstatement. The exercise of any such choice shall be subject to agreed criteria. There shall be a list of categories of affected properties. There shall be an independent Property Commission comprising of an equal number of Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot members and mandated to resolve property claims based on mutually agreed criteria.

In this regard, consultant will provide the OSASG with high level expertise on specific issues related to property based on best practices in such a way that is impossible to be achieved through OSASG’s own human resources. This high level expertise is required only on Ad-Hoc basis and as required connected to the on-going negotiations.

Note: Initially one consultant will be contracted and additional consultants (within qualified candidates) might be contracted upon need. 

Duties and Responsibilities

The assignment would cover the following themes:

Provide technical expertise and advice on property matters, including models based on international best practice.

Provide advice to the SASG and to the OSASG team.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will conduct work on the following issues:

 

Property Matters

The consultant will:

  • Develop a set of options and ideas on property matters based on best practices, focusing on classical remedies, judicial mechanisms, financing, and property development.
  •   Attend meetings of the sides on property matters and maintain dialogue with property experts of both sides, as relevant.

 

Attendance at meetings

  • Be present at the OSASG and on-call during SASG's visits to the island.
  • Attend SASG meetings with facilitators.
  • Attend SASG meetings with OSASG staff.
  • Attend any other meetings when requested by OSASG staff and by the Head of Office.

 

Other tasks

Where mutually agreed by the consultant and the OSASG’s Head of Office, assume other tasks as requested.

 

Deliverables/Outputs

  • Submission of Internal mission report with recommendations at the end of each mission.
  • The consultancy is on an "as needed basis"; the OSASG and the consultant will together determine the precise number of working days for the consultancy beforehand. 

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

  • Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;

 

Functional Competencies:                

  • Ability to meet deadlines and maintain high-quality of output working under pressure;
  • Ability to use good judgment and experience working in a multi-cultural setting are critical;
  • Excellent communication / organizational skills, attention to details;
  • Ability to operate personal computers, corporate and commercial software applications and databases such as Microsoft Office, Microsoft Outlook, perfect command of Excel, Internet, ERP;
  • Familiar with corporate software applications is essential;

 

Core Competencies:

  • A high sense of confidentiality, diplomacy and urgency;
  • Demonstrated understanding of effective outreach and monitoring;
  • Excellent knowledge of social media tools and applications with a special focus on community building
  • Excellent English writing and editing skills;
  • Demonstrating/safeguarding ethics and integrity;
  • Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment;
  • Acting as a team player and facilitating team work;
  • Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively;
  • Creating synergies through self-control;
  • Informed and transparent decision making.
  • Proven networking skills and ability to interact with staff at all levels, including senior management;
  • Very effective at multi-tasking;
  • Focuses on impact and results for the client
  • Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
  • Advocates and promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • An advanced degree in law, finance, property development, economics, human rights or other relevant fields;

Experience:

  • At least 15 years of work experience in a related field;
  • Demonstrable experience of working within politically sensitive environments, exhibiting a high level of diplomatic discretion when dealing with national authorities;
  • Knowledge of modern property markets, contemporary approaches to the resolution of property disputes, as well as political, economic and social trends in Cyprus is an asset;
  • Demonstrable analytical skills and strong drafting skills; 

Language Requirements:

  • ?Fluency in spoken and written English.

 

Total number of working days during the period of the contract is calculated as 90 days. The consultancy is on an "as needed basis"; the OSASG and the Consultant will together determine the precise number of working days for the consultancy beforehand. The daily fee shall cover all expenditures including fees, health insurance, vaccination, local travel (place of residence to office and office to place of residence) and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services.

UNDP will provide DSA, terminal expenses and the air-ticket for international travel (all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel).

Payment Term:

DSA payable upon contract signature and the consultant is eligible for this payment prior to arriving her/his duty station. Fees and terminal expenses payable upon satisfactory completion of mission and submission of the time-sheet and report and certification for the approval of all deliverables.

 

General Conditions:

General Conditions of contract for the services of Individual contractor can be downloaded from: http://web.undp.org/procurement/documents/UNDP_GCC_IC_Final_English.pdf.

Application:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

  • References: Contact details of 3 references.
  • Financial Proposal: Applicants requested to submit financial proposal. Financial proposal will specify the daily fee in EUR per working day (a day will be calculated as 8 hours) and shall cover all expenditures including fees, health insurance, vaccination, international (all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel) or local travel (place of residence to office and office to place of residence), cost of living and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services. Leave benefits (annual, sick, paternity, maternity) are not applicable to Individual Contractor and absent days including weekends and office holidays are not payable.

 

 

 

Evaluation / Selection Process

All applicants will be screened against qualifications and the competencies set above. Candidates fully meeting the requirements will be further evaluated based on the criteria below.

Technical Criteria (CV review and/or interviews) – 70% of total evaluation– max. 70 points

CV review: 30 points

  • Educational qualifications as defined in the ToR (10 points);
  • Experience as defined in the ToR (20 points).

Only candidates who obtained at least 70% of points from the CV desk review (who will score at least 21 points) will be invited for an interview.

Interview or Deskreview: 40 points

  • Demonstrable experience of working within politically sensitive environments, exhibiting a high level of diplomatic discretion when dealing with national authorities (20 points)
  • Knowledge of modern property markets, contemporary approaches to the resolution of property disputes, as well as political, economic and social trends in Cyprus is an asset (20 points)

Only those individual consultants who obtained at least 70% of points from the interview (28 out of 40) will be considered for financial proposal evaluation.

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 30 points.

Financial scores will be calculated using the formula [lowest offer / financial offer of the candidate x 30].

UNDP applies the “Best value for money approach” – the final selection will be based on the combination of the applicants’ qualification and financial proposal.