UNDP Jobs - 73102- International Consultant for development of projec

International Consultant for development of project proposal on local governance in Cambodia

Location :

Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

14-Jul-2017

Application Deadline :

05-Jul-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

35 working days: 14 July to 30 September 2017

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

35 working days: 14 July to 30 September 2017

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 ACES Project –Associations of Councils Enhanced Services Project– is being jointly funded by UNDP and the European Union. The project aims to turn the Cambodian associations of sub-national councils into effective organizations able to efficiently represent the interests of their members and provide services to them. Presently, there are two sub-national councils associations in Cambodia: i) The National Association of Capital and Provincial Councils (NACPC) representing 25 Capital and Provincial Councils and ii) The National League of Local Councils (NLC) representing 25 Provincial Associations of Municipal, District, Khan, Commune and Sangkat Councils (PAs).

During the past five years ACES project has been focusing on enabling deliverables and institutional development, particularly to facilitate the establishment and strengthening of NACPC, NLC and PAs. Moreover, in 2015 both national associations jointly formed the General Secretariat of the Associations of Sub-national Administration Councils (ASAC-S) in order to share operational costs and align strategic objectives, although they maintain separate governing bodies. Additionally, the ACES project has supported the ASAC to provide advocacy and capacity-building services to members, particularly by consolidating and expanding NLC’s sub-national forums of councilors. These fora have been regarded as key institutional networking events that promote councils’ democratic voices and provide mechanisms for information-sharing, problem-solving, downward accountability and cooperation among local councilors, commune, district and provincial officials and community leaders.

Additionally, the General Secretariat is gradually becoming involved in further advocacy work and policy dialogue at the national level on relevant local governance-related matters such as functional reassignment, promotion of gender equity and women’s political participation and, very especially, social accountability. According to recent surveys, Cambodian citizens favor political decentralization, while trust in state institutions needs to be strengthened by improving access to information and developing effective channels of communication with civil society. Indeed, the NLC’s communes, district and provincial forums are very well positioned to significantly contribute to government efforts in promoting social accountability and enabling men and women councilors to perform more effectively their roles and responsibilities in public service delivery at the local level. If specialized capacity-building opportunities are provided to local councils, they could play a very relevant role as an interface between civil society organizations, citizens groups and state actors at the sub-national levels.

Against this background, ASAC-S and UNDP have recently commissioned international consultancy services to assess ASAC’s institutional needs and develop a comprehensive capacity development plan aimed at strengthening the institutional and human capacities of the two associations in line with their current strategic objectives and resources. Such consultancy services have provided the following major outputs: 1) An assessment and institutional gap analysis report identifying key issues that need to be addressed for ASAC’s further institutional development; 2) An action plan/proposal prioritizing institutional development reforms and innovations to position ASAC as key actor in Cambodia's democratic decentralization process, including the outlines of an advocacy strategy and financial sustainability plan and a social accountability promotion strategy; 3) A capacity development plan for ASAC Secretariat, governing bodies and members; 4) A training program including 6 thematic modules on key local governance-related matters.

Furthermore, ASAC-S and UNDP have recently developed a preliminary concept note for a new project proposal to build on ACES project’s achievements to date and deepen ASAC’s involvement in Cambodia’s democratic decentralization process. The following objectives and key project components have been initially identified:

To position ASAC as main actor in Cambodia’s national policy to promote social accountability.
To support the Implementation Plan for the Social Accountability Framework (I-SAF) in close collaboration with NCDD and other relevant stakeholders.
To implement a comprehensive capacity development program for ASAC members aimed at promoting participatory local governance, with focus on building capacities of sub-national state actors to facilitate the engagement with non-state actors and the social accountability process.
To devise and implement a pilot initiative on local participatory budgeting in two selected cities/municipalities.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Project Director and in close collaboration with the two associations including National League Councils and National Association of Councils of Provincial and Capital and UNDP project team, the expert is expected to:

Conduct desk review and in-depth analysis of existing recommendations/reports concerning local governance, decentralization, social accountability and LGA in Cambodia, as well as practice of similar initiatives abroad;
Conduct fieldwork and meet key partners/stakeholders to collect relevant information and assess current needs of ASAC with regard to capacity development and promotion of social accountability;
Conduct fieldwork at sub-national level to assess the involvement of ASAC and selected local councils in promoting social accountability, with an especial focus on commune forum and its potential role as an interface between civil society organizations, citizens groups and state actors;
Conduct fieldwork at sub-national level to assess the suitability of municipal participatory budgeting in a selected Cambodian municipality;
Based on these assessments, refine and develop the preliminary concept note on post-ACES project proposal titled “Support for social accountability and local participatory governance”;
After consultation with ASAC-S and UNDP on the preliminary concept note, develop a full proposal with indicative budget.
Ensure that the project proposal meets all the necessary technical requirements and administrative procedures for satisfactory project appraisal and grant application;
Mainstream gender equity into the project proposal in order to ensure that suitable institutional incentives are provided to enable women’s active engagement with social accountability;
Ensure that the project proposal is fully based on the principles of Results-Based Management and the technical and administrative requirements of international partners;
Ensure that the project proposal is comprehensively reflect the needs of both associations;
Ensure that the project proposal is fully aligned with the EU Support to SNDD Phase II, the Multi-Annual Indicative Programme between the European Union and Cambodia for the period 2014 – 2020 (Thematic area: Governance and Administration; specific objective: Support to Sub-National Democratic Development).

Interested Offerors must visit this link http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=38681 to download Individual Consultant Procurement Notice, Terms of Reference, and Document Templates to be included when submitting this online application.

Competencies

Demonstrated commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
Sensitivity and adaptability to cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age;
Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.
Excellent communication skills (spoken, written and presentational);
Good interpersonal skills and ability to work in and with teams;
Ability to set priorities and manage time effectively

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced University Degree (Masters or PhD) in political science, governance, public administration, development studies, law, human rights or other relevant field;

Experience:

Minimum seven years of relevant experience in the field of local governance;
Strong practical experience in managing or advising local governments, LGA or analogous institutions (preferably in SE Asia);
Demonstrated managerial competence and experience in organizing, leading and coordinating multi-cultural technical assistance teams at the international level;
Extensive experience and knowledge in planning and project management based on the principles of Results-Based Management;
Solid experience in drafting project proposals with international development partners (Experience with EU is an asset).

Language Requirement:

Excellent English language skills;
Knowledge of Khmer language shall be an asset.

UNDP reserves right to reject any applications that is incomplete.

Please be informed that we don’t accept application submitted via email.

Interested Offerors are required to submit application via UNDP jobsite system as the application screening and evaluation will be done through UNDP jobsite system. Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file. Your on-line applications submission will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an e-mail acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary. Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

Any request for clarification/additional information on this procurement notice shall be communicated in writing to UNDP office or send to email dalis.heng@undp.org and cc procurement.kh@undp.org . While the Procurement Unit would endeavor to provide information expeditiously, only requests receiving at least 5 working days prior to the submission deadline will be entertained. Any delay in providing such information will not be considered as a reason for extending the submission deadline. The UNDP's response (including an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of inquiry) will be posted in Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice page as provided above. Therefore, all prospective Offerors are advised to visit the page regularly to make obtain update related to this Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice.