UNDP Jobs - 73507- International Consultant to support the developmen

International Consultant to support the development of strategic plans (2018-2023) for the National Association of Capital and Provincial Councils (NACPC) and The National League of Local Councils (NLC)

Location :

Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

21-Aug-2017

Application Deadline :

03-Aug-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

45 working days over the period of 21 August to 30 November 2017

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

45 working days over the period of 21 August to 30 November 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 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 subnational councils and provide services to them.

Presently, there are two national associations of sub-national administrations in Cambodia: i) The National Association of Capital and Provincial Councils (NACPC) representing 1 Capital and 24 Provincial Councils and ii) The National League of Local Councils (NLC) representing 25 Provincial Associations of Municipal, District, Khan, Commune and Sangkat Councils (PAs). All established associations (NACPC, NLC and 25 PAs—27 institutions) are new organizations, therefore, ACES project has been invested on institutional developments at both levels, national (NACPC, NLC and ASAC-S) and provincial level (PAs).

In 2016, with UNDP support ASAC-S conduct an institutional needs assessment of ASAC and developed a comprehensive capacity development plan aimed at strengthening the institutional and human capacities of the two national associations (NACPC and NLC) in line with their current strategic objectives and resources.

Presently, there are two separate strategic plans between the two associations (NACPC and NLC) despite having a joint secretary. NACPC strategy is five-years term (2014-2018) focused on five strategic areas -1) Institutional development, 2) Capacity development, 3) Seeking supports and public relations, 4) Cooperation with the relevant institutions in good governance and strengthening of democracy for sub-national councils and 5) Covering up information and seeking legal service to make it available. While the NLC Strategic Plan also covered for five years for 2011-2015 which already been expired. The NLC strategic areas were: 1) Organizational Strengthening of National League and all 24 Capital and Provincial Associations of Local Councils, 2) Financial Sustainability of National League and 24 Capital and Provincial Associations of Local Councils, 3) Capacity Development of Local Councilors, 4) Advocacy of Local Council interests, 5) Provision of additional services to Local Councils to achieve MDGs, 6) Local Council promotion of economic development with an eye on climate change, 7) Promotion of gender equity in local politics.

On June 23, 2016, a consultative workshop among presidencies of the two associations conducted under facilitation by ASAC-S to discuss about the formulation of new strategic plan. As a results, the associations preliminary drafted on new strategic areas and decided continue to have separate strategic plan of the two associations. This decision further endorsed by NACPC and NLC national council members in later that year.

Against this background, the ASAC-S and UNDP wish to engage an independent international consultant to lead the process of developing strategic plans for NLC and NACPC for period 2018-2023.

Duties and Responsibilities

The purpose of this consultancy is to lead and facilitate the development of new Strategic Plans 2018-2023 for NLC and NACPC in line with their mandates through extensive consultations with the two institutions, their members, and stakeholders including NCDD-S, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Civil Services, other relevant line ministries/government agencies, civil society organizations, development partners and the private sector.

The plans will also include institutional arrangements, specific activities, proposed programmes, timelines, targets and costing. The consultant should also provide inputs for communication and monitoring plans.

The consultant will work with the NLC and NACPC strategic planning committees under the guidance of the UNDP programme analyst (voice and participation), ACES acting project manager and ASAC’s Secretary General. The consultant will lead and guide the process of developing the full five-year strategic plans. This will include:

A review of existing NLC and NACPC plans, policy frameworks, laws, approaches, national implementation plans and other relevant documents;
Development of an economically sound methodology for the strategic plan for how the NLC and NACPC can most effectively meet their objectives and fulfill their mandate;
Collection of additional data where necessary;
Stakeholder mapping and consultation;
Situation analysis, including identification of constraints and opportunities for effective work of NLC/NACPC;
Draft specific sectoral plans and strategies in identified sectors/areas of Strategic Plan (e.g. advocacy, services etc) that address the constraints;
Development of a vision and mission statements;
Development (including costing) of a draft strategic plan 2018-2023 including a draft log frame, and a draft outline of implementation plan for 2018-2023 and general activities
Provide framework for development of monitoring and evaluation strategy and communications plan.

The Consultant will carry out following specific tasks:

Carry out a desk review of documents relevant to an understanding of the mandate, legal framework, work and context of the NLC and NACPC and governance reform processes in Cambodia (decentralization, PAR PFM)
Review other current relevant policy frameworks, laws, approaches and national implementation plans
Maintain regular consultations with staff of the ASAC secretariat and NLC/NACPC and the strategic planning committees to build a common approach to the assignment.
Develop a comprehensive methodology and work plan for a participatory process of the development of the NLC/NACPC’s plan with a view to achieving both support, concrete co-operation and programming from members (councils), Provincial Associations (PA) and relevant government agencies such as the NCDDs. The consultant is expected to visit at least 5 provinces keeping in mind Cambodia’s geographic, political and ethnic diversity
Ensure that the principles of gender equality are mainstreamed throughout the document including potential positive discrimination measures to encourage women participation
Hold consultations and facilitate interviews with relevant stakeholders including but not limited to: UN Agencies in Cambodia; development partners, civil society, and private sector entities. At all stages, NLCS/NACPC strategic planning committees will be closely involved with the process.
Develop an advanced draft strategic plan for discussion with staff and the methodology for a national consultation process which will closely include NLC/NACPC members and ASAC’s secretariat staff.
Together with the NLC and NACPC, lead a thorough programme of national consultations to receive feedback on draft strategic plans.
Finalize the draft strategic plans, including a five-year log frame and a framework for implementation of plan for year 1. The plan should include jointly developed vision and mission statements, priority programmes and sub-strategies, baselines and targets, timelines and resource allocations

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Excellent facilitation and communication skills (spoken, written and presentational);
Good interpersonal skills and ability to work in and with teams;

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;

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree in political science, public policy, public administration, development studies, social science or other relevant fields.

Experience:

Minimum 10 years of relevant experience in the field of local governance and decentralization in developing country context; experience in Southeast Asia or Cambodia is highly desirable;
Extensive experience and knowledge in institutional capacity development or organizational changes;
Experience working with or in collaboration with associations of local councils;
Experience in conducting consultative processes for development of strategic documents and plans for organizations;

Language Requirement:

Excellent English language skills

Interested offeror must read the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice, which can be viewed at http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=39318 for more detail information about term of references, instructions to offeror, and to download the documents to be submitted in the offer through online.

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 online applications submission will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an email 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 pheara.lek@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.