Background
UNDP contributes to strengthening the democratic principles in Turkmenistan by providing support to development of responsive national institutions, human capacity and fostering inclusive participation of civil society.
In May 2018, UNDP launched a new project “Empowering Civil Society Organizations to participate in policy making and social service delivery” for implementation of Turkmenistan’s National Human Rights Action Plan for 2016-2020, adopted in 2016.
Creating enabling environment for development of civil society was identified as an activity in the National Human Rights Action Plan of Turkmenistan for 2016-2020. Development of the civil society and wider engagement of the civil society into provision of inclusive quality community-based support services is identified as one of the priorities in the Partnership Framework for Development PFD for 2016-2020 between the Government of Turkmenistan and UN. UNDP Country Program Action Plan (CPAP) for 2016-2020 signed between the Government of Turkmenistan and UDNP, under all Priority Areas directly envisages development of the civil society in Turkmenistan. Development of social services is also central to the attainment of all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to benefit all vulnerable children, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.
The new project builds on the findings and recommendations of the CSOs assessment conducted in 2016. The main objective of the project is to promote enabling environment at the national level and building capacity of CSOs to engage effectively in social service sector of Turkmenistan to implement and monitor laws, national programmes and strategies in a participatory manner in line with the country’s human rights commitments.
The Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) make essential contributions to the realization and development of democratic societies. As key actors in promoting development at the local and national level, CSOs roles are pivotal in policy formulation, safeguarding rights, articulating interest, and delivering social services. CSOs advocate for accountability and transparency of the political system, enhancing efficiency and participation in public affairs, and strengthening social protection system. The CSOs contribution to service delivery as well as policy advocacy/reform and national/local development in Turkmenistan is very minimal.
CSOs in Turkmenistan are still in a nascent stage and facing a number of challenges. There is a rather small number of Public Organization. The range of activities of the PO is not diverse enough and not enough are working on development and in the delivery of social service. In 2016, UNDP took initiative to develop web-based portal http://ngo-turkmenistan.org/ for local public organizations to be interconnected. The portal is the first ever knowledge hub in the country for sharing information, cooperation opportunities, reference center on legislation and donor resources for public organization. It also foreseen as a channel between the service providers and the beneficiaries aiming at raising general’s public awareness of activities of local organizations, expanding the country’s outreach and receiving feedback.
There is no definition of social services in the legislation of Turkmenistan. Social protection is defined in the Code on Social Security of 2012 as: ‘social protection represents the state system of material provision and social service of non-able-bodied people, disabled and families with children and other through payments in the form of pensions, state benefits and social allowances’. Social services are mentioned in the Section IV, mainly Article 96. Directions and types of social services:
Social services is the provision of social amenities, social and medical services to persons who need outside assistance due to a partial or complete loss of the opportunity to satisfy their basic life needs on their own because of the limitation of their ability to self-service and / or movement, and also on the implementation of measures for their social adaptation and rehabilitation.
According to the Code, social services can be provided by state and non-state social service institutions. By-laws on social service institutions is developed and approved by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Turkmenistan. The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Turkmenistan also provides methodological assistance and monitoring of non-governmental institutions engaged in provision of social services.
As a follow up to its engagement in social protection, in 2014, UNICEF Turkmenistan conducted an assessment of the social services available for children in Turkmenistan. The primary objectives of the study were to assess the current cash and non-cash available for children and their families with a particular focus on children with disabilities. As a result, the study identified gaps in services for children with disabilities and their families.
One of the recommendations for further development and strengthening of social services in Turkmenistan was development of regulatory frameworks for contracting CSOs to develop and deliver additional services for families in need.
Based on recommendations from the UNICEF assessment (2014), UNDP would like to recruit an international consultant to conduct a rapid assessment of the current to better understand the scope of social service sector in Turkmenistan.
Objective
The objective of the study is to conduct a rapid assessment of the current supply and demand for social services provided at the community level. The study will be based on the UNICEF assessment, 2014 and apply the same methodology for rapid assessment. It is expected that the study will specify to what extent available social services meet the needs of vulnerable groups in the country, such as people with disabilities, families with low income, single mothers, etc.; and what types of social services need to be in place and what are capacity gaps in CSOs and local public institutions to provide social services to communities. The consultant will also provide recommendations for improvement of social service delivery system in Turkmenistan. More specifically the objective is described in the Section Scope of Work below.
Duties and Responsibilities
The selected consultant will undertake the following:
- Desk review examining the national legislation on social protection of Turkmenistan, available regulations, UNICEF Social Services Assessment (2014) and other documents related to social service delivery. All documents will be provided by UNDP.
- Guided by the UNICEF 2014 assessment, it is expected that the consultant will develop a methodology to conduct the study that will include, but not limit to the following:
- The consultant will develop a questionnaire that will be used for conducting a series of interviews/discussions with the different stakeholders involved in provision of community-based social services in Turkmenistan, including CSO and public institutions. The purpose of the interviews is to learn what kind of services are offered by service providers and who are their beneficiaries and target groups, who are partners, donors, what is the scale of their budgets, geographic coverage, what issues and gaps they face in their work providing services, and estimate what capacities and capacity building needs.
- The consultant will conduct series of consultations with national authorities (Ministry of Finance and Economy, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, Ministry of Health and Medical Industry, Ministry of Education, etc.), state social providers (rehabilitation centers, social service centers, etc.), CSO representatives, and other stakeholders (UNDP, ICNL and other);
- The consultant will conduct series of interviews and focus group discussions with representatives of local communities in Ashgabat, Ahal and Mary to identify needs for services and support. The data should be dissagregated by age, region, gender, social status, disability, if any, level of education.
- Final analysis report. Based on the interviews and focus group discussions the consultant will prepare the report that should include information about interviewed stakeholders, including social service providers and beneficiaries disaggregated by type, size, area of focus, target groups, scale of geographic coverage and budget, and partners/donors, and any other dissagregation that the consultant will deem necessary/relevant. The report should review the existing legal and institutional framework for social service delivery, identify existing gaps and deficits in the current social services in meeting the needs of people, including examining how accessible these services are, both substantively and geographically. The report will also include recommendations and options for developing social services in the country, empowering CSOs to provide social services in the country.
Management arrangements
The international expert will work with UNDP on a daily basis. He/she will report directly to UNDP Project Manager.
Deliverables and timeframe
Deliverable 1:
- Methodology outline including timeframe for completion of the study.
Location: Home based.
Number of days: 3 days.
Deliverable 2:
- Ten-days mission to Turkmenistan, which will include
Held consultation meetings with the national partners, focus group discussions and interviews with service providers, CSOs and other in Ashgabat, Ahal and Mary regions, and other stakeholders (UNDP, ICNL and other);
Location: Mission to Turkmenistan.
Number of days: 12 days.
Deliverable 3:
- Final report, incuding rapid assessment of the social service sector and recommendations for improvement of the social service delivery, including by CSOs.
Location: home based.
Number of days: 10 days.
Payment Conditions
This is an installment-based contract that should cover the costs of consultancy required to produce the above deliverables. The final schedule of payments will be agreed upon in the beginning of consultancy.
Payment will be released in 2 installments: 1st installment: 50% (for completion of the deliverable 1 and 2), and 2d installment 50% (for deliverable 3) – upon timely submission of respective deliverables and their acceptance by UNDP Turkmenistan.
Competencies
Functional Competencies
- Knowledge of and extensive experience working in the area of civil society in Turkmenistan, civil society support in Turkmenistan, development of the non-governmental sector, government-CSO cooperation, etc. Preference will be given to those candidates that have extensive contacts among public organizations in Turkmenistan;
- Excellent analytical skills;
- Excellent communication skills;
- Results driven, ability to work under pressure and to meet required deadlines;
- Good understanding and practice of capacity development;
- Cultural sensitivity;
- Diplomatic skills.
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:
- Advanced university degree in relevant field such as social sciences, governance, public administration, etc.
Experience:
- At least 10 years of working experience in the area of social services;
- Proven experience and good understanding of research and statistical analysis;
- Prior experience in Turkmenistan or in Central Asia and knowledge of public services and third sector of CEE/CIS countries;
- Good understanding of the UN mandate in the area of democratic governance.
Language requirements:
- Excellent spoken and written English;
- Good knowledge of Russian.
Submission of applications
Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:
Technical Proposal:
All experts applying for this position are required to provide:
- description of the methodology (1-2 pages) for the assignment.
- financial proposal with the references to (1) the daily rate for the assignment and within the timing scale indicated in the present TOR, and (2) any other expenses (including transportation costs, accommodation costs, the possibility of vaccination and etc.). Template of the form can be found at: http://www.tm.undp.org/content/turkmenistan/en/home/operations/jobs.
- cover letter explaining why they are the most suitable candidate for the assignment.
- filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank form can be downloaded from http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc; please upload the P11 instead of your CV.
Financial Proposal:
The UNDP will enter into an Individual Contract based on a lump sum amounts. The financial proposal shall represent a detailed, justified and “all inclusive” amount. In order to assist UNDP in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount, including:
- a daily fee for the tasks and an estimated duration as specified in this announcement
- travel (within thin the country)
- any other possible costs (including printing, communication etc.).
Individual Consultants will be evaluated based on the combined scoring methodology. When using this method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:
Responsive/compliant and
Having received the highest score – out of 100 points
Evaluation of proposals:
When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:
Responsive/ compliant, and
Having received the highest score – out of 100 points.
Out of the maximum score of 100 points, the score for technical criteria equals 70% - maximum 70 points, and for financial criteria 30% - maximum 30 points.
The technical evaluation (70%, or max 70 points) will take into account the following as per the scoring provided:
Education – 15 pts
At least 10 years of working experience in the area of social services. Proven experience and good understanding of research and statistical analysis – 20 pts
Methodology– 20 pts
Results of Interview – 20 pts
Good understanding of the UN mandate in the area of democratic governance – 5 pts
Knowledge and experience of work in the CIS or Central Asia – 10 pts
Fluency in Russian – 10 pts
Financial proposal – 30% of total evaluation - max 30 pts
Only the highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.
Additional requirements for recommended contractor
Recommended contractors aged 62 and older, and if the travel is required, shall undergo a full medical examination including x-ray, and obtain medical clearance from the UN-approved doctor prior to taking up their assignment. The medical examination is to be cleared by the UN physicians, and shall be paid by the consultant.