Background
UNDP – Malawi is supporting the Malawi Human Rights Commission (the Commission) in strengthening human rights complaints management. It is in this context that UNDP-Malawi seeks services of an ICT SPECIALIST to design an automated case management system for the Commission. design an automated case management system for the CommissionThe Malawi Human Rights Commission is a National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) for Malawi established by the Constitution of Malawi. The primary function of the Commission is the promotion and protection of human rights accorded by the Constitution or any other law. The Commission started its operations in 1999 following the enactment of the enabling legislation, the Human Rights Commission Act (HRCA) in 1998 and appointment of the first cohort of commissioners in 1999. At the foundation stage, the Commission was organised based on its functions, including investigations of violations of human rights. However, in 2009, the Commission decided to focus on thematic issues and as such, its operational structure was reorganized to include the directorates of Civil and Political Rights, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Child Rights, Gender and Women Rights and Disability and Elderly Persons. These directorates perform protection and promotion functions as stated above. Investigations of the violations of rights are however undertaken as part of the broader functions of the thematic areas and as such have often not received adequate attention.
Following performance of multiple tasks requiring diverse skills by technical directorates, it has been evident that, over time, the Commission has lacked the competency to effectively handle complaints. This inadequacy has manifested in inordinate delays in the conclusion of investigations and; inadequate ratio of concluded and resolved cases and complaints of human rights violations. While other financial factors account for these manifestations, the accumulation of the backlog mainly stems from weak complaint handling systems and procedures which occasion the delays and also inefficiencies; inadequate technical skills relevant for complaint handling. Additionally, the manual complaint handling systems and procedures do not adequately provide for case reminder and tracking system. These deficiencies account for the bulk of cases that remain unattended. It must be noted that owing to the aforementioned challenges, the Commission has accumulated more than 1000 cases. Some of these cases were received more than 17 years ago. It is not known whether complainants for these cases still exist or not or the issues remain unresolved or not. But it is noteworthy that such inordinate delays erode people’s confidence in the work of the Commission on protection of human rights. In addition, as the Commission is not able to adequately follow the process of complaint handling, it has become difficult (or almost impossible) for the Commission to detect the major importers of complaints of human rights violations by locality and also generation of human rights. But disaggregated data on the type of complaints the Commission receives is necessary to inform strategy selection.
It must also be noted that existing systems and procedures for complaints handling at the Commission were developed in early 2000 and partially reviewed in 2007. Over time, most officers and members of the Commission that have received training in complaints handling have since left the institution.
Duties and Responsibilities
The assignment aims to contribute to the service delivery reforms currently underway at the Commission by turning around performance in complaints handling. In these reforms, the assignment will particularly facilitate capacity building of the Commission focusing on systems, policies, procedures and skills to enable the Commission effectively and efficiently handle complaints and other cases of human rights violations. Specifically, the assignment aims to:
- review and redesign the systems and procedures for handling complaints in order to improve efficiency, effectiveness and responsiveness of the Commission;
- reorganize and computerize data on human rights complaints;
- automate complaints handling system in collaboration with a Human Rights Expert;
- orient complaint handling officers and members of the Commission on the new system and procedures;
The scope of the assignment shall include but not limited to:
- Conduct an institutional assessment including gap analysis focusing on systems, policies, procedures and skills relating to complaint handling at the Commission;
- Prepare an institutional assessment report relating to complaints handling;
- Facilitate a consultative and participatory process of reviewing and redesigning the complaints handling system, procedures and policies Review other human rights complaints handling systems especially from the region to tap from best practices;
- Pre-test the revised complaint handling system, including procedures;
- Come up with a Final Complaint Handling System;
- Collate and document skills gaps and training needs for members and complaint handling officers of the Commission;
- Facilitate skills transfer to members and complaint handling officers of the Commission; and
- Prepare final report.
Competencies
- The consultant will provide expertise in human rights and complaints handling.
- Excellent writing and reporting skills.
- He/ She will have in-depth knowledge and experience on Human Rights pertaining to developing countries, preferably in Sub- Saharan Africa.
Required Skills and Experience
Requirements for experience and qualifications.
The consultant will provide expertise in human rights and complaints handling. the consultant will have the following qualifications:
Education:
- A university post graduate degree or its equivalent in Law or Human Rights or related disciplines.
Experience:
- Minimum of 10 years work experience in the field of Human Rights.
- Experience and familiarity with National Human Rights Institutions procedures.
- Experience with complaints handling systems.
Language:
- Fluency in written and spoken English.
Documents to be included when submitting the proposals.
Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:
Technical Proposal:
- Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work
- Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work (if applicable)
- fill annex 1 Offeror’s Letter to UNDP attached
Financial proposal.
Personal CV including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references
Financial Proposal.
Lump sum contracts:
- The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). 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 travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days).
Contracts based on daily fee.
- The financial proposal will specify the daily fee, travel expenses and per diems quoted in separate line items, and payments are made to the Individual Consultant based on the number of days worked.
Travel.
- All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.
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 Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.
Evaluation.
- Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:
- Cumulative analysis
- 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:
- Having received the 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%
Please note that the Office might choose desk review or/and interview to assess candidates. If interview the committee will draft questions that fall under evaluation criteria below. Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 point would be considered for the Financial Evaluation
Technical:
- Criteria A (Example: qualifications); 20 points
- Criteria B (Experience); 20 points
- Criteria C ( Specific expertise); 20 points
- Criteria D (Methodology); 30 points
- Criteria E (Competencies); 10 points
Financial: 30 points.
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