Background

UNDP, in partnership with the government counterpart Ministry of Interior, provides a multi-pronged assistance to strengthening local governance in Albania, through its STAR2 project. Indeed, the project provides assistance at two levels: at the local level for systematic and inclusive capacity building for all local government administrations, and for organization of public service delivery systems for a more integrated, innovative, transparent, and accountable ways;  and, operational and organizational support to the counterpart Ministry fo Interior and its local government arm, the Agency for support to local government (ASLG).

A particular assistance provided by STAR2 to all Albanian municipalities until end 2018 was related to capacity building in introducing national standards and legal requirements in managing records of local governments, i.e. local archiving. This assistance was succesfully completed, resulting in a total number of 343 local archive and protocol employees across the country certified by the general directorate of Archives based on their results. 

In parallel, ASLG, with the Albanian Government funds has procured and distributed to all municipalities the necessary IT equipment to perform the digitalization of local archives, coupled with the development and installation of a document management system. Some training of relevant municipal staff has been also provided in the past and there is need to pursue this objective in terms of knowledge refreshing, support and coordination. In terms of coordination, there is need to improve communication between archive headquarters, regional archives offices, municipal department, and the Agency itself. The digitalization of local archives seems more feasible and logical now that the physical archiving has been put in a unique standard and therefore the timing is appropriate.

Nevertheless, given human resources restrictions, the ASLG has requested STAR2 support to engage two specialists with sufficient knowledge in the field of archiving, and familiar with local government operations and structures to help review, support and implement the plan for digitalization of archives.

Considering this request as a bridging between UNDP’s and Government’s assistance and as a follow up of the assistance on physical archiving, UNDP is seeking to provide temporary support to the ASLG through the hiring of two archiving specialists, who should complementarily possess knowledge and experience in archiving and in the area of local governance, including knowledge of the efforts to date in local archiving. Both specialists will be stationed in ASLG

Duties and Responsibilities

 The main task of the archiving specialists is to assist the Agency for Support of Local Governance in the coordination of the implementation of digitalization of archives in the 61 LGUs. The archiving specialists will report to the Director of ASLG and work in close relationship with Agency inspectors and STAR2 regional coordinators.

More specifically, the duties and responsibilities of the archiving specialists would include the following:  

·         Review the situation to date, the progress and the bottlenecks

·         Review, together with the ASLG team, the latest implementation plan from the angle of feasibility, required resources and the monitoring system in place

·         Enhance the coordination and monitoring system as well as the progress monitoring aspects

·         Solve problems of operational nature that might arise during the process of digitalization

·         Coordinate with local government units and with the regional and central offices of State Archives for a smooth implementation of the task

·         Report to the Director of the Agency on a monthly basis, and to the Ministry of Interior whenever required

The archiving specialists will work closely with the ASLG inspectors and with STAR 2 regional coordinators to coordinate and deliver the following:

·         Report on the situation assessment with digitalization of archiving in 61 municipalities

·         Discuss and prepare with local stakeholders a roll out plan for digitalization of local archives

·         Physical archiving of Consultative Council Documentation

·         Prepare 61 sets of documentation for the new mayors

·         Report on digitalization of 4 lots of LGUs

·         Prepare and deliver the final report

The archiving specialists will work under the supervision of ASLG and in cooperation with Agency’s inspectors and STAR 2 regional coordinators.

Competencies

Core Values

• Demonstrating/safeguarding UN core values on accountability, integrity, transparency, mutual respect, professionalism, and results orientation
• Demonstrates professional competence and is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results
• Displays cultural, gender, nationality, religion and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards

Core competencies

• Facilitates and encourages open communication in the team, communicating effectively
• Able to identify priorities and plan/organize efficiently in line with agreed approach/framework
• Demonstrates self-initiative and responsibility in carrying out tasks
• Demonstrates the ability to act as a team player and facilitate team work in a multicultural environment

Functional competencies

• Work independently and assist with multiple projects, priorities, and locations;                 
• Work under pressure with interruptions and challenging deadlines;          
• Willingness to work with many different people;                                                                           
• Must show aptitude and desire to learn new skills on the job;                                                  
• Be able to communicate clearly and precisely in Albanian and English, both orally and in writing;                                         
• Work as a team member and to promote a positive work environment;                            
• Able to adapt to change and meet deadlines;
• Good troubleshooting skills using logic and common sense;

Required Skills and Experience

Education

·         Bachelor’s Degree in archiving, history and philology, public/business administration, informatics or other related fields.

Work experience

·         At least 3 years of working experience in public administration or in a project environment

·         Experience with document management processes at public and private sector, protocol and archiving processes

·         Work experience exposed to relations with local government matters

·         Knowledge of local government development in Albania and local government operations

Language requirement

·         Good command of written and spoken Albanian and English;

Evaluation Procedure

UNDP applies a fair and transparent selection process that would take into account both the technical qualification of Individual Consultants as well as their financial proposals. The contract will be awarded to the candidate whose offer:

·         Is deemed technically responsive / compliant / acceptable (only technically responsive applications / candidates will be considered for the financial evaluation)

·         And has obtained the highest combined technical and financial scores.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max points: 70

Criteria A:            Professional experience in the required areas – max points: 35

Criteria B:            Educational background – max points: 10

Criteria C:            Adequacy of brief proposed methodology – max points: 25

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