The present project constitutes a part of the Regional project on “Strengthening Community Resilience and Regional Cooperation to Prevent Violent Extremism in Central Asia” aims to tackle the spread of violent extremism among young men and women, and its manifestations within Central Asia. The project targets Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz republic, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, and will be spearheaded by the UNDP Kazakhstan, which will work closely with the respective UNDP Country Offices and UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub.

The project will provide support to the target groups of youth for the development of professional and business skills by expert groups from the private and public sectors.  Employment interventions will be combined with the provision of social support services to the target youth in accordance with their needs.  In addition, multilateral interactive platforms will be formed in collaboration with the existing youth councils, local governance bodies and civil society to enforce regular dialogue and engage more youth in the process. 

The project activities in Turkmenistan will be aimed at empowering young men and women in country to improve their social integration and opportunities to participate in the labor market and promote peace and stability. Training seminars will be held on peace and security, conflict prevention and mediation, economic and social rights.  In addition, meetings will be held in the format of a round table for youth and representatives of the government, parliament, law enforcement agencies to raise the awareness of young people about the current processes of planning national development and social integration in the country. The project activities will be held in Ashgabat, Turkmenabat, Dashoguz, Mary, Tejen and Turkmenbashi.

The project objectives correspond to main priorities of the Foreign Policy “Concept of foreign policy of Turkmenistan for 2017-2023” in area of maintenance of peace and security in the region. The project will also contribute to implementation of the State Youth Policy of Turkmenistan approved by the subject Law in 2013 and the Program on improvement of the employment services and creation of new jobs for 2015-2020. The project will also contribute towards implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets nationalized by Turkmenistan in September 2016.

For more detailed information about this project as well as other UNDP Turkmenistan projects please visit: www.tm.undp.org.

In accordance with the above-mentioned objective of the assignment and under the supervision of the Project Manager, the International Consultant (IC) will have the objective to draft written guidelines on profiling and case management, design, prepare and conduct a three-day TOT for the specialists of the Public employment services as well as to provide recommendations and post TOT advisory support on the programme implementation. To achieve the objective, he or she will work to produce the following:

1. Prepare the sections of Guidelines on consultancy skills development, motivation of unemployed population on employment and supervision of clients to solicit feedback from the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population of Turkmenistan and regional public employment services;
2. Design, prepare and conduct a 3-day TOT for potential national trainers from the regional public employment services in pilot sites on working with vulnerable youth to include the following: : (1) consultancy skills development, (2) motivation of unemployed population to employment, (3) supervision of clients and (4) preparation of trainers to set up and conduct further trainings for region level specialists to pilot the programme;
3. Provide follow up advisory support and mentor the national specialists on working with target vulnerable youth.

Deliverables and timeframe:

Deliverable 1: Draft of the sections of Guidelines on consultancy skills development, motivation of unemployed population on employment and supervision of clients.

Location: Home-based. Number of days: 3 days.

Deliverable 2:

• Prepare and conduct presentations for a 3-day TOT;
• Mission to Turkmenistan to conduct capacity building TOT for selected specialists from regional employment services on consultancy skills development, motivation of unemployed population on employment and supervision of clients and to prepare trainers to set up and conduct further trainings of district level specialists to pilot the programme;
• Submission of Final Report summarizing the outcomes of the mission, TOT and recommendations.

Location: mission to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Number of days: 6 days.

Deliverable 3: Recommendations from the follow up advisory support and mentoring of the national specialists on working with target vulnerable youth.

Location: Home based. Number of days: 5 days.

Payment Conditions:

This is a lump sum contract that should include all costs required to produce the above deliverables. The payment shall be released via a bank transfer in three installments:

• 20% upon submission and UNDP formal acceptance of Delivery 1;
• 60% upon submission and UNDP formal acceptance of Deliverable 2;
• 20% upon the submission and UNDP formal acceptance of Delivery 3.

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.

Functional Competencies:

• Knowledge of and extensive experience working with UN human rights mechanisms;
• Excellent presentation, facilitation and communication skills;
• Excellent writing skills, including the ability to convey complex concepts and recommendations, in a clear style tailored to match the audience.
• Proven interpersonal skills and ability to work in a multi-cultural environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity;
• Diplomatic skills.

Education:

• University degree in Social Sciences or other related areas;

Experience:

• At least 5 years of working experience in employment and social services areas;
• At least 3 years of experience in designing labor and employment support policies/programmes;
• At least 3 years of experience in conducting TOTs on social support related to employment issues to vulnerable population;
• Proven experience in writing manuals, handbooks;
• Knowledge and experience of work in the CIS or Central Asia is an advantage.

Language requirements:

• Fluency in Russian; fluency in English is desirable.

Submission of applications:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• Cover Letter which contains a brief description of approach to work/technical proposal of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment (maximum 1 page);
• 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 etc.). Template of the form “Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability in English” can be found at  http://www.tm.undp.org/content/turkmenistan/en/home/procurement.html. The UNDP will enter into an Individual Contract based on a lump sum amount. 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 (to and from the missions), per diems, any other possible costs (including vaccinations, dwelling, communication etc.);
• Personal CV form including experience in similar projects and contact details of referees.

Evaluation of proposals:

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

Out of the maximum score, the score for technical criteria equals 70% - maximum 70 points, and for financial criteria 30%.

The technical evaluation will take into account the following as per the scoring provided:

• University degree in Economics, Social Sciences, or other related areas – 10 pts;
• At least 5 years of working experience in in employment and social services areas – 30 pts;
• Experience in designing labour and employment support policies/programmes – 15 pts;
• Proven experience in writing manuals, handbooks - 15 pts;
• Knowledge and experience of work in the CIS or Central Asia – 10 pts.
• Fluency in Russian – 15 pts
• Fluency in English – 5 pts;

Financial proposal – 30% of total evaluation.

Additional requirements for recommended contractor:

Recommended contractors aged 65 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.