Background

UNDP supports stabilization, state-building, governance and development priorities in Afghanistan. UNDP support, in partnership with the Government, the United Nations system, the donor community and other development stakeholders, has contributed to institutional development efforts leading to positive impact on the lives of Afghan citizens. Over the years, UNDP support has spanned such milestone efforts as the adoption of the Constitution; Presidential, Parliamentary and Provincial Council elections; institutional development through capacity-building to the legislative, the judicial and executive arms of the state, and key ministries, Government agencies and commissions at the national and subnational levels. UNDP has played a key role in the management of the Law and Order Trust Fund, which supports the Government in developing and maintaining the national police force and in efforts to stabilize the internal security environment. Major demobilization, disarmament and rehabilitation and area-based livelihoods and reconstruction programmes have taken place nationwide. UNDP Programmes in Afghanistan have benefited from the very active support of donors. UNDP Afghanistan is committed to the highest standards of transparency and accountability and works in close coordination with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the UN system as a whole to maximize the impact of its development efforts on the ground.

Objective of the Assignment:

The Country Office is recruiting a National Consultant (Liaison and Interpretation Coordinator) to work closely with the Resident Representative under his direction, and also provide interpretation service during his meetings with high level Government officials and Afghan grassroot level representative.

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK AND DELIVERABLES:

The National Consultant (Liaison and Interpretation Coordinator) under the overall guidance of the Resident Representative will be primarily responsible for the following work:

Highlighted Responsibilities of the Assignment:

  • Provide liaison service with the Government based on instructions from the UNDP Resident Representative;
  • Keep up to date information about political and country specific context;
  • Provide interpretation services when RR meets with Senior Govt. Official and Afghan grassroot level representative;
  • Advocacy for UNDP activities;
  • Performs consecutive, simultaneous oral interpretation in Dari, Pashto and English languages;
  • Interpretation of strategic planning discussions and presentations with GoA partners;
  • Act as an interpreter in meetings, conferences, trainings, press conferences;
  • Assist in making contacts and setting up meetings;
  • Oversee the meeting preparation and reporting of the meetings, such as preparation of agenda, taking notes on necessary correspondences, taking minutes and preparing meeting reports as requested, and keep the RR up to date on their progresses;
  • Perform written translation for the RR when necessary;
  • Perform other duties and responsibilities as required and necessary as assigned by the RR;

Expected Outputs, Deliverables, Timelines:

  • The Consultant will submit monthly report and timesheet based on actual days worked during the consultancy period.

Payment Modality;

Payments shall be done monthly based on actual days worked, upon verification of completion of specific reports and approval by the consultant’s supervisor and a timesheet according to UNDP procurement formats for individual contractors.

WORKING ARRANGEMENTS

Institutional Arrangements:

The National Consultant will work under the direct supervision of Resident Representative. The National Consultant will be reporting to the office daily during office working hours, reporting to the direct supervisor. The National Consultant will submit a monthly report to her/his supervisor on activities of support during this period.

Logistics:

The National Consultant is expected to use his/her own laptops; UNDP Afghanistan will provide the consultant with office space, Access to printers and Wi-Fi;

Duration of the Work:

The performance under the contract shall take place over total contract duration of two (2) months, with maximum of 44 working days.

Payment Schedule;

Deliverables and payment will be on monthly basis with confirmation of satisfactory work signified through signature of Certificate of Payment approved by Operations Specialist or his/her designate.

Competencies

Other qualifications:

  • In-depth understanding of political and Security situation of Afghanistan
  • Clear understanding Cultural sensitivity
  • Excellent local network
  • Relationship with the Government

Required Skills and Experience

REQUIREMENTS FOR EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS;

Academic Qualifications and Experience:

  • Bachelor’s degree with 1 year of experience or High School Certificate along with 2 years of professional experience. Special certification in translation is an asset.

Language:

Fluency in English, Dari and/or Pashto is a necessary requirement.

PRICE PROPOSAL AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS

Shortlisted candidates (ONLY) will be requested to submit a Financial Proposal. The consultant shall then submit a price proposal when requested by UNDP, in accordance with the below:

  1. Daily Fee – The contractor shall propose a daily fee, which should be inclusive of his professional fee, local communication cost and insurance (inclusive of medical health insurance and evacuation). The number of working days for which the daily fee shall be payable under the contract of 20 working days.
  2. The total professional fee shall be converted into a lump-sum contract and payments under the contract shall be made on submission and acceptance of deliverables under the contract in accordance with the schedule of payment linked with deliverables and at the end of assignment.

UNDP reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs is incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines.

EVALUATION METHOD AND CRITERIA

Individual consultant will be evaluated based on the following methodology:
The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

  1. Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
  2. 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%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.
Technical Evaluation (70%)

Qualification, Experience and Technical Proposal (70 marks):

  1. Written Test (20 marks) – to be eligible for the consultancy as Liaison and Interpretation Coordinator, the applicants shall attain a passing score on a written examination. During written examination the applicants shall translate documents from English to Dari and vice versa (from Dari to English). Competencies in Pashto may also be tested.
     
  2. Interview (20 marks) - to be eligible for the consultancy job as Liaison and Interpretation Coordinator, the shortlisted applicants shall be invited for an interview based on competencies related to the TOR. 
     
  3. Qualification/Education and Experience (30 marks) [evaluation of CV for shortlisting]

                          a.Experience relevant to the assignment [15 marks);
                          b.General Qualification (15 marks).

Financial Evaluation (30%):
The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:
p = y (µ/z), where
p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated
y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal
µ = price of the lowest priced proposal
z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals:
Interested international Consultant must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document:

  1. Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references.


All materials developed will remain the copyright of UNDP Afghanistan. UNDP Afghanistan will be free to adapt and modify them in the future.

Annexes (click on the hyperlink to access the documents):

Incomplete application will not be considered, it will be disqualified automatically