The Leave No One Behind (LNB) Project builds upon the vast experience of the UN and UNDP in addressing social inclusion and the needs of vulnerable groups. It supports the implementation of the newly shaped vision of the social sector in Albania, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the country’s aspirations towards EU integration. LNB avails of technical expertise and know-how of UN agencies aiming at allowing for greater impact and outreach by focusing on the municipal level and its linkage to the national level. The objective of this four-year programme (2017 – 2021) is to empower vulnerable persons and groups to have equal access to public services and opportunities, have a voice in public decision-making affecting their lives and hold the duty bearers accountable. The project’s first phase (2017-2021) is designed to:

• strengthen the vulnerable population to request and receive adequate social services from local authorities that support their social inclusion,
• help municipalities to effectively manage the provision of social services and promote social inclusion, and
• support national institutions to implement their policy framework for providing social services and adequately fund social services.

Governance and gender equality are the project’s cross-cutting issues that are mainstreamed throughout outcomes under a human rights perspective.

The project’s target groups who indirectly and directly benefit from improved social services, are the marginalized populations of Albania, with children and women often being the most vulnerable, and especially persons with disabilities, Roma and Egyptians. The improvement of their social inclusion is supported by interventions at macro level (central authorities and services such as the Albanian Institute of Statistics), at meso level (municipalities and civil society organizations) and at micro level, actively involving the programme’s target groups into the programme’s implementation. The project covers all of Albania, by improving social service provision in all 61 municipalities; specific geographic foci are targeted by reacting to specific needs and challenges in selected municipalities.

The programme’s implementation is the responsibility of the four UN agencies UNDP, UNICEF, UN Women and UNFPA, who cooperate with state actors from central and local level, with civil society organizations and directly with target groups.

Support to the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the national policy and legal framework for persons with disabilities has a special focus in the programme.

In the context of the support provided to Albanian Municipalities to ensure the provision of social services and promote social inclusion, UNDP/LNB Programme will provide technical assistance to Tirana Municipality to develop the plan of actions on social care services for and social inclusion of persons with disabilities that will be an integral part of the new Local Social Care Plan 2021-2025 which is also under development.

Content-wise, the municipal action plan on persons with disabilities should contribute at improving the life of persons with disabilities by anticipating priority measures in the area of social care services in the context of decentralisation. The plan of actions has to be in line with the disability-related national legal, policy and programme framework, and international treaties where Albania adheres to. More specifically, the measures of the plan should pay due consideration to the requirements of the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities , the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on the report of Albania on the implementation of the CRPD, the law no. 93/2014 on Inclusion of and Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities and its by-laws, the law no. 121/2016 “On social care services in Albania” and its by-laws, other sectoral legislation affecting Persons with disabilities, the National Social Protection Strategy 2020-2023, the Social Inclusion Policy Document 2016-2020, the National Action Plan on Persons with Disabilities 2021-2025 including the National Plan on Accessibility which are under development, and other sectoral strategies (health, employment, education, transports, housing, culture, sports, territorial planning, urbanism) affecting persons with disabilities. On the other hand, the plan of actions should not only be elaborated based on a needs’ assessment conducted at municipality level but also build on the results achieved and lessons learned from the disability-related measures implemented under the previous Local Social Care Plan 2018-2020 of Tirana Municipality.  Furthermore, the plan has to be age and gender sensitive in all its elements.

In terms of development methodology and structure, the elaboration of the action plan will refer to the requirements of the Decision of the Council of Ministers, no.150, date 20.03.2019, on the “Methodology of the funds calculation for the social care services’ financing” and to the guide “Instruments for planning social care services” detailing the steps and the template of the plan. The elaboration process will comprise constant participatory consultations with the relevant stakeholders, particularly, the local organisations of persons with disabilities, taking care they represent all types of disabilities and groups of persons with disabilities.  Particular attention should be paid to the involvement of those groups that face intersectional/multiple discrimination such as women, children and youth with disabilities, persons with intellectual and psycho-social disabilities, those living in remote areas, those belonging to poor households or to Roma & Egyptian communities, etc, so that their needs for services and their input to the plan is adequately collected and reflected in the document. Furthermore, adequate attention should be paid to the accessibility requirements for individuals with disabilities involved in the consultation process of the plan.

While being developed, the document should be in harmonisation and coherence with the other parts of Tirana Local Social Care Plan 2021-2025.  

To provide Tirana Municipality with the requested technical assistance, LNB programme is seeking to recruit a national consultant whose tasks and responsibilities are described below.

Duties and responsibilities

Under the guidance of the UNDP Programme Specialist for Social Inclusion, the supervision of the LNB Programme Manager, and the technical direction and support of Tirana Municipality’s General Director of Social Services, the national consultant will carry out the following main tasks:

• Get familiar with Tirana Local Social Care Plan 2018-2020, particularly the measures affecting persons with disabilities, and related monitoring reports, the CRPD and the UN Committee’s Concluding Observations for Albania, the in force disabilities-related policy, programmatic and legal framework covering social inclusion, social protection, employment and skills, education, health, housing, transports, culture, sports, territorial planning and urbanism, and other social areas.
• Prepare a detailed work plan with the timeline for the assignment, to be discussed and agreed with UNDP/LNB team and Tirana Municipality’s General Director of Social Services.  
• Review from the desk the status of implementation of the past local social care plan 2018-2020 to the extent it affects persons with disabilities, by identifying achievements, challenges and any lessons learned and use the findings when drafting the new plan of actions
• At the initial design phase of the plan, develop for consultation purposes two one-day workshops on: i) legislation and needs assessment; and ii) planning and costing of social care services and other measures, with the ad hoc Action Plan Working Group composed of the municipality staff and other relevant stakeholders including representatives from organizations of persons with disabilities.
• Assist the Working Group to draft, in compliance with DCM no.150 and other recommended guidelines, the new local action plan on persons with disabilities 2021-2025 including goals, objectives, activities, targets, achievement indicators, baselines, responsible institutions, timeframe and costs with clear financial sources; prepare a narrative/explanatory note on the anticipated/calculated costs; prepare the related budget brief;  assist the development of a monitoring, evaluation and reporting framework on the implementation of the action plan.
• Facilitate a one-day discussion of the developed draft Plan held by Tirana Municipality with the group of interest and their representative organisations, CSOs, local councillors, duty bearers and other relevant stakeholders with the view to validate the situation analysis, needs assessment, objectives and planned and costed actions.  
• Facilitate key stakeholders’ feedback; agree and reflect all necessary changes in the draft local action plan on persons with disabilities.
• Finalise the draft local plan of actions on persons with disabilities in Albanian and a summary in English.
• Liaise and ensure constant communication/coordination with: i) the team(s) of experts working on other parts of Tirana Local Social Care Plan to guaranty the harmonised insertion of the assignment output into the Social Care Plan document; ii) the UNDP/LNB team regarding all key programmatic aspects of the assignment.

Deliverables:  

• A document proposing the work plan and the timeline for the assignment;
• A summary of the status of implementation of the actions on persons with disabilities in the previous Social Care Plan 2018-2020 of Tirana Municipality;
• A program on each of the topics to be addressed during the two one-day consultation workshops and delivery of the workshops;
• Initial Draft of the new local action plan 2021-2025 on persons with disabilities including all the relevant input to the scope and purpose of the assignment;
• Minutes of the validation meeting held by Tirana Municipality with the relevant stakeholders; 
• Finalized draft of the local action plan on persons with disabilities as an integral part of Tirana Municipality Social Care Plan 2021-2025, including the narrative explanatory note on costing provisions and the budget brief;
• Summary of the local action plan on persons with disabilities in English.  

All outputs will be agreed with and approved by UNDP/LNB team.

Timeline

The work is expected to be completed within 25 working days over a period of 3 months and a half (February to mid-May 2021) from the contract signature date.

Corporate:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards
• Commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values; 
• Sensitivity to cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age differences;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism

Functional Competencies:

• Demonstrates professional competence and is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results;
• Excellent understanding of vulnerabilities, social services and human and disability rights;
• Excellent understanding of social protection sector, public finance, planning and budgeting;
• Analytical thinking, research and creativity, writing, reporting and presentation skills;
• Ability to consult with a broad range of government and non-government stakeholders and to adapt to a dynamic working environment;
• Strong interpersonal, teamwork and communication skills.
• Knowledge and skills to mainstream gender equality in outputs.

Academic qualifications:

• Postgraduate degree in Social Sciences, Public Administration, Management, Economics, Law  or closely related field of studies;

Relevant Experience:

• Minimum ten years of progressive work experience on social protection and inclusion policies and programmes;
• Substantial experience in drafting, implementing, monitoring and reporting on policies with relevance to protection and inclusion of persons with disabilities;
• Proven experience in delivering/facilitating capacity building activities;
• Relevant experience with UN Agencies or other international organizations would be appreciated;

Language

• Fluency in written and spoken Albanian and English

Evaluation Procedure

UNDP applies a fair and transparent selection process that would consider 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: Ten year of progressive work experience on social protection and inclusion policies and programmes –     max points: 25

Criteria B: Substantial experience on protection and inclusion of persons with disabilities – max points: 20

Criteria C: Delivery/facilitation skills of capacity building activities and experience with international organizations –    max points: 10

Criteria D: Relevance of Educational background – max points: 15

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

Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (70 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

Contract Award

Candidate obtaining the highest combined scores in the combined score of Technical and Financial evaluation will be considered technically qualified and will be offered to enter into contract with UNDP.

Application procedure:

The application should contain:

• Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application.
• Latest personal Curriculum Vitae (CV) including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees, including past experience from similar projects or completed and signed UN Personal History Form (P11) for Service Contracts (SC) and Individual Contracts (IC) – Blank form Download here.
• Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability-please fill in the attached form...  www.un.org.al/sites/default/files/IC_Offerors%20Letter%20to%20UNDP%20Confirming%20Interest%20and%20Availability.docx
• Financial Proposal in USD - specifying a total lump sum in USD
  http://www.un.org.al/doc/Financial%20Offer%20template.doc (The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable -qualitative and quantitative- deliverables . 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).
• Copy of Diplomas and copy of Passport. 

* Kindly note that Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability and Financial Proposal are two separate documents and should both be part of your application. Incomplete applications will not be considered. 

How to Submit the Application:

To submit your application online, please follow the steps below:

• Merge your CV or P11, Financial Proposal Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability and cover letter into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded;
• Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement);
• Click “Apply Now” button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click “Submit Application;”
• Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above);
• You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

Due to a large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.