Background

Objective

Support to facilitate the implementation of national activities for the UNDP Pacific Office (PO). Parliamentary Development Team and liaison with national partners in Solomon Islands.

Background

The UNDP in the Pacific works with parliaments to address constraints to the effectiveness and capacities of national parliaments in Pacific Island Countries (PICs) in order to engage with key development issues, contribute to the development of participatory and transparent national planning processes, expand parliamentary outreach and citizen engagement to include traditionally excluded groups such as women and youth, and increase the political participation of women. Specifically, it provides country (national) programming support for 10 PICs (Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Nauru, Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati, FSM, Palau, Marshall Islands. The Pacific Office in Fiji also provides regional programming support across the whole of the Pacific encompassing the 10 PICS, plus PNG, Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue, and the Territory of Tokelau.

Currently, UNDP PO is implementing the following parliamentary strengthening projects in the Pacific:

• The Fiji Parliament Support Project (FPSP) - a four (4)-year project implemented from 2017 – 2020 with a budget of US$4.7m and funded by the Governments of New Zealand, Australia and Japan;

• The Strengthening Legislatures in the Pacific (SLIP) Project - a three (3) year regional project implemented from 2018 – 2020 with a budget of US$5.2m focusing on 5 pacific parliaments, funded by the Government of Japan.

• The Pacific Parliamentary Effectiveness Initiative (PPEI) Phase II Project - to be implemented for four (4) years from May 2019 – April 2023 with a budget of US$5.4m. It is a regional project focusing on five (5) Pacific parliaments, with additional funding to support another five (5) smaller pacific parliaments in the Pacific. The project is funded by the Government of New Zealand.

To ensure the continued implementation of activities jointly agreed by UNDP PO, and the Pacific Parliaments, UNDP’s Parliamentary Development Team is engaging the services of a National Consultant to provide quality support in the:

1. implementation of national level activities agreed with the parliament and key partners; and

2. facilitation of in-country strategic discussions on parliamentary development efforts and other related issues, as assigned by the UNDP Parliamentary Development Specialist;

Liaison with national partners, especially within parliament (or legislature) the office of the Speaker and the office of the Clerk, as assigned by the UNDP Parliamentary Development Specialist.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

The Parliamentary Development Local Coordinator, under the direct supervision of the Parliamentary Development Specialist /Portfolio Lead, will facilitate the implementation of activities and in-country discussions for FPSP, SLIP and PPEI projects.

To this end, the Parliamentary Development National Consultant shall provide technical advice and implementation support by undertaking the following tasks:

• Contribute to the discussions, consultations and finalization of the Strategic Plan of the National Parliament;
• Facilitate appropriate discussions and follow-ups on key activities with the national parliament and national partners;
• Provide quality strategic advice on a range of national issues to the Parliamentary Development Specialist, including (but not limited to) political and economic developments, key governance actors and their interests, potential parliamentary development partnerships etc.; and
• Undertake high quality research on key national issues, draft Terms of Reference, concept notes and activity briefs/reports, as assigned by the Clerk of Parliament and the Parliamentary Development Specialist.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

Institutional Arrangement

• The Consultant will report directly to the Clerk of Parliament, Solomon Islands and to the UNDP PO Parliamentary Development Specialist.
• All materials developed relating to the assignment will be submitted to the UNDP PO; and
• At the end of each month, the consultant is to submit a progress report (and relevant accompanying documents) outlining key activities and strategic discussions progressed.
• The Consultant will be given a desk space and internet access in the National Parliament of the Solomon Islands but bring his/her own computer and other resources needed to fulfill his/her role. 

Duration of the Work

The envisaged duration for the consultancy is 120 days (Between July to December 2021).

Duty Station

The consultant will be homebased.

Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling 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;
• Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment
• Excellent analytical skills and ability to present and engage with high level audience, for example, Members of Parliament, senior government officials, donors etc.;
• Mature judgment combined with a proactive approach to problem solving; excellent interpersonal and communication skills;
• Integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards; and
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision and meet deadlines.

Required Skills and Experience

Educational Qualifications:

• Bachelors or equivalent in political science, economics, governance, law or related field.

Experience

• Minimum of five (5) years of project management experience at national, regional or international level;
• Proven networks in and knowledge of national governance structures;
• Strong experience in research and policy-level analysis and the design, formulation and coordinating of project activities;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems.

Language requirements

• Fluency and good working level of English is required.

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Lump Sum Amount. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below percentages:

In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Evaluation Method and Criteria

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on Cumulative analysis.

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70%) and financial criteria (30%). Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.

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

Documentation required

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document:

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided in Annex II.

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

• Financial proposal, as per template provided in Annex II in United States Dollars (USD).

Note: Successful individual will be required to provide proof of medical insurance coverage before commencement of contract for the duration of the assignment.

Incomplete, joint proposals and proposals sent to the wrong mailing address will not be accepted and only candidates for whom there is further interest will be contacted.

Individuals interested in this consultancy should apply and will be reviewed based on their own individual capacity. The successful individual may sign an Individual Contract with UNDP or request his/her employer to sign a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA) on their behalf by indicating this in the Offerors letter to Confirming Interest and Availability using Annex II.

Annexes

• Annex I - Individual IC General Terms and Conditions

• Annex II – Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual IC, including Financial Proposal Template

   

All required templates are available on the UNDP Procurement website: www.pacific.undp.org

Proposal Submission

• All applications must be clearly marked with the title of the consultancy (Parliamentary Development Local Coordinator – Solomon Islands) with reference (PN/FJI/049/21) and submitted via UN Job shop or via email to etenderbox.pacific@undp.org  by 2 July 2021.
• Note: UNDP Jobs only supports single document upload hence ensure that the proposal is consolidated and submitted as one single document.
• For further information concerning this Terms of Reference, please contact UNDP Pacific Office by email: procurement.fj@undp.org.

Women applicants are encouraged to apply