Background

A consortium of UN Agencies, including UNICEF, UNDP and UNFPA, is implementing a three-year action towards empowerment of women, youth and children for deepening democracy in Armenia, with financial support from the European Union in Armenia. As part of the Action UNDP, through its Kolba Lab, will be responsible for design and deployment of innovative mechanisms towards promotion of direct democracy and open governance in Armenia.

UNDP’s Kolba Lab is the dedicated unit for development experiments. Since 2012, Kolba Lab has been testing and deploying innovative solutions in public service, civil society and private sector. In 2019, Kolba has officially started a new phase by focusing on citizen engagement initiatives. Kolba currently has two dimensions of programming: Future Modeling and Open Governance. The projects we currently work on are future oriented and contain experimentation and foresight ‘inside the lab’ to prepare for the upcoming changes for youth specifically in the education and job fields. The Open Governance direction strives to design solutions towards a more accountable and participatory public sector.

Civic activism in the country has created a window of opportunity for democratic change and greater accountability, transparency in functioning of the Government and civic participation. The growth of citizen journalism and eye-witness culture in Armenia is reflected in the number of new information platforms, popularity of video blogging and social network channels. Citizens also complement the traditionally institutionalised monitoring and oversight functions of civil society, by holding a spotlight over government operations through mobile applications, self-organised civil actions and citizen scrutiny of policy decisions. ICT platforms, including e-participation tools enabled by the government (e-draft, e-request, interactive budget), remain the main framework for communicating feedback to the decision makers.

In order to address these challenges, UNDP jointly with UNICEF and UNFPA has designed a strategic intervention with the financial support of European Union in Armenia. The project aims to build on the unique momentum of the emerged citizenry and to nudge new quality and value of participatory governance - the right of every woman and man, as well as marginalized groups, to participate in the democratic decision-making process both at local and national levels, towards good governance and equitable development. This project is relevant for the Agenda 2030. It contributes primarily to the progressive achievement of SDG 16 “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”.

UNDP Future Today: Empowering women, youth and children for deepening  Democracy in Armenia Project consists of two components. The first component "Increased trust in Government" will support the Open Government Initiatives with the aim to enhance open governance and broader civic participation. The component will build on the history of open government reforms in Armenia, expanding the accountability movement to the regions of Armenia and engaging new actors. The project will make sure that OGP initiatives are inclusive and available for all segments of the society. The project will help to implement the OGP Action Plan 2020-2022, as well as to ensure strong oversight over its implementation from Armenian women and men and civil society organisations. This will be done through introduction of online feedback loops for public services, as well as empowerment of all segments of citizenry to act proactively.

In order to reach its objectives, project seeks to recruit a Trainer to provide OGP related workshops to the project beneficiaries    

Duties and Responsibilities

The objective of this post is to provide OGP related trainings to the project beneficiaries. The OGP training consultant will work under direct supervision of the Future Today: Empowering women, youth and children for deepening democracy in Armenia Task Lead, with overall guidance of UNDP Armenia/Kolba Lab Lead.

Under the direct supervision of UNDP Armenia “Citizen Engagement” Programme Manager and “Future Today: Empowering women, youth and children for deepening Democracy in Armenia” Project Task Lead, the contractor will be responsible for the following:

• Provide training agenda and syllabus to the project team for approval
• Organize OGP related workshops (up-to 9 workshops) for the target beneficiaries. Particularly, 6 trainings for different groups (up-to 30 people in each group) should be provided covering the following modules:
  • Action plan and application of OGP principles
  • Local-OGP toolkit (mapping and stakeholder role)
  • OGP-Armenia Executive and Coordination of Local-OGP processes (target: Vanadzor and Gyumri local authorities, civil society representatives and other stakeholders (private sector, international partners))
  • 3 trainings for different groups (up-to 45 people in each group) must be proved covering the following modules:
    • Monitoring and communication mechanisms at the community level
    • Development of an institutional decision-making mechanism at the local level

Expected deliverables:   

Payment mode:

Payment will be made in the following installments upon completion of the tasks under each output and approval of deliverables by the UNDP country office and Project Lead:  

• Outputs 1&2- 70% of total amount
• Output 3 - 30% of total amount

Competencies

• Good online communication skills;
• Good communication skills: speaking, writing and editing skills in English and Russian;
• Creative personality;
• Strong organizational and interpersonal skills with ability to work under pressure within an international setting.
• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.
• Ability to communicate sensitively and effectively across different constituencies;
• Strong analytical and research skills
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Self-starter and initiator of creative and innovative ideas;

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Degree in Social Sciences, Political Science, Public Administration, Public Policy or a related field;

Language Skills

• Fluency in Armenian and English is required (written and oral), knowledge of other UN official languages will be considered an asset

Experience:

• At least 5 years of relevant experience in working with CSOs and public sector
• Experience in training/coaching, preferable OGP related
• Experience in Open Governance and knowledge of OGP framework

INDIVIDUAL CANDIDATES WILL BE EVALUATED BASED ON THE FOLLOWING METHODOLOGY:

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants' technical qualifications, experience and financial proposal.The contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as technically responsive/compliant/acceptable to the requirements of the ToR and received the highest cumulative (technical and financial) score out of below defined technical and financial criteria.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation - max. 70 points

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation - max. 30 points.

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE APPLICATION.

• Financial Proposal and Availability form: OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP (A total lump sum  option is applicable for this assignment)
• CV shall include Education/Qualification, Processional Certification, Employment Records /Experience

General Conditions of Contract is available here: GENERAL CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT

Note: Please note you can upload only one document to this application (scan all documents in one single PDF file to attach).