Historique
The genuine participation of all citizens in political processes is a cornerstone of democratic governance.
Political participation is clearly rooted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which clearly mention the right of every person to equal participation in public affairs, the right to vote and to be elected, and the right to access to public service. Participation has subsequently been codified as a principle and human right in other international and regional human rights instruments. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) addresses participation throughout the different articles as a cross-cutting issue and in article 29 clearly states the rights of persons with disabilities to participate in political and public life without discrimination and on an equal basis with others and calls upon state parties to guarantee those rights. These rights enable persons with disabilities and their representative organizations to achieve change peacefully and legitimately through democratic processes.
However, as a result of multiple legal and social barriers, the right to vote or to participation in political and public life is currently denied to people with mental and intellectual disabilities in many countries of the world. Even when no legal restrictions exist, persons with intellectual disabilities face barriers that prevent them from voting, standing for election for public office and civic participation, or simply having a say in their own lives.
UNDP’s work on democratic governance and peacebuilding includes programming to support the development policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities for inclusive political processes. UNDP is the lead implementer of electoral assistance and parliamentary development support in the UN system. In its programming, UNDP places high priority on the political participation and civic engagement of persons and groups of society that are marginalized, excluded and often under represented from political institutions and political making processes. Increasing people’s voice and participation in political and public life is a key feature of UNDP’s work in democratic governance. This demand must be satisfied if the Agenda 2030 promise to ‘leave no-one behind’ is to be realized. It is in this context that UNDP approaches SDG16’s vision of ‘peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development’, providing ‘access to justice for all’ and building ‘effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels’. Such governance is a pre-requisite for achieving the entirety of Agenda 2030.
UNDP wants to commission a study to identify key barriers affecting participation in political and public life of persons with mental and intellectual disabilities as well as good practices and country examples that could help improve our programming in the area. The study will also help UNDP to pinpoint key intervention, partnerships and actions that could be useful at the global level. The paper will have a gender perspective, highlighting specific barriers and challenges face by women and girls with mental and intellectual disabilities and ensuring that recommendations address any gender issues arising from the study.
Devoirs et responsabilités
Duties and Responsibilities:
The objective of the consultancy is to develop a study on participation in political and public life of persons with mental and intellectual disabilities. The consultant will first conduct literature review on the issue and produce a comprehensive list of available resources and publications on the topic. In addition, the consultant will develop a paper that will examine a) key barriers affecting political participation of people with mental and intellectual disabilities; b) identify good practices and experiences (including UN or UNDP programming) and c) identify key interventions and actions needed at the global level.
Deliverables:
- Literature review and comprehensive list of resources and publication on the issue of pollical and public participation of persons
- Paper on participation in political and public life of persons with mental and intellectual disabilities
Management and Responsibilities:
The consultant will perform her duties under the direct supervision of the Electoral Policy Specialist and in close consultation with the Inclusive Political Process Team Leader and the UNDP’s Disability Focal Point in the Rule of Law and Human Rights Team.
Compétences
Core Values and Guiding Principles:
Integrity
- Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UNDP in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct;
Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity
- Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;
- Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.
Corporate Competencies:
- Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN's values and ethical standards;
- Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP and the UN;
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
- Treats all people fairly without favoritism.
Technical/Functional Competencies:
- Strong theoretical understanding of policy and programmatic issues related to the promotion of disability rights in the context of developing countries;
- Strong understanding of issues related to the participation of persons with disabilities in political processes and public life pursuant to Article 29 of the CRPD
- Strong analytical skills.
- Very good knowledge and understanding of the UNCRPD.
- Good understanding of UN/UNDP programming in the field.
Qualifications et expériences requises
Education:
- Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Disability Studies, Political Science, Human Rights, International Relations, Development or another related field
Experience
- A minimum of seven years of professional experience working on the promotion of rights, inclusion and political participation of persons of disabilities
- Familiarity with the work of the UN system on disabilities
- Experience researching and drafting policy documents, especially on disabilities and inclusive political processes
Language:
Excellent written and verbal English communication skills required; knowledge of another UN language an asset.
Application Procedure
The application package containing the following (to be uploaded as one pdf file):
- Online application with brief description of why the Offer considers her/himself the most suitable for the assignment; and
- Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects and specifying the relevant assignment period (from/to), as well as the email and telephone contacts of at least three (3) professional references.
Note: The above documents need to be scanned in one file and uploaded to the online application as one document.
Shortlisted candidates (ONLY) will be requested to submit a Financial Proposal.
- The financial proposal should specify an all-inclusive daily fee times 30 days.
- The financial proposal must be all-inclusive and take into account various expenses that will be incurred during the contract, including: the daily professional fee; cost of travel from the home base to the duty station and vice versa, where required; living allowances at the duty station; communications, utilities and consumables; life, health and any other insurance; risks and inconveniences related to work under hardship and hazardous conditions (e.g., personal security needs, etc.), when applicable; and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services under the contract.
- This consultancy is a home-based assignment, therefore, there is no envisaged travel cost to join duty station/repatriation travel.
- In the case of unforeseeable travel requested by UNDP, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.
- If the Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.
Upon request, the Financial Proposal is to be e-mailed as per the instruction in the separate e-mail that will be sent to shortlisted candidates only.
Evaluation process
Applicants are reviewed based on Required Skills and Experience stated above and based on the technical evaluation criteria outlined below. Applicants will be evaluated based on cumulative scoring. When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:
- Being responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
- Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation where technical criteria weighs 70% and Financial criteria/ Proposal weighs 30%.
Technical evaluation - Total 70% (70 points):
- Education requirements (10 points)
- Professional experience working on the promotion of rights, inclusion and political participation of persons of disabilities (25 points)
- Familiarity with the work of the UN system on disabilities (10 points)
- Experience researching and drafting policy documents, especially on disabilities and inclusive political processes (20 points)
- Language requirements (5 points)
Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for Financial Proposal.
Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (490 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (700 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.
Financial evaluation - Total 30% (30 points)
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
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.
Institutional arrangement
The consultant will perform her duties under the direct supervision of the Electoral Policy Specialist in G&P/BPPS and in close consultation with the Inclusive Political Process Team Leader and the UNDP’s Disability Focal Point in the Rule of Law and Human Rights Team.
The Consultant will work from his/her own location (home-based) and will be responsible for providing her/his own laptop.
Payment modality
Payment to the Individual Contractor will be made based on the actual number of days worked, deliverables accepted and upon certification of satisfactory completion by the manager.