Antecedentes

The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) is a body corporate created under Section 75 of the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi to administer, supervise and direct the conduct of elections in Malawi i.e. Parliamentary, Presidential, By-elections, Local Government and Referenda. The Commission conducts these elections in line with the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi, Parliamentary and Presidential Elections Act No.31 of 1993 (PPEA), Local Government Elections Act No.24 of 1996 and Electoral Commission Act No.11 of 1998 (ECA).

The Commission has the constitutional mandate to determine electoral petitions and complaints related to the conduct of any election. It also has a legislative mandate to resolve complaints at every stage of the electoral process i.e. complaints relating to registration of voters, nomination process, campaign process and polling. In addition, before determination of the national result of an election, the Commission is required by law to decide on matters that are subject to any complaint. The legislative framework gives the Commission some quasi-juridical powers to determine election petitions and complaints subject to the right of appeal to the formal courts and this has been confirmed through judicial pronouncements both in the High Court and Supreme Court of Malawi. Despite having this mandate, the Commission does not have formal procedural guidelines to assist it in exercising its mandate as an electoral complaint handling tribunal.

To comprehensively fulfil its mandate, the Commission, therefore, seeks to engage an Individual Consultant who will work with the Legal Directorate and other relevant MEC Staff members to develop guidelines and procedures for receipt, recording, investigation, resolving and communicating determinations of complaints at every stage of the electoral process  i.e. registration, nomination, campaign, polling, and before the determination of results. The guidelines will also provide the relevant timelines of the complaints’ handling process.

This activity will be implemented under the Malawi Electoral Cycle Support (MECS) Programme 2017-2019 which is a basket fund that has pooled resources from various development partners and is managed by UNDP. The MECS Project contributes directly to the SDG 16 goal of ensuring responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels.

Deberes y responsabilidades

Electoral Complaints Expert will:

• Assess the status of systems and procedures in place for handling of electoral complaints by MEC.
• Draft guidelines and procedures for handling of election complaints and format for drafting of determinations to complaints.
• Assist MEC in the development and improvement of documentation for recording of complaints.
• Propose a clear structure of escalation of complaints from one level of authority to another based on hierarchies for addressing of complaints.
• Propose mechanisms for meticulous complaints record keeping.
• Conduct a validation session with the Commissioners, MEC Staff on the Draft Guidelines and Procedures.

Competencias

Corporate Competencies:

• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Demonstrate integrity by modelling the UN's values and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional Competencies:

• Ability to work with people of different political, religious and cultural backgrounds;
• Awareness and sensitivity of gender and social inclusion, and an ability to integrate a gender and social inclusion perspective into tasks and activities;
• Ability to work with minimum supervision and in a team
• Familiarity with Malawi’s election legislation or comparable election legislation and international standards in elections.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education:

• A university Masters’ degree in Law, Political Science, or other relevant field.

Experience:

• Minimum of 10 years of functionally related experience in electoral complaints handling or electoral dispute resolution;
• Comparative experience in elections system and administration with specific experience in electoral complaints handling;
• Prior experience in the development and drafting of electoral complaints handling procedures;
• Be able to provide proof of work done for similar organizations in the past 5 years;
• Familiarity with Malawi’s election legislation or comparable election legislation and international standards in elections.

Language:

• Fluency in written and spoken English is essential.

How to apply:

Please submit the following documents:

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP.
• 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 three (3) professional references.
• Brief description (max. ½ page) of why you consider yourself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology (max. 1 page) for how you will approach and complete the assignment.
• Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided below. 

Note that availability around 5 January 2018 will be a determining factor for candidate selection.

A detailed Procurement Notices can be accessed through the following link: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/

Proposal should be submitted at the following address: On this website or by email to procurement.mw@undp.org no later than 22nd December 2017