Antecedentes
Project description. The project has been implemented since January 2016 and shall complete in December 2023 in two phases. The Phase I of the project covers the period of January 2016 to December 2018.
The “Support to Civil Registration System Reform in Tajikistan” project builds on the outcomes of the Functional Review of Civil Registration Offices initiated by UNDP Tajikistan in 2014 under the ongoing ‘Access to Justice in Tajikistan’ project funded by SDC, and also based on extensive consultations with the state institutions at the national and local levels, UN Agencies, international and local NGOs, as well as the population. The project is in line with the Judicial and Legal Reform Programme of the Government of Tajikistan (2015-2017) and directly contributes to implementation of the ongoing reform of civil registration offices (ZAGS).
The overall goal of the project:
Women’s, men’s and children’s human rights (civil, social, political and economic) are better protected by strengthened provision of civil registration services and by increased public access to the system.
The Project has 2 identified Outcomes that together will produce the goal:
Outcome 1: The reformed civil registry system of Tajikistan is effectively managed and provides quality and affordable services to the population and qualitative vital statistical data for the State.
Outcome 2: The population of Tajikistan know how to and timely have their vital events recorded in the civil registry system.
Outcome 1 intervenes at the national, regional and local level on the supply side, whereas Outcome 2 intervenes at the national, regional and local level on the demand side.
Output 1: Legislative framework for civil registration is compliant with international best practices
Output 1 is focused on analysing, amending and harmonising the existing legislation relating to civil registration in Tajikistan in line with international standards. Activities under this output included legislative analysis and recommendations, support to the development of instructions (by-laws) for legislation implementation, support to the development of an Action Plan and Budget of the National ZAGS Reform Programme, facilitating Working Groups and public hearings, as well as lobbying and advocacy, through the provision of expert support.
Output 2: New internal regulations defining roles, responsibilities and processes are applied by civil registry offices and jamoats
Output 2 is centred on the simplification and standardisation of business processes. Decisions were made on how best to provide this support after undertaking an analysis of the overall needs of the civil registry system. Various options were analysed as part of the simplification and standardisation process. For example, support was provided for the development of a new organisational structure for the civil registry system. The Government of Tajikistan was assisted by the Project to develop internal rules and regulations on civil registration reform consistent with national legislation. Additionally, equipment was provided to selected offices to enhance their service provision to the population. The project also reviewed existing funding mechanisms of the civil registry system with a view to enhancing the efficiency of budgetary spending.
Output 3: Civil registry offices and jamoat staff have enhanced capacities to provide quality services to the population
The development of the capacities of ZAGS and jamoats is crucial for an efficient civil registry service provision to the population of Tajikistan. Under output 3, the project supported the government in strengthening its training programme for ZAGS and jamoats through undertaking a capacity needs assessment, training of trainers, designing an appropriate training programme based on the assessment, developing and distributing manuals etc. The project also supported the development of a performance monitoring and evaluation system for ZAGS and jamoats. While doing so, the project worked closely with the Institute of Advanced Legal Education.
Output 4: Civil registration and archiving of data is managed through an electronic system
The activities under this output were informed by the comprehensive feasibility study which was undertaken in 2017 to assess the feasibility of introducing an electronic system of registration and digitalised archives to Tajikistan. The Feasibility Study also assessed the database developed under the EU Project and provided recommendations on how the system can be upgraded or was otherwise complementary. During 2016-2017, when there was a break in implementation of the EU project, the Project provided basic IT support to maintain the parameters of the EU system, to ensure that it was not “lost” during this period.
Output 5: Ministry of Justice makes use of new communication strategies to proactively incentivise the population to register their vital acts
Output 5 was led by the Ministry of Justice, who took a more proactive stance in reaching out to the population through the development of innovative communication tools and undertaking mass media campaigns to increase the knowledge of the population and encourage them to register their civil acts.
The Ministry intended to develop a coherent, comprehensive and inclusive strategy for communication. The project provides technical assistance to support the MoJ’s work in this direction.
Output 6: Outreach awareness rising campaigns by selected civil society organisations complement the Ministry of Justice communication strategies
To complement the activities being undertaken by the government under Output 5 in incentivising the population to register their civil acts, civil society organisations were selected to develop campaigns to reach the population, including certain vulnerable groups such as women and children, persons with disabilities and minorities. The project provided support to these CSOs to conduct their campaigns, which aimed to increase public awareness of the population of Tajikistan about the needs and benefits of civil registration. While the government will create its own communication strategy, as detailed under Output 5, civil society complements the activities of the government, based on their ability to reach the communities and target groups in different regions of the country. The messages of the civil society outreach campaigns will align with the messages of the government’s communication strategy so that all messages are coherent.
Geographic location. The project operates countrywide but with a focus on rural and remote, yet populated areas, where it has been identified that the problems related to the civil registry system (both undocumented people and poor service provision) are highest.
Partnerships. The project is implemented by UNDP in close cooperation with the Ministry of Justice. The project works with different actors at different levels to make civil registry institutions and mechanisms more responsive to the population’s needs and more functional, by developing capacities among the relevant institutions and stakeholders and by simplifying and standardization the processes. This includes more refined capacity development approaches and creating strategic partnerships with other institutions, such as jamoat bodies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Health and Social Protection, and the Ministry of Interior. The project adopts a human rights-based approach and works on both the supply and demand side of civil registration service provision enabling each side to substantively contribute to implementation of the civil registration reform process.
Establishing partnerships and introducing relevant IT solutions are the important features of a successful civil registration reform.
The overall project implementation is co-funded by SDC, who were also a key partner in the project’s design and steering over time. Two other project implementing partners were identified early in the development of the Project. A key partnership was created with a) UNFPA who already had established relationships with the Agency on Statistics under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, and b) UN Women who had established relations with CSOs and the Committee of Women and Family Affairs. There is a contractual relationship between UNDP as the lead implementing partner and UNFPA and UN Women.
During the implementation of the on-going Access to Justice Project (A2J), UNDP established a good partnership with the Ministry of Justice including the civil registry institutions under the auspices of the Ministry. The project subsequently created linkages, synergies, learned lessons, and substantively built on the results of the A2J project. UNDP also has a functional partnership with Helvetas in the Access to Justice Project, also funded by SDC.
Other secondary partnerships were established with relevant state institutions including the Agency on Statistics under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and The Ministry of Interior yet the level of cooperation is still unknown due to their limited participation in the consultation process during the design of the project. Partnerships with the Committee of Women and Family Affairs and its subordinated structures were brought into the project through UN Women where CSOs specifically focusing on the interests of women were consulted on a wide range of legislative reforms.
A partnership with the Institute for Advanced Legal Education was developed as the main provider of training for ZAGS and jamoats with strong interest being demonstrated in this regard.
The project “Support to Civil Registration System Reform in Tajikistan” addresses these public service needs and supports the Government of Tajikistan in implementing the civil registry system reforms. The project supports the government in reforming the civil registry system by improving its functioning nationwide and making it responsive to the needs of the population, especially the most vulnerable groups. Exclusive IT products have been developed in the civil registration system that should ease up the registration process for the population but also allow for a more accurate data keeping.
Deberes y responsabilidades
The final project evaluation is being conducted to identify potential project implementation issues, assess progress towards the achievement of objectives, relevance and performance of the project as compared to the project document, identify and document lessons learned (including lessons that might improve design and implementation of the ongoing and other UNDP projects as well), and to make recommendations regarding specific actions that might be taken to improve the project concept over the next phase. The project evaluation is expected to serve as a means of validating or filling the gaps in the initial assessment of relevance, effectiveness and efficiency obtained from monitoring. The project evaluation provides the opportunity to assess project’s success or failure and prompt necessary adjustments.
Main objectives of the project evaluation are:
- Assess whether the project achieve or did not achieve outcomes and outputs stipulated in the Project Document and Results Framework as compared to the results of the Baseline Study;
- Identify factors that have contributed to achieving or not achieving project results;
- Identify to what extent the project has so far contributed to the implementation of the ongoing reform of civil registration offices (ZAGS);
- Analyse the effectiveness of the existing partnerships established/maintained with the Government, civil society, UN Agencies, donors and other key stakeholders. Identify lessons learnt, effectiveness of project partnerships, and provide recommendations for further implementation pathways to inform the Project’s strategic vision for 2019 – 2023;
- Identify entry points for design and defining key issues to be addressed in Phase II of the project (2019 - 2023);
- Identify potential scaling up pathways, commitment to project goals, and adherence to delivering as One UN principles;
- Provide recommendations for more effective resource mobilization;
- Assesses to what extent the project has addressed gender considerations and promoted gender equality throughout its implementation.
The following evaluation products are expected to be produced:
- An Inception Report that should clearly articulate the evaluators’ understanding of what is being evaluated and why. It should also show how each evaluation question will be answered by way of: proposed methods, proposed sources of data and data collection procedures. The inception report should include a proposed schedule of tasks, activities and deliverables, designating a team member with the lead responsibility for each task or product;
- Draft evaluation report that should meet quality standards and provide practical, feasible and time-bound recommendations supported by robust evidentiary basis and linked to the findings and conclusions around key questions addressed by the evaluation;
- Final evaluation report including annexes as appropriate.
Planning of a next phase:
- What are the key lessons learnt that might feed into designing of the next phase of the project?
- What deviations may have the project idea if the additional funds (for archive digitalization) are not available?
Competencias
Functional Competencies:
- Knowledge of UNDP procedures and programme implementation strategies is desirable;
- Good report writing skills, advanced computer literacy and the ability to effectively communicate and work with high-level government officials;
- Ability to make recommendations focused on results and impact, with a strong understanding of value for money concepts;
- Knowledge of CIS context, preferably Central Asia region; Experience in Tajikistan is desirable.
- Ability to plan and organize his/her work, efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results
- Ability to receive/integrate feedback;
- Focuses on result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
- Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
- Ability to work independently as well as part of a substantial team;
Corporate Competencies:
- Affinity with the mandate and role of the United Nations;
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, and age sensitivity and adaptability;
- Treats all people fairly without favoritism.
- Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.
Habilidades y experiencia requeridas
Education:
- University degree in social sciences, management and other related areas
Experience:
- At least 10 years of technical background in good governance, public administration, and/or local development issues;
- At least 5 years of proven experience in evaluating programmes/projects; Experience in evaluating programmes/projects in public administration related fields is a strong advantage;
- Experience and expertise in project design, management, and monitoring and evaluation.
Language:
- Excellent knowledge of English with proven writing skills;
- knowledge of the Russian language would be an asset.
Application Procedure:
Please follow the link to the Individual Consultant Procurement Notice:
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.