Background

UNDP Global Mission Statement:

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and Resourcess to help people build a better life. UNDP is on the ground in 166 countries, working with national counterparts on their own solutions to global and national development challenges.

UNDP Afghanistan Mission Statement:

UNDP supports stabilization, State-building, governance and development priorities in Afghanistan. UNDP support, in partnership with the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIROA), the United Nations system, the donor community and other development stakeholders, has contributed to institutional development efforts leading to positive impact on the lives of Afghan citizens. Over the years UNDP support has spanned such milestone efforts as the adoption of the Constitution; Presidential, Parliamentary and Provincial Council elections; institutional development through capacity-building to the legislative, the judicial and executive arms of the State, Ministries, Government agencies and commissions at the national and sub-national levels. UNDP has played a role in the management of the Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan (LOTFA), which supports the Government in developing and maintaining the national police force and in efforts to stabilize the internal security environment. Major demobilization, disarmament and rehabilitation and area-based livelihoods and reconstruction programmes have taken place nationwide. UNDP Programmes in Afghanistan have benefited from the very active support of donors. UNDP Afghanistan is committed to the highest standards of transparency and accountability and works in close coordination with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the UN system to maximize the impact of its development efforts on the ground.

Organizational context:

Background Description

UNDP is committed to augmenting the capacity of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan’s (GIROA) to administer rule of law and improve security for all Afghan citizens.  As the lead rule of law institution in the country, improving the ability of the Ministry of Interior Affairs (MOIA) to fulfill its mandate remains critical to the overall stability of Afghanistan and its people.  As the UN’s primary development agency, and a longstanding development partner to GIROA’s rule of law and security sector, UNDP Afghanistan plays a leading role in facilitating reform and development of MOIA.  UNDP has been supporting the MOIA since 2002 through the provision of funding to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIROA) for disbursement of salaries for the Afghan National Police (ANP) and General Directorate for Prison and Detention Centre (GDPDC) staff. Currently, the Support to Payroll Management (SPM) project provides financial Resourcess to The Ministry of Finance (MOF) for the payment of ANP and GDPDC salaries.  The second project, the MOIA and Police Development (MPD) project, has as its principle objectives to (1) improve MOIA’s ability to lead and manage reform, (2) ensure efficiency improvements in key police service functions and (3) improve public confidence in the police force through accountability and democratic policing standards and approaches. These objectives are programmed under two components of the MPD project, Institutional Development and Police Professionalization.

H.E. President Ghani outlined in his letter dated 24 April 2015 to LOTFA Donors on MOIA Reform and LOTFA Transition that his number one priority is institutional reform, including the recruitment of highly qualified civilians in the areas of human Resources management, budgeting and financial management, payroll management, procurement, infrastructure and facilities management, medical services, ICT, planning and M&E, donor coordination, internal auditing and logistical roles. To move this priority forward, the President issued Decree number 167; approving 66 positions to be civilianized. All of these positions were management positions (Grade 1-3), which included 34 positions for Provincial Deputy Chief Police Commanders.

In May 2016, MOIA submitted an official proposal to international donors requesting an additional 125 civilian positions, which are currently under recruitment.  These civilians, it was argued, would provide services in middle to junior-level posts in directorates and departments within MOIA where civilian capacities could be effectively utilized.   These posts would also bolster the existing civilian capacities (i.e., 66 positions that came through Presidential Decree 167 in 2015).

The international donors also agreed to remunerate these 191 civilian posts utilizing the World Bank Capacity Building for Results (CBR) salary scale and processes to the extent possible.  CBR is an Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) funded facility that supports the Afghan Government’s efforts to improve the capacity and performance of core line ministries responsible for implementation of GIROA’s National Priority Programmes. CBR can only support civilian ministries, and MOIA is seen as a security sector institution and, thus, not eligible to apply for this funding support. Therefore, UNDP was requested by the Afghan Government to develop an ‘offline’ CBR mechanism under LOTFA to pay MOIA senior civilian officials. This “Offline” CBR mechanism, managed by UNDP, provided an option to pay competitive salaries to senior civilians, following an established recruitment and selection guidelines – see Annex I: Guidelines for Capacity Building for Results (CBR) Human Resources Planning, Recruitment & Management of Ministry of Interior Affairs (MOIA) Senior Civilians (referred to thereafter as “Offline CBR Guidelines”).

In March 2018, the Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission of Afghanistan signed a Memorandum of Understating (MOU) with the Ministry of Interior Affairs to recognize the recruitment “offline CBR” staff as civil servants of the Government of Afghanistan. In addition, the recruitment of the remaining Grade 1-2 positions under the “offline CBR” mechanism will be led and managed by the IARCSC in consultation with the MOIA, while the recruitment of Grade 3-4 positions will be led and managed by the Ministry of Interior Affairs under the supervision of and with technical support of the Independent Administrative Reform and civil Service commission of Afghanistan.

Organizational context of the position:

Under the direct supervision of the Program Management Specialist and the Chief, ROLHS Unit, the National Consultant (Human Resources Management Expert) will lead the recruitment and contract management of the “offline CBR” staffs on behalf of UNDP.

The National Consultant (Human Resources Management Expert) will work closely with a wide range of actors including the ROLHS team, the Ministry of Interiors, the Independent Administrative Reform and civil Service commission (IARCSC) of Afghanistan, UNDP Country Office, and LOTFA Donors.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work and Deliverables:

Objective of the assignment:

The National Consultant (Human Resources Management Expert) will lead the recruitment and contract management of the “offline CBR” staffs on behalf of UNDP. The Individual Consultant (Human Resources Management Expert) will provide technical assistance focusing on the following areas:

• Improve the recruitment guidelines (“offline CBR” of Grade 1-5 positions to comply with HR best practices;

• Engage with IARCSC to establish close working relations and develop clarity on the role of UNDP based on their MOU with the MOIA;

• Monitor the recruitment process of Grade 1-2 positions in the MOIA led by the IARCSC;

• Quality assure the recruitment process of Grade 1-5 positions based on the update recruitment and contract management guidelines;

• Support the LOTFA ME advisor on the development of strategic direction for MOIA Civil Service Reform strategy and workforce analysis;

• Provide capacity building support to the relevant MOIA personnel on the recruitment guidelines of “offline CBR” staffs;

• Review and update the performance appraisal and management tools of the “offline CBR” staff;

• Provide support on the payroll management to the MOIA and UNDP country office;

• Provide support on contract management and documentation to the MOIA and UNDP.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables; Estimated duration to complete and Payment percentage:

First Deliverable: 10 working days; 20%

• Inception report, outlining: preliminary observations, findings and recommendations on how improving the Recruitment and Contract Managing Guidelines.

Second Deliverable: 28 Working days; 50%

• Progress/status report the recruitment process, contract management, capacity building, and developing of performance appraisal tools.

Third Deliverable: 28 Working Days; 30%

• Submission and acceptance of end of assignment report by UNDP-ROLHS Unit.

Payment Modality: 

Payments under the contract shall be delivery-based and be made on receipt of the specific milestone reports indicated above, including a timesheet per UNDP procurement formats for individual contractors. These shall be as indicated above, and shall be deemed delivered upon the approval of the Chief, ROLHS Unit.

Competencies

Core competencies:

• Promotes ethics and integrity and creates organizational precedents;

• Builds support and political acumen;

• Builds staff competence and creates an environment of creativity and innovation;

• Builds and promotes effective teams;

• Creates and promotes environment for open communications;

• Leverages conflict in the interest of UNDP and sets standards;

• Shares knowledge across the organization and builds a culture of knowledge sharing and learning.

Functional Competencies:

Job knowledge/technical expertise:

• Possesses expert knowledge of advance concepts in primary discipline, a broad knowledge of related disciplines and in-depth knowledge of relevant organizational policies and procedures;

• Applies knowledge to support the Project´s objectives and to further the mandate of UNDP;

• Keeps abreast of new developments in the area of professional discipline and job knowledge and seeks to develop him/herself;

• Demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments;

• Demonstrates expert knowledge of the current programme guidelines and project management tools and manages the use of these regularly in work assignments.

Conceptual innovation in the provision of technical expertise:

• Conducts programme assessment to improve development of models and methodologies;

• Designs policy models to support comprehensive interventions linking UNDP´s policy objectives to programme delivery and capacity development objectives;

• Ensures that the design of policies is appropriate to country social and development context;

• Demonstrates the ability to engage development partners at all levels in conceptual and methodological innovation that is pertinent to the context.

Advancing a policy-oriented agenda:

• Advocates for inclusion of UNDP´s focus areas in the public policy agenda;

• Brings visibility and sensitizes decision makers to relevant emerging issues;

• Builds consensus concerning UNDP´s strategic agenda with partners on joint initiatives;

• Leverage UNDP´s multidisciplinary expertise to influence policies and programmes;

• Demonstrates political/cultural acumen in proposing technical sound, fact-based solutions/approaches;

• Dialogues with national counterparts and other stakeholders to strengthen advocacy efforts, incorporating country, regional and global perspectives;

• Demonstrates cultural sensitivity, political savvy and intellectual capacity in handling; disagreements in order to promote and position UNDP in complex environments.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications:

• Master´s Degree in Human Resources Management or public-sector management or Bachelor’s Degree plus 10 years of technical experience.

Required experience:   

• 7 or 10 years of relevant work experiences in Human Resources Management, policy analysis and development, or HR Monitoring and Audit;

• Familiarity with Policy Documents and Procedurals Manuals of IARCSC;

• Very strong analytical capacities; and

• Excellent report writing skills.

Language:

• Excellent written and oral English skills a necessary requirement.

• Fluency in Dari and or Pashtu is required.

Working Arrangements

Institutional Arrangements:

• The Consultant will work under the overall supervision of Programme Management Specialist and close collaboration with the UNDP ROLHS Unit, SPM and new successor’s projects staff, as well as other units within the UNDP Country Office;

• The ROLHS Unit will provide office space and internet facility, logistical to the national consultant. The consultant however is expected to bring his/her own laptop and mobile phone and meet local communications costs. Costs to arrange meetings, workshops, travel costs to and DSA during field visits (if any), etc. shall be covered by the ROLHS Unit.

Duration of the Work:

• The performance under the contract shall take place over total contract duration of 3 months (66 working days), excluding joining and repatriation travel days. The target date for the start of work will be 01 September 2018depending on the availability of the selected consultant.

Duty Station

• The duty station for the contractor is Kabul, Afghanistan for the entire duration of the contract. The Contractor will be required to report regularly and be present at ROLHS Unit (UNOCA) while in-country during the working hours, security conditions permitting. The contractor will follow the working hours and weekends as applicable to UNDP CO staff. Consultant’s movement for meetings and consultations shall be coordinated by the ROLHS Unit. The contractor is at all times required to observe UNDP security rules and regulations.

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

The contractor shall submit a price proposal as below:

• Daily Fee – The contractor shall propose a daily fee which should be inclusive of his/her professional fee, local communication cost and transportation costs. The number of working days for which the daily fee shall be payable under the contract is 66 working days.

The total professional fee, shall be converted into a lump sum contract and payments under the contract shall be made on submission and acceptance of deliverables under the contract in accordance with the abovementioned schedule of payment.

Evaluation Method and Criteria

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

• Cumulative analysis.

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• 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.

* Technical Criteria weight 70%

* Financial Criteria weight 30%

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

Technical Criteria – Maximum 70 points:

 Technical Proposal (40 marks)

• Technical Approach & Methodology (30 marks) – This explains the understanding of the objectives of the assignment, approach to the services, methodology for carrying out the activities and obtaining the expected output, and the degree of detail of such output. The Applicant should also explain the methodologies proposed to adopt and highlight the compatibility of those methodologies with the proposed approach;

• Work Plan (10 marks) – The Applicant should propose the main activities of the assignment, their content and duration, phasing and interrelations, milestones (including interim approvals by the Client), and delivery dates. The proposed work plan should be consistent with the technical approach and methodology, showing understanding of the TOR and ability to translate them into a feasible working plan.

Qualification and Experience (30 marks) [evaluation of CV for shortlisting]

• General Qualification (10 marks);

• Experience relevant to the assignment (20 marks).

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document:

• Duly accomplished Confirmation of Interest and Submission of Financial Proposal Template using the template provided by UNDP (Annex II);

• 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 at least three (3) professional references.

Technical proposal:

• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment;

• A methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment and work plan as indicated above.