UNDP Jobs - 81993- National Consultant to draft a bylaw related to Re

National Consultant to draft a bylaw related to Revolving Fund for the municipalities, beneficiaries of EU funds

Location :

Podgorica, MONTENEGRO

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

03-Dec-2018

Application Deadline :

23-Nov-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

3 December 2018 - 31 December 2018

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

10 consultancy days

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. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Since independence in 2006, Montenegro has made steady progress improving human development, democratic governance, and European integration, which is a priority of the Government. The one of the main external policy goals was achieved: Montenegro became full member of NATO in June 2017. EU accession remains the key priority in upcoming years. So far, Montenegro achieved remarkable progress by opening 31 negotiation chapters and closing three. Recent communication from Brussels indicates that Montenegro might join the EU by 2025. At the same time, EU continues pointing out the issues where only limited progress has been achieved such as corruption and organized crime. Furthermore, Judiciary and Public Administration Reform (PAR) need to be taken more seriously in order to reach the EU standards, largely transposed in the newly adopted laws and strategies.

The need to further improve public finance management (PFM) is set as one of the key areas of the PAR, and recognised as important for further development of all sectors of the economy and better quality of life for the citizens. With view of the abovementioned, the Project “Strengthening Transparent and Accountable Public Finance Management in Montenegro”, supported by the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, was launched and it is jointly implemented by the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro and UNDP. The Project is linked with the past and present activities implemented through Slovak Ministry of Finance (MF SR) - UNDP Public Finance for Development (PFD) program since 2009. The main goal of the Project is to support the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro in strengthening transparent and accountable public finance management on central and local level.

In the scope of the project component devoted to the transparent and accountable public finance management on local level, UNDP supported the Ministry of Finance in the organization of the public discussion on the Draft Law on Local Self-Government Financing. The Ministry of Finance has prepared the Proposal of the Law on Local Government Financing, which is expected to be adopted by the end of 2018.

In accordance with the Draft Law, the new legal provisions foresee the establishment of a fund that will operate under the so-called revolving model and whose purpose is to create the possibility for municipalities to obtain funds, in the form of a loan, which are necessary for pre-financing of the projects to be supported from donor funds.The condition for using of the funds in the scope of the Revolving Fund is a previously signed contract between the relevant municipality and a donor/a leading partner on the project. The funds for this purpose will be placed on a special account of the Ministry of Finance.

Once a project is approved and its implementation starts, there is a regular practice that the donor, upon the first evaluation period, carries the refund of the resources for the mentioned period and, furthermore, makes an advance payment of funds for the continuation of the project. Consequently, the local self-government that is the beneficiary of the Revolving Fund will return the borrowed funds to the mentioned Fund within a relatively short period of time, which optimizes use of this mechanism and, also, makes it available to a larger number of municipalities.

In order to support the Ministry of Finance in improving the implementation of legal solutions in the field of functioning of the Revolving Fund, UNDP Montenegro intends to hire a National Consultant with the task of drafting a bylaw related to Revolving Fund for the municipalities, beneficiaries of EU funds. The Consultant will be engaged in the scope of the Project “Strengthening Transparent and Accountable Public Finance Management in Montenegro”, supported by the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, jointly implemented by the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro and UNDP.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of the assignment:

Drafting of the bylaw related to Revolving Fund for the municipalities, beneficiaries of EU funds.

Job content:
Under the supervision of the UNDP Project Manager, the National Consultant is expected to deliver the following services:

1) Based on research and interviews with representatives of the Ministry of Finance, the consultant is obliged to prepare a draft bylaw related to Revolving Fund for the municipalities, beneficiaries of EU funds, which shall contain the following:

Form and contents of a request that a municipality files in order to obtain/use resources from the Revolving Fund;
Decision and/or Agreement with the municipality for the regulation of the mutual rights and obligations;
Form and contents of a Register for keeping records on using/obtaining the funds from the Revolving Fund and the repayment of the resources to the Fund;

2) After the review and inputs from the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro, finalize the bylaw related to Revolving Fund for the municipalities, beneficiaries of EU funds.

Expected results:
Under the supervision of the UNDP hiring Manager, the National Consultant is expected to deliver the following results:

Bylaw related to Revolving Fund for the municipalities, beneficiaries of EU funds.

Timing and reporting:
The Consultant is expected to work home-based during the period from 1st December 2018 – 31st December 2018.
The Consultant shall report regularly to the UNDP Project Manager of the project “Strengthening Transparent and Accountable Public Finance Management in Montenegro”, supported by the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, and jointly implemented by the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro and UNDP.

Time duration and travel:
National Consultant will be engaged under Individual Contract, for the total of 10 consultancy days in the period from 1st December 2018 – 31st December 2018, pursuant to agreed plan with UNDP.

Deliverables:

Research and interviews with the relevant stakeholders
Drafting of the bylaw
Finalization of the bylaw1

Competencies

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UN/UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills;
Demonstrates ability to manage complexities and work under pressure, as well as conflict resolution skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

University degree in Law, Economy, Finances and/or related field, advanced university degree (MA/PhD) would be considered as advantage;

Experience:

Proven experience in drafting of legal and strategic documents, such as bylaws, rulebooks, strategies, etc., particularly in the area of economy and finances;
Detailed acquaintance with the Law on Local Self-Government Financing and the institute of Revolving Fund, the manner of its functioning;
Detailed knowledge about the manner of the implementation of the projects financed from the EU funds and other donor funds in general;
Experience in working in Montenegro and in the region;
Experience in the work with the national authorities would be considered as an advantage;

Language;

Fluency in local language;
Excellent knowledge of written and spoken English language is an asset, but is not a requirement.

Other:

Proven ability to think strategically, express ideas clearly and concisely, work both independently and in a team, demonstrate self-confidence combined with sensitivity to gender and different cultures and traditions;

Criteria for selection:

Combined Scoring method will be used. When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the inidividual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: (i) responsive, compliant, acceptable, and (ii) 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% (Background and education 10%; Relevant previous experience 20%; Substantial knowledge/Required competencies 30%; Required language 10%);
Financial criteria weight - 30%.

Only offerors obtaining a minimum 490 points for technical criteria will be considered for the financial evaluation. For more information on procurement methodology for Individual Contractors, please refer to Procurement Notice.

Application procedure:

Interested applicants are requested to submit their applications by November 23, 2018 by using the Apply now button. The application should contain CV or P11 that can be downloaded at http://www.me.undp.org/content/montenegro/en/home/operations/jobs.html. Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file.

Only the short-listed applicants will be contacted and requested to submit a letter of interest including a price quotation indicating the lump sum (in EUR) requested for the work envisaged in the section "Description of Responsibilities".