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Public Outreach Expert (EDMITE Project)

Vacancy Number: Pr18/01718

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	28 May 2018, 16:00 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	01 Jun 2018
Reference to the project:	Enhancing Democracy in Moldova through Inclusive and Transparent Elections
Expected Duration of Assignment:	120 working days during June 2018 – June 2019
Supporting Documents: Terms of Reference Individual Consultant Procurement Notice Offeror's Letter confirming Interest and Availability Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Ms. Eva Bounegru.

Background

“Enhancing democracy in Moldova through inclusive and transparent elections” (EDMITE Project) is a Project that sets the overall goal to achieve an enhanced transparency and inclusiveness of the electoral process in Moldova through a modernized IT system, improved legislation and intensified public participation, addressing the root causes of the current challenges hampering the further development of the democracy and the advancement of the electoral process in the Republic of Moldova. During 2012 – 2017, UNDP offered support to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) in the areas of gender equality and human rights, institutional capacity development, further development and use of the modern and innovative State Automated Information System “Elections” (SAISE), strategic development of the Center for Continuous Electoral Training (CICDE), political party finance legislation implementation and a transparent electoral reform processes. Moreover, substantial steps were taken in addressing challenges to the electoral process related to the data quality and data exchange possibilities among key registers owned by different government institutions.

During 2018 – 2019, the EDMITE Project aims to contribute to:

• achieving a more accurate State Register of Voters (SRV), improving the quality and accessibility data by re-engineering the Civil Status Service (CSS) systems, fully developing the State Address Register and facilitating data exchange and interoperability between different central public institutions via governmental platform for data exchange MConnect;
• enhancing the inclusiveness of the electoral process through developing a remote voting tool and adjusting the State Automated Information System “Elections” to keep up with the technical and political developments;
• legal reform in the area of elections to erase ambiguities and respond to the technical developments; and
• enhancing political participation of citizens by setting up and implementing the voter information and civic education programs.

Except for the CEC and CICDE, which are the main beneficiaries of the Project, EDMITE expanded its partnering set-up with other central public institutions, like the Agency for Public Services (PSA) and the E-Government Center (EGC). These are different state actors that are responsible for the overall management and inter-institutional exchange of important data sets necessary for fair and credible elections. Specific interventions are aimed to improve their systems and processes to enable them to supply the required data in a reliable quality and in the required timeframe, thus enhancing the integrity of the electoral process.

In this context, EDMITE Project will offer the necessary support to its partnering institutions (CEC, PSA and EGC) in achieving a more accurate State Register of Voters and improving the quality and accessibility data by offering support to the Public Services Agency in reengineering IT System for Civil Status Acts (Population Registration and Documentation Department), fully developing the Address Register Information System (Cadastre Department), as well as facilitating data exchange and interoperability between different government agencies via M-Connect Platform (E-Government Center). Particular efforts will be focused on enhancing the inclusiveness of the electoral process through the adjustment of the State Automated Information System “Elections” (SAISE) to keep up with the technical and political developments, and developing a Financial Control Module for automating data collection, analysis and ensuring public access to all reports submitted to CEC by the electoral candidates.

Throughout its implementation period, EDMITE Project will provide technical assistance to CEC and CICDE in developing and implementing voter information and civic educations campaigns. The goal of these campaigns is to inform the general public, including different target and vulnerable groups, about the electoral processes and Moldovan electoral system, as well as to improve the communication between the electoral management body with the citizens and stakeholders.

Recently launched, the Small Grants Programme “Elections 2018” was designed to deliver civic and voter education activities using a person-to-person approach directed at specific target groups of Moldovan citizens usually not fully reached by general information campaigns. The activities of the selected local NGOs (grantees) will have a national and international coverage (diaspora) and will be delivered in two phases. The first phase (April - July) aims at providing information on the actors in electoral processes and the role of the citizen, whereas the second phase (August - November) will be focused on explaining to the voters the recent changes in the electoral system and subsequently in electoral processes.

Scope of work

The EDMITE Project intends to contract a Public Outreach Expert (hereafter the Consultant) to provide the necessary specialized support to promote and increase public awareness of the overall Project activities. He/she will also support the Project in communication the results and their impact on the national electoral process. Specifically, the Consultant will:

• Undertake a comprehensive review of the Project’s strategic documents and action plan and elaborate a detailed work plan for this assignment, in collaboration with the Project team.
• Communicate widely the impact and results of the Small Grants Programme “Elections 2018”.
• Conceptualize, implement and monitor a public awareness campaign aimed at promoting and increasing the visibility of the Project activities related to national information systems and data interoperability in connection to the electoral process;
• Support the Project in enhancing its visibility through the promotion of its overall activities, usage of innovative technologies, results and impact, using a human rights-oriented approach.
• Provide expert support in increasing the cooperation and outreach of information among Project beneficiaries and partners;
• Provide a set of recommendations to the Project and CEC/ CICDE on public outreach materials and ensure their consistency and adjustment considering the accessibility of information for specific target groups, including women and youth.
• Perform other public outreach tasks required for the successful implementation of the assignment.

For detailed information, please refer to Annex 1 – Terms of Reference.

Requirements for experience

Academic Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree or higher in Communication, Journalism, Public Relations or another relevant field.

Years of experience:

• At least 4 years of experience in media and online communications, active use of social media, publication and report writing, including research or data collection, proven by a portfolio of promotional and visibility products prepared by the candidate (please submit links in the proposal);
• At least 2 years of work experience in developing and implementing communications, public relations and media campaigns (incl. elaboration of articles, press releases, interviews and other media products);
• Previous experience in civic education, crisis communication, gender and human rights dimensions, or other relevant public outreach topic is a strong asset;
• Previous experience of similar assignments within an UNDP Project and/or other international organisation is an advantage.

Competencies:

• Excellent written communication, creative and analytical skills;
• Demonstrated interpersonal skills, as well as the ability to communicate effectively with all stakeholders and to present ideas clearly and effectively;
• Understanding of gender equality principles, including gender dimensions pertaining to the mixed electoral system and other related legal acts;
• Familiarity with CEC roles and responsibilities, as well as Government institutions, NGOs and international donors working in the electoral area.
• Demonstrated understanding of national ITC-related processes and principles, as well as interoperability and data exchange, is a strong advantage;
• Fluency in Romanian, English and Russian languages (verbal and written) is a must.

Personal qualities:

• Proven commitment to the core values of the United Nations, in particular respecting differences of culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, language, age, HIV status, disability, and sexual orientation, or other status;
• Responsibility, flexibility and punctuality, ability to meet deadlines and prioritize multiple tasks.

The UNDP Moldova is committed to workforce diversity. Women and men, persons with different types of disabilities, LGBTI, Roma and other ethnic, linguistic or religious minorities, persons living with HIV, as well as refugees and other non‐citizens legally entitled to work in the Republic of Moldova, are particularly encouraged to apply.

Documents to be included

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• Offeror's Letter confirming Interest and Availability
• Proposal: explaining why they are the most suitable for the work including previous experience in similar Projects (please provide brief information on each of the above qualifications, item by item);
• Financial proposal (in USD, specifying a total requested amount per working day, including all related costs, e.g. fees, phone calls etc.);
• Duly completed and signed Personal History Form (P11), personal CV and at least 3 references.

Financial proposal

• Contracts based on daily fee

The financial proposal will specify the daily fee, travel expenses and per diems quoted in separate line items, and payments are made to the Individual Consultant based on the number of days worked.

Travel

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel.  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.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.