National Consultant to support the Secretariat of the Elections Partners’ Platform (EDMITE).

Vacancy Number: Pr20/02075

Location:Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline: 26 Aug 2020, 16:30 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:
02 Sep 2020, 16:30 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:
09 Sep 2020, 16:30 (GMT+2:00)
Starting date: 01 Sep 2020
Reference to the project: Enhancing Democracy in Moldova through Inclusive and Transparent Elections
Expected Duration of Assignment:September 2020 – September 2021 (up to 75 working days)
Supporting Documents:
Terms of Reference
Individual Consultant Procurement Notice
OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP CONFIRMING INTEREST AND AVAILABILITY FOR THE INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTOR (IC) ASSIGNMENT
UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Contacts:

Ms. Eva Bounegru.

eva.bounegru@undp.org


Background

Electoral support and capacity development are part of UNDP’s democratic governance assistance worldwide, through which UNDP helps nations build democratic frameworks to improve representation, accountability and transparency for the benefit of citizens.

UNDP has a long-standing partnership with the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) and the Center for Continuous Electoral Training (CCET) aiming at advancing the democratic electoral processes in Moldova by consolidating the transparency and efficiency of elections’ management, modernization of electoral IT solutions and enhancing the inclusiveness and participation of voters. This partnership, which spans over 10 years, resulted in the establishment of strong professional institutions, development of a modern State Automated Information System “Elections” (SAISE), the enhancement of the State Register of Voters’ accuracy and the design and implementation of effective long-term civic and voter education instruments.

Throughout the last electoral cycles, CEC and CCET demonstrated a high level of capacity in adjusting the electoral processes to the mixed electoral system in a very short period of time and organizing the 2019 Parliamentary Elections and General Local Elections. Despite the challenges and persistent financial limitations faced by the institutions, due to the continuous UNDP’s support, the CEC and the CCET delivered “well-administered elections” as attested by OSCE/ODIHR Observation Missions.

Since 2017, the Project "Enhancing democracy in Moldova through inclusive and transparent elections” supports the Central Electoral Commission to enhance the transparency and inclusiveness of the electoral process by ensuring a more independent and credible electoral administration and better informed and pro-active citizens.

Building on the sustainable results achieved during the first phase of implementation (2017 – 2020), the objectives of the current Project phase (2020 – 2023) are: 1) Enhance the inclusiveness of the electoral process by increasing the functional and technical capacities of the State Automated Information System “Elections” (SAISE); 2) Enhance the political participation of citizens by setting up and implementing the voters’ information and civic education programmes; 3) Strengthen the capacity for effective and coherent oversight and monitoring on political party financing; and 4) Improve the legal and regulatory framework to respond to the EOM recommendations.

To achieve the objectives and ensure the sustainability of results, the Project will further enhance strategic partnerships and will engage with key stakeholders, including public institutions, civil society organizations and the donor community. The interventions of the Project will have systematic and significant implications at policy/legislation, coordination, institutional and electoral service provision levels, having a sustainable impact at the national level.

To support the implementation of the electoral observation missions’ recommendations aiming at ensuring the further enhancement of a transparent and credible electoral process, UNDP will facilitate the establishment of a CEC Partners’ Platform (hereinafter “the Platform”) involving national and international partners and other relevant stakeholders with the purpose of discussing the country related context issues and enhancing information and knowledge sharing on elections using regional and global experiences. Strategic electoral expertise, guidance and overall secretariat will be provided by UNDP to maximize the impact of the platform on policy dialogue leading to the practical improvements in the electoral systems and technical processes.

Scope of work

The Project seeks to contract a National Consultant (hereinafter “the Consultant”) to provide support to the Project Team in the establishing of the Platform and ensuring the effective and efficient Secretariat function. She/he is expected to work closely with the Project Manager, national and international partners and stakeholders to support the Platform-related activities and to make relevant contributions to the Project’s work. Namely, the Consultant is expected to carry out the following:

  • Act as the secretariat for the Platform by:
    • drafting invitations,
    • confirming participation,
    • recording and drafting meeting minutes (in Romanian and/or English languages),
    • providing translation of documents and correspondence, etc.;
  • Support the Project Team in collecting the necessary information and data required for the organization of the Platform meetings and in following dissemination of presentations, reports and other materials discussed at the Platform’s meetings, as necessary;

Perform any other relevant secretariat and administrative tasks, as requested by the Project Manager, 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 Public Relations, Communication, Political Science or another relevant field.

Experience and knowledge:

  • At least 3 (three) years of proven experience in project/ event planning, management and reporting, including post-event data collection and research (please provide relevant details in the proposal);
  • Proven experience in office management and secretariat support;
  • Previous experience of similar assignments with UNDP Moldova or another international organization will be considered as a strong advantage.
  • Previous experience in elections area will be considered as an advantage.

Competencies:

  • Ability to perform and deliver expected results in a fast-paced working environment;
  • Strong sense of initiative and ability to work independently;
  • Excellent computer skills, including usage of Microsoft Office tools (word processing, data spreadsheet and database management);
  • Excellent organizational skills and sound judgement;
  • Demonstrated interpersonal skills, as well as the ability to communicate effectively and build meaningful partnerships with all stakeholders;
  • Fluency in Romanian and English languages (verbal and written) is a must. Knowledge of Russian will be considered as an advantage.

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, persons with disabilities, Roma and other ethnic 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;
  • Technical proposal (incl. brief description of experience, approach and methodology for the completion of the assignment);
  • Financial proposal (in USD) specifying a total lump sum requested for the assignment specified in the Terms of Reference;
  • Duly completed and signed Personal History Form (P11), personal CV and at least 3 references.

Financial proposal

The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of the lump sum amount (daily rate and number of anticipated working days).

Travel

Travel is not envisaged in the framework of the current assignment.