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EU4MD/ 2 (two) National Consultants on supporting the identification and solving of priority needs in upgrading local infrastructure and service delivery, to boost economic development.

Vacancy Number: Pr20/02123

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	04 Dec 2020, 16:00 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	11 Dec 2020, 16:00 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	17 Dec 2020
Reference to the project:	EU4Moldova: Focal regions
Expected Duration of Assignment:	December 2020 – March 2021, up to 45 working days/ per each consultant
Submission Instructions: Description of the assignment:  2 (two) National Consultants on supporting the identification and solving of priority needs in upgrading local infrastructure and service delivery, to boost economic development: 1 (one) National Consultant on supporting the identification and solving of the priority needs in upgrading local infrastructure and service delivery, to boost economic development for Cahul focal region; 1 (one) National Consultant on supporting the identification and solving of the priority needs in upgrading local infrastructure and service delivery, to boost economic development for Ungheni focal region. Project name: EU4Moldova: Focal Regions Programme (EU-funded)   Period of assignment/services: December 2020 – March 2021, up to 45 working days/ per each consultant   Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Now" button no later than 4 December 2020. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: victoria.josan@undp.org. UNDP will respond by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.
Supporting Documents: Termeni de referință Terms of Reference Anunț de procurare de consultanță individuală Individual Consultant Procurement Notice Conditiile Generale ale Contractului Consultanta Individuala Scrisoarea ofertantului catre PNUD confirmind interesul si disponibilitatea OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP CONFIRMING INTEREST AND AVAILABILITY FOR THE INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTOR (IC) ASSIGNMENT UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Background

Pentru detalii în limba română, regăsiți Termenii de referință și Anunțul de procurare de consultanță individuală anexate la prezentul anunț (la capitolul "Supporting Documents" mai sus).

În cazul unor divergențe între versiuni lingvistice, prevalează textul în limba engleză. 

Pentru clarificări nu ezitați să ne scrieți la următoarea adresă electronică: victoria.josan@undp.org

The EU4Moldova: Focal regions Programme (further Programme) is based on the European Commission Implementing Decision on the Annual Action Program 2018 in favour of the Republic of Moldova and is funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme.

The overall objective of the five-year Programme is to strengthen the economic, territorial and social cohesion in the Republic of Moldova through smart, green, inclusive, sustainable and integrated socio-economic development as well as improving the standards of living of the citizens in the focal regions: Cahul and Ungheni.

To this end, this Programme will address the urban-rural divide and regional disparities, stimulate economic growth and job creation, refurbish and upgrade targeted social and technical infrastructure in selected focal regions (smaller towns and villages) while taking into account climate change and gender perspective in the activities of the Programme.

Specific objectives:

1. To strengthen transparency, accountability of local public authorities and people’s participation in local governance processes in the focal regions.
2. To improve citizens' access to quality public services and utilities in the pilot focal regions.
3. To create employment opportunities for men and women in the focal regions and improve the attractiveness of the pilot regions for investors and entrepreneurs.
4. To promote the smart specialization of the economy of the focal regions through the development of the clustering and value chain approach in key economic sectors.

The Program objectives will be achieved through measures targeted at: (i) capacity building to support the implementation and monitoring of local economic development plans; (ii) civil society engagement in local planning, governance processes and basic social service delivery; (iii) provision of investment funding in support of the creation and/or development of social and technical infrastructure which, combined with the outcomes from interventions (i) and (ii) above, will have an immediate, visible and tangible impact on employment creation, the standard of living of the population in the focal regions.

Specific context

For a normal functioning of any community, a series of specific public utilities and services are required, such as roads, transport, water supply, public lighting, gas distribution, sewerage, sanitation, etc. These infrastructure utilities and services that satisfy the general interests of the local population must be provided by local public authorities. The local public administration authorities have the exclusive competence regarding the creation, organization, coordination, monitoring and control of the functioning of public communal infrastructure and services, as well as the administration and operation of public property assets of the respective territorial administrative units.

The communal public infrastructure and services sector has undergone major transformations in the last 20 years from the organizational point of view, and there is a continuous decrease of local public services, both in terms of quantity and quality that local public administration authorities are obliged to provide. Practically, small scale investments have been made in the local infrastructure, most of the expenses from the local budgets being directed for repairs and current maintenance. The local public administration authorities face serious financial problems for the renovation of the local infrastructure because the local budgets do not provide investment expenditures. The infrastructure of local public services of first necessity has an advanced degree of wear and tear that conditions enormous maintenance costs, high losses in the distribution networks as well as a poor quality. At the same time, it can be seen that due to the poor quality of the infrastructure related to the provision of public services, there is a stagnation of the development of the local economy.

From the available statistical data, at regional level (extract from the Regional Operational Plans[1]) there is a directly proportional correlation between the level of development of public utility infrastructures (roads, sewage, lighting, etc.), the level of economic development of regions and the level of living conditions of the population. The denser the public utility infrastructure, the higher the level of regional development and vice versa. In each of the development regions it is observed an obvious relationship between the density of infrastructure and public utility networks and the economic development of the regions, transposed in the living standard of the population (expressed by the share of food expenditures in total household expenditures) and entrepreneurship (expressed by the number of active economic agents in relation to the population).

Thus, in the North Development Region where there is a dense network of public roads and utility infrastructure, there is also the highest number of economic agents (31.3 per 1000 inhabitants) and the lowest percentage of food expenditures in total expenditures per households (42.9%[2]). Compared to the Centre and South Development Regions where is the least dense road network and a poorly developed utility infrastructure, the lowest number of economic agents and the highest share of food expenditures (associated with a higher level of poverty) are registered[3]. At the same time, the same statistics show that the number and unsatisfactory state of public utility infrastructure entails additional costs for households to access social, health, administrative and economic services (e.g. access to the labor market or sales markets).

In this respect, it is absolutely justified to place the objective of modernizing public utilities and accessibility and transport infrastructure in the priorities of regional development, including in the Programme’ focal regions.

For a real picture of the situation in the development of infrastructure related to public services in the context of local economy development, an analysis of the strategic framework governing the planning of investment measures to improve the quality of infrastructure related to public services at local level in the Cahul and Ungheni focal regions is needed. Through this activity, the Programme intends: (i) to have a clear picture of current status of public utility infrastructure development in the focal regions; (ii) to identify possible investment measures that will be implemented through IMC in improving infrastructure related to the provision of local public services of general interest; (iii) to offer equal opportunities for local public authorities to participate on a competition base in implementation of the public utility infrastructure development projects, supported by the Programme.

Scope of work

The Programme intends to contract 2 (two) qualified and experienced local consultants to provide technical assistance and expertise to identify and solve the priority needs in upgrading local infrastructure and public service delivery, required to boost their socio-economic development and to raise the economic and the standard of living conditions of the population in the focal regions.

Important Note: The potential applicants shall clearly indicate the position they are applying for:

• Position 1: 1 (one) National Consultant on supporting the identification and solving of the priority needs in upgrading local infrastructure and service delivery, to boost economic development for Cahul focal region.
• Position 2: 1 (one) National Consultant on supporting the identification and solving of the priority needs in upgrading local infrastructure and service delivery, to boost economic development for Ungheni focal region.

The candidates may apply for both positions, which will be clearly stipulated in the application letter, with the possibility to be selected for 1 position only.

Consultants will provide guidance to Local Public Authorities on identifying and preparing concept notes to support development of public service infrastructure in the rural localities of Cahul and Ungheni focal regions and ensure their sustainability.

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

Requirements for experience

Academic Qualification:

• University degree in Engineering, Economics, public administration or other related field.

Experience:

• At least 5 years’ experience in local economic development, public utilities infrastructure or public services development projects identification and implementation (working with public and/or private actors).
• At least 3 contracts similar to this assignment in terms of works and scope (evidence: the list of last 3 development projects the Consultant has been involved in the last 5 years must be presented together with the application package).
• Experience in development and/or implementation of at least 3 local projects for the development of the business environment and/or the development of the provision of public services in the localities of the key regions of Cahul and Ungheni, confirmed by references issued and signed by the final beneficiaries.
• At least 5 years of work experience with the relevant multi-stakeholder local development environment in the targeted focal region (evidence: list of relevant institutions the Consultant has been cooperating with, including the topic and year must be presented together with the application package).
• Experience in facilitation, coaching, mentoring and/or delivering trainings in the field of project management cycle / writing project proposals (evidence: the list of last 3 facilitated trainings in Project Cycle Management must be presented together with the application package).
• Experience of working with UN agencies and/or international organizations, and/or European/donor funded development projects/programmes will be considered a strong asset.

Competences:

• Ability to analyse, plan, communicate effectively, organize and conduct meetings, manage diversity of views.
• Demonstrated capacity of team-orientation work, excellent planning and organizational skills.
• Good interpersonal skills, solid judgment/decision making, initiative and creativity.
• Ability to achieve results and deadlines in a timely manner, maintaining a high standard throughout.
• Knowledge and skills of operating MS Office, including Word, Excel, Power Point.

Language requirements:

• Fluency in Romanian and Russian. Knowledge of English will be considered an asset.

Documents to be included

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

1. Proposal explaining how applicant responds to each of the qualification requirements and why he/she is the most suitable for the work;
2. CV including records on past experience in similar projects/assignments and concrete outputs obtained;
3. Evidence: list of relevant public authorities and institutions the Consultant has been cooperating with, including the topic and year must be presented together with the application package;
4. Evidence: list of local development policy documents must be presented together with the application package;
5. Evidence: list of similar development projects you have been involved in the last 5 years must be presented together with the application package;
6. Evidence: references issued and signed by the final beneficiaries for 3 or more local projects for the development of the business environment and/or the development of the provision of public services in the localities of the key regions of Cahul and Ungheni must be presented together with the application package;
7. Financial proposal - in USD, specifying a total lump sum amount and the number of anticipated working days, incorporated in the Offeror’s Letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the Individual Contractor (IC) assignment.

Financial proposal

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount. The payment for services will be made post factum on a lump-sum deliverables basis, as per contract, after the work has been accepted by the Programme Manager. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of offers, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including fee per day, mobile phone costs, number of anticipated working days, etc.).

Travel

This is a home-based assignment. All travel expenses to/from duty station (Cahul and Ungheni) are in the consultant’s responsibility, the transportation costs shall be included in the consolidated financial offer.