National Consultant to support with designing and implementation of SDG 16 monitoring framework for the Government of the Republic of Moldova.
Vacancy Number: Pr21/02252
| Location: | Chisinau, Moldova |
| Application Deadline: |
28 Jun 2021, 16:00 (GMT+3:00)
|
|
Application Extended deadline:
|
05 Jul 2021, 16:00 (GMT+3:00)
|
|
Application Extended deadline:
|
05 Jul 2021, 16:00 (GMT+3:00)
|
|
Application Extended deadline:
|
12 Jul 2021, 16:00 (GMT+3:00)
|
|
Application Extended deadline:
|
12 Jul 2021, 16:00 (GMT+3:00)
|
|
Application Extended deadline:
|
20 Jul 2021, 16:00 (GMT+3:00)
|
|
Application Extended deadline:
|
29 Jul 2021, 16:00 (GMT+3:00)
|
|
Application Extended deadline:
|
05 Aug 2021, 16:00 (GMT+3:00)
|
|
Application Extended deadline:
|
12 Aug 2021, 16:00 (GMT+3:00)
|
|
Application Extended deadline:
|
12 Aug 2021, 16:00 (GMT+3:00)
|
| Type of Contract: | Individual Contract |
| Starting date: | 05 Jul 2021 |
| Reference to the project: |
Anti-corruption GPB
|
| Expected Duration of Assignment: | |
|
Submission Instructions:
Country: Republic of Moldova
Description of the assignment: National Consultant to support with designing and implementation of SDG 16 monitoring framework for the Government of the Republic of Moldova
Project name: Policy Unit and Governance, Justice and Human Rights Programme
Period of assignment/ services: June-December 2021, up to 60 working days
Proposals should be submitted online, by pressing the "Apply Online" button, no later than 28.06.2021, 16:00 (GMT+3:00)
Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: dumitru.vasilescu@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:
TOR_National Consultant_SDG16 
PN - National Consultant_SDG16
OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP CONFIRMING INTEREST AND AVAILABILITY FOR THE INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTOR (IC) ASSIGNMENT 
UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract
|
Contacts:
Mr. Dumitru Vasilescu.
Background
The Republic of Moldova has undertaken the commitment to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and such effort has been accompanied by the adaptation of the 2030 Agenda to the country-specific context, making in more meaningful, feasible and impactful at the country level. The National Bureau of Statistics has led the process of setting up the national monitoring framework for SDGs, including the comprehensive set of national statistical indicators which enables the measurement, monitoring and reporting of the sustainable development strategic objectives and progress achieved in implementing the 2030 Agenda. In 2020, Moldova conducted the 1st national voluntary review (VNR) on the progress of the 2030 goals. Aside from looking at the SDG progress, the VNR seeks to strengthen policies and institutions of governments as well as mobilize multi-stakeholder support and partnerships for further implementation of SDGs.
In mid-2020, the Government of the Republic of Moldova developed with the support of the UN agencies its first Voluntary National Review on the progress of the country towards the implementation of the 2030 agenda, highlighting the main areas of positive important progress, as well as areas that require further accelerated efforts and coagulation of the efforts of national stakeholders and development partners.
To complement the national efforts in monitoring and evaluation of the achievement of the SDGs, UNDP Moldova, in partnership with national stakeholders and other UNCT members (including UN Women, UNESCO, others), engaged in global ‘SDG 16 National Monitoring Initiative’ by the Global Alliance to Report Progress on Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies of which UNDP is a member. The initiative is based on an already tested methodology, initially developed and piloted by UNDP in 2017. This initiative is an opportunity to heed the call of the 2030 Agenda to form new partnerships, in this case to produce governance statistics and information. It is designed to build and strengthen inclusive and robust SDG 16 monitoring frameworks at national level. It includes technical and advisory support and the exchange of experiences between 16 pilot countries, including Moldova.
The SDG 16 monitoring framework methodology includes three main phases or elements:
- Definition of indicators and baseline data collection. In consultation with national statistical offices (NSOs), drawing from global/international and national (official and non-official) indicators and data sources.
- Multi-stakeholder consultations and review of progress. Joint reviews by government and civil society of the proposed indicator framework and of indicator results, and joint formulation of broad policy recommendations.
- Periodic scorecards. Periodic tracking of progress using the selected indicators, identifying and addressing data gaps, and formulating specific policy recommendations for each target.
The National Monitoring Initiative will support national partners’ efforts to monitor SDG 16 and evaluate progress of the Republic of Moldova and its people and to use the results to inform government policies, programmes and projects on topics covered by SDG 16, i.e. Peace, justice and Inclusion. Such initiative is aligned with the national efforts of the State Chancellery and the Government at large to monitor the progress under all SDGs and regularly produce voluntary national reviews on the progress, finding acceleration solutions, testing such solutions and ensuring continuous policy dialogues with all relevant stakeholders. The national initiative is sustainable as it is related to a continuous process of the implementation of the 2030 agenda and the commitment of the Government and all other stakeholders to find solutions to accelerate progress particularly in areas where progress achieved so far is moderate or those heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemics.
The national exercise is envisaging the following main activities:
- Creation of an advisory group under SDG16 to support State Chancellery (to consist of national experts and practitioners in SDG 16, representatives of the Government, key line ministries, National Bureau of Statistics, CSOs and other UN agencies, particularly UN Women, UNESCO, UNHCR, OHCHR, UNODC, among others) to inform the following activities;
- Development, with the support of the UNDP’s SDG16 National Monitoring Initiative, as well as other UNDP offices with relevant experience, of the methodology for the SDG16 scorecard to be applied in Moldova; the scorecard might be based on some existing similar tools (e.g. the scorecard on Governance developed with the support of the World Bank in Moldova, or similar) and connected to the monitoring platform on SDGs under development by the National Bureau of Statistics with support by UN Women and UNDP Moldova;
- Use of a SDG16 scorecard for the country based on amalgamation of statistical data and micronarratives on ‘How is life’ piloted by UNDP Moldova in 2018 (onwards) and relevant human rights/SDG indicators identified by UN OHCHR in support of the UN SERP of Moldova; the scorecard will be used by the Government/State Chancellery to monitor SDG 16 implementation and mobilize communities (CSOs, citizens) in collecting, making-sense and visualization of the progress in SDG 16. Integration of the SDG16 scorecard into existing tools for the monitoring of the progress in the implementation of the SDGs in Moldova (into VNRs, other).
Development of biannual policy briefs of areas pertinent to SDG16 to cover all targets (to cover topics in social cohesion, security, domestic violence, effective governance, anti-corruption efforts of the Government and potentially in area of conflict resolution and peace building, depending on the situation on the left Bank of the Nistru River); such briefs will draw on the scorecard results and will support the decision-making around improvements in governance; the briefs will be later also be used for the purposes of development of the second VNR for the country.
Scope of work
In close coordination with UNDP Policy Specialist, Justice and Human Rights Programme Cluster lead, representatives of all interested UN agencies and UN Resident Coordination Office (RCO), as well as the representatives of the National Bureau of Statistics and State Chancellery, the National Consultant will provide specialized data-related, analytical and facilitation support, covering the following responsibilities:
- Develop the vision and approach to the whole exercise and the concept/TOR for the Advisory Board, including specific TORs for the members of the Advisory Board, to include scenarios of how this advisory groups is to further carry out the initiative beyond the boundaries of the current project. Consult and validate the approach and concepts with the Advisory Group and main stakeholders;
- Propose the composition of the Advisory Board and co-facilitate the quarterly meetings, including: co-convene together with UNDP team and prepare the meetings, take part in all quarterly Advisory Board meetings, present the updates on the process, collect and process the recommendations of the Board members; provided support in preparation of the quarterly progress reports;
- Identify 2 to 3 scenarios for the scorecard development and implementation (evaluate the possibility of using the existing scorcards developed with support of the World Bank, the monitoring platform of the National Bureau of Statistics on SDGs or similar); Consult the selected scenario by the Advisory Group with the main stakeholders;
- Develop the methodology and guidelines for the scorecard, as well as the monitoring mechanism and sustainability plan;
- Support with the development of indicators for the thick data layer to the scorecard (by use of micronarratives as thick data to complement the existing/available data for SDG 16). Support the process of data collection and data analysis applying sensemaking methodology of the UNDP/Cognitive Edge. Organize and co-lead the sensemaking workshops, which is part of the data analysis methodology. Prepare the draft analytic note.
- Contribute to the development of the policy briefs covering the nationalized SDG16 indicators (2 briefs), based on the data collected for the scorecards. Integrate the micron-narratives outputs into the policy briefs;
- Prepare a summary report to reflect the lessons learned from the exercise and propose scalability scenarios where relevant.
In undertaking the assignment, the consultant will share the following principles:
- Participative: involve the stakeholders, key partners and other relevant institutions in the consultation and implementation process;
- Innovative: search for innovative ideas to making the exercise attractive to those engaged either in the development phase, or in the implementation phase.
For detailed information, please refer to Annex 1 – Terms of Reference.
Requirements for experience
Qualifications and Experience
- Master’s degree or equivalent in the field of social sciences, economics, statistics, or related field;
- Minimum 5 years of relevant professional experience in research in areas related to SDG16, quantitative and/or qualitative data analysis; experience in working with new types of data (including thick data) is an important advantage;
- Proven experience in convening partners, organizing and leading strategic meetings; proven experience in facilitating policy dialogues in areas related to SDG16;
- Previous analytical experience in the areas of SDG16 is a great advantage: effective governance, justice, social cohesion, security, conflict resolution and peace building, anti-corruption, domestic violence;
- Advanced research skills and capability of producing analysis using quantitative and qualitative data (references to documents to be provided)
Skills and Competencies
- Excellent quantitative and qualitative research skills;
- Proven capacity to produce reports and analyses in English;
- Consistently ensures timeliness and quality of work;
- Innovative and creative thinking;
- Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
- Excellent interpersonal and team work skills;
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
- Ability to facilitate group processes, including when tensions arise
Language:
- Proficiency in Romanian and English. Knowledge of Russian is desirable.
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:
- CV, including information about past experience in similar assignments and contact details for at least 3 references;
- Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment;
- Offeror's Letter confirming Interest and Availability with financial proposal (in USD, specifying the total lump sum amount). Financial proposal template prepared in compliance with the template in Annex 2.
Financial proposal
The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.
In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including fees, taxes, travel costs, accommodation costs, communication, and number of anticipated working days).
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.
|
