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MiDL - Expert in the elaboration of occupational and qualification standards for nannies.

Vacancy Number: Pr21/02317

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	23 Sep 2021, 23:00 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	01 Oct 2021, 23:00 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	04 Oct 2021
Reference to the project:	Joint Integrated Local Development Programme
Expected Duration of Assignment:	October – December 2021
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted on-line no later than 23 September 2021. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: a.moraru@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: Procurement Notice Terms of Reference OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP CONFIRMING INTEREST AND AVAILABILITY FOR THE INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTOR (IC) ASSIGNMENT UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Ms. A Moraru.

Background

Addressing inequalities is a key priority for the Republic of Moldova in this Decade of Action for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The country loses up to 10% of its potential achievement because of inequalities. Leaving no one behind is a key principle and imperative of Agenda 2030 – an approach that is also enshrined in Moldovan strategic documents: the National Development Strategy Moldova 2030, the nationalised Global Agenda commitments, and the EU-Moldova cooperation framework.

There are many manifestations of gender-based inequalities – in terms of employment, pay gap, division of unpaid household and care work, limited access to assets, lack of gender-responsive institutions, unequal participation of women in private and public decision-making – which altogether constitute a serious obstacle to Moldova’s development and its progress towards the SDGs.  Despite a relatively high level of de jure equality enjoyed by both women and men in Moldova, persisting discriminatory social norms and practices lead to de facto gender inequality. Women work more than men when both unpaid and paid work are considered; this is predominantly because women do more than twice unpaid care work at home than men[i]. This unequal distribution of unpaid care work is recognized globally as a root cause of gender inequalities in labour market outcomes[1]. The labour force participation rate in Moldova is 43.1%, while for women it is 35%[2]; on average women earn 85.6% of the salary earned by men. Household work is also among the main reasons why women remain outside the labour market more often than men, both in rural and urban areas. Similarly, the pandemic affected more women, determining them to work-from-home set-ups, reduced working hours schedule, part-time jobs or lose their jobs, due to increased child and household work responsibilities[3]. In rural areas, and within specific groups, the inequalities in time use, labour market participation and wage levels can be even higher. According to the only available Time Use Survey conducted (2014), unpaid work in Moldova is largely done by women – about 66% of women’s total working time is constituted by unpaid work (4.9 hours per day as compared to 2.8 hours of unpaid work done by men, or 46% of the total men’s working time)[4].  With these in mind, investing in the care sector to develop care infrastructure and provide affordable and quality services is essential if women are to have equal opportunities on the labour market.

Moldova has been facing an increased demand for care jobs, especially in the area of childcare and elderly care. Despite this increasing demand,[5] care sector jobs in Moldova still remain largely informal, unregulated, with unclear quality standards and lacking unemployment and social security. Even more so, provided the social and cultural norms and gender stereotypes, more women are engaged in this type of jobs. According to statistics, the social sectors in Moldova (education, health, social services, public administration) are highly feminized, with over 80% of staff represented by women. 

In the last several years, UNDP has done a significant body of work on employment policies and services in the country. Working with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection, UNDP supported the design of the national employment strategic framework[6], upgrading of labour migration legislation, as well as supported the National Employment Agency to improve capacity to assist reintegration of labour migrants, support job placement of job-seekers, including to improve the quality of services by redesigning and re-engineering services in one pilot local employment office. Moreover, since 2019, UNDP Moldova has been supporting the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research (MECR) to pilot the implementation of a mechanism for recognition/certification of professional competences/qualifications acquired in informal and non-formal settings. The industries covered so far are catering, construction, ecology, transport, beauty services, IT, and textile, and work is in progress on extending the qualifications recognition/certification mechanism to early education/assistant workers for public day-care centres. An increasing demand from additional institutions to join the process has been attested. This allows them to increase their employability and expand employment opportunities (for instance, construction workers without a diploma cannot be hired to work on public construction projects), get hired legally and obtain social security.

Further, UNDP seeks to expand the mechanism to the area of care economy, with the objective to enhance the legal and regulatory framework to formalize the informal care work and increase job security of individuals engaged in this sector.

Scope of work

UNDP Moldova is seeking a certified national consultant to elaborate the occupational and qualification standards for nannies , adhering to the Government approved Methodology for the elaboration of occupational and qualification standards.

The consultant will conduct the following activities:

• Identify at least 5 relevant members of the working group for occupational analysis (knowledgeable and experienced in the occupation);
• Conduct the occupational analysis for the job of nanny / childcare practitioner (desk research, review of local and international documentation, coupled with personal interviews and / or focus group discussions with representatives of the profession, employers, and other stakeholders, to develop the Occupational Profile;
• Lead the development and draft the Occupational Standard.
• Identify at least 3 practitioners to be involved in the verification process of the Occupational Profile;
• Liaise with stakeholders to identify 3 members of the Evaluation and Validation Committee, and prepare all paperwork required for the evaluation and validation of the Occupational Standard;
• Identify at least 4 relevant members of the working group for the elaboration of qualification standard;
• Lead the development of the Qualification Standard;
• Identifies at least 3 practitioners to be involved in the verification process of the Qualification Standard;
• Submit the Qualification Standard to the Ministry of Education and Research

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

Requirements for experience

Education:

• University degree in Public Policy, Social Science, Economics, Migration, Labour Migration, Employment, or related areas;

 Experience:

• At least 2 years of professional working experience developing occupational profiles and standards. Development of standards in the area of education, childcare, or similar, will be an advantage.
• At least 2 years of professional working experience in the development of qualification standards.
• Certification in the elaboration of occupational standards is a must.
• Proven capacity of developing analytical reports, conducting research on the occupations in Moldova or internationally, and/or in connected areas such as employment, labour market, social protection.

 Competencies:

• Demonstrated capacity of   team-orientation   work, excellent   planning   and organizational skills.
• Strong research, communications and writing skills.
• Fluency in Romanian and Russian. Fluency in English will be an advantage.
• Ability to achieve results and deadlines in a timely manner, maintaining a high standard throughout.
• Sensitivity and respect for sustainable development, human rights and gender equality; proven commitment to the core values of the United Nations, respecting differences of culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, language, age, HIV status, disability, and sexual orientation, or other status.

The United Nations Development Programme in 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:

1. CV with at least 3 contact references;
2. Cover letter, stating their interest in and qualifications for the consultancy
3. Offeror’s Letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability, including financial offer, according to Annex 2. The Financial offer presented in USD will specify a total lump sum amount and amounts per each deliverable, including the fee per day and any other costs (e.g. fees, taxes, travel/transportation costs etc.).

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) (see Annex 2 of the Offeror’s Letter Confirming Interest and availability attached to this Procurement Notice).  

Travel

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This assignment does not envisage travel outside Chisinau. However, should the need arise, the compensation of the travel costs will be discussed on the case by case basis.