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EU4MD/ Re-advertised: Two (2) national Consultants to provide assistance and mentorship for local public authorities from Cahul and Ungheni focal regions to institutionalise One-Stop Shops

Vacancy Number: Pr22/02601

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	25 Oct 2022, 16:00 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	31 Oct 2022, 16:00 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	07 Nov 2022, 16:00 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	11 Nov 2022, 16:00 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	14 Nov 2022, 16:00 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	10 Nov 2022
Reference to the project:	EU4Moldova: Focal regions
Expected Duration of Assignment:	November 2022 – January 2023, estimated volume of work: 28 working days - Consultant 1, Team-leader; 22 working days - Consultant 2.
Submission Instructions: Description of the assignment: Re-advertised: Two (2) national Consultants to provide assistance and mentorship for local public authorities from Cahul and Ungheni focal regions to institutionalise One-Stop Shops One (1) Legal-institutional development specialist (Consultant 1 Team-leader) One (1) Public services specialist (Consultant 2). Project name: EU4Moldova: Focal Regions Programme (EU-funded)   Period of assignment/services: November 2022 – January 2023, estimated volume of work: 28 working days - Consultant 1, Team-leader; 22 working days - Consultant 2. Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Now" button no later than 25 October 2022. 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 OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP CONFIRMING INTEREST AND AVAILABILITY FOR THE INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTOR (IC) ASSIGNMENT Scrisoarea ofertantului catre PNUD confirmind interesul si disponibilitatea UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Ms. Victoria Josan.

Background

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

The One-Stop Shop (hereinafter referred to as OSS) will transform user experience and improve citizens' access to quality public services and utilities, create employment opportunities and improve the attractiveness for investors and entrepreneurs by implementing innovative practices and tools for service delivery offered in a single access point; strengthen transparency, accountability of local public authorities and citizen participation in local governance processes. 

Under the Programme, the OSS will be institutionalized within the LPA responsible for providing quality information about the activity of LPAs in Cahul and Ungheni Town Halls, and provision of administrative public services in a prompt manner, upon submission of a minimum set of documents both at the local and central levels.

The OSS will be part of the SMART Urban Management Concept that will provide both municipalities with the digital infrastructure, hard and soft, necessary to facilitate smart economic specialization, participatory planning and monitoring with engagement of all stakeholders, more efficient provision of services like water and sanitation, waste management, public transport, public lightning, housing, educational and health services. Using together information, data and technology the SMART Urban Management Concept will allow local public authorities make best use of resources and infrastructure for the purpose of supplying services to citizens, facilitate participative democracy and stimulate economic development. In this System, by way of example, the OSS will be responsible for providing the following services: 

• Inform about and manage procedures to obtain different documents (permits, authorizations, plans, certificates, copies of documents, notifications in commerce, real estate tax, etc.) issued by the LPA for citizens /businesses.
• Inform citizens about competencies and responsibilities of the mayor, local council, and administrative bodies of the town.
• Inform citizens on the decisions and other official acts adopted by the local council, mayor, and other municipal bodies.
• Inform beneficiaries on communal services provided by municipal enterprises, provide directions on service activation, tariffs, and usage pattern.
• Inform beneficiaries about the list, location and registration to kindergarten, school, etc.
• Register complaints in regard to services provided by the municipal enterprises and the OSS.
• Inform on any other issue related to local government activity.
• Accept applications for and issue the range of permits, authorizations, plans, certificates, official copies of documents, etc. issued by the LPA, including coordinating the activities of the relevant public authorities in order to streamline and accelerate the issuance of such approvals; and accept complaints, proposals and requests for assistance within the LPA’s sphere of authority.

Scope of work

The EU4Moldova: focal regions Programme (hereinafter the Programme) is looking for 2 (two) national Consultants qualified and experienced to render consultancy and expertise services to the local public authorities from Cahul and Ungheni focal regions in institutionalization of One Stop Shops, including:

• Position 1: One (1) Legal-institutional development specialist (Consultant 1 Team-leader) 
• Position 2: One (1) Public services specialist (Consultant 2). 

Important Note 1: The potential applicants shall clearly indicate the position they are applying for in the Application Letter.  

The applicants may apply for both positions and this fact shall be clearly indicated in the Application Letter, with the possibility to be selected for 1 position only. 

The Consultants shall work as a team, based on the methodological approach and of a detailed action plan that shall be developed at the start of the activities, and which shall be agreed with the local public partners and approved by the Programme.

The overall objective of the assignment is to assist the public administration authorities from Cahul and Ungheni focal regions in the institutionalization process of One Stop Shops. 

The Consultants will consider LPAs specifics and peculiarities, in particular the differences in the organizational structure, internal workflows and procedures, business culture. Thus, homogenized public Government to Citizens (G2C) and Government to Business (G2B) services with the same legal base will have a transformational impact of different workflows, followed by digital transformation.

The specific objectives of the Consultants’ assignment will include reviewing the existing package of documents related to the institutionalization and activity of the OSS, providing support to the LPA of Cahul and Ungheni in promoting the documents necessary for the institutionalization of OSS for the approval by the Municipal Council, and developing of an Action Plan for starting the operations of the OSS with a clear set of services that could be provided during the test operation period (e.g. one or two months).

To undertake the current exercise the Consultants will consider the Concept for e-APL Platform[1] meant for the local public authorities, approved on July 27, 2022, by the Government of the Republic of Moldova. Through the e-APL platform, the central public authorities will provide important digital resources for the efficient management of activities at the local level. Also, this platform will integrate existing governmental services such as e-signature and e-payments, facilitating the providing by LPA online public services and the digital interaction with the citizens and the business environment. Thus, the e-APL platform will represent a solution for the category G2G, G2B and G2C. Priorities and actions necessary to achieve the main objectives are: Modern local public administrations; Secure and sustainable digital infrastructure; Fast and affordable connectivity; Education and digital skills for all.

Also, the Consultants shall consider all efforts undertaken so far by the donor community (i.e. Local Government Support Project in Moldova^[2], My Community Programme (USAID), Moldova Governance e-Transformation Project, Modernization of Government Services in Republic of Moldova (WB), UNDP, UN Women initiatives) and provisions of national development strategies in areas such as ICT, decentralization, and population’s welfare improvement, etc.

The Consultants and Municipalities shall collaborate with active programmes or initiatives relevant to a successful completion of the assignment. Once implemented, the OSS into the focal regions may be replicated throughout the territory of the Republic of Moldova, thus contributing to improving the investment climate of the regions and Republic of Moldova in general, the degree of population’s satisfaction with the LPA and CPA activity, the indicators from the World Bank reports, etc.

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

[1] Government Decision regarding the approval of the Concept of the Portal meant for the local public administration in the Republic of Moldova (e-APL)

https://gov.md/sites/default/files/document/attachments/subiect-06-nu-329-cs-age-2022.pdf

[2] Concept of Citizen Information and Service Center of the LPA  http://descentralizare.gov.md/public/files/CIPS_Concept_paper_final_eng.pdf

Requirements for experience

The following qualification criteria shall be applied for the selection of the Consultant for the Position 1 - Legal-institutional development specialist, Team Leader:  

Academic Qualifications:

• University degree in Law, Public Administration, Management, Political Science, Sociology or another relevant field. Master’s degree shall be considered an asset.

Years of experience:

• At least 3 years of practical experience in the fields related to local development (strategic planning, development of public administrative services, local development projects implemented with participation of private sector or attracted external financial resources, investment attraction, collaboration with the associative sector and / or private actors).
• At least 2 similar contracts with similar scope and tasks (evidence: the list of the last 2 development projects in which the Consultant has been involved in the last 3 years must be presented together with the application dossier).
• Experience in facilitation, coaching, mentoring and/or delivering trainings in the field of OSS, and/or implementation of local development projects financed from government or external attracted financial resources (evidence: the list of the last 3 trainings facilitated in the mentioned field must be presented together with the application package).
• Relevant experience in implementing OSS projects shall be considered a strong asset.
• Previous experience of working with UN agencies and/or international organizations, and/or European/donor funded development projects/ programmes will be considered a strong asset.

Competencies:

• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Leads teams effectively and shows mentoring as well as conflict resolution skills
• Demonstrated capacity of team-orientation work, excellent planning and organizational skills; 
• Good interpersonal skills, solid judgment/decision making, initiative and creativity;
• Ability to analyse, plan, communicate effectively organize and meet expected results, adapt to different environments (cultural, economic, political and social);
• Ability to achieve results and deadlines in a timely manner, maintaining a high standard throughout;
• Knowledge and skills of operating contemporary PC software.
• Fluent knowledge of Romanian and Russian (written and spoken). Knowledge of English is an asset.

The following qualification criteria shall be applied for the selection of the Position 2 – Public services specialist, Consultant 2. 

Academic Qualifications:

• University degree in public administration, social sciences, education, psychology, social work, or other relevant area. Master’s degree shall be considered an asset.

Years of experience:

• At least 3 years of working experience providing advisory services for public sector in area of public services, strategic development, business development or assigned program specialty, other business-related activities, collaboration of public actors and / or private sector). 
• At least 2 similar contracts in terms of scope and tasks addressed (evidence: the list of the last 2 contracts in which the Consultant has been involved in the last 3 years must be presented together with the application dossier).
• Experience in cooperation with LPAs on facilitation, coaching, mentoring and/or delivering trainings in the field of public services development, implementation of local development projects financed by the public sector or from external attracted financial resources (evidence: the list of the last 3 authorities facilitated in the mentioned field 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.

Competencies:

• Demonstrated capacity of team-orientation work, excellent planning and organizational skills; 
• Good interpersonal skills, solid judgment/decision making, initiative and creativity;
• Ability to analyse, plan, communicate effectively organize and meet expected results, adapt to different environments (cultural, economic, political and social);
• Ability to achieve results and deadlines in a timely manner, maintaining a high standard throughout;
• Computer proficiency, including knowledge of MS Office products (Word, Excel, Power Point) as well as e-mails literacy.
• Fluent knowledge of Romanian and Russian (written and spoken). Knowledge of English is an asset.

The United Nations Development Programme in Moldova is committed to workforce diversity. Women and men, persons with different types of disabilities, LGBT, 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. Please specify in your CV if you belong to any of the group(s) under-represented[1]  in the UN Moldova and/or the area of assignment.

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. Referring to experience requirement indicated in point 3 above (scored in point 6 below) the following evidence must be presented together with the application package:

a) the list of the last 2 contracts in which the Consultant has been involved in the last 3 years and his/her role in them;

b) for Position 2, Team Leader only: the list of the last 3 trainings facilitated in the mentioned field (for proving experience in facilitation, coaching, mentoring and/or delivering trainings in the field of OSS and/or implementation of local development projects financed from government or external attracted financial resources);

c) for Position 2, Consultant 2: the list of the last 3 authorities facilitated in the mentioned field (for proving experience in cooperation with LPAs on facilitation, coaching, mentoring and/or delivering trainings in the field of public services development, implementation of local development projects financed by the public sector or from external attracted financial resources).

4. 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, transportation costs, etc.).

Travel

This contract is an activity that has to be done remotely (from office/home) with the possibility of making trips to the territory (at least 5 trips to Cahul and 5 trips to Ungheni), taking into consideration the epidemiological conditions. All the costs for the eventual trips to and from contract location (Cahul and Ungheni) shall be the responsibility of the consultant, thus the transportation costs shall be included in the consolidated financial offer.

The expenses relating to ensuring the hygienic-sanitary conditions (if the meetings take place with physical presence (masks, gloves, disinfectant) shall be covered by the organizers and Programme.

Individual contractor who is over 62 years of age will be required, prior to contract signature, to undergo full medical examination and obtain medical clearance from an UN-approved doctor or his/her own preferred physician. The medical examination shall be issued and submitted to UNDP Moldova upon request.