Back National Consultant (Strategic Advisor to IEC) UNDP-UNESP (United Nations Electoral Support Project)

Background

UNDP Afghanistan Mission Statement

UNDP supports stabilization, state-building, governance and development priorities in Afghanistan. UNDP support, in partnership with the Government, the United Nations system, the donor community and other development stakeholders, has contributed to institutional development efforts leading to positive impact on the lives of Afghan citizens. Over the years, UNDP support has spanned such milestone efforts as the adoption of the Constitution; Presidential, Parliamentary and Provincial Council elections; institutional development through capacity-building to the legislative, the judicial and executive arms of the state, and key ministries, Government agencies and commissions at the national and subnational levels. UNDP has played a key role in the management of the Law and Order Trust Fund, which supports the Government in developing and maintaining the national police force and in efforts to stabilize the internal security environment. Major demobilization, disarmament and rehabilitation and area-based livelihoods and reconstruction programmes have taken place nationwide. UNDP Programmes in Afghanistan have benefited from the very active support of donors. UNDP Afghanistan is committed to the highest standards of transparency and accountability and works in close coordination with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the UN system as a whole to maximize the impact of its development efforts on the ground.

Organizational context:

The UN Electoral Support Project (UNESP) is the international community’s programming vehicle to support the next elections in Afghanistan, including the parliamentary and district council elections announced by the Independent Election Commission (IEC) for 20 October 2018. The project has two overall objectives – 1) to build the capacity of the Afghan electoral institutions (the Independent Elections Commission and the Electoral Complaints Commission) to implement elections in line with the national electoral legal framework and Afghanistan’s international commitments; 2) to allow a programming mechanism for the international community to partially finance the elections as per the request of the Government of Afghanistan. The project follows previous UN projects in support of the Afghan electoral process, most notably the Enhancing Legal and Electoral Capacity for Tomorrow (ELECT) projects, from 2006-2011 (ELECT I) and 2012-2015 (ELECT II), and the UNDP Project Initiation Plan that is in place since July 2015 – October 2017. The UNESP places the UN’s electoral support to Afghanistan directly under the political and supervisory oversight of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), and reflects the growing sustainability of the Afghan electoral process, as evidenced by the Government of Afghanistan’s financial commitment to both electoral institutions, and the provision of significant in-kind support to the implementation of elections. The Project Board, under the overall political guidance of the UNAMA Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Political, will be co-chaired by UNAMA DSRSG for Political and the Chairpersons of the IEC and ECC or their delegates. It will be comprised of all key stakeholders to oversee and approve UNESP’s budget, annual work plans and policy in support of the Afghan electoral institutions. Project implementation support will be provided by the UNDP Country Office, reporting, on fiduciary and operational matters, to the UNAMA Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Development/ UN Resident Coordinator/ UNDP Resident Representative through the UNDP Country Director.

Along with support to both electoral institutions, UNESP will also support Afghan civil society’s civic and voter education and observation efforts to enhance the quality and quantity of participation in the electoral process. Overall, the project will have three outputs: (i) administration of credible elections is facilitated by the meeting of key IEC structural and planning milestones; (ii) credible electoral dispute resolution is provided by the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) (iii) public outreach (along with support to civil society) to encourage citizen engagement in the electoral process. (iv) a polling center specific voter list for the upcoming elections is produced by the IEC. (v) the IEC and ECC provide credible administration of and electoral dispute resolution for the Wolesi Jirga and District Council elections, respectively. Mainstreaming of gender throughout the project is evident in key output indicators related to women’s participation in all three project outputs, reflecting the importance that UNESP places on increasing the position of women in Afghan electoral and political life. The project also aims at supporting the EMBs in strengthening integrity of the electoral process by enhancing accountability of responsible actors and supporting the implementation of electoral fraud mitigation mechanisms. Assisting the EMBs to implement measures to increase public confidence in election and democracy will be mainstreamed through the electoral assistance provided.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work and Deliverables:

Under the overall guidance of the Chief Electoral Advisor and the Deputy Chief Electoral Advisor / Project Manager and the direct supervision of the Senior Elections Operations Specialist, the National Consultant – Strategic Advisor to IEC will ensure effective execution of services and processes in UNESP. The consultant – National Strategic Advisor to IEC promotes a client, quality and results-orientated approach.

The National Consultant – National Strategic Advisor to IEC will be responsible for the following but not restricted to key functions to achieve desired results:

Provide support in Overall electoral matters in support of IEC and UNESP

• Provides advice, assistance and support to the IEC Board of Commissioners (BOC) and Secretariat staff in IEC HQ in electoral administrative matters;
• Support the daily operational functions with IEC BOC meetings, in setting translation and administrative support for the International Commissioners and UNESP Operations (Technical) Advisors;
• Work closely with the IEC BOC and Secretariat staff on day to day management and interaction with International Commissioners and UNESP Operations (Technical) Advisors;
• Be the liaison between IEC BOC, International Commissioners and UNESP Operations (Technical) Advisors, in the setting up and conducting of BOC’s and respected invitations to attend;
• Contribute in capacity development of IEC BOC’s and Secretariat staff at IEC HQ to foster national ownership;
• Liaises with UNESP HQ & Regional advisors for operational issues of support to the IEC;
• Assist in coordination with UN agencies and other international agencies/bodies at the HQ level on electoral and security related issues (in coordination with the UNEST Security Advisor);
  • In support of the Senior Elections Operations Specialist, focuses on and supports identified capacity building within the IEC BOC;

• In support of the Senior Elections Operations Specialist, focuses on and supports identified capacity building within the IEC BOC;

Assists in the preparation of translations, documents and official correspondence in English and Dari/Pashto

• Assist the IEC in the preparation of correspondence with stakeholders in Dari / Pashtu and English. As well as translations of correspondence and election related texts in Dari/Pashtu – English and English – Pashtu / Dari;
• Assist the IEC in drafting of memos with minimal supervision in English and Dari and/or Pashto;
• When required interpret during meetings English-Pashto/Dari-English;
• Conduct proof reading of translations;
• Prepare summaries of texts in English and Pashto/Dari.

Expected Outputs, Deliverables:

The National Consultant – National Strategic Advisor to IEC will:

Deliverables/ Outputs

Estimated Duration to Complete

Target Due Dates

Review and Approvals Required

• Deliverable 1

• Provide support in Overall electoral matters in support of IEC and UNESP
• Assists in the preparation of translations, documents and official correspondence in English and Dari/Pashto

• As per detailed description above;
• The Consultant will submit monthly and ad-hoc reports during the consultancy period.

21 working days (maximum)

TBD (on initial contract start date).

Senior Elections Operations Specialist

Deliverable 2

• Provide support in Overall electoral matters in support of IEC and UNESP
• Assists in the preparation of translations, documents and official correspondence in English and Dari/Pashto
• As per detailed description above;
• The Consultant will submit monthly and ad-hoc reports during the consultancy period.

23 working days (maximum)

TBD (on initial contract start date)

By completion of contract period.

Senior Elections Operations Specialist

SCHEDULE OF PAYMENT:

Payments shall be done monthly based on actual days worked, upon verification of completion of specific reports and approval by the consultant’s supervisor and a timesheet according to UNDP procurement formats for individual contractors.

The National Consultant – National Strategic Advisor to IEC will:

Working arrangements

Institutional Arrangements:

Duration of the Work:

The National Consultant – National Strategic Advisor to IEC shall work for 2 months with maximum 44 working days (possibility of extension).

Duty Station:

Kabul, Afghanistan.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies

• Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional Competencies

Knowledge Management and Learning

• Shares knowledge and experience;
• Encourages office staff to share knowledge and contribute to UNDP Practice Areas;
• Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more Practice Areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills.

Development and Operational Effectiveness

• Ability to perform a variety of specialized activities related to financial resources management, including formulating budgets, maintaining Accounts Receivables and Accounts Payables, making transactions, reporting;
• Sound knowledge of financial rules and regulations, accounting;
• Strong I.T. skills;
• Ability to provide input to business processes re-engineering, implementation of new system.

Leadership and Self-Management

• Focuses on result for the client;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
• Demonstrates openness to change;
• Responds positively to feedback and differing points of view;
• UNDP Accounting and Finance Training and certification.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:         

• High School or Bachelor’s degree or equivalent preferably in Logistics or Business Administration, or related field.

Experience:

• With High School Certificate 3-5 years of experience and with bachelor’s degree 1-3 years of relevant of Administration, Finance, Assets and Logistics experience;
• Experience and knowledge of the Afghanistan Electoral Management Bodies, and the institutional organizational structure and operations of both (IEC – ECC) (more than 3 years);
• Experience and working in Afghanistan Government institution / Ministries in related fields as a mid-administrative level of management, would be an asset (more than 3 years);
• Working knowledge of the Afghanistan Electoral Law;
• Experience in working with international organizations and civil society organizations in elections or related field is desirable (more than 3 years);
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) (Mandatory);
• Experience in handling of web-based management systems;

Language Requirements

• Fluency in English and local languages of Dari/Pashtu is required.

Price Proposal and schedule of payments

Shortlisted candidates (ONLY) will be requested to submit a Financial Proposal.  The consultant shall then submit a price proposal when requested by UNDP, in accordance with the below:

• Daily Fee – The National Consultant shall propose an all-inclusive daily fee for the contract period. The term “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, and transportation costs) that could be incurred by the consultant in completing the assignment are already factored into the daily fee submitted in the proposal.

The National Consultant – National Strategic Advisor to IEC shall work for 2 months with maximum 44 working days (possibility of extension).

Evaluation Method and Criteria

National Consultant Strategic Advisor to IEC will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

* Technical Criteria weight 70%

* Financial Criteria weight 30%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

Technical Criteria 70 points

• Educational level (15 marks);
• Experience and knowledge of the Afghanistan Electoral Management Bodies, and the institutional organizational structure and operations of both (IEC – ECC) and international organizations and civil society organizations in elections or related field is desirable (more than 3 years) (30 marks);
• Working knowledge of the Afghanistan Electoral Law (15 marks);
• Working experience within an Afghanistan Government Institution / Ministry in related field (10 marks).

Financial Criteria 30 points

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

p = y (µ/z), where

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document:

• Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references.

All materials developed will remain the copyright of UNDP Afghanistan.  UNDP Afghanistan will be free to adapt and modify them in the future.

Annexes (click on the hyperlink to access the documents):

• Annex 1 - IC Contract Template (for information);

• Annex 2 -  Financial Proposal Template using the template provided by UNDP (to be completed at later stage upon request by UNDP);
• Annex 3 – IC General Terms and Conditions (for information);
• Annex 4 – RLA Template (if consultant wishes to be recruited through an employer) - (for information).

Incomplete application will not be considered, it will be disqualified automatically.