UNDP LEAD ELECTORAL ASSISTANCE EXPERT

UNDP’s democratic governance practice focuses on fostering inclusive participation, strengthening responsive governing institutions, and promoting democratic principles. In the area of electoral assistance, one of UNDP’s key democratic governance pillars, UNDP has established a partnership with the European Commission, which has mobilized more than 650 million EURO (since 2004) for financial and technical support to transitional democracies and post conflict countries, via UNDP, in order to promote and contribute to the organization of genuine and sustainable electoral processes. For this an EC-UNDP Joint Task Force (JTF) on Electoral Assistance was established to further strengthen and facilitate the already existing EC-UNDP partnership in the field of electoral assistance, and improve the overall efficiency and adherence of the projects to the common EC-UNDP strategic approach. Against this background, the EC-UNDP Joint Task Force was requested to submit a concept paper for a potential project under the 10th EDF in the field of electoral assistance and in the broader area of democratic governance for the PALOP/TL – African Countries of Portuguese Official Language (Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique) and Timor Leste. This proposal was accepted by the PALOP and Timor Leste and EC services during the 6th Meeting between the National Authorizing Officers (NAOs) of the PALOP and Timor Leste and the EC services of 6 May 2008 in Luanda and decision was made to finance the project throughout the “Governance Initiative” to be financed by the National Indicative Programme of PALOP/TL within the 10th EDF. The EC-UNDP Joint Task Force carried out the necessary identification and formulation activities leading to the signature of a Contribution Agreement between the EU Delegation and UNDP Country Office in Bissau on 30 March, 2010. Funded solely by the EU to the tune of 6.1 million Euros, the Project in Support of the 2010-2012 Electoral Cycles in the PALOP and Timor Leste is implemented by UNDP in Guinea Bissau, the PALOP (Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, São Tomé e Principe) and Timor Leste through the direct execution modality (DEX). UNDP Country Office in Guinea Bissau is the unit responsible for the overall reporting of the project to its stakeholders, particularly to the senior supplier and the senior beneficiary representatives. For this reason, UNDP CO in Guinea Bissau is considered the project leading country. UNDP Country Offices in these countries support Electoral Management Bodies, Parliaments and other relevant project stakeholders to implement Annual Work Plans throughout 2011-2013 electoral cycles. The project targets the promotion of deeper consolidation of the democratic culture and institutions by providing electoral assistance as an ongoing and cyclical activity rather than being event driven at designated points in time. The activities focus on: Support in the development of strategic and operational plans of the national electoral management bodies Support for the national EMBs in developing accurate budgets; Support in examining synergies between the civil and voter registries in the partner countries; Support for the national EMBs in developing accurate procurement plans; Support in the provision of civic and voter education; Support for the improvement of transmission and verification of election results; Support for electoral dispute resolution mechanisms; Provision of specific training courses, including relevant BRIDGE modules, following the conduct of a thorough BRIDGE needs assessment. The project’s outputs and outcomes should be pursuit through a coordinated and coherent approach, putting in place activities that will respond as much as possible to shared needs and shortcomings but, simultaneously, resulting from the six beneficiary countries’ specificities regarding legal context and institutional framework, human and technical resources. The overall objective of the review was to make an independent assessment of the past performance of the EC-UNDP Partnership on Electoral Assistance and the work carried out by the JTF with particular attention to the impact upon EC-UNDP cooperation in the field of electoral assistance as well as the JTF efforts in regards 1) operational guidance, 2) liaison and interaction and 3) training and information. Moreover, it aimed to identify key lessons learned and propose practical recommendations in order to further facilitate EC-UNDP collaboration in the field as well as to promote the work carried out by the JTF. Two experts were hired to carry out interviews in December 2009 and provide a first draft of the report. Based in the input from the various parties, the draft report was revised and finalized in May 2010 and will provide valuable input to the Strategic Partnership Review meeting that is taking place in June 2010. As planned, a review will be carry out on the basis of an assessment process to assess the project’s impact at country-level with particular focus on the project outputs’ contribution and the added value in terms of effectiveness of aid delivery. In this context, a team of two Electoral Experts (one of them will be the team leader) will assess the Pro PALOP-TL expected results against the impact of the project activities carried out in the beneficiary countries. Particular focus will be placed on effectiveness of the support provided by the project to all project beneficiaries in line with the Evaluation ToR. The overall objective of the assessment is to help the project’s Steering Committee and management unit to address main identified shortcomings and refine an exit strategy. The country-level assessment will provide a valuable tool for improving the quality of future electoral assistance projects to be undertaken in the beneficiary countries. The evaluation will assess the level of efficiency and delivery with regards to the implementation of the activities indicated above. In addition, the evaluation will assess the achievements and achieved results, taking into account the elements put forward above. Objective of the Evaluation: The Pro PALOP-TL has been referred as practice to consider in innovative approaches and strategies to develop efficiently capacities in electoral administration. After one year of implementation, as planned an evaluation needs to be carried out in order to provide an independent diagnosis of the capacities effectively developed, the skills and knowledge transferred, and the change trends resulting from the project actions. One Lead Electoral Assistance Expert will work with Electoral Assistance Expert under the direct supervision of the Project Manager during 60 working days. The key outputs of the Pro PALOP-TL Assessment Experts are: To provide a methodology and work plan to carry out the assignment; To review the project achievements against the results, targets and indicators set out in the project documentation (Results and Resources Framework, Annual Work Plans – and the project log frame); To review the findings and recommendations of existing Assessment Reports on Electoral Assistance in the beneficiary countries; To carry out in-depth analysis of the Annual Work Plans of each beneficiary country for electoral cycles 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 – the methodology and approach should promote the diversity of the assessment (e.g. size of the budget, context (post-conflict versus democratizing), type of support (training, procurement, support to operations), domain of activities and entry points (planning, voters’ registration, electoral results’ transmission, electoral complains and dispute resolution, civic education, parliament and media strengthening); To submit an assessment methodology that takes into consideration UNDP capacity assessment approach with particular focus on national ownership, project’s sustainability and effectiveness with a view towards the principles informing the Paris and Accra declarations on aid effectiveness, namely ownership, alignment, harmonization, results and mutual accountability; To undertake missions to PALOP and Timor Leste to review the projects and consult key stakeholders; To carry out interviews/meetings with relevant parties in the field amongst them, but not limited to, EU/EC Delegations, UNDP COs, National Authorizing Offices, members of EMBs, national stakeholders (Parliamentarians, CSOs, media, marginalized groups, voters...) etc.; To analyze the implementation phase of the country annual work plans with a view to assessing the achievement of pre-set objectives and targets, the validity of the risk assessment, as well as unforeseen consequences in terms of unexpected opportunities and challenges; Identify, under the coordination of the Project Manager, a methodology and use this methodology to analyze the added value of UNDP-EU partnership during project identification, formulation, implementation and evaluation phases; Analyze the effectiveness of identification, formulation and follow-up services provided by the Pro PALOP-TL to country-level projects; To be responsible for the delivery of the Assessment Report that provides an overview of key findings of the country missions as well as recommendations on how to improve delivery and results at the field level. Overall objectives of the Final Evaluation Report are: To make an overall independent assessment of the performance of Pro PALOP-TL with particular attention to the impact in the beneficiary countries regarding 1) transfer of capacities to EMBs and other relevant actors in the field of electoral management; 2) ownership of planning tools and in the implementation of electoral assistance Programmes; and 3) south-south exchanges and peer learning in the field of elections; To use DAC criteria together with capacity assessment criteria as a reference for the methodology; To identify key lessons learned and propose practical recommendations in order to further facilitate EC-UNDP and NAO collaboration in the field; To contribute to the project exit strategy. SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSABILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ANALYTICAL WORK. A team of two consultants, electoral experts (one Team Leader) to be hired are expected to: Become familiar with relevant documentation; Develop the appropriate methodology meeting the requirements of the ToR; Engage, analyze of and synthesize the views represented by the EC, NAO and UNDP field and HQ levels, beneficiaries of electoral assistance projects (including EMBs, CSOs, participants in trainings etc.); Evaluate the project coordination and oversight structure in view of relevance, design, efficiency; Evaluate effectiveness, impact, sustainability and costs of the project’s activities (see B. reporting requirements, below) in line with EC[1] and UNDP[2] guidelines for monitoring and evaluation, but also taking into account UNDP capacity assessment tools. guidelines for monitoring and evaluation, but also taking into account UNDP capacity assessment tools. guidelines for monitoring and evaluation, but also taking into account UNDP capacity assessment tools. and UNDP guidelines for monitoring and evaluation, but also taking into account UNDP capacity assessment tools. Methodology: The Consultants will determine the most appropriate methodology. The Consultants will have access to office space, internet access and phone provided by UNDP Country Offices[3] in the visited countries for undertaking the evaluation. Note that the evaluation foresees missions to all beneficiary countries – see Annex 1 (evaluation ToR) for more details. in the visited countries for undertaking the evaluation. Note that the evaluation foresees missions to all beneficiary countries – see Annex 1 (evaluation ToR) for more details. Activities will include, but not limited to: To review the project achievements against the results, targets and indicators set out in the project documentation (Results and Resources Framework, Annual Work Plans – and the project log frame) and other existing documentation including, but not limited to, the Standard Contribution Agreement, PRODOC, Letter of Agreements and Grants with implementing partners; various project document including mission reports and project monitoring/evaluation reports; training materials and training evaluation reports; knowledge products etc. Meetings with EC, NAO and UNDP staff and consultants. Interviews with key stakeholders including, but not limited to, EC Delegations, UNDP Country Offices, EMBs involved with the project activities, training/workshop participants and resource persons; staff of partner organizations in activities jointly carried out in the field. To use DAC criteria together with capacity assessment criteria as a reference for the methodology. Report Requirements: The main output of this contract will be the Final Evaluation Report. A preliminary version will be shared with UNDP Guinea Bissau within 15 working days prior to the deadline for the submission of the final report. The Final Evaluation Report will take into consideration: Relevance: Assessment of the overall and specific objectives against undertaken activities of the project; Design of the project: Assessment of the internal logic/coherence of the project Efficiency: Assessment of the activities against the results of the project; Effectiveness: Assessment of the results against the overall and specific objectives of the project; Impact: Assessment of the project outcomes on the context of the beneficiary countries; Sustainability: Assessment of the likelihood of the benefits produced by the project to flow after specific activities have come to an end; and Costs: Assessment of the use of resources against overall/specific objectives, activities and results.

Duties and Responsibilities

Lead Electoral Assistance Expert will work with Electoral Assistance Expert under the direct supervision of the Project Manager during 60 working days. The key outputs of the Pro PALOP-TL Assessment Experts are: To provide a methodology and work plan to carry out the assignment; To review the project achievements against the results, targets and indicators set out in the project documentation (Results and Resources Framework, Annual Work Plans – and the project log frame); To review the findings and recommendations of existing Assessment Reports on Electoral Assistance in the beneficiary countries; To carry out in-depth analysis of the Annual Work Plans of each beneficiary country for electoral cycles 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 – the methodology and approach should promote the diversity of the assessment (e.g. size of the budget, context (post-conflict versus democratizing), type of support (training, procurement, support to operations), domain of activities and entry points (planning, voters’ registration, electoral results’ transmission, electoral complains and dispute resolution, civic education, parliament and media strengthening); To submit an assessment methodology that takes into consideration UNDP capacity assessment approach with particular focus on national ownership, project’s sustainability and effectiveness with a view towards the principles informing the Paris and Accra declarations on aid effectiveness, namely ownership, alignment, harmonization, results and mutual accountability; To undertake missions to PALOP and Timor Leste to review the projects and consult key stakeholders; To carry out interviews/meetings with relevant parties in the field amongst them, but not limited to, EU/EC Delegations, UNDP COs, National Authorizing Offices, members of EMBs, national stakeholders (Parliamentarians, CSOs, media, marginalized groups, voters...) etc.; To analyze the implementation phase of the country annual work plans with a view to assessing the achievement of pre-set objectives and targets, the validity of the risk assessment, as well as unforeseen consequences in terms of unexpected opportunities and challenges; Identify, under the coordination of the Project Manager, a methodology and use this methodology to analyze the added value of UNDP-EU partnership during project identification, formulation, implementation and evaluation phases; Analyze the effectiveness of identification, formulation and follow-up services provided by the Pro PALOP-TL to country-level projects; To be responsible for the delivery of the Assessment Report that provides an overview of key findings of the country missions as well as recommendations on how to improve delivery and results at the field level. Project name: Evaluation of the Project in Support of 2010-2012 Electoral Cycles in the PALOP and East Timor Period of assignment/services (if applicable): 20 of August through 09 of November 2012, 60 working Days

Competencies

Knowledge of UN/UNDP and/or EU/EC policy and programming frameworks and work in the field of electoral assistance required; Extensive technical experience with provision of electoral assistance by UN/UNDP and/or the EU/EC needed; Experience in election observation is an asset to facilitate the analysis of the synergies between election observation and electoral assistance which one of the main policy priority of the EU; Fluent oral and written communication skills in Portuguese and English. Analytical skills, communications abilities, teamwork: Excellent writing, editing, and oral communication skills in Portuguese and English; and Ability to meet deadlines and prioritize multiple tasks.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: Masters degree in political science/international relations or public administration & organizational development or related social science field; Experience: Minimum 10 years professional experience in democratic governance, including significant experience in evaluation exercises and Minimum 5 years of experience in advising/implementing/ developing strategic and operational plans in the field of electoral assistance; Language requirements: Fluent oral and written communication skills in Portuguese and English. DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS: Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications: Technical Proposal: (Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work (Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work Financial Proposal Personal CV (P11 form) including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references Proposals must include all three documents. Proposals not meeting this requirement will be rejected. FINANCIAL PROPOSAL Lump sum contracts 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 travel, per diems, visa and number of anticipated working days). Contracts based on daily fee: The financial proposal will specify the daily fee, travel expenses and per diems quoted in separate line items, and payments are made to the Individual Consultant based on the number of days worked. Travel: All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station of Guinea Bissau /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. UNDP will purchase all tickets related to the following destinations foreseen schedule of travels: 20-31/08/2012: Briefing with UNDP Guinea Bissau senior management Evaluation of Guinea Bissau country Programme Evaluation of Programme centralized management. 03-07/09/2012: Evaluation of Cape Verde country Program 10-14/09/2012: ` Evaluation of São Tomé e Principe country Programme 10-20/09/2012: Evaluation of Timor Leste country Programme 17-26/09/2012: Evaluation of Angola country Programme 27/09-05/10/2012: Evaluation of Mozambique country Programme 08-12/10/2012: Debriefing with UNDP Guinea Bissau senior management 26-31/10/2012: Pro PALOP-TL preliminary evaluation report submitted to UNDP Guinea Bissau 09/11/2012: Pro PALOP-TL final evaluation report submitted to UNDP Guinea-Bissau EVALUATION: Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies: Cumulative analysis: When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should 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 70 points in the Technical Evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation The financial score for the financial proposal will be calculated in the following manner: Sf = 100 x Fm/F, in which Sf is the financial score, Fm is the lowest price and F the price of the proposal under consideration. (Total Financial Maximum points = 100 points) Total Score: The technical score attained at by each proposal will be used in determining the Total score as follows: The weights given to the technical and financial proposals are: T= 0.7, F=0.3 The Total score will be calculated by formula: TS = St x 0.7 + Sf x 0.3 TS - Is the total score of the proposal under consideration. St - is technical score of the proposal under consideration. Sf - is financial score of the proposal under consideration.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

LEAD ELECTORAL ASSISTANCE EXPERT