National Consultant to support the Coalition of Parliamentarians to End Gender-Based Violence (GBV) & the Special Parliamentary Committee on GBV

UNDP has a long history of working with the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Government and civil society to address gender-based violence (GBV). UNDP supported the PNG Department for Community Development and Religion (DfCDR) through the Office for Development of Women to develop the PNG National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence (2016-2025). Since 2019 UNDP, as part of the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative has been supporting a range of activities aimed at assisting national partners to address GBV as an urgent priority.

As part of the national effort to act to end GBV, the PNG Coalition of Parliamentarians to End Gender-Basaed Violence was launched in August 2020, and currently comprises 20 Members of Parliament (out of the total of 111 MPs). The Coalition collectively led the first ever National Gender-Based Violence Summit which was held in from 8-10 November 2020.The Summit resulted in a substantive Outcome Statement signed by all Coalition members endorsing a number of priorities for action.

On 11 November 2020, members of the Coalition of Parliamentarians to End Gender-Based Violence successfully advocated for the establishment of the Special Parliamentary Committee on GBV.The Committee is chaired by Hon. Charles Abel, MP and has seven members. Hon. Charles Abel and his Vice-Chair Hon. Allan Bird, Governor ESP, and 3 other members are also members of the Coalition of Parliamentarians to End Gender-Based Violence.  Terms of Reference were endorsed by the Parliament which focus the Committee’s efforts on: identifying measures to prevent GBV with the focus on behavioural change for future generations; examining the experiences of frontline services, advocacy groups and others working to address GBV; inquiring into the level and impact of coordination and accountability for services and policy responses at national, provincial and local levels; inquiring into the adequacy of data on GBV and examining how to improve collection of data by key stakeholders like courts, police and hospitals; and identifying perpetrator intervention programs and support services to help them change their behaviour.

The current term of Parliament will end in June 2022 with national elections. This will end the mandate of the Special Committee on GBV and may impact on the work of the Coalition as well. Recognising the urgency to make progress before the end of their terms, UNDP is therefore committed to actively supporting the Special Committee and the Coalition of Parliamentarians to End Gender-Based Violence over the next year to implement their agreed priorities. Both the Coalition and Committee are currently in the process of developing action plans to guide their work. These action plans will be used to guide the work of this consultancy, in support of the overarching goal of addressing GBV through high level parliamentary actions.

The National Consultant will be responsible for working closely with the UNDP PNG Assistant Resident Representative, the International Consultant on PNG Governance Support and the International Consultant on GBV Monitoring and Evaluation to provide support to the Coalition of Parliamentarians Against GBV and the Special Parliamentary Committee on GBV.

The key deliverables for the National Consultant are to:

Support the Coalition of Parliamentarians to End Gender-Based Violence, including by:

• Working with the UNDP GBV Monitoring and Evaluation Consultant to finalise the Coalition Action Plan and M&E Framework;
• Working with the Coalition Co-Chairs and Members to progress activities identified in the Coalition Action Plan as a priority;
• Supporting the Co-Chairs and UNDP to organise meetings of the GBV Coalition, including logistical and documentary processes, minuting, presentations, and follow-up;
• Producing research and other information documents on GBV and related issues, at the request of the Co-Chairs and UNDP;
• Collecting information from Coalition members on progress with their local SGBV initiatives and showcasing them as case studies and online;
• Updating the Coalition website (see https://www.pngu4equality.com/);
• Supporting the Coalition to use social media to raise awareness on GBV and share updates on the Coalitions work.
• Managing an administrative database of contacts, activities and communications with each committee member and their relevant provincial and Parliamentary level GBV point people and prepare timely updates on same.?

Support the Special Parliamentary Committee on Gender-Based Violence to implement their action plan for the remaining sessions of Parliament in this term including by:

• Providing research to the Committee on requested topics, including in relation to GBV law reform, GBV data collection and analysis, GBV budgeting, prevention approaches, enforcement approaches, provincial GBV initiatives and temporary special measures;
• Working with the Parliamentary Secretariat to support the organisation of Committee hearings on specific GBV and related topics, including accompanying the Committee on hearings held outside of Parliament House as required;
• Providing briefings notes for Committee members to guide their inquiries during Committee hearings;
• Working with the Parliamentary Secretariat to produce official Committee reports including interim reports and the final report of the Committee
• Working with the Parliamentary Secretariat to organise updates of the Parliamentary website in relation to the work of the Committee;
• Supporting the Committee members to use social media to raise awareness on GBV and share updates on the Committee’s work.  

Work in consultation with UNDP to:

• Support the proper management of UNDP’s funding support for Committee activities;
• Identify and implement additional tasks in support of the Special Committee’s mandate, as appropriate, including in relation to relevant UNDP project and financial reporting;
• Provide regular updates to UNDP on progress with this work.

Supervision and Duties & Responsibilities

The Consultant will provide technical support to meet the key objectives outlined above under the guidance of the UNDP PNG assistant Resident Representative, in close collaboration with the Chair of the Special Parliamentary Committee on GBV and the PNG Parliamentary Secretariat. The Consultant will also work closely with the International Consultant on PNG Governance Support and the International Consultant on GBV Monitoring and Evaluation.

Corporate Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN values and ethical standards;

Functional Competencies

• High level planning, organizational and time management skills, including flexibility, attention to detail and the ability to work under pressure to meet challenging deadlines;
• Analytical and problem-solving skills of a high order, including the ability to formulate recommendations and advise senior officials on tackling difficult scenarios;
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including ability to establish strong cooperative relationships with senior government officials, civil society and donors;
• Ability to quickly adapt to change, and to remain calm under pressure; and
• Leadership qualities, including the ability to make sound judgment, meet challenges constructively and creatively;
• Proven cross-cultural communication and the ability to function effectively in an international, multicultural environment.

Resources Provided

UNDP will provide necessary support for the consultant to perform tasks defined in the Consultancy in collaboration with the Coalition of Parliamentarians and PNG Parliamentary Secretariat, as appropriate.

Education and experience

• Master’s degree in law, gender studies, development studies, social science, or related field and/or a completed undergraduate law degree with a high pass mark.
• At least 7 years of experience working on governance issues, with experience working with Ministers, MPs or within government as advantage;
• Demonstrated and sound understanding of gender equality principles, with specific understanding of GBV issues and strategies;
• Demonstrated high level writing and research skills (please attach a writing example to your application);
• Ability to engage and maintain good working relationships with high level officials, as well as government officials, CSOs and development partners;
• Strong communications experience, including using social media and managing websites is highly advantageous; 
• Experience undertaking consultancy and advisory work for the UN, UNDP, and/or reputable international organizations in complex project such as working with political leaders or institutions on gender equality programming is highly advantageous.  

Evaluation

Cumulative analysis

The proposals will be evaluated using the cumulative analysis method with a split 70% technical and 30% financial scoring. The proposal with the highest cumulative scoring will be awarded the contract. Applications will be evaluated technically, and points are attributed based on how well the proposal meets the requirements of the Terms of Reference using the guidelines detailed in the table below:

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract may be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

a) Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and

b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

* Technical Criteria weighting; 70%

* Financial Criteria weighting; 30%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the Technical Evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation. Interviews may be conducted as part of technical assessment for shortlisted proposals.

Documents to be included when submitting Consultancy Proposals

The following documents may be requested:

1. Duly executed Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
2. Signed 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;
3. Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, if applicable, on how they will approach and complete the assignment. A methodology is recommended for intellectual services, but may be omitted for support services; 
4. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided.  If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must stipulate that arrangement at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.   The financial proposal must be submitted separately from other documents.

The P11 form and Template for confirming availability and interest are available under the procurement section of UNDP PNG website (www.pg.undp.org ).

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 instalments 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, living expenses, 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, they 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.

Submission Instructions

Completed proposals should be submitted to [email protected] with mandatory email subject: Consultancy: National Consultant to support the Parliamentary Coalition Against Gender Based Violence (GBV) & the Special Parliamentary Committee on GBV, no later than 27th of May 2021. For any clarification regarding this assignment please write to [email protected]  Please be guided by the instructions provided in this document above while preparing your submission. Incomplete proposals and failure to comply with proposal submission instruction will not be considered or will result in disqualification of proposal.

UNDP looks forward to receiving your Proposal and thank you in advance for your interest in UNDP procurement opportunities.