Individual Consultant to Conduct Virtual Training of the Parliament technical Staff about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Uganda

In September 2015, the UN Member States including Uganda committed to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, anchored on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Agenda calls on countries to put sustainable development at the core of global, national and local policies. Since adoption, Uganda continues to make progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. With less than 10 years left to conclude the agenda, more effort is required to sustain momentum, but also advance progress in areas that require more effort.

Given its oversight function, Parliament is one of the best placed institutions to ensure that the 2030 Agenda is implemented judiciously. This notion was re-echoed in the outcome document of a Regional Seminar on the SDGs for Parliamentarians from Sub-Saharan Africa in Kampala, from 1 to 3 March 2017. Among several areas of engagement, the seminar recommended that parliament: 1) works across party lines to build the political will to implement the SDGs; 2) debate and enact legislation that advances the SDGs; 3) identify and promote effective ways to hold government to account for the implementation of the SDGs; and 4) ensure that citizens are familiar with the national sustainable development strategy and are consulted regularly with regard to its implementation.

Purpose and justification:

“Stronger parliaments will have to play a central role in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. This will include ensuring that development policies and plans are drawn up through participatory and inclusive processes, and with regular progress reports submitted to parliament for review” (Quito Declaration adopted at the 128th IPU Assembly, Ecuador, March 2013).

Members of Parliament do not work in isolation. Rather their work is supported by technical staff. Experience has shown that each election brings high turnovers, which make new MPs dependent on institutionalized roles and procedures. Many of these new MPs do not have the necessary knowledge and political maturity to make full use of their legal powers, either individually or collectively, in parliamentary committees. Technical staff are required to carry out highly specialized functions- such as servicing a committee, drafting and scrutinizing legislation, budgets and running policy inquiries. The role of professional staff is crucial for the success of any parliamentary programme.

However, there is always little attention given to the use of any system of formal training to prepare parliamentary staff to handle the challenges confronting them. It is necessary that capacity building programmes are conducted for staff of Parliament so as to ensure that they all have the same baseline understanding of the 2030 agenda.

The importance of the institutional backing for the achievement of the development goals has now been explicitly recognized in the new SDGs, providing a specific objective SDG 16 putting “Peace, justice and effective, accountable and inclusive institutions” at the core of sustainable development.  The Parliaments and the Sustainable Development Goals Self-Assessment toolkit prepared by the Inter Parliamentary Union in collaboration with UNDP was endorsed for use by the Uganda Parliament.  It recommends Parliaments to organize information seminars and capacity development activities that will ensure that all parliamentarians have the same baseline understanding of the 2030 Agenda, the SDGs and their supporting targets

It is in light of the above context, that specific training for the Parliament technical staff is proposed. And this will require 2 technical competent consultants to facilitate the training.

The 2 individual consultants are required to facilitate the virtual training of the Parliament and District Local Government Technical staff on their role to support members of parliament to carry out their oversight role in the implementation and monitoring of the SDGs. The main objectives include the following; –

• Increase knowledge on the SDGs and understand the relevance of Parliament to SDGs;
• Equip technical staff with the tools necessary for them to help Parliamentarians in mainstreaming SDGs in the business of Parliament;                         
• Inform drawing of strategies on how the work of Committees of Parliament can support SDG integration and implementation. This requires staff that are familiar with the goals and targets relevant to each committee;
• Sensitize staff on how Parliamentarians can influence the policies and the financing of SDGs at National and Local Levels;
• Produce guidelines/tool for “Linking Recommendations in all key Parliamentary Reports with SDGs and their relevant Targets”.

Expected deliverables:

• 2 days – Inception report of the training with a detailed proposed methodology, programme and tools for conducting the training,

preparatory meeting held;

• 2 days – Facilitate virtual trainings for the Parliament Technical Team of approximately 60-70 staff;
• 1 day – Training report, tools, reference materials and links for the Parliament technical team.

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity;
• Integrity;
• Professionalism.

Core Competencies:

• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues.

Functional Competencies:

• Training programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills;
• Good presentation and analytical skills;
• Ability to engage with participants (Parliament Technical Officers);
• Good knowledge of technical area (SDGs & Parliamentary Development);
• Ability to pay close attention to detail;
• Excellent communication skills, and extensive experience in delivering training with different audiences.

Education:

• Master’s degree in Social Sciences, Development studies or relevant field.

Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years of progressive experience in the field of Parliament Development;
• Prior experience as a trainer or facilitator on the 2030 agenda for development and the Sustainable Development Goals;
• Fully conversant of the SDGs and the operational modalities of Parliament at the national and decentralized levels;
• Demonstrated understanding of Uganda’s development context;
• Experience in the usage of computers and virtual training approach.

Language:

• Fluency in English;
• Proven ability to draft, edit and produce results-focused reports and papers.

Institutional and working Arrangements:

UNDP in collaboration with the Parliament of Uganda will make administrative arrangements for the training.

The consultant however is however expected use his/her own laptop and meet any communication costs.

The consultant is always required to observe UNDP security rules and regulations.

Payment Modality:

Payments will be a onetime lump sum upon completion of all deliverables.

Price proposal and Schedule of payments:

Candidates will submit a Financial Proposal in accordance with the below:

• Daily Fee – The contractor shall propose a daily fee, which should be inclusive of her/his professional fee and any related communication costs.

UNDP reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered or there is a failure to meet agreed-to deadlines.

Evaluation Method and Criteria:

Individual consultant will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

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), which will be identified through an interview would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Financial Evaluation (30%):

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.

Submission of Application:

The candidate is required to submit an electronic application directly uploaded on the UNDP jobs website with all the requirements as listed here below. Annexes and further information may be downloaded on http://procurement-notices.undp.org no.94699.

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document to this website – http://jobs.undp.org no.71490.

• Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP (Annex II);
• Personal CV, 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.

Technical proposal:

• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment;
• A methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment;
• Financial proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided (Annex II);
• Annexes 1 and II – may be downloaded from the UNDP Procurement Notices Website -http://procurement-notices.undp.org/. For further clarifications, please contact; [email protected]; [email protected].