International Consultant to support development of the Strategic Plan of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption

The Montenegrin Agency for the Prevention of Corruption is an independent institution that was established on January 1, 2016 in accordance with the Law on Prevention of Corruption. The Agency is responsible for implementing the set anti-corruption laws: the Law on Prevention of Corruption, the Law on Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns and the Law on Lobbying. These laws were adopted as a result of the Action Plan for Negotiation Chapter 23: Judiciary and Fundamental Rights, the National Action Plan for Monitoring the Anti-Corruption Strategy 2010-2014 and the assessments from the European Commission’s Progress Reports on Montenegro.

The Council of the Agency has five members, elected by the Parliament of Montenegro on the proposal of the parliamentary working body responsible for anti-corruption affairs. Their mandate lasts four years and they can be elected no more than twice. The Director of the Agency is elected by the Council, on the basis of a public competition, for a period of five years and may be elected no more than twice.

Key areas of the Agency’s work include: determining the existence of conflicts of interest in performing public office and taking measures to prevent it, verifying data from reports on income and assets of public officials, controlling the financing of political entities and election campaigns, receiving, processing and monitoring the implementation of integrity plans, reception and processing of whistle-blower applications, whistle-blower protection, lobbying control, corruption proofing of legislation, education and public campaigns, international cooperation, and further development of the Agency’s information system.

The Article 98 of the Law on Prevention of Corruption stipulates that the Council of the Agency submits to the Parliament of Montenegro the annual Report on the work of the Agency no later than March 31 of the current year for the previous year. However, as rule of law, and more specifically, fight against corruption is the key priority in Montenegro, and the Agency is facing a number of demanding tasks, more strategic approach to planning should be taken. The Agency needs to develop the Strategic Plan, which should reflect not only commitments taken vis-à-vis the European Union, but also those in relation to other anticorruption frameworks such as GRECO and UNCAC.

The project “Strengthening capacities for the acceleration of EU accession of Montenegro” is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and implemented by UNDP in partnership with the European Integration Office and General Secretariat of the Government. The general objective of this action is to assist, advise and support EU accession negotiations through strengthening the capacities of the Government in responding to the demands of the new phases of accession.

Objectives of the assignment: The objective of the assignment is to support the Agency for Prevention of Corruption in developing the Agency’s Strategic Plan. Such a strategic document would support  Montenegro’s efforts in effectively combating corruption and making progress in its EU Accession Negotiation within the Negotiation Chapter 23 – Judiciary and Fundamental Rights.

Job content: 

Under the supervision of the UNDP Programme Manager, the consultant will perform the following tasks:

• Based on previously developed situation analysis, in cooperation with the local consultant hired for the same objective of the assignment, develop draft SWOT analysis and include comments provided by the Agency representatives; 
• Facilitate the three-days workshop with the representatives of the Agency, in cooperation with the local consultant hired for the same objective of the assignment, in order to develop the vision, mission, strategic and operational goals, and indicators; 
• Facilitate another three-days workshop with the representatives of the Agency, in cooperation with the local consultant hired for the same objective of the assignment, in order to develop the action plan 2022-2024; 
• In cooperation with the local consultant hired for the same objective of the assignment, develop a draft Strategic Plan, which will include all above mentioned elements, and incorporate comments provided by the Agency and UNDP; 
• Prepare the Final report on undertaken activities to the UNDP Programme Manager, including recommendations for potential donor support.

The expected results:

Under the supervision of the UNDP Programme Manager, the consultant is expected to deliver the following results:

• Facilitate two three-days workshops with the representatives of the Agency to develop draft Strategic plan;
• The Strategic Plan of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption;
• The Final report on undertaken activities including recommendations for potential donor support.

Timing and reporting: The local consultant is expected to work homebased and in Montenegro during the assignment duration from 1 October 2021 – 20 December 2021. The consultant will be responsible to prepare and submit the final report to the UNDP Programme Manager, and it should contain sufficient detail and information that would allow for the appraisal of the effectiveness to date of the assignment’s activities.

Time duration and travel: The consultant will be engaged under the Individual Contract, for total of 25 consultancy days, during the period 1 October 2021 – 20 December 2021. The consultant will work homebased and will have an obligation to travel to Montenegro for two three-days workshops. The travel costs and Living Subsistence Allowance costs should be included in the lump sum figure.

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UN/UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, facility in working with teams and capacity to compose clear and readable narrative reports;
• Demonstrates ability to manage complexities and work under pressure, as well as conflict resolution skills;
• Excellent organizational and time management skills;
• Shares knowledge and experience;
• Responds positively to feedback;
• Ability to work independently and in a team. 

Education:

• University degree in social sciences, advanced degree would be considered an asset;

Experience:

• At least 10 years of experience in strategic planning;
• Demonstrated experience in drafting strategic plans and strategic documents;
• Demonstrated expertise in delivering trainings on strategic planning;
• Proven experience in anticorruption, public administration reform, or good governance would be considered as an asset.

Language:

• Excellent command of spoken and written English language.

Other:

• Excellent computer skills.

Criteria for selection:

Combined Scoring method will be used. When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the inidividual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: (i) responsive, compliant, acceptable, and (ii) 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% (Background and education 10%; Relevant previous experience 20%; Substantial knowledge/Required competencies 30%; Required language 10%);

Financial criteria weight – 30%.

Only offerors obtaining a minimum 490 points for technical criteria will be considered for the financial evaluation. For more information on procurement methodology for Individual Contractors, please refer to Procurement Notice.

Application procedure:

Interested applicants are requested to submit their applications by August 16, 2021 by using the Apply now button. The application should contain a duly completed CV or Personal History Form (P11) that can be downloaded from https://www.me.undp.org/content/montenegro/sr/home/jobs.html

Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file.

Only the short-listed applicants will be contacted and requested to submit a letter of interest including a price quotation indicating the lump sum (in EUR) requested for the work and travel envisaged in the section “Description of Responsibilities”.