National Parliamentary Project Coordinator Consultant – Cook Islands

Objectives:

Support to the implementation of national activities for the UNDP Pacific Office (PO) Parliamentary Development Team and liaison with national partners.

Background

The UNDP in the Pacific works with parliaments to address constraints to the effectiveness and capacities of national parliaments in Pacific Island Countries (PICs) in order to engage with key development issues, contribute to the development of participatory and transparent national planning processes, expand parliamentary outreach and citizen engagement to include traditionally excluded groups such as women and youth, and increase the political participation of women. Specifically, it provides country (national) programming support for 10 PICs (Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Nauru, Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati, FSM, Palau, Marshall Islands. The Pacific Office in Fiji also provides regional programming support across the whole of the Pacific encompassing the 10 PICS, plus PNG, Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue, and the Territory of Tokelau.

Currently, UNDP PO is implementing the following parliamentary strengthening projects in the Pacific:

• The Fiji Parliament Support Project (FPSP) – a four (4)-year project implemented from 2017 – 2020 with a budget of US$4.7m and funded by the Governments of New Zealand, Australia and Japan;

• The Strengthening Legislatures in the Pacific (SLIP) Project – a three (3) year regional project implemented from 2018 – 2020 with a budget of US$5.2m focusing on 5 pacific parliaments, funded by the Government of Japan.

• The Pacific Parliamentary Effectiveness Initiative (PPEI) Phase II Project – to be implemented for four (4) years from May 2019 – April 2023 with a budget of US$5.4m. It is a regional project focusing on five (5) Pacific parliaments, with additional funding to support another five (5) smaller pacific parliaments in the Pacific. The project is funded by the Government of New Zealand.

   

  To ensure the continued implementation of activities jointly agreed by UNDP PO, and the Pacific Parliaments, UNDP’s Parliamentary Development Team is engaging the services of a National Consultant to provide quality support in the:

• implementation of national level activities agreed with the parliament and key partners; and

• facilitation of in-country strategic discussions on parliamentary development efforts and other related issues, as assigned by the UNDP Parliamentary Development Specialist;

• Liaison with national partners, especially within parliament (or legislature) the office of the Speaker and the office of the Clerk, as assigned by the UNDP Parliamentary Development Specialist.

Scope of work/Expected Output

The National Parliamentary Project Coordinator, under the direct supervision of the Parliamentary Development Specialist /Portfolio Lead, will facilitate the implementation of activities and in-country discussions for parliamentary projects.

To this end, the National Parliamentary Project Coordinator shall provide technical advice and implementation support by undertaking the following tasks:

• Contribute to the formulation, implementation and management of parliamentary development and women in politics programme activities at the national level;
• Facilitate appropriate discussions and follow-ups on key activities with the national parliament and national partners;
• Coordinate the planning, organization and implementation of project activities including induction and training programs, workshops and seminars for Members of the Parliament and staff, especially from a logistics point of view in liaison with partners and vendors, in close coordination and with the support of the Parliament team at the UNDP Pacific office in Fiji;
• Coordinate on and contribute to the timely reporting of all activities implemented ;
• Provide quality strategic advice on a range of national issues to the Parliamentary Development Specialist, including (but not limited to) political and economic developments, key governance actors and their interests, potential parliamentary development partnerships etc.;
• Support the National Parliament Clerk / Secretariat and UNDP in the implementation of Strategic Plan, which among others includes assessment operations and organizational structure.
• Undertake high quality research on key national issues, draft Terms of Reference, concept notes and activity briefs/reports as assigned.

Supervision/Reporting

• The Consultant will work under the guidance and supervision of the UNDP PO Parliamentary Development Specialist and Portfolio lead, and will report directly to the UNDP PO Parliamentary Development Specialist and to the Clerk of the Cook Islands Parliament;
• All materials developed relating to the assignment will be submitted to the UNDP PO; and
• At the end of each month, the consultant is to submit a progress report (and relevant accompanying documents) outlining key activities and strategic discussions progressed.

Resources Provided

The Consultant will be given a desk space and internet access in the Parliament of Cook Islands; UNDP will provide computer and other resources needed to fulfill his/her role.  

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

• Bachelors or equivalent in political science, economics, governance, law or related field;
• Minimum of five (5) years of project management experience at national, regional or international level;
• Proven networks in and knowledge of national governance structures;
• Strong experience in research and policy-level analysis and the design, formulation and coordinating of project activities;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems.
• The candidate should be based in the country with local work permit/credentials

Languages

• Fluency and good working level of English is required.

Skills

• Excellent analytical skills and ability to present and engage with high level audiences, for example, Members of Parliament, senior government officials, donors etc.;
• Mature judgment combined with a proactive approach to problem solving; excellent interpersonal and communication skills;
• Integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards; and
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision and meet deadlines;

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Daily Fee. Consultant shall quote an all-inclusive Daily Fee for the contract period. The term “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, consumables, etc.) that could be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment are already factored into the daily fee submitted in the proposal. If applicable, travel or daily allowance cost (if any work is to be done outside the IC’s duty station) should be identified separately. Payments shall be done on a monthly basis based on actual days worked, upon verification of completion of deliverables and approval by the IC’s supervisor of a Time Sheet indicating the days worked in the period.

In general, UNDP shall 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

In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Evaluation

Cumulative analysis

Individual consultants 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 a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70%). and financial criteria (30%). Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.

Documentation required

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information (in one (1) single document as the application supports only one upload) to demonstrate their qualifications:

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability for the duration of the assignment using the template provided in Annex II.
• CV indicating all 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, including a brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment
• Financial proposal, as per template provided in Annex II (in USD)

Incomplete, joint proposals and proposals sent to the wrong mailing address will not be accepted and only candidates for whom there is further interest will be contacted.

Individuals interested in this consultancy should apply and will be reviewed based on their own individual capacity. The successful individual may sign an Individual Contract with UNDP or request his/her employer to sign a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA) on their behalf by indicating this in the Offerors letter to Confirming Interest and Availability using Annex II.

Annexes

• Annex I – Individual IC General Terms and Conditions
• Annex II – Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual IC, including Financial Proposal Template

Proposal Submission

• All applications must be clearly marked with the title of the consultancy (National Parliamentary Project Coordinator Consultant – Cook Islands) with reference (PN/FJI/022/21) and submitted via UN Job shop or via email to [email protected] by 15 March 2021.
• Note: UNDP Jobs only supports single document upload hence ensure that the proposal consolidated and submitted as one single document
• For further information concerning this Terms of Reference, please contact UNDP Pacific Office by email: [email protected].

Women applicants are encouraged to apply