Consultant to conduct a Comprehensive Capacity Assessment of the Chapter 12 Commissions

Contract

This is a National Consultant contract. More about National Consultant contracts.

Background

The Principles on the Status and Functioning of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (the Paris Principles, endorsed by United Nations General Assembly resolution 48/134) require NHRIs to be: (i)established by the constitution or law; (ii)provided with a broad mandate to promote and protect human rights; (iii)independent from the government; (iv)accessible; (v) widely representative of the different components of society, and (vi) supplied with adequate human and financial resources.

The 2013 Constitution establishes instruments and institutional structures to promote democratic governance, rule of law and human rights. The Declaration of Rights enshrines fundamental rights and freedoms, including civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, and special rights for women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. To safeguard these rights, the Constitution provided through Section 232, for the establishment of five independent commissions supporting democracy. The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC), the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), the Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC), the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) and the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC).

These Chapter 12 Commissions execute various mandates to enable the realisation of the Constitution’s objectives and aspirations. Collectively, the Chapter 12 Institutions serve the common purpose of contributing towards a democratic Zimbabwean society by steering the country towards constitutionalism as a shared value. Further, the Commissions interact significantly with members of the public and are responsible for the implementation and providing redress on various human rights issues in pursuit of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution. Through their respective mandates, the Chapter 12 Commissions are critical to improving the quality of governance, encouraging transparency and accountability, fostering inclusion, advancing gender equality, strengthening justice and rule of law, and ultimately leading to national unity, peace and reconciliation. The Institutions are expected to be independent regulatory and oversight institutions.

Duties and Responsibilities

Rationale of the Assignment

The “Support to the Chapter 12 Commissions” project recognizes the centrality of the Chapter 12 Commissions to building and strengthening the human rights architecture, deepening democracy and enhancing people participation in governance affairs. However, capacity gaps have the potential to impact negatively on implementation of the programme and achievement of expected results. While the different Chapter 12 Commissions are at different stages of their institutional development, while they have vastly differing set-ups and very different mandates, it is agreed that their capacity to play their roles effectively requires further strengthening. This includes human resources – through assessment of capacity needs and delivering professional development, improving internal policies and processes, upgrading infrastructure and equipment, and notably developing and deploying the appropriate ICT tools. This applies to the substantive areas that the Commissions are responsible for, to the shared objectives of all Chapter 12 Commissions, and to crosscutting areas.

The consultants are expected to carry out a comprehensive capacity needs assessment of the Chapter 12 institutions to clearly identify key capacity gaps and make recommendations for a timed capacity development strategy to be designed for all the Chapter 12 Commissions.

Assignment Objective

The overall objective of this assignment is to carry out a comprehensive human resources and capacity needs assessment of Chapter 12 Commissions with particular reference to the Zimbabwe Human rights Commission, Zimbabwe Gender Commission, Zimbabwe Media Commission and the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission to identify capacity gaps and needs for the Chapter 12 commissions, systems and processes.

Specific Objectives

• Identify performance challenges that hinder effective performance of the Chapter 12 Commissions;
• Identify skills and competencies required for effective performance of the Chapter 12 Institutions;
• Highlight issues related to the relevant institutional structures, systems and processes required for effective performance of the Chapter 12 commissions;
• Identify capacity gaps at different levels in the Chapter 12 commissions;
• Identify capacity gaps in the Chapter 12 commissions that could hinder the implementation of the “Support to the Chapter 12 Commissions” Project;
• Identify priority areas for capacity development and enhancement;
• Take stock of what skills are available in the Chapter 12 commissions and compare with organizational targets;
• Identify defective systems in the management of each institution;
• Identify and recommend best practices from other jurisdictions;
• Produce a Capacity Needs Assessment Report and a Framework for a capacity development strategy for all Chapter 12 commissions.

Scope of the Assignment

• The scope of this assignment is limited to the Chapter 12 Commissions, specifically, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, Zimbabwe Gender Commission, Zimbabwe Media Commission, National Peace and Reconciliation Commission;
• The assignment shall be comprehensive and consultative;
• The consultation shall involve both internal and external stakeholders;
• The assignment shall look at all critical areas and functions of the Chapter 12 Commissions and identify gaps.

Methodology

The methodology should be wide ranging, consultative and participatory, entailing a combination of comprehensive desk reviews, analysis and interviews. While interviews are a key instrument, all analysis must be based on observed facts to ensure that the assessment is sound and objective.

On the basis of the foregoing, the consultants will further elaborate on the method and approach in a manner commensurate with the assignment. The key inputs to the assessment should be as follows:

• An inception report outlining the consultant’s understanding of the task and the proposed methodology to undertake it;
• Desk review of relevant documents (policy documents, projects, official correspondence and reports)
• Interviews with key informants (implementing partners, communities, stakeholders)
• Field visits
• Participatory techniques and other approaches for gathering and analysing data should be paramount in the assessment.

The Methodology of the assignment must show that the assessment is a set of activities and not a solution. In addition, it must define desired capacities through assessing capacity assets and strengths, needs and gaps that will be used to design a framework for capacity development.

Deliverables

• An inception report submitted within a week of signing the contract (detailing the work-plan, literature reviewed, stakeholders to be met, checklists and questionnaires, reports to be produced and an indication of how the Consultant (s) intends to carry out the assignment.)
• Three (3) copies of a Draft Capacity Needs Assessment Report and Capacity Development Strategy (that includes a training plan) within one (1) month;
• Three (3) copies of a Final Capacity Needs Assessment Report and Capacity Development Strategy within 45 days hard and soft copies;
• Workshop report (if required).

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards,
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability,
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional Competencies:

1. Judgement/Decision-making
2. Strong technical skills and analytical capacities, sound judgment;
3. Strong technical problem-solving skills;
4. Ability to understand and establish priorities and work by objectives.

Teamwork

• Ability to work in a team and establish effective working relationships with people from different nationalities and cultural backgrounds;

Ability to work under stress and work overtime when required.

• Excellent knowledge of the UN system and UN joint country programming processes (CCA/UNDAF),
• Good knowledge and experience with the national development frameworks, especially Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) PRSP, SWAP, key legislation, etc.
• Specialised technical knowledge, including in conducting external programme evaluations, data collection and analytical skills, mainstreaming the HRBA to programming and gender equality and women’s empowerment considerations, and transition contexts.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal skills, teamwork and adept at working with people of diverse cultural and social backgrounds,
• An understanding of and ability to abide by the core values of the United Nations.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Masters degree in Development Studies, Political Science, International Relations, Law, Gender, Social Sciences, Public Policy or related field,
• A higher post graduate qualification will be a distinct advantage.

Experience

• A minimum of 10 years experience in the Human Rights, Gender, Inclusion, media and ;
• Demonstrable experience in research and analysis;
• Demonstrable knowledge of Sector Wide Approaches (SWAPs) in general;
• Demonstrates practical knowledge in capacity development approaches
• Displays knowledge of NHRI/Chapter 12 commissions processes, procedures and international best standards
• Experience working in a multi-cultural and/or international work environment;
• Experience in capacity building initiatives;
• Demonstrable experience in monitoring and evaluation.

Language

Excellent written and spoken English.

Duration of Assignment

• This assignment will be conducted over 45 days.

Reporting arrangements

• The consultants will be reporting to the Chapter 12 Commissions Heads of Secretariat and UNDP Team Leader – Governance through the Programme Focal Persons both at the Chapter 12 commissions and UNDP.

Application procedure:

Applicants are requested to upload copies of:

• Latest CV highlighting the relevant experience;
• Updated P11 Form template of which can be downloaded from this website http://www.sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc.
• A detailed technical proposal on undertaking the tasks and evidence of previous work;
• Financial proposal (All-inclusive daily fee): Interested individuals are kindly requested to submit an all-inclusive daily consultancy fee using the template which can be downloaded from: https://www.dropbox.com/s/789q1hvdrdgwqqc/PPG_Cons_Letter%20of%20Interest%20and%20Availability.docx?dl=0

Please group all your documents (CV, P11, Technical Proposal, Financial Proposal and Certificates) into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document. Incomplete applications will not be given consideration.

Applicants must reply to the mandatory questions asked by the system when submitting the application Please note that only applicants who are short-listed will be contacted

Evaluation criteria:

The Consultant will be evaluated based on qualifications and the years of experience, as outlined in the qualifications/requirements section of the ToR. In addition, the Consultant will also be evaluated on the following methodology: Technical Criteria weight: 70%; Financial Criteria weight: 30%;

The award of the contract shall be made to the 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 Terms of Reference.

Payment Terms:

Note that all payments to the IC are dependent on the satisfactory completion of deliverables.

Payment is linked to deliverables as per below:

Inception Report and Meeting which sets out the consultant’s understanding of the assignment including the steps to be taken, the deliverables to be produced and the methodology the consultant will take- 25%

Submission of Draft Capacity Needs Assessment Report and Capacity Development Strategy within one (1) month-25%

• Draft Capacity Needs Assessment Report
• Draft Capacity Development Strategy.

Validation Workshop- 25%

• Workshop to validate the Capacity Needs Assessment Report and Capacity Development Strategy.
• Incorporation of input from the Validation Workshop
• Workshop report

Final Capacity Needs Assessment Report and Capacity Development Strategy within 45 days hard and soft copies- 25%

General Conditions: Procedures and Logistics

The consultant is expected to work from their own premises.

All costs pertaining to presentation of the study methodology and other elements of the Technical Proposal to the Technical Evaluation Panel, travel or field visits related to preparation of the Proposal, travel related to Negotiations/Technical discussion and other pre-award activities are to be borne by the Contractor and should not be included in the Financial Proposal submitted.

For the entire period of this contract all travel (international and within Zimbabwe) related to any contract emerging from this RFP, including all travel for consultations and discussions, meetings for planning and execution of potential works, travel to target towns etc. will have to be borne by the Institution and must be included in the Financial Proposal submitted. The Institution is responsible to make all relevant travel arrangements, including Visa, hotel, transportation and other relevant costs.

Policy both parties should be aware of:

• UN has a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation and abuse,
• Members of the contracting company are not entitled to payment of overtime. All remuneration must be within the contract agreement,
• No contract may commence unless the contract is signed by both UN and the Contractor,
• The data and information collected during this data is sole and full ownership of the UNDP,
• No member of the contracting company may travel prior to contract signature,
• Members of the contracting company will not have supervisory responsibilities or authority on UN budget,
• Contracting company will be required to sign the Health statement for consultants/Individual contractor prior to taking up the assignment, and to document that they have appropriate health insurance, including Medical Evacuation.

“UNDP is committed to gender equality in its mandate and its staff, and equal opportunities for people with disabilities. Well qualified candidates, particularly women and people with disabilities are especially encouraged to apply.