Individual International Consultant political affairs specialist

Contract

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Background

Guinea-Bissau is a post-conflict country marred by political turmoil. Its cyclical instability is mainly the result of structural conflict factors at the political, institutional, security, and economic level that have not been resolved since the country’s independence. 14 November 1980, 17 October 1986, 7 June 1998, 12 April 2012, 24 November 2019, and 1 February 2021 all refer to episodes of political turmoil, which included political assassinations, executions, war, and successful and failed coups d’état, that have never been properly addressed. The incidents of political instability, fuelled by both internal disputes between political elites and direct interventions by the military, have undermined the capacity of the State to generate, negotiate and implement public policies and foster a culture of political dialogue and compromise.

The continuous episodes of instability reveal structural factors (root causes) that have not been addressed since the country’s liberation from colonialism, namely:

• The incomplete consolidation of the political system, and the lack of formal mechanisms to ensure strong and independent oversight and broad participation (beyond political elites) in policymaking, thereby, reinforcing patronage networks within the State that resist reforms.
• The entangled relationship of the military with political elites, which is contributing to the excessive weight of military budget on the State and their resistance to reform.
• The organization of the State, stemming from historical and geopolitical factors, and its dependency on external assistance, which makes the country more responsive to the needs and demands of donors, than those of its citizens.
• Undiversified and unsustainable economic system, which marginalizes large sectors of the population and continues to encourage inequality.

The situation is made worse by certain drivers or proximate causes that aggravate the political instability and make the conflict more complex. The main drivers are:

• The marginalization of women, youth, and rural constituents from decision-making. As a result, public policies do not reflect the needs and aspirations of the majority but serve the narrow interest of the political and economic elites to maintain power over the State and the economy.
• A fragile State that allocates resources and recruits personnel to the public sector through highly informal and irregular processes.
• Impunity on small and serious crimes, present and past.
• Corruption and transnational organized crime impact on Guinea-Bissau’s political stability.

To address these and other issues, UNDP has been working in the implementation of the Political Stabilization and Reform through Confidence Building and Inclusive Dialogue project for the past two years and it has worked with the National Assembly, the Executive, and civil society to build the processes needed to create a path towards the approval of the Conakry reforms, better and more inclusive dialogues between the representatives of the State and civil society, and for addressing issues connected to the country’s history and remembrance. The project has been extended and needs someone to kick start it, while finalising the processes of the first phase, while recruitment of the responsible person is ongoing.

Thus, UNDP is hiring an international consultant who will lead the Political Stabilization Project contributing to its successful start and the development of the main elements of the project such as its M&E plan, its work plan, and the recruitment of its personnel, while finalising the evaluation of the first phase of the project.

Objective of the assignment

Lead the first processes to guarantee a good and smooth continuity from Phase 1 to phase 2 of the Political Stabilization through Confidence Building and Inclusive Dialogue project guaranteeing project coordination and monitoring as well as working towards finalising the evaluation of the project to guarantee continuation of UNDP’s work on stabilization.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the UNDP’s Representative Resident, the technical supervision of the Head of the Democratic Governance Cluster, the consultant is expected to perform the following tasks:

Lead the implementation of the Political Stabilization through Confidence Building and Inclusive Dialogue project

• Development of project tools to guarantee sound and reliable project implementation, such as M&E plan, annual work plan, recruitment of project staff, and coordination of the steering committee meetings;
• Coordinate the work of the staff working on the implementation of project activities;
• Monitor the implementation of activities and budget expenditure to guarantee good project implementation;
• Provide strategic guidance and management oversight to ensure project implementation is on track ensuring that the project achieves the planned results in accordance with relevant plans;
• Liaise with partners to ensure smooth implementation of all project activities;
• Identify and obtain any support and advice required for the management, planning and control of the project;
• Ensure that the project meets expectations with respect to quality, budget, delivery timelines, and strategy;
• Provide project management support to national implementing partners.

Facilitate knowledge building and management for the new phase of the Political Stabilization project

• Establish and maintain a usable, auditable, and well-communicated record of the project;
• Identify and capture lessons learnt and best practices within the project and develop and draft knowledge outputs;
• Advise on and support the development of communication strategies to position its contents with national and international audiences;
• Work on developing a new project to continue the work on stabilization.

Deliverables

The consultant must guarantee the achievement of the expected results, ensuring, among others, the following achievements:

• The project tools (AWP, M&E plan, Procurement plan) are developed;
• The project risks are monitored, and audit recommendations are implemented;
• The ToR for recruitment process of two national staff (NOB) launched, panel of interviewers established;
• ToR for required consultancies for implementation of project activities elaborated;
• Evaluation of the phase 1 of the project completed;
• Steering Committee ToRs finalised, and first meeting held;
• First annual report to the PBF Secretariat finalised and presented;
• Thematic notes on the topics addressed by the project are produced and shared with the office management;
• Best practices, lessons learned, disseminated, and promoted.

Duration of the assignment

The duration of the assignment will be 90 working days must be conducted within 7 months; from the day the contract is signed. During the assignment the consultant will be part of the Country Office Democratic Governance Cluster.

Competencies

Consultant Profile

Competencies:

Functional

• Professional experience;
• Able to manage conflicting deadlines and priorities;
• Able to coordinate activities such as missions, special events, etc;
• Able to assume full responsibility for activities, ensuring that project objectives are met in a transparent and inclusive manner;
• Set clear goals and performance standards;
• Perform responsibilities as it should be;
• Self-analysis of performance problems; seeking appropriate guidance and support.

Resource management

• Strong organizational skills.
• Ability to work independently, produce high quality outputs.
• Solid opinion, strategic thinking, and ability to manage competing priorities.
• Able to find creative solutions to daily problems, working in an ever-changing work environment.

Communication and advocacy

• Strong ability to write clearly and convincingly, adapting style and content to different audiences and speaking clearly and convincingly;
• Ability to produce high quality professional documents and products under pressure and to defend and negotiate difficult issues and positions for senior and official employees;
• Strong ability to present at meetings with the ability to adapt to different audiences;
• Strong analytical, research and writing skills with demonstrated ability to think strategically;
• Strong, clear, and fast communication skills;
• Strong interpersonal skills in negotiation and liaison.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s Degree or equivalent in Law, Public Administration, Development Studies, Peacebuilding or related field.

Experience:

• Minimum of 7 years in project management and administration/development programme, governance, and sustainable peace programmes and project implementation in international development organizations and/or bilateral development agencies;
• Experience in planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies, programmes and projects connected to political stabilization and legislative reforms;
• Experience in implementing projects particularly those funded by PBF, and activities closely connected to political stabilisation and the legislative processes;
• Experience working with UNDP or other UN Agency or Programme is an asset;
• Proven ability to work effectively in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams;
• Sound understanding and capability to empower and develop the capacity of national staff;
• Strong interpersonal and written and oral communication skills.

Language:

• Fluency in English and French are required.
• Excellent command of written and spoken Portuguese constitutes a strong advantage.

GUIDELINES FOR APPLICATION:

Required documents:

• A cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for this assignment;
• A brief methodology on how to approach and conduct the tasks, describing the tools and workplan proposed for this assignment;
• A financial proposal;
• A personal CV including past experiences in similar projects and at least 3 professional references;
• 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. 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, per diems, 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 Individual Consultant wish to travel on a higher class he/she 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;
• Evaluation: Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:

Cumulative analysis;

• When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should 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 points;
• Financial Criteria weight – 30 points;
• Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70 points would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Evaluation criteria:

• Education background - 10 points;
• Experience as defined in the ToR - 20 points;
• Competencies as defined in the ToR - 10 points;
• Understating of the ToR - 15 points;
• Methodology and overall approach - 25 points;
• Overall quality of the proposal (comprehensiveness, structure, language, and clarity) - 20 points.