International Consultant to carry out accessibility assessment of UN premises and services for persons with disabilities

Contract

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

Background

In June 2019, the United Nations Secretary-General launched the United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy (UNDIS) to make the United Nations (UN) an inclusive organization for all. The Strategy establishes the foundation for systemic and sustainable change on disability inclusion across all three pillars of the UN. The Strategy plays a key role in enabling the UN system to support Member States in their achievement of the 2030 Agenda, the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) as well as a range of other development and humanitarian commitments. The Strategy consists of a system-wide Policy and an Accountability Framework with two inter-linked components — an Entity Accountability Framework for individual entities, and a UN Country Team (UNCT) Accountability Scorecard. Through its policy and accountability framework, the wide-ranging Strategy provides a comprehensive and practical road map for ensuring that the UN system is translating disability inclusion not just at the policy level, but at the programmatic and operational levels. Both the entity accountability framework and the UNCT scorecard have been designed to monitor progress and address challenges and gaps, both at headquarters and at the country level. It has concrete benchmarks and focuses on critical areas such as leadership, strategic planning, accessibility, participation, programming, communications, human resources and procurement. In December 2021 the RCO in Tajikistan jointly with assigned UNCT disability inclusion focal points conducted the assessment on Disability Inclusion across UN agencies in Tajikistan. The methodology and assessment form were developed based on UNDIS accountability scorecard indicators. The assessment showed that UN agencies support the Government of Tajikistan and the organizations of persons with disabilities in addressing disability inclusion issues through improving policies and increasing opportunities for persons with disabilities. As per 2021 assessment, the positive changes and results were achieved. At the same time the assessment showed that in order to meet the requirements of UNDIS there is a need of enhancing disability inclusion throughout the agencies’ work. Based on the results of the conducted assessment the UNDIS UNCT Accountability Scorecards Action Plan (DIAP) was prepared and endorsed by the UNCT in March 2022. The DIAP includes 30 priority actions across 14 indicators to be implemented in 2022-2023. The actions are also in line with BOS and mainly refer to: • Statement of UNCT commitment on implementation of UNDIS; • Reflects disability as a cross cutting issue in all outcomes of UNSDCF; • Strengthen UNCT Coordination mechanism on disability inclusion; • Facilitates creation of a Consultation mechanisms with organizations of PWD; • Ensures disability friendly environment across UN in Tajikistan; • Empowers people with disability to engage with the UN through employment and internship

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK International Consultant will carry out accessibility assessment of UN premises and services for persons with disabilities in all their diversity, prepare the realistic Access Improvement Plan to address the revealed issues and conduct the practical trainings on Access Audit for UN staff, representatives of state structures and organizations of persons with disabilities. Physical and informational accessibility of infrastructure, transportation, and services for persons with disabilities is the key point for disability inclusion. By using the comprehensive approach for implementation of the UNCRPD and UNDIS the accessibility assessment of UN premises and services for persons with disabilities and capacity building of the UN staff members and partners on Access Audit will be conducted. The accessibility audit will assess, based on the international accessibility standards, the informational and physical accessibility of UN premises and services for persons with disabilities in all their diversity in UN Offices located in Dushanbe city. And the realistic Access Improvement Plan will be developed to address the revealed issues. The UN staff and partners from state structures and organizations of persons with disabilities will be trained to get the practical skills for conducting the Access Audit and prepare Access Improvement Plan, prepare a passport form and carry out certification of objects and services for persons with disabilities. Specifically, the assignment will include: • Review of UNDIS UNCT Disability Inclusion Action Plan and Business Operations strategy; • Development of the methodology and tools to conduct the accessibility audit of informational and physical accessibility of UN premises and services for persons with disabilities in all their diversity in UN Offices located in Dushanbe city; • Develop report on conducted Access Audit; • Prepare an Access Improvement Plan to address the revealed issues during the Access Audit in cooperation with Operations and Management Team and Disability Inclusion focal points; • Develop the module including toolkit (PPT, pics\video, tools) of the practical trainings on conducting the Access Audit and prepare Access Improvement Plan, prepare a passport form and carry out certification of objects and services for persons with disabilities. • Conduct practical trainings for mixed participants including the UN staff: Disability Inclusion Focal Points and reps of OMT, UNCG and M&E, representatives of state structures and organizations of persons with disabilities in all their diversity. PURPOSE UN Resident Coordinator Office in Tajikistan is seeking the services of an international consultant to carry out accessibility assessment of UN premises and services for persons with disabilities in all their diversity, prepare the realistic Access Improvement Plan to address the revealed issues and conduct the practical trainings on Access Audit for UN staff, representatives of state structures and organizations of persons with disabilities. The overall purpose: Create disability friendly environment across UN in Tajikistan by meeting the requirements of UN Disability Inclusion Strategy (UNDIS), UN Country Team accountability scorecard, namely (annex 6, UNCT Accountability scorecard): Indicator 6: Accessibility UN premises and services are accessible to all UN staff and constituents with disabilities; Indicator 7: Inclusive procurement of goods and services; Indicator 10: UNDAF/CF Monitoring and Evaluation (M&) process address Disability Inclusion; Indicator 12: Employment, UN human resource practices are disability-inclusive Indicator 13: Capacity Development for UN Staff on disability inclusion; Indicator 14: UNCT communication and advocacy address disability inclusion And support government of Tajikistan and organizations of persons with disabilities to implement the state program on “Accessible Environment” through capacity building trainings. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES UNCRO will contract an international consultant who will directly report to the Head of UNRCO and will work in close collaboration with the UNV specialist on Disability Inclusion and Partnerships and Development Finance Officer. International consultant will visit Dushanbe to conduct actual assessment of common premises and services with the concerned UN groups as well as the practical training for UN staff and partners. The cost for the trip including airfare and reasonable accommodation should be included into the financial proposal of the consultant. The cost of training on Access Audit for UNCT staff and representatives of DICC will be covered by UN RCO.

The detailed ToR is presented in Annex 3.

Competencies

KEY COMPETENCIES

Functional Competencies:

• Professionalism.
• Communication.
• Teamwork.
• Accountability.

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 favouritism.
• Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Required Skills and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in social sciences, development studies, disability studies or related field; • A minimum of 5 years of professional experience on carrying out access audits, research, studies, providing technical assistance on access improvement for persons with disabilities in all their diversity; • Previous experience of developing Access Improvement Plan • Previous experience in conducting practical capacity building trainings and workshops; • Knowledge of disability matters and work experience with persons with disabilities; • Previous work experience in Central Asia is a strong asset; • Excellent report writing skills. • Fluent in English and Russian

Additional Notice: • Respect for diversity is one of the core values of the United Nations, thus persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

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Application Procedure:

Please follow the link to download Individual Consultant Procurement Notice and follow the application procedures indicated in the downloaded ICPN:

http://www.undp.tj/va/upload/va/ICPN%20International%20Consultant,%20Access%20Audit.pdf

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS.

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP.
• Personal CV and/or resume.
• Brief description of approach to work/technical proposal of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a proposed methodology on how they will approach and complete the assignment; (max 1 page)
• Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price and all other travel related costs (such as flight ticket, per diem, etc.), supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template attached to the Letter of Confirmation of Interest template. If an applicant is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the applicant must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.

All application materials should be submitted by email at the following address ONLY: (ic.tj@undp.org) by (19 July 2022). Incomplete applications will be excluded from further consideration.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.