National Consultant for Governance and Political Advisor Consultancy Services

Contract

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

Background

Zimbabwe has been going through a transitional phase since the change of government in 2017 and the subsequent 2018 elections. At the same time, the Government has undertaken to implement some wide ranging economic and political reforms in order to stabilize the macroeconomic environment as well as strengthen democracy, respect for the Constitution and opening the country for investment and pursuing equitable economic growth. It has also started implementation of its National Development Strategy (NDS1) 2021-2025 as a steppingstone to its Vision of an Upper Middle-Income country by 2030. The NDS1 amplifies the vision of government for economic corporate and governance reforms to facilitate growth and development for the next 5 years. All this has been taking place in the middle of the global Covid-19 pandemic

At the same time, the UN has started implementing the UNSDCF 2022-2026 that has been agreed with the Government. UNDP as well is in the process of rolling out its CPD 2022-2026. This requires a lot of conceptual work and good analysis and understanding of the political economy within which the programme will be rolled out and that any associated risks are identified and effectively mitigated. UNDP continues to explore possible and expand entry points for its programme, especially in the sensitive area of governance reforms. As such additional capacity is required to support the CO with analytical work and keeping abreast with the economic and political environment in order to keep the programme relevant in the given context.

As part of its strategic vision the Government intends to amplify efforts to strengthening and modernizing public service by undertaking a public sector transformation programme aimed at assisting all public institutions to review their structures, systems and operations to ensure compliance with the constitutional provisions for effective and efficient service delivery to citizens, The adoption of a 5 year strategic plan by the public sector reform tripartite that includes Office of the President and Cabinet, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the Public Service Commission (PSC) now provides impetus to build on the work of realigning the government structures to ensure they are a fit for purpose vehicle through which public sector reform work is achieved. The PSC is a key institution that is tasked with increasing the quality-of-service delivery through its work with the whole of civil service.

With the country entering an electoral period with by-elections slated for March 2022 and the national harmonized elections due in 2023, there is need to augment UN capacity for analyzing the electoral environment and provision of expert advisory services on strategic issues relating to the electoral process.

As such political and governance advisory services remain a key aspect of the policy work that is necessary for effectively and efficiently deliver on programmes and services to citizens. The political governance context of Zimbabwe has been known to shift and change tremendously. Consequently, continuous environmental scanning, scenario planning and solutions development remain critical in the delivery of UN work.

In order to augment UNDP’s capacity in rolling out its CPD in a complex environment and that of the RCO on the implementation of UN support towards the National Development Strategy, Public Sector Reforms to innovate under COVID circumstances and technical support to PAC, consultancy services are required targeted at supporting achievement of set results. The consultancy services will respond to the prevailing political and economic context, significantly informed by the Government’s reform agenda. Regular analysis of the prevailing social, economic and political environment will also be required.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Consultant will work very closely with the Public Sector Reform Tripartite (OPC-PSC-MOFED); and Government Agencies with matrix reporting to the Resident Coordinator and UNDP Governance Team Leader. The Consultant working closely with the OPC, PSC and MOFED and in close collaboration with the Peace and Development Advisor and the UNDP Governance Team Leader will be required to perform the following:

• Provide expert advisory services and assist with identifying entry points for the UN role in supporting national dialogue processes including the undertaking of a detailed mapping of political stakeholders for RCO;
• Monitor the electoral environment and provide high level advisory services on the UN support role for the country’s electoral process;
• Provide key advisory services on the UN support for the implementation of NDS 1 including facilitation of strategic discussions on NDS implementation;
• Provide advisory services on the roll out of the UNSDCF 2022-2026 and the UNDP CPD, making inputs and reviews of strategy notes taking into account the prevailing political and economic context;
• Provide implementation high level strategic support for work with the MOFED, PSC and OPC and provide senior advisory services on Public Sector Reforms;
• Provide technical advice to PAC and its secretariat in the implementation of its mandate as well as facilitate PAC as an entry point for UN programming in strategic areas;
• Provide high level advisory services and facilitate strategic engagement around such key governance programmes as ZEC, PSR and PEACE;
• Provide expert analysis on prevailing political and governance context;
• Support to the development of High -Level Governance and Political Briefs for High Level Processes, Resource Mobilization and/or Missions;
• Liaise as required, in advancement of the work of the UN, with relevant interlocutors including within Government.

Specific deliverables

• Detailed political stakeholder mapping for national dialogue processes and political and democratic Governance context analysis, including electoral and related processes by 30 March 2022;
• Governance Strategy Note by 30 April 2022;
• Framework for coordinated UN support to Devolution by 30 April 2022;
• Advisory into Governance Project Documents and ideation notes to operationalise CPD by 30 May 2022;
• Report on PSR Reforms, Devolution and Capacity building programmes by 26 June 2022;
• Strategic Advisory and engagement, inputs and entry points paper on Peace, Human Rights and Elections by 25 July 2022;
• High -Level Governance and Political Briefs for High Level Processes, Resource Mobilization and/or Missions by 29 August 2022;
• NDS and PAC strategic inputs and entry points paper by 15 September 2022;
• Advisory and strategic inputs paper to internal UN frameworks CPD, UNSDCF) by 20 October 2022;
• Advisory and strategic inputs paper to internal UN frameworks by 10 November 2022;
• Final progress reports and updates on all the above deliverables by end of February 2023.

Competencies

High Level of Professionalism:

• Strong analytical, quantitative and problem-solving skills;
• Ability to provide clear messages on complex information;
• Ability to seek and synthesize information from a variety of sources and draw solid conclusion based on in depth analysis;
• Accuracy and attention to detail;
• Good communication skills, including the ability to write high quality reports, conduct studies and to articulate ideas in a clear and concise style;
• Excellent 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.

Strong Planning & Organizing Capacity:

• Organizes and accurately completes multiple tasks by establishing priorities while taking into consideration special assignments, frequent interruptions, deadlines, available resources and multiple reporting relationships;
• Plans, coordinates and organizes workload while remaining aware of changing priorities and competing deadlines;
• Demonstrates ability to quickly shift from one task to another to meet multiple support needs.

Demonstratable Teamwork:

• Works collaboratively with partners to achieve organizational goals;
• Solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise;
• Facilitates the development of individual and multi-cultural/team competencies;
• Ability to provide substantive training and mentoring, and manage teams.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s Degree in Political Sciences, Law, or International Development;

Experience:

• At least 10 years’ experience in the field of development, senior advisory in implementation of reform development projects, PSR;
• A minimum of 10 years track record in providing professional services in the area of global pandemic response, governance, electoral programming, national development policy and public sector reforms in the Global South. Experience in providing professional services in the Region and positive past experience in working for UNDP, and/or other bilateral/multilaterals, is an added advantage;
• Proven experience in development of strategies and other policy documents related to national policy development, public sector reform, political analysis;
• Experience of working with government and providing advice;
• Experience of working in Zimbabwe is a pre-requisite;
• Experience working within a government agency or ministry desirable;
• Familiarity with Southern African Region;
• Excellent analytical, writing and presentation skills;

Language:

• Excellent verbal and written communication in English.

Applicants are requested to upload copies of:

Latest CV highlighting the relevant experience. Prospective candidates could apply either as a team or as individuals. When applying as a team, the CVs of all experts in the team should be provided, along with the application; 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;

Please group all your documents (CV, P11, Technical 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.

“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”.