INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT PROCUREMENT NOTICE Consultant: Electoral Reform & Inter-Party Dialogue Consultant PROCUREMENT NOTICE NO: UNDP/IC/Elections/024/2015 Date: 29 October 2015 Country: Duty Station: Description of the Assignment: Project Name: Period of Assignment: Liberia Monrovia L Electoral Reform & Inter-Party Dialogue Consultant Election Eight (8) Months Proposals should be submitted at the following address: by email to bids.lr@undp.org (Please include procurement notice number in the subject area) no later than 5 th November2015 at 12:00hrs PM (GMT). Any request for clarification must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: angeline.soumah@undp.org CC: aicha.cherif@undp.org UNDP will respond by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants. Background The UNDP s Electoral Cycle Support Project in Liberia has a mandate to support the National Election Commission (NEC) of Liberia to design and implement electoral reforms and enhance political party capacity, including through legislation and promoting conflict prevention and resolution measures. To date, the work of the Project has included working with the NEC, the Legislature and the Inter-Party Consultative Committee (IPCC) to ensure the adoption of amendments to the Elections Law and foster an ongoing dialogue process between the NEC and the IPCC. Provided that the adopted amendments has now been printed into handbill and published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and that a collaborative working relationship between the NEC and IPCC has been established, this period of the UNDP Elections Project work will focus on working with the NEC, the Legislature and the IPCC to ensure that the amendments will be incorporated into the Elections Law and printed for distribution to stakeholders including political parties, CSOs and ordinary citizens. As well, the project will work with the NEC, the Legislature and the IPCC to ensure that stakeholders are conversant with the changes to the Elections Law and copies made available to them. During this period the project will also focus on promoting dialogue and consensus building on critical issues of legal or administrative reform between the NEC and Political Parties, to better sensitize parties
to the mandate and workings of the NEC and to better sensitize the NEC to the needs and expectations of the political actors. Considering that the IPCC is currently the only multi-party platform available to create compromise and find consensus, in the wake of the contentious political climate of recent decades, the importance of the IPCC cannot be overemphasized. In light of this fact, the IPCC as the major forum for dialogue is important not only to the political process, but also to the citizens of Liberia who benefit from political dialogue. As such, political parties have recognized the value of the IPCC, in particular as a conflict prevention and resolution mechanism and suggested to explore options for developing it into a more independent forum with NEC participation through which political parties can convene, discuss and resolve conflicts. Functions / Key Results Expected 1.1 The Project now seeks to recruit a consultant to work with the NEC, the IPCC and the Legislature of Liberia to support the ongoing electoral legal reform and stakeholders dialogue process in relation to: Ensuring that stakeholders are up-to-date with the changes made to the Elections Law; Ensuring that copies of the electoral law containing the amendments are available to all stakeholders; Building broad consensus among political actors and promoting confidence in the NEC to conduct peaceful elections in 2017 and the future; and Conflict prevention/community dialogues and support to creating a peaceful environment for the 2017 elections, including NEC/stakeholder outreach, partnership building, and revitalization of the IPCC. 1.2 The consultant will work with the NEC Board of Commissioners, the Executive Director, the legal department and other staffs, the Legislature, political parties, CSOs and other stakeholders in ensuring that the amendments are incorporated into the Elections Law, disseminated to stakeholders, information sessions held and mechanisms to safeguard the prevention and resolution of conflict prior to 2017 are established. The consultant will be tasked with reviewing the text of the adopted elections law, designing and implementing information sessions, organizing conferences/workshops, developing policies, regulations and organizational structures for the Inter-Party Consultative Committee (IPCC), supporting inter-party dialogues with active involvement of community leaders and youth organization, and supporting the connection between political parties, CSOs, media, community leaders and youth groups. 1.3 The consultant will support the NEC outreach strategy (mapping of key actors to engage, calendar and methodology to participating in stakeholders informational conferences), to enable a more inclusive process of understanding and appreciation for the electoral reform and dialoguing process. 1.4 In delivering the consultancy, the consultant will: Work in very close partnership with the Chair and members of the Board of Commissioners on the NEC, the Executive Director, the legal department and other relevant staff; Work closely with the Legislature, in particular members of relevant committees; Work closely with political parties, CSOs, media and other stakeholders; and Work closely with the UNDP Liberia Country Office.
3. Deliverables/Outputs : More specifically, the following are the deliverables which are linked to the payments as per below table; Deliverables Assist the NEC to ensure that the text of the adopted elections law amendment is accurate and incorporated into the Elections Law. Assist NEC & Legislature in organizing and conducting information sessions with various stakeholders on adopted amendments to the election law. Assist the NEC to ensure that the copies of the final Elections Law containing the amendment are printed and distributed to stakeholders. Assist the NEC and IPCC to revitalize and establish an independent IPCC secretariat with separate positions for women and youth affair and assist in establishing website and face book pages. Together with NEC & IPCC to establish conflict prevention mechanism with active involvement of community leaders, youth and women groups in urban and rural areas Develop an IPCC regulations, policies, MoU and organization structure and gain approval of IPCC executives for use as internal document. Work with NEC & IPCC Secretariat to directly engage with CSOs and Media to solidify the relationship between political parties, community leaders, women and youth groups. Estimated Duration to Complete Target Due Dates Review & Approvals Ppayment terms 1 month CTA 100% upon completion of specified deliverables 1 month CTA 100% upon completion of specified deliverables 3 months CTA 3 months CTA 4. Institutional Arrangements The Consultant will be under the overall and direct supervision of the UNDP Elections Project CTA and working closely with the NEC. 5. Duration of the Work The consultancy is expected to last for 8 months (Monday to Friday) from the date of signature of the contract. 6. Duty Station: Monrovia, Liberia
7. Requirements for experience and qualification Qualifications The consultant is expected to have the following qualifications: A minimum Master s degree in law, political science, international relations or a relevant social science; Extensive knowledge and work experience of electoral administration and management with specific experience in legal assistance. Experience in assisting the Election Law Reform process. Experience in Drafting regulations and guidelines for election process in the African region. Experience in advisory role, especially knowledge of Liberian electoral legal framework is advantage. At least 7 years of relevant professional work experience, in particular in the area of electoral support or law reform. Understanding of political economy, conflict analysis and relevant strategies for implementing crisis sensitive responses to political governance issues; Demonstrable experience undertaking similar consultancies for international development organizations, preferably UNDP; Fluent English-Speaker Competencies Corporate Competencies: Demonstrates integrity by modeling 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 Functional Competencies: Communication and interpersonal skills required for collaboration with election administration as well as various electoral stakeholders. Ability to prioritize work and produce the required outputs in the given timeline. Ability to advise effectively, mentoring as well as conflict resolution skills. Substantive knowledge and experience working in the electoral support and democratic governance. Strong oral and written communication skills. Excellent training and presentation skills. Excellent drafting and analytical skills.
Evaluation Criteria Criteria Competencies Score Relevant Education as per TOR requirements A minimum Master s degree in law, political science, international relations or a relevant social science 20 points Relevant Work Experience as per TOR Requirements Points Competencies & Skills (10% Points) At least 7 years of relevant professional work experience, in particular in the area of electoral support or law reform. Experience in assisting the Election Law Reform process. Experience in Drafting regulations and guidelines for election process in the African region. Experience in advisory role, especially knowledge of Liberian electoral legal framework is advantage. Ability to prioritize work and produce the required outputs in the given timeline. Ability to advise effectively, mentoring as well as conflict resolution skills. Substantive knowledge and experience working in the electoral support and democratic governance. 70 points 10 points