United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kampala: Recruitment for International Consultancy - Governance Advisor

BACKGROUND:

Uganda is one of the countries in the East Africa region with a largely stable economic and political environment. The country entered into multiparty political dispensation in 2005 and since then 3 national elections have been held. The Transition to multiparty political dispensation and the implementation of African Peer Review Mechanism has identified the need to further institutionalize the ongoing governance reforms in the country. Particularly focus of the report was on the need to strengthen accountability and oversight mechanisms.

2010 MDG Progress Report while highlighting the considerable progress made in the areas of poverty reduction and climate change, notes that in order for Uganda to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by the end of 2012, state of governance prevailing within the country will be a critical variable.

Against this backdrop, and considering the donor aid context, UNDP CO developed its

Country Programme and Country Programme Action Plan prioritizing growth and poverty reduction and accountable democratic governance as priority areas for UNDP engagement within the country. Within the area of accountable democratic governance, strengthening oversight mechanisms for service delivery, strengthening institutional arrangements for service delivery, access to justice and strengthening capacities for electoral management have been identified as responding to the current governance challenges of the country.

In the immediate aftermath of the  2011 elections, Uganda experienced tensions over sensitive political issues (of electoral systems, political dispensation) and these tensions are further exacerbated by the macro-economic management issues of spiraling inflation, weakening currency, higher unemployment and an increasing gini-coefficient across the regions. 

UNDP CO is currently in the process of designing a project to address this tension that has continued since the elections through promoting inter-party dialogue involving elder statesmen as mediators and undertaking training of key national institutions including the police on the need for mediated resolution to political tensions.

POST TITLE:   International Consultancy - Governance Advisor

JOB LOCATION: Kampala, UGANDA 

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 01-Feb-12 

ADDITIONAL CATEGORY DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE:

TYPE OF CONTRACT: Individual Contract 

POST LEVEL: International Consultant 

LANGUAGES: English 

STARTING DATE: (date when the selected candidate is expected to start) 07-Feb-2012

DURATION OF INITIAL CONTRACT: 6 months Expected Duration of Assignment : 6 months  

JOB DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

• The consultant will serve as the governance advisor and will be expected to provide strategic advisory support to the achievement of the results of the governance programme,
• Primarily within the context of the recently concluded transformation plan – the governance advisor is expected to guide new and current staff of the governance programme in results based management modalities of UNDP and provide technical guidance in the design of new projects in the areas of  access to justice, peace and conflict transformation/prevention. 
• Working in close consultation with Team Leader - Governance and respective focal points of the projects - within the programme unit, consultant is expected to support strengthening of capacities of new staff in programme and project management.

DELIVERABLES:

• Orientation of new staff in RBM,
• Technical guidance in design of new project documents,
• Technical guidance in the projects implementation and reporting,
• Regular updates/analysis on evolving socio-political and economic issues.

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES:

• In-depth understanding of the governance and political context of country.
• Strong knowledge and experience in designing and managing governance programmes, preferably within UNDP.
• Sound knowledge of results based orientation in programme and project managementSubstantial and relevant experience in engaging senior government counterparts and undertaking policy level discussions and negotiations, as required.
• Experience in drafting governance and political analysis notes.
• Knowledge of UN institutional systems.

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS & EXPERIENCE:

• Master’s degree from a recognized university in development studies, political economy, public administration, and/or related fields,
• Minimum of 7 years of hands on work experience within development field,
• Experience of working with UN agencies and UNDP in particular is considered an advantage.

LANGUAGE: 

• Excellent working knowledge of English.

METHOD OF APPLICATION:

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

Technical Proposal:

• Explaining why they are considered most suitable for assignment (not more than 1000 characters),
• In response to the above technical competencies, how do you meet the requirements (not more than 1000 characters),
• Brief explanation of approach to assignment,
• Resume/CV.

Financial proposal indicating consultancy fee, lump sum fee or unit price together with any other expenses related to the assignment (e.g. travel costs, translation interpretation, holding of workshops/focus group discussion etc).

Individual consultants will be evaluated on the basis of following methodologies:

• Cumulative analysis: Award of contract shall be made to individual consultants whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: responsive/compliant/acceptable and having scored highest marks as per the following weights:
• Technical criteria weight: 80%
• Financial criteria weight: 20%

Criteria

Weight in Percentage (%)

Maximum Points

Educational Background:

10

10

Relevant Work Experience:

30

30

Response/Understanding of Terms of Reference:

10

10

Individual Competencies:

30

30

Financial Budget Estimates:

20

20

Please note that the system will only allow you to upload one document, therefore all the job and financial proposals are to be attached to the CVs and uploaded together at once.

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.