REGIONAL INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT: RULE OF LAW IN AN EU ACCESSION CONTEXT

All references herein are made in the context of UNSC 1244 (1999) UNDP’s engagement in Turkey and the Western Balkan countries is based primarily on supporting the countries’ objective of accession into the European Union. UNDP is particularly targeting its support in the areas that are directly related to its global strategic priorities and long-standing programmatic experience in these countries, primarily rule of law, including anti-corruption; environment; social inclusion; and regional and rural development. This development context has created a unique situation for UNDP in the region, placing a particular demand on the strategic positioning of its Country Offices vis-à-vis the local and national partners on the one side, and the European Commission/European Union on the other. The fact that several of these countries share a similar past as well as future -- through their European Union aspirations -- has resulted in requests for support by national partners to UNDP to facilitate synergies and substantive exchange of information and experiences between national and local counterparts within the region, as facilitated by the UNDP Country Offices. Additionally, UNDP is working to ensure that its programmatic work and policy advice in the aforementioned priority sectors, including Rule of Law, is anchored in the EU Accession process, to further support and facilitate national efforts in making and implementing the necessary changes to legislation and institutional frameworks. To provide the most effective support, UNDP is seeking to strengthen its support to local and national partners in an EU Accession context by bringing in high-level technical expertise available to UNDP and its partners in the region. This is in direct response to national partners requests to UNDP to make available technical advice and expertise in the context of EU Accession, drawing especially on experiences and expertise from those countries that have relatively recently concluded the Accession process to become a full member of the EU. For this purpose, UNDP is seeking a Regional Consultant for Rule of Law issues in the Accession process, to provide advice and support to UNDP’s regional and national partners on issues pertaining to Negotiating Chapters 23 and 24. Management Arrangements: The Regional International Consultant will report through a management structure anchored in the sub-region and directly accountable to the participating Country Offices from the EU Accession countries in RBEC’s Division 1 (EU Accession and new EU Member States). The Regional International Consultant will work under the direct day-to-day oversight and supervision of the UNDP Resident Representative in Croatia, including performance evaluation, based on the input and performance feedback of the participating Country Offices. In addition to day-to-day supervision provided by the UNDP/Croatia RR, the overall management of the Advisor and the development and implementation of his/her workload will be provided by a “Regional Board” which will be composed of the participating UNDP Country Office’s Resident Representatives; the Division Chief of RBEC/New York’s Division for EU Accession and new EU Member States; and RBEC’s Practice Leader for Poverty Reduction based in UNDP’s Regional Service Center in Bratislava. The Regional Consultant will provide regular updates on his/her work plan and the corresponding implementation to this Regional Board, which will meet quarterly via videoconference, with additional ad-hoc face-to-face meetings as needed. Deliverables and Payment Schedule: The Regional Consultant’s deliverables will be based on a quarterly workplan, which will be developed by the “Regional Board” based on the needs of the UNDP Country Offices that the Consultant will serve (currently envisaged as Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, FYROM and potentially Turkey). The elements of the quarterly workplan will be based on the following possible deliverables/actions, as per the “description of responsibilities” (see below). The workplan will also be established indicating inputs and deliverables to be completed. The Regional Consultant will be paid based on a monthly fee, to be paid at intervals upon submission and UNDP’s approval of a time sheet outlining the completed tasks against the Quarterly workplan. The fee will be all-inclusive

Duties and Responsibilities

The Regional Consultant is expected to provide strategic advice in the implementation of the UNDP technical assistance goals in the field of Rule of Law for accession and pre-accession countries in Western Balkans and Turkey. She/he will act as the regional chief technical advisor for Rule of Law in the EU context. The advisory services that the Regional Consultant will be providing are short-term in nature. The estimated duration of the advisory support to be provided will be determined ad-hoc, based on the individual requests from UNDP Country Offices to support local, national or regional partners and will be outlined in the quarterly workplan. a) at the request of UNDP’s regional and/or national partners in the Western Balkans and Turkey, provide substantive/technical advice to the relevant institutions/departments on key elements of Rule of Law, primarily on Chapters 23 and 24 of the Acquis; as well as the Rule of Law aspects of the political criteria b) provide advice and support to UNDP Country Offices in the area of Rule of Law, to ensure that UNDP’s programming and policy advice are anchored in the relevant chapters of the Acquis. More specifically, the Regional Consultant is envisaged to perform the following activities: Strategic advice and support to regional and national partners: Respond to requests/demands for EU related Rule of Law strategic advice from UNDP Country Offices, and regional and national partners; Identify replicable policies and practices across the region aimed at satisfying criteria for EU integration; Identify, in cooperation with regional and national partners the capacity development needs and priorities; Provide input at request for regular country reports on progress and input for situation reports on Rule of Law within the region. Strategic advice and support to UNDP Country Offices: Ensure the effectiveness of UNDP’s programmatic and policy assistance through regular consultations with national and international counterparts and stakeholders, regular field visits and analysis. Notify COs on latest developments in the EU regarding thematic areas pertaining to the relevant Chapters; Track important communication and reactions of the EU in the thematic areas, relevant for individual countries under the (pre)accession process and notify respective CO; In coordination with COs, maintain regular contacts with key stakeholders to discuss progress made in Rule of Law, and address UNDP technical assistance direction and revise activities and planning as may be required; Establish and maintain relationship with relevant stakeholders in Brussels through UNDP Brussels office and provide feedback to COs in terms of guidance and recommendations for potential areas for future programming; Actively participate in discussions for resources mobilization, based on CO requests; Support the UNDP Country Offices in the identification and development of synergies and partnerships with others actors (national and international) on Rule of Law issues at the strategic, technical and operational level; Participate in relevant inter-agency working groups and initiatives; Oversee the elaboration of programming documents, support and provide advice during the drafting process and ensure preparation of high quality final drafts in line with EU requirements; Advise on developing proposals on enhancing coordination with a range of EU assistance instruments. This includes paving the way for adequate deployment of Rule of Law related twinning as well as adequate coordination and support to TAEIX, SIGMA and Twinning activities in the sector. Strategic positioning for substantive knowledge managements and sharing at the request of UNDP and /or national partners: Support knowledge management and sharing of both regional and national partners, and UNDP Country Office and regional staff, by preparing knowledge products; organize substantive learning sessions on relevant aspects of Rule of Law; provide substantive training to regional and national partners as requested; Contribute to CO inputs for EU Progress Reports on an annual basis, upon request from the EU to UNDP.

Competencies

Corporate Competences: Demonstrates integrity by upholding the UN`s values and ethical standards Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, national and age sensitivity and adaptability Treats all people fairly without favoritism Functional Competences: Proven ability to coordinate production of reports and papers; ability to review the work of others Demonstrated experience in research in the area of Rule of Law (mainly areas covered by Negotiating Chapters 23 and 24) Willingness to engage in extensive travel Good managerial, communication, and interpersonal skills, IT literacy, familiarity with e-presentation techniques and ability to operate with on-line web-based applications Leadership: Strong interpersonal, managerial, communication and advocacy skills; ability to work within a multi-disciplinary team; orientation towards service delivery and excellent facilitation and networking skills for building partnerships Focuses on impact and result for the client Constructively approaches work with energy and positive constructive attitude Knowledge Management: Pro-actively shares knowledge and experience and contributes to UNDP Practice Areas and actively works towards continuing personal learning and development Possesses in-depth practical knowledge of inter-disciplinary development issues

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications/Education: Master’s degree or equivalent in economics, policy or social studies, or other relevant areas required, focus on Rule of Law an asset. Experience: At least 10 years of work experience involving the application of principles and concepts of Rule of Law in EU accession countries and new EU Member States. Direct experience in the Western Balkan countries and/or Turkey highly desirable. Direct experience in working on Rule of Law in an EU Member State and/or an EU Accession context through a national government, national association/academia, and/or an international organization Deep knowledge of political, developmental and other priorities of the EU in relation to accession; Direct and practical experience in the accession preparations of one of the countries having joined the EU in 2004/2007 Experience working with the European Commission’s relevant services an asset Familiarity with UNDP`s mandate and the human development concept Deep understanding of, and experience with, IPA programming; as well as of the established UNDP-EC cooperation modalities Demonstrated capacity to link policy advice to programmatic interventions. Language skills: Fluency in English. Proficiency in a language of the Western Balkans and/or Turkey is highly desirable. Evaluation of Applicants: Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal. The short-listed candidates will be requested to undergo a written test and panel interview. The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation. Only the highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job will be considered for the Financial Evaluation. Technical Criteria - 60% of total evaluation – max. 60 points: Criteria A: Direct proven experience in working on Rule of Law in an EU Member State and/or an EU Accession context, through a national government; national association/academia; and/or an international organisation, including the European Commission. (max: 15 points) Criteria B: Demonstrated knowledge of, and experience with, Acquis Chapters 23 and 24. (max: 15 points) Criteria C: Direct and practical experience in the EU Accession preparations of one of the new Member States, i.e. those that joined in 2004 or 2007. (max: 15 points) Criteria D: Deep understanding of, and demonstrated experience with, IPA programming, as well as the established UNDP-EC cooperation modalities (max: 10 points) Criteria E: Demonstrated capacity to link policy advice to programmatic interventions. (max: 5 points) Financial Criteria - 40% of total evaluation – max.40 points Application procedures: Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain: Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position and a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work (if applicable). Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application. At least 2 writing samples that demonstrate how the candidate has provided advice to an institution and/or regional/national partners in relation to Rule of Law Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank form can be downloaded from http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc ); please upload the P11 instead of your CV. Financial Proposal - specifying a monthly fee for the tasks specified in this announcement, in US $. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials *Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services...). It should also include certain travel costs, i.e. those related to the Consultant’s move to the duty Station (Zagreb, Croatia) and repatriation travel. Travel costs directly linked to the Consultant’s workplan, and the requisite to the other countries in the sub-region, will be paid separately by UNDP as per UNDP’s rules and procedures. Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner. Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://europeandcis.undp.org/home/jobs Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply. Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.

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.