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Consultant on support to employment of Vulnerable Youth and Women in Northern Albania

Tirana

  • Organization: UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
  • Location: Tirana
  • Grade: Consultancy - National Consultant - Locally recruited Contractors Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Youth
    • Women's Empowerment and Gender Mainstreaming
    • Labour Market Policy
  • Closing Date: Closed

Background

Despite improvements, Albania still faces significant challenges in terms of ensuring secure and productive employment for its population, fostering higher and more productive job creation, and supporting labour market integration of vulnerable groups, especially the poor, women, and youth.  One in three young people is inactive and she or he has not received any form of education or training. Jobless young persons who are either unemployed or inactive, but not in school (NEETs), make up 30 percent of the 15-29 age group, more than twice of the EU average of 14.8 percent.

Public consultations and on-line surveys conducted by UNDP in Albania in 2014 for the Agenda 2030, suggest that the two major development challenges as perceived by the people of Albania are: (1) employment and business opportunities; (2) corruption and organised crime. Moreover, high number of asylum seekers in EU countries and a widespread perception of migration desire among young people are testimony that often the lack of opportunities forces young women and men to leave the country.

With the support of the British Government, UNDP will be implementing an intervention targeting migration hotspots in the poorest areas of Northern Albania, with the aim to tackle this serious problem at its roots. The intervention will focus in identified hotspots in the areas of Shkoder, Diber and Kukes, by piloting interventions in selected villages were poor employment opportunities make population vulnerable to migration and criminality. Through the support of the local institutions, the project aims to foster employability of youth in these areas by introducing tailor-made entrepreneurship and vocational training programs, but also to prevent migration of youth from these areas by offering them targeted support programmes, hence an opportunity to purse a sustained living in their own towns.

The intervention of UNDP is part of the Conflict, Stability & Security Fund (CSSF) programme of the British Embassy in Tirana. It tackles various gaps in the capacities of rule of law institutions, to understand and effectively deal with key drivers of instability, at both the central and local level. UNDP will operate under the outcome 3 of the programme -effective addressing structural consequences of poor-governance in vulnerable communities in Northern Albania. Its action is articulated in three components, namely (i) a self-employment promotion measure, offering training and a scheme grant to promising young entrepreneurs; (ii) targeted offer of short term vocational trainings; (iii) integrated support for social institutions and civil society organizations at the local level.

The programme targets particularly problematic areas, where the lack of economic opportunities exposes citizens to a high-risk of vulnerability and social exclusion. Such uncertainty necessarily jeopardises the stability and the security in the region, de facto transforming villages in hotspots of migration, or even organized crime. The intervention aims to reach out youth at high risks of exclusion, due to their lack of skills or their distance from the labour market, victims of trafficking or people particularly vulnerable to fall into organised crime; it will develop capacities of the National Employment and the Social Services at the local level, as well as of vocational schools and training centres operating in the area.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of the assignment

The overall objective of the project is to empower vulnerable young people by developing their skills through short-term, targeted vocational education courses, and enhance their economic resilience to bleak living conditions unearthing possible employment opportunities for them. In line with UNDP practise, the project will follow a human rights-based approach, putting promotion of social inclusion right at the core of the scope.

UNDP is hiring a Project Coordinator to support to plan, implement and monitor all activities. The Project Coordinator will work under the guidance of the Programme Specialist and in close collaboration with the UNDP team of Employment and Economic Growth. The Project Coordinator is expected to contribute to the strategic decision making for the project purposes and is responsible for the operational management of tasks described below:

-       Facilitate the implementation of the project’s activities;

-       Support the planning, preparation, reporting and follow-up to the recommendations of the Project Steering Committee;

-       Plan and coordinate the implementation of all interventions with the three municipalities in regions of Shkoder, Kukes, Dibra by ensuring adherence to agreed timetable and timely mobilization of the required resources;

-       Ensure sustainability of the intervention, timely address any issue that might occur through partnerships established with central and local authorities;

-       Flag any (potential) risks, bottlenecks, challenges;

-       Ensure quality and timely documentation of implemented activities planned in the yearly and half yearly operational plan for specific project outcomes and contribute with inputs and relevant information for the financial and narrative reporting to UNDP;

-       Draft and prepare progress and ad-hoc reports as and when required;

-       Work closely with the CO team -specifically with the self-employment measure coordinator- for resolving any implementation issues or sharing information on progress of implementation;

-       Coordinate research and needs assessment activities in the areas of responsibility, including planning and capacity building activities; 

-       Contribute to the outcome implementation with e.g. research, fact-finding, information sharing etc;

-       Ensure good collaboration and working relations with the working group members and other national and international institutions concerned issues related to the area of responsibility;

-       Offer coaching and support for working group members;

-       Support and closely collaborate with consultants mandated by UNDP for purposes related to the project;

-       Contribute with ideas the capitalization of experience, e.g. by contributing to the drafting of documentation;

-       Coordinate the work and find synergies whenever possible with other donor or GoA funded interventions in order to increase the impact generated by the programme

-       Assume other duties as and when assigned.

Competencies

CORPORATE COMPETENCIES:

  • Demonstrates integrity by modelling 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;
  • Treats all people fairly without favouritism.

CORE COMPETENCIES:

  • Communication - Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication;
  • Planning & Organizing – Develops clear goals in line with agreed strategies, identifies priorities, foresees risks and makes allowances accordingly;
  • Organizational Awareness - Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment;
  • Teamwork - Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds;
  • Accountability – Takes ownership of all responsibilities and delivers outputs in accordance with agreed time, cost and quality standards.

Functional Competencies:

  • Knowledge and expertise on innovation concepts, including design thinking, social innovation, user centred research, etc.;
  • Strong communication skills (written, spoken, composing, presentation) and ability to share expertise for capacity building;
  • Political and cultural sensitivity and commitment to UNDP’s development objectives in the country.

Required Skills and Experience

Education Bacground

-          Master's degree (or equivalent) in a relevant field (such as Social Policy) or in a general field (Law, Business Administration, Economics, Social Sciences), combined with relevant experience in the field of Employment and Social Policy;

Work Experience

-          Minimum of 3 years of relevant work experience;

-          Previous experience in delivering development project, preferably in the field of employment promotion, or private sector, or vocational education, or social policies;

-          Good knowledge of the local socio-economic context (specifically of employment and learning opportunities for youth in Northern Albania);

-          Prior exposure to issues related to employment; migration, VET, youth support and social work is preferable;

-          Previous experience with local government or development assistance, or related work for an international agency or donor organization would be an asset;

-          Familiarity with UNDP and UN system will be an asset;

Language 

-          Full working knowledge of English and Albanian is essential.

Evaluation Procedure

UNDP applies a fair and transparent selection process that would consider both the technical qualification of Individual Consultants as well as their financial proposals. The contract will be awarded to the candidate whose offer:

  • Is deemed technically responsive / compliant / acceptable (only technically responsive applications / candidates will be considered for the financial evaluation)
  • And has obtained the highest combined technical and financial scores.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max points: 70

-          Relevance of education in the relevant field – 20 points;

-          Experience in similar assignments - 20 points;

-          Record of experiences with local government or development assistance/development project in the field of employment promotion/private sector/social services/fight against organized crime – max. 20 points;

-          Familiarity with UNDP/UN; experience working with other international organizations – 10 points;

Financial Criteria – 30% of total evaluation – max. 30 points

UNDP applies the ‘Best value for money’ approach - the final selection will be based on the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.

Application Procedure

The application should contain:

  • Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application
  • Completed and signed UN Personal History Form (P11) for Service Contracts (SC) and Individual Contracts (IC) – Blank form Download here.
  • Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability - please fill in the attached form: http://www.un.org.al/doc/PSU_%20Individual%20Contract_Letter%20to%20UNDP.docx
  • Financial Proposal in ALL* - specifying a total lump sum in Albanian Lek (working days, travel, per diems, and any other possible costs) for the tasks specified in this announcement. Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of service, etc.). http://www.un.org.al/doc/Financial%20Offer%20template.doc
  • Copy of Diplomas and copy of Passport.

* Kindly note that Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability and Financial Proposal are two separate documents and should both be part of your application. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

How to Submit the Application:

To submit your application online, please follow the steps below:

  • Download and complete the UN Personal History Form (P11) for Service Contracts (SCs) and Individual Contracts (ICs);
  • Merge your UN Personal History Form (P11) for Service Contracts (SCs) and Individual Contracts (ICs), Financial Proposal Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability and cover letter into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded;
  • Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement);
  • Click “Apply Now” button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click “Submit Application;”
  • Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above);
  • You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

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.

Due to a 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.
This vacancy is now closed.
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