Consultant for elaborating the National Action Plan on Accessibility

Background

The Joint Programme “Transforming Social Protection for Persons with Disabilities in Georgia” is a joint initiative of six UN agencies - United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), Office of High Commissionaire on Human Rights (OHCHR), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and World Health Organization (WHO).

This project is funded by the Joint SDG Fund.

This Joint Programme (JP) aims to address one of the largest gaps in Georgia’s social protection system in order to transform the situation of persons with disabilities (PwDs) in the country. The overall strategy of the project is to address one of the key factors leading to social exclusion of people with disabilities in the society, i.e. the societal and institutional medical approach to people with disabilities, which considers disability as individual deficiency. Introduction of the social model of disability will be supported by addressing the data, legal and institutional framework and definition of disability and related social protection, while simultaneously increasing societal awareness and stimulating change of social norms, providing support for empowering organizations of people with disabilities as important change agents and expanding employment opportunities for PwD.

The JP will deliver the following results:

1. Legislative framework and evidence-based policy environment are strengthened and non-discriminatory social norms promoted to enable all PwDs to effectively enjoy their rights; 
2. Existing pilot of disability status assessment system based on the social model of disability is expanded to at least one more region of Georgia;
3. Capacities for data collection, monitoring and advocacy improved for the implementation of Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD, International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action (ICPD PoA), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Beijing Platform for Action (BFPA), Universal Periodic Review (UPR), Commission on the Status of Women (CSW);
4. Equal employment opportunities promoted and expanded for all PwDs regardless of age and sex.
5. Gender-sensitive disability assessment and status determination system transformed based on social model;
6. Systems strengthened to enable quality integrated services for PwDs, including revised social system entitlements, especially for children, women and young people.

To accomplish the above activities, the project will partner with the following institutions: Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories of Georgia, Labor, Health and Social Affairs, Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, Public Defender’s Office, National Center for Disease Control and Public Health, National Statistics Office of Georgia (GEOSTAT), Inter-Agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, Human Rights Secretariat, Government’s Administration and local self-government.

Duties and Responsibilities

One of the objectives of the project is to support the Government of Georgia in upgrading national policy documents and legislation on disability to comply with the CRPD standards, with special emphasis on accessibility, including access to information.  

In February 2020 the Parliament of Georgia adopted amendments in the Georgian Code of Space Planning, Architect and Construction Activities, aimed at improving national regulations on accessibility, as well as imposition of sanctions for negligence to consider the needs of the persons with disabilities until full elimination of the problem. The transitional provisions of the Law set the obligation for the Government to develop and adopt: 1. The new national accessibility standards for the persons with disabilities considering all diverse needs of these people; 2. the National Action Plan on Accessibility determining unified vision on the adaptation process for responsible state agencies, setting particular terms and resources. The deadline for the adoption of National Action Plan on Accessibility is 14 June 2021.

The UNDP has been supporting the Georgian Government to develop the new national accessibility standards through translating the modern American standards “Accessible and usable buildings and facilities ICC A117.1” into Georgian and adapting it to the local context. Along with the adoption of the new standard, it is very important to support the development of the Action Plan that aims at the implementation of the regulations in practice and ensures access to infrastructure, services and information for persons with disabilities in Georgia.

For this purpose, it was decided to hire an international expert to support the Georgian Government to elaborate the action plan on accessibility. At this stage international expert will develop general guidelines on how to carry out action plan developing process based on international standards and best practices. An expert will also offer recommendations on how to ensure inclusive and participatory process of elaboration. It will help the government later to lead the process of elaboration of the Action Plan based on the major principles of the UN CRPD.  International expert will be supported by the national consultant, while together they will develop guidelines on the development of national action plan on accessibility. It was decided that the national consultant support will be pivotal for the international expert to provide national context analysis and support in the communication with the national stakeholders. Most importantly, the national consultant will also later be involved in the elaboration process of the action plan.

The Consultant will be expected to:

• Cooperate and support the international expert in the process of the guideline elaboration and provide with relevant information regarding local context, legal framework and challenges PwDs face in Georgia;
• Participate into 2 two-day workshops on the guidelines for the representatives of Parliament of Georgia, Governmental agencies, local municipalities, persons with disabilities and their representative organisations and other relevant stakeholders
• Support the Government and provide assistance in the elaboration process of the Action Plan based on the guidelines;
• Liaise closely with the Parliament of Georgia, Governmental agencies, local municipalities, persons with disabilities and their representative organisations and other relevant stakeholders throughout the consultancy to obtain their input and feedback;
• Participating in meetings with relevant stakeholders regarding the National action plan on accessibility;
• Develop the final activity report.

Competencies

Core Competencies

• Demonstrated commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
• Sensitivity and adaptability to cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age;
• Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.

Functional Competencies

• Excellent communication skills (spoken, written and presentational);
• Good interpersonal skills and ability to work in and with teams;
• Ability to set priorities and manage time effectively.

 

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in social sciences, law, human rights and/or international law or other related fields (minimum qualification requirement: 15 points).

Experience:

• At least 7-years of professional experience in the rights of persons with disabilities (minimum qualification requirement: 7 years - 5 points, more than 7 years - additional 5 points);
• At least 3-years of experience in working for governments and/or non-governmental organizations on consultancy assignments related to the accessibility (minimum qualification requirement: 3 years - 5 points, more than 3 years - additional 5 points);
• Experience in developing guidelines and/or action plans on the rights of persons with disabilities - at least one guideline or action plan drafted (alone or in cooperation with other authors) should be presented upon request by the Project team (minimum qualification requirement: 5 points);
• At least 3-years of experience in research and analysis (minimum qualification requirement: 3 years - 5 points, more than 3 years - additional 5 points)

Language Requirements:

• Excellent English and Georgian skills (both written and verbal)

Evaluation:

Individual Expert will be evaluated based on cumulative analysis method: Offerors will be evaluated against combination of technical and financial criteria. Maximum obtainable score is 100, out of which the total score for technical criteria equals to 70 (desk review: 50 points and interview: 20 points) and for financial criteria – to 30.Offerors not meeting any of minimum qualification requirements will be automatically disqualified. Only offerors obtaining minimum 35 points as a result of the desk review will be considered as qualified offerors and invited for the interview. Those offerors passing 70% threshold of maximum obtainable scores as a result of interview, i.e. obtain minimum 14 points, will be shortlisted and requested to provide financial proposal.

Financial proposal:

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in instalments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are made based on delivery. The delivery has to be accepted and approved by the Project team prior to any payment. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount based on deliverables.  Maximum 30 points will be assigned to the lowest price offer. All other price offers will be scored using the formula (inverse proportion): Financial score X = 30* the lowest price offer/suggested price offer x.