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International Consultant in Parliamentary Development

Georgia

  • Organization: UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
  • Location: Georgia
  • Grade: Consultancy - International Consultant - Internationally recruited Contractors Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Democratic Governance
    • Public Policy and Administration
  • Closing Date: Closed

Background

The Parliament of Georgia is the supreme representative body which exercises its policy and law-making functions and oversees the performance of the Government of Georgia. The Parliament is comprised of 150 members, with 120 elected through party lists and the remaining 30 – through a single-mandate (majoritarian) system.

With the entry into force of the constitutional amendments in 2018 (Constitution of Georgia - https://matsne.gov.ge/en/document/view/30346?publication=36), which has completed Georgia’s evolution from a semi-presidential system to a parliamentary republic, the institution is now at the heart of the democratic governance in the country. In combination with the Parliament’s newly reformed Rules of Procedure (RoP) (Rule of Procedures of the Parliament of Georgia (as of June 2021) – unofficial English translation  https://bit.ly/3l241Up,) the role of the legislature is substantially increased. New mechanisms introduced by the RoP grant the Parliament with stronger powers to effectively exercise its law-making and oversight functions and increase citizen engagement in legislative processes.

Among other, the new constitutional amendments have also provided for a new electoral model, to be enforced with the 2024 Parliamentary Elections. In particular, Georgia will switch from a mixed to a fully proportional electoral system. As a result, all 150 MPs will be elected from the political party lists based on the parties’ performance in parliamentary elections.

Introduction of a new system will have an impact on the ways Parliament of Georgia exercises its representative function. Up until now, within the Parliament there have been regional (majoritarian) Bureaus/Offices of MPs elected from the single-member districts which served as a point of contact for the concrete constituency. Currently, there is an institutional set-up which enables MPs to meet and listen to their constituencies and make sure that the voices of the local population are heard. By connecting with citizens and getting involved with their day-to-day challenges, elected officials can demonstrate the Parliament’s commitment to respond to the needs and problems of citizens.

From 2024 the Parliament will have to redesign the abovementioned institutional arrangement and work towards establishment of new institutional mechanisms which would ensure continued link between the MPs and voters and representation of the population’s interests in the decision-making processes. Parliament and MPs will have to be equipped with tools to discharge their primary representative function.

With the support from the European Union, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through its project “Consolidating Parliamentary Democracy in Georgia”, has provided significant assistance to the Parliament of Georgia in the development of its institutional capacity. Considering the above-mentioned changes and the related challenges, the project intends to recruit an International Consultant in Parliamentary Development to support the Parliament in establishment of the new constituency outreach framework.

Duties and Responsibilities

The overall objective of the consultancy is to conduct a comparative study of the parliaments with the similar election systems in place, identify the local needs and elaborate recommendations for establishment of constituency outreach framework for the Parliament of Georgia post-2024.

The International Consultant works closely with the Parliament of Georgia and performs the following tasks and responsibilities:

Activity 1. Baseline Study on Current Practices of Constituency Outreach in the Parliament of Georgia

1.As part of the baseline study, the Consultant shall conduct a desk review of the legal framework which regulates MPs representative functions as well as existing practices to analyze and assess their effectiveness.

2. To that end, the Consultant shall conduct interviews with the MPs and staff of the parliament, as well as the Parliamentary Monitoring Organizations (PMOs) and other stakeholders. The Consultant shall also research with the parliamentary leadership about their vision for post-2024 constituency outreach system.

Activity 2. Comparative Review of the Best International Practices in Constituency Outreach

1.The Consultant shall prepare a comparative review of the best standards and practices in how representative functions of the MPs are being exercised in the countries which have full proportional and/or similar systems. The review shall include but not be limited to the experience of at least five countries (preferably from Europe) with comparable size and electoral systems. The selection of the countries shall be preliminarily discussed and confirmed with the UNDP project.

2.The review shall cover legal, institutional and capacity related issues regarding constituency outreach of the studied cases including information about business processes, internal coordination (among MPs, factions/political groups, communications or similar services, etc.). It shall also review communication tools and channels used, measurement criteria for achieving success in connecting to citizens as well as required parliamentary resources (both human and financial). The review shall take into consideration the needs identified in the Activity 1.

ACTIVITY 3. Final Report with Recommendations for the Parliament of Georgia on Constituency Outreach for Post-2024

1.Based on the baseline study and the comparative review, the Consultant shall draft a final report. shall include specific recommendations for the Parliament of Georgia on establishment of the new constituency outreach framework/system for post-2024, including concrete steps on how to set up both legislative and institutional arrangements.

2.The Consultant shall present and discuss the report with the recommendations to the MPs and staff of the Parliament of Georgia. 

Deliverables and payment modality:

Deliverbale 1 - 30% June 2022

  • Baseline study of the parliament of Georgia on current practices in Constituency Outreach

Deliverbale 2  - 30% July 2022

  • Comparative Review of the Best International Practices in Constituency Outreach 

Deliverbale 3  - 40% September 2022

  • Final Report with recommendations for the Parliament of Georgia on Constituency Outreach for Post-2024 

Management Arrangements:

The International Consultant will work under the supervision of the UNDP Project Manager. The Consultancy foresees up to two in-country missions. Amount and timeframes of the visit will be discussed and agreed with the UNDP Project in consultation with the Parliament.

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
  • Treats all people fairly without favoritism

Functional Competencies:

  • Excellent intercultural, moderation, facilitation and negotiation skills;
  • Builds strong relationships with stakeholders, focuses on impact and result and responds positively to feedback;
  • Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
  • Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
  • Ability to lead effectively, mentoring as well as conflict resolution skills
  • Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills
  • Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure
  • Proven networking, team-building, organizational and communication skills

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Master’s degree in public policy/administration, political science, communications or related field (minimum requirement) - 10 points;

Experience: 

  • Ten years of experience of working with the legislative bodies in the capacity of a Member of Parliament, senior-level staff and/or advisor/consultant (minimum requirement) -  10 years – 10 points, From 10 to 15 years – additional 3 points, More than 15 years – additional 5 points;
  • Demonstrated experience of providing advisory services for the national parliaments in law-making, oversight or representative functions (minimum requirement) -  Three similar assignments – 10 points , More than three similar assignments – additional 5 points;

Language Requirements:

  • Excellent knowledge of the English language

Evauation:

Offerors will be evaluated against a combination of technical and financial criteria provided in the below table. Technical criteria consist of a desk review and an interview. Maximum obtainable score is 100, out of which the total score for technical criteria equals to 70 points (70%) and for financial criteria 30 (30%). Technical criteria compose of desk review (40 points) and interview (30 points). Offerors not meeting any of minimum technical qualification requirements will be automatically excluded from the list of candidates for further technical evaluation. Offerors obtaining minimum 28 points as a result of the desk review (criteria 1, 2 and 3) will be short listed and invited for an interview. Offerors obtaining minimum of 21 points as a result of the interview (i.e. minimum of 49 points in the technical criteria) will be considered qualified and requested to provide financial proposal for the assignment.

Financial Proposal:

Short-listed Offerors will be requested to provide financial proposal. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount (with indication of specific sub-components of the payment, including daily fee, travel costs, living allowance etc.), and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include a breakdown of all cost components required to perform the deliverables identified in TOR. All envisaged travel costs (ticket, insurance, communication and living allowance fees) must be included in the financial proposal as well.

This vacancy is now closed.
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