Job: INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT ON PREPARATION OF FEASIBILITY STUDY AND OPERATIONAL PLAN FOR FIELD LEVEL DATA VERIFICATION OF VOTER LISTS (VOTER LIST AUDIT) IN MOLDOVA

Location :	Chisinau, MOLDOVA
Application Deadline :	13-Nov-13
Type of Contract :	Individual Contract
Post Level :	International Consultant
Languages Required :	English
Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start)	21-Nov-2013
Duration of Initial Contract :	20 working days
Expected Duration of Assignment :	21 November – 20 December 2013
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Background
The Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Moldova is a permanent, independent electoral management body. Following a period of political upheaval and three unanticipated national electoral events, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) has now adopted a strategic plan for the period 2012-2015.   UNDP has provided electoral support to Moldova since 2008. Since 2012, this support is provided through the UNDP Moldova Democracy Programme (Programme), with the support of the Government of Sweden. The Programme supports the CEC to: Improve the institutional environment for electoral management bodies to aid the delivery of inclusive and modern electoral processes; Improve the public registration process for Moldovans and support the modernisation of Moldovan electoral processes; and Embed gender and human rights concerns in formal political processes. Voter registration has been identified as an area of concern in the Moldovan electoral process for many years. Responsibility for voter registration is diffused across the Moldovan public sector at both the national and the local level, and neither the process nor the responsibilities are well understood or resourced. The CEC has made a concerted effort in recent years to improve the technical base of the voter registration process and to work with other public sector partners. It has also commenced more systematic analysis of the lists compiled by local public administration. The recent compilations revealed an unacceptably low level of list quality in terms of both accuracy and completeness.   In accordance with its annual work plan the Programme assisted CEC with development of the first Moldovan Roadmap on Voters Registration. Some of key recommendations of the Roadmap refer to the need to develop procedures for the voter list database audit (VL DB Audit) and the need for voter list data verification on the field level.   In the past the CEC, with international assistance, has undertaken activities to prepare procedures for Voter List database audit to identify obvious shortcomings (multiple records, records with missing information etc.) in the voter lists. Field level voter list data verification (voter-to-list/list-to-voter) so far has not been conducted in Moldova.
Duties and Responsibilities
The Democracy Programme has agreed to support the CEC in its efforts to implement data verification on the field level. As a first step the Democracy Programme will contract a team of two consultants (one lead international consultant and one national consultant) to undertake feasibility study and develop possible operational plan for conducting a field level voter list data verification of a sufficiently representative sample.   The Programme aims to contract an International Consultant (hereinafter called “International  consultant”) to lead the development of feasibility study with potential operational plan for conducting the first field level data verification of voter lists in Moldova. The voter lists to be audited will be compiled by the Local Public Administrations (LPAs) based on procedures of the current Electoral Code and shall be submitted to the CEC by 01 March 2014.   The team of consultants under the overall guidance and responsibility of the International Consultant shall prepare a feasibility study with possible operational plan for conducing field level voter-to-list/list-to-voter data verification of a sufficiently large sample to identify possible shortcomings in the voters lists and define further action plan for their resolution   For detailed information, please refer to Annex 1 – Terms of Reference.
Competencies
Knowledge of MS SQL and voter list database audit procedures will be considered as asset; Excellent analytical and writing skills; Excellent Presentation skills; Ability to manage diversity of views/ adapt to different cultural environments.
Required Skills and Experience
Education: University degree or equivalent preferably in the field of IT, Political Science, International Relations, Law, or other related fields. Experience: Minimum 8 (eight) years of experience in elections operations, elections-related technical assistance or elections related advisory roles; Experience in designing and implementing field level voters lists audits for electoral management bodies or within electoral assistance activities; Experience in working with voters registration; Previous experience in developing/working with voter list IT procedures will be considered as asset; Languages: Proficiency in English. Knowledge of Romanian or Russian will be a very strong advantage.   Documents to be included when submitting the proposals: Proposal: Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work; and a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work (if applicable); Financial proposal; Personal CV including past experience in similar projects, the duly filled Personal History Form (P11) and at least 3 references; 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 installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. 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 (including travel costs, per diems, communication expenditures, fees, per diems, travel costs, phone calls etc.). Travel  The consultant is required to undertake at least two missions to Chisinau, Moldova – one during preparatory work and drafting of the feasibility study (25 November – 6 December) and the second during presentation of the feasibility study results (16 – 20 December). The consultant shall be present minimum at least 8 (eight) working days in Moldova during the assignment. All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources. In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. Note: For complete information about this vacancy, including detailed tasks and responsibilities, full and detailed description of the evaluation procedure which will be applied, as well as the UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract, please refer to the Terms of Reference, the Individual Consultant Procurement Notice and the Terms of Reference for the Review published at the UNDP Moldova website, Jobs Section: http://www.undp.md/jobs/current_jobs.
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. More Info and Application