Consultancy - Evaluating the Preparedness of Parliaments to Engage with the SDGs

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is the global organization of national parliaments with a membership of 183 Member Parliaments and 15 Associate Members. The IPU promotes democratic governance, institutions and values, working with parliaments and parliamentarians to articulate and respond to the needs and aspirations of the people. It works to promote peace, democracy, human rights, gender equality, youth empowerment, climate action and sustainable development through political dialogue, cooperation and parliamentary action. The IPU has supported over half of its members to strengthen parliament capacity to perform their functions. The IPU collaborates with the the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) both nationally and globally for over 40 years.

UNDP has been supporting more than 60 parliaments globally to strengthen parliament as an institution of good governance, inclusive development and public accountability.

In the Pacific, the UNDP Pacific Office (PO) has been supporting Pacific Parliaments to fulfil the core functions of parliaments of law-making, oversight and representation. The PO has supported Pacific Parliaments to reform the parliamentary professional service, provided trainings and activities to strengthen parliamentary library and research services, provided policy support with a focus on SDG advocacy, supported the production of Budget Briefs for members to assist with informed debates on the national budgets, increased opportunities for citizens and CSO engagement in the work of parliament, built capacities for members and staff on substantive and procedural issues as well as skills such as public speaking, dealing with the media, debating, and codes of conduct, supported the development for institutional frameworks to ensure that parliaments have sufficient power and independence to contribute to democratic development.

The IPU collaborates with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) both nationally and globally for over 40 years. In late 2025, the IPU and UNDP have entered into a cooperation agreement to support parliaments in Pacific countries. Within this programme the IPU will support two Pacific parliaments to undertake SDG self-assessments.

SDG Self-Assessment

In order to assist parliaments in engaging with the SDGs and contributing to their implementation, the IPU and UNDP developed a self-assessment toolkit. The toolkit is designed to enable parliaments to identify good practices, gaps, opportunities and lessons learned to effectively institutionalize the SDGs and mainstream the various goals in the legislative process.

The conclusions of the self-assessment should allow parliaments to set priorities for action in order to strengthen their response to the SDGs and start their own process of internal benchmarking. The ultimate objective is that parliaments are fit for purpose to play a full role in realizing Agenda 2030.

Two parliaments in the Pacific Region will be assisted to undertake the SDG self-assessment exercise.

Format
The self-assessment exercise normally combines two activities:

• A one day information seminar on the SDGs and the role of parliaments in their implementation

The seminar would aim at sharing key concepts and collecting participants’ expectations, thus ensuring there is a common understanding of the self-assessment exercise.

• A four day self-assessment exercise

The exercise would aim at collecting and analyzing the situation and the main facts related to the work of Parliament on the SDGs. The discussions would involve members of parliament and parliamentary staff, as appropriate. They would be informed by questions to be defined based on the IPU/UNDP’s self-assessment toolkit Parliaments and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Coordination and steering Committee

The self-assessment exercise would be spearheaded by the Parliament, with the support of IPU and UNDP. The involvement of existing parliamentary mechanisms on the SDGs would be key.

A Steering Group would be set up in consultation with the Speaker of Parliament and/or other parliamentary authroztities designated to lead the process.

The Steering Group would meet on a regular basis so as to agree on the format of the assessment sessions, the themes and questions to be addressed, the documentation to be made available to participants and any follow-up action to be undertaken after the exercise.

The IPU and UNDP would support the Steering Group in planning and ensuring follow-up to this exercise.

Participants

Participation in the self assessment exercise will be determined by the Steering Committee. Having said that, the assessment will need to be as inclusive and broad as possible. In past exercises, assessments were carried out by one or two groups of 10-15 persons, comprising of members of parliament and staff respectively. This is a possibility.

In any case, the groups will need to take into account the regional, age and political diversity of Members of Parliament, and be as gender balanced as possible. Every attempt would also be made to have a representative of each parliamentary committee on the groups.

Methodology

Participants will conduct the assessment in discussion groups and will be assisted by IPU – UNDP experts during the exercise. The groups will convene to analyse the following main issues:

• Building an understanding of the SDGs
• Domesticating the SDGs
• Mainstreaming the SDGs within parliamentary mechanisms
• Passing laws in support of SDGs
• Financing the SDGs
• Monitoring SDGs implementation
• Engaging the public
• Ensuring that the SDGs serve the most vulnerable

Time and venue

It is estimated that the information seminar would take place over one day. The self-assessment exercise per se could be organized over two to four working days. The exercise could follow immediately after the information seminar. These details as well as dates and venue of the exercise would be determined in consultation with the Parliaments undergoing the self-assessment.

Expected outcomes and follow-up

The self-assessment would lead to the preparation of a report on main findings and recommendations. The report would also help put in place the benchmarks for parliamentary action on the SDGs. To implement the recommendations, a plan of action may be developed.

The IPU and UNDP would provide support to this work as necessary.

Should the Parliament wish to inform the global parliamentary community about the self-assessment and its results, it would be able to do so through the IPU mechanisms including the Parliamentary Meeting at the annual High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

Duties and responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the Manager, Technical Cooperation Programme, IPU the consultants will perform the following functions:

• Support establishment and provide guidance to the Steering Committee
• Act as a facilitator of the self-assessment exercise based on the IPU-UNDP toolkit “Parliaments and the Sustainable Development Goals: A self-assessment toolkit”.
• Prepare questions, background information and documentation for the discussions on assessing the level of parliamentary engagement with the SDGs at the national level.
• Moderate and inform discussions with members of the Parliament and parliamentary staff during the self-assessment
• Help members of the Parliament and parliamentary staff develop a tailored Action Plan to implement the SDGs through their core functions (law-making; oversight; budget; representation)
• Prepare a report (a) summarizing the main findings of the self-assessment exercise and drawing conclusions on next steps for the Parliament; (b) evaluating the self-assessment exercise and drawing conclusions on how such exercises could be improved in the future.
• Undertake 1-2 informant interviews immediately before/after the workshop for monitoring and evaluation purposes

Institutional arrangements

The Consultants will report directly to the IPU Manager, Technical Cooperation Programme.

All reports and documents related to the assignment will be submitted to the Manager, Technical Cooperation Programme, IPU.

The Consultant will be responsible for all technical related equipment including laptops internet etc relevant to this assignment.

Duration of the work

20 days between 15/01/2026 and 01/05/2026.

Duty Station & Travel

Home based for preparatory work with travels to Pacific Island countries.

For all travels undertaken through this consultancy, IPU will purchase air tickets for the consultant based on the most direct route and cost-effective route as per IPU Conditions of Travel.

IPU will also provide Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) to the consultant for the duration of his/her stay at the respective duty station at UN approved DSA rates

Educational Qualifications (Minimum):

University degree in political science, law, international development or related fields.

Experience:

• Demonstrated experience in the facilitation of workshops, and development of strategic action plans
• At least 10 years experience on working on the SDGs and relevant international development frameworks and processes
• Experience of conducting assessments of parliamentary institutions is an asset
• Strong knowledge of the functioning of national parliaments
• Experience of working directly with parliaments.
• Excellent time management and attention to detail.
• Experience of work in the Pacific region and in a development, context is a strong asset.
• Excellent interpersonal skills; culturally and socially sensitive; ability to work inclusively and collaboratively with a range of partners, including politicians, parliamentarians and other government officials.

Competencies:

• Excellent moderation skills
• Ability to design tailored strategic action plans
• Excellent interpersonal, intercultural, communication and networking with a demonstrated ability to build and maintain professional relationships.
• Ability to meet deadlines.
• Excellent English writing and communication skills.

Deliverables

Deliverable

Due date

Inception report outlining methodology and expected outcomes

10 days after contract signature

Undertake 1-2 informant interviews immediately before and after the workshop for monitoring and evaluation purposes, and share one-two paragraphs on the interview/s with the IPU

Facilitation of two self-assessment excercises

20-30 days after contract signature (TBC with parliaments concerned)

Report (a) summarizing the main findings of the self-assessment exercise and drawing conclusions on next steps for the parliament ; (b) evaluating the self-assessment exercise and drawing conclusions on how such exercises could be improved in the future, c) Provide concrete steps for follow-up to recommendations coming from the excercise

10 days after completion of self assessment excerices

How to apply

The deadline for applications is 19 December 2025 at 12.00 CET. Applications should be sent by e-mail to job@ipu.org with “Consultant: SLIP-SDG-SA” in the subject line. For further details about the consultancy, please contact Norah Babic at the IPU Secretariat (nb@ipu.org)

Applicants will be contacted only if they are under serious consideration. Applications received after the deadline will not be accepted.

Recruitment principles

Our guiding principle in selecting candidates is to secure the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity. We do not discriminate on any grounds and are committed to promoting diversity in our workforce.

Particular attention is paid to candidates from developing countries and to achieving gender balance. We strive to provide an environment where the contribution of each individual is valued.

We ask all our personnel to apply the Common Principles for Support to Parliaments in their work.

We ask all our personnel to agree to our Code of conduct for personnel and our Fraud and corruption prevention policy available at https://www.ipu.org/about-us/working-with-ipu , and our policy to prevent and address harassment including sexual harassment at IPU Assemblies and other events, available at: https://www.ipu.org/about-ipu/structure-and-governance/statutes-and-policies-ipu.