National consultant on strategic development

Background

Millions of people continue experiencing untold misery and suffering, as the COVID-19 pandemic overwhelms health, education, and economic systems and takes human development gains back, for the first time since 1990. While the summer of 2021 brought some relief, and the vaccination campaign rolled out globally and in Ukraine, the pandemic is very far from over. As such, humanity is experiencing only the pandemic's initial impacts, since the consequences of the measures we are taking in response will be far-reaching for years to come. Economies and social ties will face aftershocks for decades, as the world only begins to return to "normalcy" in 2021. The trajectory of that return is obscure, shadowed by slower-than-anticipated vaccine rollout, new virus strains, economic troubles and political turmoil worldwide.

Against this backdrop, Ukraine has benefitted from a holistic UN assistance package from spring to fall of 2020. Yet, with the numbers were growing drastically in the autumn-winter season of 2020 – 2021, on some days registering over 16 000 new cases, absence of robust forecasting, the growing threat of new COVID-19 strains (variants), widespread societal fatigue over quarantine measures, continued macroeconomic challenges and lack of significant progress with resolving the conflict in the east of the country or regaining control over the non-governmentally controlled areas, Ukraine is still far from being on the trajectory for surfacing from the country-wide epidemic or stabilizing the environment in which the country's governance machinery currently operates.

The RESURFACE Project is a mix of rapid response to the highly volatile situation and a longer-term resilience-driven transformation of Ukraine's crisis decision-making and adaptation to extraordinary circumstances. The project will be implemented for 12 months starting from March 2021 and has incorporated lessons learned from its predecessor Crisis Coordination and Management in Ukraine (CCMU) Project. The RESURFACE Project takes catalytic assistance to Ukraine's government authorities to a new level than CCMU by deploying a mechanism that aims at not only delivering on the urgent needs of today but programming for more resilient Ukraine's governance systems in two aspects (1) coordination and (2) institutional adaptability, as the country starts to emerge from the COVID-related crisis.

Enhancing Governmental institutions in terms building proper internal sustainable structure to provide proper response on fake news and disinformation is crucial for building proper crisis coordination and management system in Ukraine. In order to build proper mechanism on disinformation, Ministry of Culture and Information Policy established Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security (Center) aiming to counter disinformation and address concerns for those working to build informed and inclusive societies, increase society’s resistance to hybrid negative influences.

In this context, UNDP is recruiting a professional with relevant experience and track record for the position of a National consultant on strategic development for the Center. The incumbent will promote UNDP’s mandate as a gender-responsive organization with zero tolerance to any kind of discriminatory and abusive behaviour, including sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse.

Duties and Responsibilities

Main Objectives of the Assignment

Develop strategic development plan for the Center
Provide expertise in the development of public opinion research that will serve as an evidence for planning and implementing the Centre’s activities
Facilitate cooperation between civil society organizations and the government in the development of coordinated information products
Support the development of government communication strategy in countering disinformation

Deliverables

The timeframe and deliverables of the assignment are as follows:

Deliverable #

Task description

Deadline

Deliverable #1

Develop strategic development plan for the Center for
Strategic Communications and Information Security under the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine

Expected results:

Strategic development plan for the Centre developed and consulted with the important stakeholders to be held (the list to be provided my MCIP and UNDP)

By October 15, 2021

Deliverable #2

Support the Center in organizing its first international public event. The topic and concept of the event is to be proposed by the Consultant and developed in close coordination with MCIP and UNDP

Expected results:

4.1. Supporting materials for the event that will be organized by MCIP, that may include but are not limited to the concept, announcement, agenda, talking points are developed

4.2. Communication materials such as press announcement and press release are developed

4.3. List of guests and speakers is developed and proposed to MCIP;

By November 10, 2021

Deliverable #3

Facilitate cooperation between civil society organizations and the government in the development of coordinated information products

Expected results:

3.1. At least two meetings between the Center and CSOs are organized. Agenda and talking points are prepared

3.2. Develop a partnership plan and joint activity plan with CSOs on possible joint activities on disinformation

By November 30, 2021

Deliverable #4

Support the development of government communication strategy in countering disinformation

Expected results:

4.1. Mapping of government initiatives on countering disinformation is created

4.2. Concept note of coordinated approach on disinformation among state institutions is developed

By December 24, 2021

Deliverable #5

Support the development of the brochure for journalists and experts to build resilience to malign information operations

Expected results:

5.1. Agendas and talking points for at least two meetings with CSOs are prepared

5.2 An outline of the brochure is developed

5.3 Draft brochure is developed

31 January 2022

Proposed payment schedule:

UNDP will provide payments upon provision of deliverables duly certified by UNDP in accordance with the table above. UNDP will be the ultimate authority to control the quality of work results and assess the Contractor’s performance during the assignment. The satisfactory completion of each of the deliverables shall be subject to the endorsement of the UNDP Project Manager. Payments are made in three tranches as per the Schedule of payments indicated in the table above.

In particular, the payment schedule will be as follows:

Deliverable 1 25%

Deliverable 2 15%

Deliverable 3 25%

Deliverable 4 20%

Deliverable 5 15%

Monitoring/Reporting Requirements

The consultant will work under overall guidance of UNDP Project Manager of the Democratic Governance team, and in close day-to-day coordination with the other project consultants. Work-progress reporting/monitoring meetings will be held with the Project Manager on a regular basis. UNDP will be the final authority to control the quality and evaluate the work. No reports or documents should be published or distributed to third parties without approval of UNDP.

The Consultant will duly inform UNDP of any problems, issues or delays arising in the course of implementation of assignment and take necessary steps to address them.

All reports and results are to be submitted to the UNDP in electronic form (*.docx, *.xlsx, *.pptx, and *.pdf or other formats accepted by UNDP). All reports and presentations shall be submitted in English.

Competencies

Skills

Strong managerial and leadership skills, notably planning, organizing, coordinating and controlling, problem solving and decision-making
Mature judgment combined with a proactive, energetic approach to problem solving; excellent interpersonal skills;
Integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Strong organizational and time management skills;
Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines;
Excellent analytical skills;
Excellent writing, proficient communication and organization skills

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;
Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Required Skills and Experience

Experience and qualification requirements

Education

At least Specialist/Master’s degree in political science, public administration, law, international relations, social sciences or related field

Experience

At least seven (7) years of relevant experience at the national or international level in public administration, law, international relations
At least five (5) year of relevant experience in cooperation with the state institution on policy development.
Previous experience in developing communications strategies and action plans;
Experience with a multilateral or international organization/foundation would be considered as an asset;
Experience in development of analytical materials and recommendations is an asset.

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals

Applicants shall submit the following documents:

Required

Letter of interest/proposal, explaining why the applicant considers him- or herself the most suitable for the work

Personal CV or P11, including information about past experience in similar projects / assignments and contact details for referees

Financial proposal

Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP.