International Consultant for Freedom of Information Legislation

I. Background

Corruption is a global phenomenon that negatively impacts development. Papua New Guinea is no exception to this. Corruption has stunted economic growth in Papua New Guinea. Levels of malfeasance are stubbornly high, and the loss of public monies has limited the Government’s ability to deliver essential services broadly and with quality in a uniform manner. This has resulted in inter-generational declines in key development indicators, among them, literacy, maternal and new-born health and life expectancy. While even in normal situations, corruption poses a major impediment to human, economic and social development, this effect is now exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Government of Papua New Guinea has attempted to address corruption over the last three decades, but its efforts have met with varying degrees of success. Papua New Guinea was the Pacific region’s first country to ratify the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), signing it in 2004, and ratifying it in 2007. This has been followed by a number of key developments, among them:

• Development of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (2010-2030) and its associated rolling Plans of Action.

• Active participation in the mechanism for the review of implementation of United Nations Convention against Corruption or UNCAC (UNCAC Implementation Review Mechanism), as a State under review and a reviewing State.

• Joining the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in 2014.

• Commitments by the Government to pass legislation to establish an Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), implement freedom of information (FOI) and protect whistle-blowers, the last of which saw legislation enacted in February 2020 and the unanimous vote of the national Parliament in November 2020 to establish an Independent Commission Against Corruption.

The United Nations has played an important role in supporting, facilitating and advising on various aspects of this effort. In 2020, UNDP and UNODC with support from the European Union, designed a project to support the Government of Papua New Guinea and key stakeholders to progress their national anti-corruption priorities.

The overall goal of the Project on Preventing and Countering Corruption in Papua New Guinea funded by the EU and implemented by UNDP and UNODC (the ‘PNG Anti-Corruption Project’) is to support the Government, key national institutions, civil society and communities to strengthen their commitment and capacities to address corruption in line with the UNCAC, in order to more effectively progress the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals for the benefit of all Papua New Guineans.

Specifically, the Project aims to strengthen Papua New Guinea’s national integrity system through the strengthening of core anti-corruption institutions and processes, through support for key Government and non-government bodies.

The Outcome 1 aims to provide holistic support to the implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy Plan of Action (NACPA), including by supporting the development of a monitoring and oversight plan, assisting with critical anti-corruption law reforms, including Freedom of Information legislation and working with core government partners to pilot risk assessments that can be used as the basis for sector or geographic specific risk mitigation plans which will feed back into implementation of the NACPA.

The development of the Freedom of Information Act draft has already been subject to work by DJAG and TIPNG. The PNG Anti-Corruption project provides further assistance to the development of the FOI law and its implementation, including by supporting ongoing refinement of the draft law and working with DJAG, PMNEC and the Parliament to draft, debate and enact FOI legislation to operationalize Article 54 of the PNG Constitution which provides an explicit right to information.

For this purpose, UNDP PNG is seeking an International Consultant for supporting developing Freedom of Information legislation and its implementation once when the law will be enacted.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of work

The overall purpose of the consultancy is to support PNG Government in developing the Freedom of information legislation and its implementation, including but not limited to building capacity amongst public sector servants and awareness amongst citizens on new FOI rights and procedures.

The Consultant will work closely with UNDP’s Project team, in collaboration with key government bodies and institutions.

The Consultant will support the Project team by facilitating consultations (i.e., workshops, FGDs, etc.) with in-country stakeholders, and partners to gather ideas and feedback to the effective FOI and together with Project team to analyse results from the process of the meetings.

The key tasks for which the Consultant will be responsible are as follows:

Support drafting the Freedom of Information Freedom of information Act and related consultations, discussion, FGDs and workshops
Develop the Guidelines for implementation of Freedom of Information Act, including the relevant forms and related documentation in close collaboration with the Project team and the key stakeholders, and facilitating the internal and external workshops, FGDs and consultations on effective implementation.
Design the material and conduct the TOT training and trainings and workshops, conduct the capacity building workshops for public and private sector and support awareness activities and education activities, including regional and international events, conferences, discussions and consultations.

The scope of work will include:

In the first half of consultancy, consultant will Support the FOI legislation drafting, including consultations, workshops and discussions with key Government partners as well as consultations with the Parliament on the effective FOI legislation and regime.

In the second half of consultancy, the consultant will provide technical assistance to develop regulations, guidelines and procedures to implement new Freedom of Information Act and to design and implement related training for public servants, as well as support the design and implementation of community awareness programmes to raise awareness of FOI rights and procedures.

III. Deliverables and timeline

The deliverables are summarized in the table below.

The Freedom of Information Consultant will carry out the following tasks:

Deliverables

Estimated number of Working days and Completion deadline

Payment Percentage

Review and Approvals

Required

(Indicate designation of person who will review output and confirm acceptance)

1. Develop the Freedom of Information Act draft, based on the consultations and in close collaboration with Project team, key stakeholders and Parliament

a) Support and facilitate the consultations, discussions, workshops and FGDs as appropriate, including with the Parliament

b) Conduct up to 3 consultative workshop on FOI draft law and its finalization with stakeholders

10 days

31 March 2023

20 %

CTA

2. Provide the first draft of the Guidelines for implementation of the Freedom of Information Act, including forms as appropriate and submit the draft for review to the PNG Project team for review

a) Develop the additional regulations and procedures upon request, as appropriate

10 days

30 April 2023

(once the law will be enacted)

20 %

CTA

3. Provide final draft of the Guidelines, including incorporating inputs from the Project team and key stakeholders and proposing the further amendments as appropriate

a) Incorporate feedback from the Project team and key stakeholders into the draft

b) Provide second draft of the Guidelines to the PNG Project team that will determine whether any further amendments are required

c) Incorporate further feedback should Project team require it and then submit final draft publication

10 days

31 May 2023

(once the law will be enacted)

20 %

CTA

4. Develop training package, including TOT based on the Guidelines (incl. structure, presentations, handouts, etc.)

a) Incorporate feedback received from Project team and key stakeholders and then submit the final package

5 days

31 May 2023

10 %

CTA

5. Design and deliver up to 8 trainings, including TOT on FOI regimes, legislation and implementation, based on the Guidelines

10 days

31 December 2023

20 %

CTA

6. Support awareness raising activities on new FOI legislation

a) Provide technical inputs to the communications and education material on FOI legislation, rules and regulations and implementation, including support of international and regional knowledge exchange events, conferences and consultations.

5 days

31 December 2023

10 %

CTA

Disbursement of payments

Lumpsum payment linked to deliverables, and Payment for aforementioned deliverables are subject to certification of deliverable/s report approved by Supervisor, Chief Technical Adviser (Anti-Corruption) UNDP PNG

Institutional Arrangement

The consultant will work in close collaboration with the Programme Support Unit of the PNG CO and will report and submit deliverables to the Chief Technical Adviser (Anti-Corruption) of UNDP PNG for review and approval.

Travel Plan

Below is an indicative travel plan for the duration of the assignment. The Consultant will be required to travel to the below indicated destinations and include the relevant costs into the proposal. There may be also unforeseen travel that will come up during the execution of the contract which will be agreed on ad-hoc basis.

No

Destination

Frequency

Duration/days

1

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Travel to conduct the workshops and consultations (May – June 2022)

10 days

2

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Travel to conduct the workshops and trainings (February – March 2023)

10 days

IV. Duty Station

Home based and PNG as per ToR

V. Contract duration

The duration of the contract will be 50 working days as per the above deliverables.

Competencies

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Integrity, professionalism, and respect for diversity.

Functional Competencies:

Ability to think conceptually and flexibly, capacity to adapt, innovate, and propose multiple options.
Experience in working on on area of anti-corruption and governance would be an asset
Proven ability to deliver quality output including reports writing and making presentation under tight deadlines.
Familiarity and working experience on the development issues and context in the Crisis country would be the asset.
Commitment to respecting deadlines and the delivery of outputs within the agreed timeframe.

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications and Experience

Academic Qualifications:

Master’s Degree in law, development studies, social sciences, international relations or other fields related to the scope of the assignment.;

Experience:

At least seven (7) years of relevant experience work on governance; freedom of information;
Specific legislative/ policy experience on Freedom of Information is required (academic work; technical assistance, advisory services, analytical work, knowledge products), notably in advising governments and supporting the development of FOI regimes;
Experience in working on similar assignments/products will be an asset.
Experience in working on FOI regimes and legislation in South Asia Pacific region would be an asset.