International consultant assessing the voter education needs in Albania and their inclusion into curricula.
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Background:
The OSCE Permanent Council Decision No. 588 from 2003 specifically mandates the OSCE Presence in Albania (hereinafter “the Presence”) to work in the area of parliamentary capacity-building. Based on previous support the Presence has provided to the Albanian Parliament, Switzerland is committed to entrust the Presence with extra-budgetary contribution for a four-year long project “Support to Parliament and Civic Education in Albania”. The general areas of intervention for the four-year project are: • Outcome 1: Parliament administration fulfils its functions in an efficient and effective way. • Outcome 2: Parliament improves its legislative, oversight and representation functions by better representing their constituents and holding the executive branch accountable. • Outcome 3: Citizens claim their space in democratic developments of the country, are prepared in holding MPs accountable, and are active in influencing reforms.
Support to Albanian Parliament
With respect to the direct support to the Parliament, the inception phase will be used to further elaborate on the future work in some areas that refer to the outcomes one and two and are directly based on previous interventions and respective groundwork done by the Presence. Support to Civic Education
The participation of citizens in processes of a country’s development is very important for democracy. Besides this, the task of citizens is to nurture institutions and practices that are compatible with local conditions and conducive to democratic aspirations. Civic education is the first step toward citizens becoming more aware of their rights and responsibilities.
The international consultant will have to have extensive knowledge of and experience with different concepts of voter education and their application internationally. The consultant will particularly focus on the inclusion of voter education in curricula.
The assessment report has to include: a) information on the status quo in Albania as related to voter education and previous work done in this regard by different actors, including the OSCE Presence and CoE, b) best international practices relevant in the Albanian context, c) recommendations on the way forward also addressing the feasibility of institutionalized and curricula approaches, d) a proposed plan of concrete interventions and activities for the four year project phase that will start in September 2018.
The assessment of the consultant will be based on: desk research, existing assessments provided by the Presence, data from publicly available sources, international best practices, the lead expert’s own professional experience, and interviews the consultant will conduct with key stakeholders in Albania during one in-country visit in Albania (maximum of 5 overnights).
The international consultant is expected to:
• Provide an outline of the work to be carried out including a methodology, list of literature to be consulted and list of suggested interviews. (maximum 5 pages, Times New Roman, 12 pt.,1 space). This inception report is to be delivered to the project manager by 1 April.
• After submission of the inception report have a joint meeting (in person or via Skype) with the project manager and the Presence staff in charge of the parliamentary support programme as well as with the lead expert drafting the overall project plan for the 4-year period, as the assessment for on the status quo of voter education and feasibility of institutionalised and curricula approaches in Albania will feed into the overall project planning for the four year period conducted by the lead expert.
• Provide a draft of the full assessment report (maximum 40 pages, Times New Roman, 12 pt.,1 space) making use of a own desk research, studies and data publicly available, making use of international best practices and input of translated material provided by the national consultant, as well as interviews conducted by the international consultant with key stakeholders. This draft of the Assessment report is due to the project manager by 25 April.
• Provide the full assessment report (maximum 50 pages, Times New Roman, 12 pt.,1 space) to the project manager by 30 April, addressing comments received by 28 April from the project manager
• Keep regular contact with the project team via e-mail for exchange of information and questions. Once a week, a Skype conference call will be organised between the project team and the international consultant.
• For work to be conducted in Tirana, including stakeholder interviews, the international expert is expected to travel to Tirana once for up to a total of 5 overnights.
Expected Output/Deliverable:
1 Outline of the assessment report, as specified in the Tasks and Responsibilities in an inception report by 1 April.
2 Draft of the full assessment report, as specified in the Tasks and Responsibilities, by 25 April.
3 Full assessment report, as specified in the Tasks and Responsibilities, by 30 April.
Necessary Qualifications:
• Have an advanced degree in law, political science, public administration or social science.
• Minimum 6 years of professional experience with electoral legislation or electoral administration,
• Preferably already having been involved with designing or assessing complex voter education programmes including curricula development.
• Computer literate.
• Fluency in English.
The fee will be paid after delivery of each document in the following manner:
1. After the inception report with outline of the work during the inception phase including methodology. 500 Euros.
2. After receipt of the final assessment study with recommendations on the way forward for the four year project and concrete and detailed interventions and activities for the four years ahead. 3.000 Euros
All applications are due by 10 March 2018. If you wish to apply for this position, please use the OSCE's on line application link found under link https://jobs.osce.org/.
The OSCE retains the discretion to re-advertise the vacancy, to cancel the recruitment, to offer a contract with modified Terms of Reference or for a different duration. The OSCE is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious, ethnic and social backgrounds to apply to become a part of the organization.
Please be aware that the OSCE does not request payment at any stage of the application and review process.