Consultancy

Consultancy: Parliamentary standard-setting and knowledge generation

Description

The IPU Strategy for 2017-2021 was adopted at the 135th IPU Assembly in October 2016. The strategy sets out a series of objectives for the organization. The first strategic objective is to “Build strong, democratic parliaments”, which has two components: “standard-setting and knowledge generation” and “building institutional capacity”

IPU is seeking to recruit a consultant for 8 months to join the team working on standard-setting and knowledge generation.

The consultant will contribute to all of IPU’s work in this area, and will be assigned specific responsibility for leading work on one or more projects.

Under this strategic objective, a number of projects are underway or due to begin in 2017. They include:

  • Publication, promotion and follow-up of the second Global Parliamentary Report, provisionally titled Parliament’s power to hold government to account: Realities and perspectives on oversight
  • Preparation of the next edition of the World e-Parliament Report and Conference (consultancy ends in December 2017, Conference takes place in 2018. How does that work in terms of follow-up? We would like to advance as much as possible on the e parliament report and conference in 2017 so as to limit work and expenditure on this in 2018 as we do not have 100% security of funds yet.)
  • Development of a set of indicators of parliamentary performance, including with reference to targets 16.6 and 16.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals
  • Celebration of the International Day of Democracy, which in 2017 will fall on the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of IPU’s Universal Declaration on Democracy
  • Relaunch of the PARLINE database on national parliaments
  • Publication of Issues Briefs on topical issues of parliamentary practice
  • Organization of joint activities with the Association of Secretaries General of Parliament and other partners

Tasks

The consultant will support the IPU in implementing the projects outlined above.

In particular, the consultant will work on:

  • Finalising the production of the second Global Parliamentary Report on strengthening parliamentary oversight and supporting parliamentary follow-up and action on the recommendations
  • Assist in content production for the celebration of the International Day of Democracy and the 20th anniversary of the universal declaration on democracy
  • Ensuring that the development of indicators for democratic parliaments is informed by lessons learned in parliaments and other relevant sectors, and makes a strong connection with the Sustainable Development Goals
  • Helping the work on e-parliament to better take into account how parliaments are changing in the digital era, notably in terms of openness and accountability, but also in terms of the creation of new parliamentary processes or the adaptation of existing ones

In carrying out this work, activities shall include:

  • Supporting the development and production of publications
  • Organizing conferences and expert consultations
  • Contributing to the monitoring and evaluation of projects, the identification of lessons learned and development of new tools and working methods
  • Reporting on project activities to IPU Members, partners and donors
  • Gathering information and getting feedback from national parliaments
  • Contributing to design of new activities in the area of standard setting and knowledge generation
  • Contributing to gender-mainstreaming in all activities
  • Contributing to online communications and visibility of this work

Work will involve regular interaction with:

  • National parliaments, including parliamentarians, Secretaries General and parliamentary staff
  • Parliamentary experts, consultants, interns
  • Partner organizations
  • IPU’s Division of Programmes
  • IPU’s communications team

Deliverables

The consultant will support the delivery of IPU’s 2017 workplan related to standard-setting and knowledge generation under the strategic objective “Build strong, democratic parliaments”. In particular, the consultant will contribute to the following deliverables :

  • Publication and follow up on the second Global Parliamentary Report
  • Knowledge products and tools for IDD and UDD
  • Draft of indicators for democratic parliaments
  • Preparation of the 2018 World e-Parliament Report and Conference (development of concept; research tools, methodology etc)

Duration

The consultancy is for 8 months, from May to December 2017.

Location

The consultancy will be based at the IPU headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The work is likely to involve occasional travel, the costs of which will be covered by the IPU.

Requirements

Candidates for the consultancy must be able to demonstrate:

  • 2-3 years’ professional experience, at increasing levels of responsibility
  • Personal commitment to the core values of parliament and democracy.
  • First-hand experience of working with parliaments is highly desirable
  • Experience in managing projects in an international environment
  • Commitment to achieving results and outcomes
  • Strong research skills
  • Excellent inter-personal skills, including in an international environment
  • Proficiency in English or French, and working-level knowledge of the other. Other languages are highly desirable, particularly Spanish or Arabic.
  • Experience with online communications tools, including social media
  • Experience with mainstreaming gender and a human rights approach
  • Highly organized and able to multi-task. Able to work autonomously and as part of teams that span different countries and organizations
  • Excellent time management and attention to detail