| Overview : This is the second time we readvertise this consultancy. The deadline has been extended to 28 March 2022. To apply, kindly read the procurement notice, attach the following documents and submit through the following email: offers.jo@Undp.org specifying in the subject line : IC Local Governance Expert - Technical proposal (proposed methodology describing the actions to be taken for successfully completing the assignment)
- Financial proposal in the prescribed format (as per Annex 3 Lump sum proposal based on delivrables)
- CV or P11
No later than March 21th, 2022 1. BACKGROUND Supporting the empowerment of Vulnerable groups is key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and central to advancing human development. According to the Human Development Report 2020, “empowering people to identify and pursue their own paths for a meaningful life, anchored in expanding freedom and increasing agency ”. Jordan is considered a youthful country as youth, under the age of 30, make up 63% of its total population, women make up almost half of the population (49.4%), while PWDs stand at 12%. In spite of vulnerable groups’ weighted representation in Jordan’s population, they encounter diversified socio-economic and political challenges, inequalities and are largely excluded from decision-making and fair political participation and representation. The political landscape in Jordan started to witness unrests in early 2018 due to youth dissatisfaction towards their marginalization and exclusion from decision making, economic hardships resulting from high unemployment rates and the high cost of living. In addition, recent empirical studies depicted youth’s low trust levels in political processes ( 14.6%), which directly influenced their trust levels of relevant political institutions, including: the parliament (22.7%) and political parties (11.7%) . Moreover, only 2.3% of youth are members of associations or non-governmental organizations, which has the potential to undermine the democratic system in the long run . A pre-election report of UNDP and UN Women in 2020 depicted that 64.2 per cent of youth, aged 17-3 years, planned to refrain from voting for not being convinced of previous parliaments’ performance. Despite wide-ranging efforts by the IEC and the extensive support from national and international development partners, the overall voter turnout (29.9 % out of 4.63 million registered voters) was the lowest since the resumption of general and open elections in 1989, with an overall 6.26% decrease from the 36.13 % registered voters in 2016. This is alarming and illustrates the need for a change in the approach of support by international and national development partners. On the representation level, Youth, women and persons with disabilities are often subjected to double discrimination and multiple injustices. Although notable progress has been made in the past 15 years to increase women’s representation in elected decision-making bodies in Jordan, the slope is slow . During the 2020 general election, there were 360 women candidates, but only fifteen women were elected, compared to 20 in 2016. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, women parliamentarians make up only 11.54% of all MPs, while 23.8% are under the age of 45. It is noteworthy to highlight that no woman won any competitive seats. The gendered dimension to the issue of marginalization leaves young women virtually invisible from the public debate beyond symbol or token. Women’s education in Jordan ranks among the highest of all countries in the Middle East North Africa, including Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries , yet these factors have not translated into their equal inclusion in decision-making bodies. Although national legislation affirms the rights of persons with disabilities, negative attitudes still exist in some Jordanian communities, leading to their exclusion and discrimination . Historically, persons with disabilities (PWDs) in Jordan have rarely participated in elections, either as candidates or voters and none of candidates managed to win a seat in Parliament, in spite of the fact that PWDs make up almost 12% of the Jordanian population. As a result, many become apathetic and distrustful in the institutions that exclude them.
The higher political will in Jordan reiterated commitment towards reforming the political and electoral processes to ensure an inclusive, equal, and fair process and hence streamline democratic processes to ensure inclusive public and political processes. The Royal Committee for Modernizing Political Systems has put forward electoral and political legislative and regulatory frameworks through proposing amendments to the Elections and Political Parties Laws. The Committee, as well, recommended necessary Constitutional amendments that expand meaningful participation and representation and create conducive environment to vulnerable groups to be part of the process .
To enhance the political participation of youth and women, the law lowered the age of candidacy to 25 years, stipulating that electoral lists should include at least one young man or woman of no more than 35 years of age amongst the first five candidates. Also, at the level of the general district, one female candidate should be among the first three candidates, and another female candidate should be among the next three candidates. Tackling the challenges of exclusion that vulnerable groups (youth, women and persons with disabilities) encounter is a necessity to be able to maximize their participation and representation opportunities, in light of the newly introduced legislative and structural amendments. Working on their empowerment (agency) and enhancing their civic and political participation (voice) will provide them with an enabling environment for their self- development, and hence can surely pave the way forward for inclusive political and electoral processes that leave no one behind. To this end, UNDP Jordan seeks to hire an International Local Governance Expert to utilise south/south and north-south cross-fertilization and exchange of experiences/best practices and contextualize this knowledge and experience to suit Jordan’s local context to promote more inclusive political processes and more responsive public/political institutions. UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. All individuals including persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with strictest confidence and equally. Technical and financial proposals along with CV & 3 references (with email addresses) should be submitted, and without such will not be considered). (Only Short Listed Candidates will be contacted) UNDP is an employer committed to gender equity and to providing equal opportunities to both males and females | 
