In 2010, the Philippines automated its electoral process, paving the way to faster, more efficient counts administered by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC). However, COMELEC itself has yet to digitise its broader processes, and still collates and analyses much of the data in a manual fashion. As a result of this, senior leadership has had difficulty in making administrative and policy decisions which are driven by evidence, thus attenuating the effectiveness and responsiveness of public service. 

While data can improve service delivery, it can also unlock the potential for innovative solutions emanating from wider civil society. Currently the academe, think tanks, and civil society organisations have struggled to access up-to-date and comprehensive datasets with which to study and develop responsive policy solutions and innovations.

A critical area wherein accurate, data-driven policies and solutions are needed is women’s political participation. Women leaders are still grossly underrepresented at 20.16%, with many of those who do occupy public office often being part of political dynasties, temporarily keeping the seat safe while their male family partners abide by the term limit regulations. According to the Philippine Commission on Women, it is clear that gender stereotypes, wherein women are considered as weak, emotional and indecisive discourage voters from voting for women candidates.  At the same time, the “multiple burden” experienced by many women, whether they bear most of the responsibility for performing domestic duties while they engage in political, economic, and social activities discourages women themselves from preparing and running for political office. This is compounded by the preference of political parties or groups to finance male candidates who are perceived to have higher probabilities of winning the election.

These issues are expected to worsen given the physical distancing challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, the impact of travel restrictions, reduced physical mobility, and economic depression has meant that many women will struggle to effectively participate.

Data has huge potential to provide more visibility on barriers to women’s political participation; inform the design of responsive reforms or initiatives, as well as provide a compelling narrative for its advocacy and implementation. However, COMELEC has limited capacity to both monitor in real time the rate of voter registration, and has difficulty with analysing data for policy development, specifically gender-disaggregated data. Outside of the automated voting system, data gathering is predominantly manual, with some field offices sending compact disk drives to the central office due to poor internet connectivity, and data analysis done in an ad-hoc manner, often in response to a specific policy question or request for information. As such, COMELEC’s ability to analyse data and produce evidence-based policy, given the overwhelming use of data management in elections, needs strengthening.

Considering these issues, there is an urgent need to strengthen the digitalization capacity of COMELEC to ensure that it can develop data-driven and online solutions that can help promote women’s political participation, whether as leaders or as voters, in the new normal.  

Scope of Work

The Data Scientist will work with the UNDP Pintig Lab team on data analysis and reporting to provide insights for analytics and visualizations for policy research and the COMELEC public dashboard that COMELEC and its stakeholders would identify.

OUTPUT: COMELEC Data Analysis Guidance Document

The Consultant will work on analytics and visualizations for policy research, the COMELEC internal and public dashboards, and related data analysis that COMELEC and its stakeholders would identify. The Consultant will submit documentation reports that would summarize their inputs to data analytics that would include but not be limited to the following:

1. During exploratory data analysis of COMELEC data, provide insights for the design of COMELEC digital platforms and portals.
2. Provide guidance to dashboard design and prototyping and may also develop in-house prototypes using the UNDP Pintig Lab sandbox.
3. Work closely with Pintig Lab consultants and contractors to provide and guide data analytics and visualizations to support policy research and COMELEC decision-making.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

The consultant is expected to deliver the following outputs:

Governance and Accountability

1. The Consultant shall directly report to the UNDP Pintig Lab Project Manager and shall be under the technical guidance of the Impact and Advisory Team Leader. The UNDP Pintig Lab Project Manager, with whom all outputs shall be submitted and through whom all communications shall be coursed or copied, shall regularly communicate with the Consultant and monitor the progress of her/his outputs.

1. The Consultant shall report progress, provide updates, or raise issues to the UNDP on a weekly basis. The Consultant is expected to be accessible to UNDP personnel through mobile and digital collaboration tools on an agreed schedule and when required.

1. Upon the direction of the UNDP focals, the Consultant is expected to coordinate with officials, personnel, and consultants of UNDP, government agencies, CSOs, private sector partners, and other stakeholders of the project.

1. All systems, reports, and video material shall be the sole property of UNDP.

1. The Consultant is expected to provide his/her own laptop for the work requirement. S/he will be provided with desk space and access to office facilities and equipment when deemed necessary by the Project Manager. S/he will also be support by UNDP staff for administrative and logistic requirements, as necessary.

1. The Consultant shall consider at least 10 working days lead time for UNDP to review outputs, give comments, certify approval/acceptance of outputs, etc.

Expected Duration of the Contract

The IC will be hired for 66 working days spread over 9.5 months beginning 15 September 2022 until 30 June 2023, unless revised in a mutually agreed upon timetable between the Consultant and UNDP.

Duty Station

Duty station is Metro Manila (Home-based). All work will be done remotely. Any travel outside of Metro Manila for this consultancy will be shouldered by UNDP.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic , all work and travel of the Individual consultant shall be done within the guidelines and protocols set by the local and national government. Field work, trainings, meetings, and coordination shall be done in compliance with community quarantine policies. As long as the prevailing quarantine policies of the country allow, the Consultant is expected to attend in-person at least 60% of the meetings, workshops, and other events especially milestone project activities.

Scope and Price of the Proposal and Schedule of Payment

1. The Consultant should send the financial proposal based on a lump-sum amount for the delivery of the outputs identified below. The total amount quoted shall be “all inclusive” all costs (professional fees x number of person-days, communications, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Consultant should be factored into the final amount submitted in the proposal.
2. Medical/health insurance must be purchased by the individual at his/her own expense, and upon award of contract, the consultant must be ready to submit proof of insurance valid during contract duration.
3. The contract price will be fixed output-based price. Any deviations from the output and timelines will be agreed upon between the Consultant and the Pintig Lab Project Manager.
4. Payments will be done upon satisfactory completion of the delivery by target due dates. Outputs will be accepted and certified by the Pintig Lab Project Manager, prior to release of payments. UNDP will review and approve outputs within 10 days of confirmed receipt.

Corporate Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN mission, vision, values, and ethical standards
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Promotes UNDP's agenda in meetings

Other Competencies

• Ability to work in close collaboration with a group of national and international experts, to meet strict deadlines and plan the work according to priorities;
• Demonstrates capacity to plan, organize, and execute effectively;
• The initiative, good analytical skills, mature judgment, and ability to work under tight schedule while respecting deadlines achievement, ethics, and honesty;
• Ability to establish effective working relations in a diverse environment
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Builds strong relationships with internal and external clients;
• Demonstrated ability to function in a team environment and to deal with a complex multi-stakeholder environment
• Good ability to use information and communication technologies as tools and resources;

Excellent written communication and presentation/public speaking skills focus on results, ability to interact productively in a teamwork environment.

The Offers received will be evaluated using a combined scoring method - where technical proposal will be weighted 70 points and combined with the price offer which will be weighted 30 points.

The CV will be reviewed using the criteria in the table below. Only offerors who will obtain a

minimum of 70% or 49 out of 70 obtainable points will be shortlisted and eligible for evaluation of financial proposal.

Recommended Presentation of Offer

1. Duly accomplished Offeror's Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the IC that indicates the all-inclusive lumpsum contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided; If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP;
2. Financial Proposal (Annex 2 of Offeror's Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability)- use UNDP Template
3. Personal CV or P11 Personal History Form, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;  
4. Submission of three (3) completed projects/work experience on data analytics and/or business intelligence platforms. A link of sample work can be indicated in the CV.  This is mandatory.

Offerors must upload in one (1) file the documents mentioned above.

Templates for a) P11 Personal History Form and b)  Offeror's Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability and Financial Proposal (Annex 2) are available through the link below. UNDP General Terms and Conditions for Individual Contractors  are also available:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vB63DIM-ogrwNGNyj22jBaQnYP6k7p4f?usp=sharing

Incomplete submission of required documents may result in disqualification.

Please see the deadline of submissions above.

Because of the volume of applications UNDP receives, only shortlisted offerors will be notified.