National Consultant (Legal) at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) helps developing countries attract and use aid effectively. In all our activities, we encourage the protection of human rights, capacity development and the empowerment of women.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: National Consultant (Legal): To Conduct Scoping of Nigeria’s Ethics Framework

Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Additional Category: Democratic Governance
Type of Contract: Individual Contract
Post Level: National Consultant
Starting Date: (date when the selected candidate is expected to start) 05-Oct-2015
Duration of Initial Contract: 30 working days (over a period of 2 months)
Expected Duration of Assignment: 30 working days (over a period of 2 months)

Background
As Africa’s most populous country and as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, Nigeria is not immune to corruption challenges. Over the past decades, Nigeria has developed an impressive array of legal frameworks and set-up numerous institutions to combat corruption more effectively. Nevertheless, Nigeria continues to struggle with the impact of corruption on the day-to-day lives of its citizens.

Corruption undermines the Government’s ability to provide public services, rule of law and public security. Corruption directly affects the well-being of the country’s population and its ability to rise out of poverty. With support from the European Union, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is implementing a project on “Support to Anti-Corruption in Nigeria” (FED/2012/306-220)(NGAX60) involving fourteen (14) beneficiary Agencies.

One of the Agencies supported by the project is the Technical Unit on Governance and Anti-corruption Reforms (TUGAR), which has the mandate of being the think-tank of Nigeria’s official anti-corruption community. TUGAR is a research, monitoring and evaluation entity. It was set up in 2006 to meet the critical need for a rigorous approach to policy making and governance, informed by systematic empirical data collection and analysis. TUGAR has the mandate to analyze policies, provide advice and make country-specific diagnostics on corruption and related governance issues.

The main objective of the assignment is to provide technical assistance to TUGAR to conduct a scoping survey and gap analysis of the ethics framework in Nigeria.

The survey aims to improve the content of the ethics frameworks in Nigeria and enhance the process of their implementation. Specifically, the project aims to:

• Identify and analyze existing ethics frameworks in the Nigerian public sector, as well as the enabling mechanisms;
• Identify service wide ethical codes and sector-specific ethical codes;
• Identify and analyze existing private sector ethics frameworks: Regulatory Codes, Voluntary Codes and Professional Ethics Codes;
• Identify the ethics codes in the informal sector;
• For each category, the survey will identify and analyze the existing frameworks as well as the implementation mechanisms and structures; and
• Identify gaps, make appropriate recommendations and propose remediation plans.

The result of the survey will be used as a basis for training the management and personnel of Anti-Corruption Agencies on preventing and prosecuting corruption in accordance with global good practices. The ethics frameworks will therefore be integrated into the corruption prevention and anti-corruption enforcement mechanisms of the nation.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the direct supervision of the Deputy Project Coordinator in consultation TUGAR, the consultant shall in collaboration with the lead consultant perform the following:

• Together with other consultants, develop methodology and workplan in line with TUGAR’s requirements and agreed by UNODC; and
• Conduct research scoping survey and gap analysis of the ethics framework in Nigeria by;

Carry out Preliminary Desk Review or Archival Work to:

• Provide overall legal advisory services to the ethics scoping research activity;
• Identify and analyze the legal and policy instruments setting up the various professional bodies and entities to be scoped;
• Provide conceptual clarifications between Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct and disaggregate the entities which have either or both;
• Distinguish between those professional bodies that have Codes of Ethics and/or Codes of Conduct from those that do not have them;
• Produce an annotated selection of relevant professional bodies and associated regulatory institutions in Nigeria;
• Distinguish between registered and unregistered professional bodies;
• Distinguish between trade unions and professional bodies;
• Identify Codes of Ethics and Codes of Conduct with high levels of specific and explicit anti-corruption components or contents;
• Produce an annotated selection of anti-corruption organizations and institutions in Nigeria (public sector, private sector, NGO); and
• Commence the compilation of a data bank on the Codes of Ethics and Codes of Conduct in existence in Nigeria plus the establishment Acts of the regulatory bodies associated with them.

Field Work:

• Confirm existing ethics frameworks (Codes of Ethics and Codes of Conduct)in the public sector (service wide code and sector specific codes) and the enabling institutional mechanisms;
• Identify existing private sector ethics frameworks (Regulatory Codes, Voluntary Codes and Professional Ethics);
• Identify and classify existing ethics codes and practice standards in the informal sector , as well as the compliance or enforcement mechanisms;
• Generate data and analytical reports benchmarked against the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), the AU Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC), the ECOWAS Protocol on Corruption, other relevant international best practices and Nigeria’s anti-corruption domestic laws and policies.

Further Data Gathering and Data Analysis
With the aid of questionnaires and other survey instruments:

• Identify within each Code of Professional Ethics scanned-the code of fundamental principles; the conceptual framework for applying those principles in certain situations; the threats and safeguards; the part that applies to all members or only to members in practice or to members in business;
• Indicate the sectors or sub-sectors in which there are Codes of Professional Ethics as well as peculiar Codes of Conduct and identify both the advisory and enforcement institutional mechanisms to ensure compliance;
• With respect to the codes of professional ethics, benchmark the ethical principles against both international standards of ethical conduct and domestic standards of professional conduct; and
• With regard to the Codes of Conduct, benchmark the institutional mechanisms and procedures for achieving compliance against international best practices with a view to mapping the gaps.

Based on the Field Work:

• Evaluate the extent to which the contents of the codes of professional ethics are known, first to the members of the profession, and then to the members of the wider public;
• Also evaluate, with regards to the Codes of Conduct, the extent to which the role and powers of the institutional mechanisms for compliance and enforcement and the procedures for complaints by aggrieved members of the public are known to operators in the sector as well as the general public;
• Identify the existence of a body of persons having a consultative or advisory role, and which is available to a professional occupying a position of trust, to provide guidance in the case of an ethical dilemma;
• Identify and evaluate the nature of ethical training given to professionals in a specific sector or sub-sector, indicating whether or not they have training manuals, and specifying the sources of funds for the training;
• Provide legal opinion on strategies to strengthen the content and implementation of the various Codes;
• Write a final report of all activities undertaken during the consultancy with recommendations.

Payments will be made only upon satisfactory completion of output and acceptance of report of each deliverable.

All the outputs should meet the satisfaction of UNODC, as assessed by the Project Coordinator - Support to Anti-corruption in Nigeria project in consultation with the Head, TUGAR, according to the following indicators:

• Adherence to the methodology and workplan agreed with TUGAR and UNODC;
• Quality of the documents produced; and
• Timeliness of delivery.

Individual consultants will be evaluated using the Cumulative Analysis methodology. When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation;
• Technical Criteria weight: 70%;
• Financial Criteria weight: 30%.

Only candidates obtaining 70 percent in the technical evaluation will be requested to submit a financial bid.

Competencies:

• Ability to work under pressure;
• Ability to work in a multicultural setting;
• Proven strong research, analytic and drafting skills;
• A working knowledge of the global anti-corruption environment including legal frameworks and policies.

Required Skills and Experience
Education:

• Advanced University Degree in Law.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of experience in research and analytical work including a robust knowledge of the anti-corruption and related governance environment in Nigeria;
• Experience and knowledge in working with global anti-corruption frameworks such as The African Union Convention in Preventing and Combatting Corruption, the ECOWAS Protocol against corruption and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC);
• Experience in working with anti-corruption agencies and professional bodies in similar research and analytical work including a vast knowledge of their enabling laws and frameworks; and
• Specific experience and knowledge about governance issues and experience working with UN agencies will be an advantage.

Language:

• English.

Application Closing Date
2nd October, 2015.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online