Background:

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo (OSCE) has “take[n] the lead role in matters relating to institution- and democracy-building and human rights” (OSCE Mission in Kosovo Mandate, 1 July 1999). In fulfilment of its mandate, the Mission has supported the strengthening of the legislative, oversight, and representative functions of the Assembly of Kosovo. Past initiatives include working with committees and committee staff to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their legislative review and post-legislative scrutiny. Support to Women’s and Youth Caucus to advance the inclusivity of the Assembly’s work and promote these bodies as forums for cross-party collaboration. The support of the OSCE has progressed over the years from a hands-on approach to a more technical support in response to the Assembly’s evolving needs and requests. This support has nonetheless focused on streamlining the internal rules of the work of the Assembly (Rules of Procedure), cross-party collaboration and communication, strategic planning, support to the office of the Speaker of the Assembly as well as to the Assembly Secretary General. The OSCE has sought to strengthen the oversight role of the Assembly by streamlining the institutional relations and reporting practices between oversight committees and select watchdog institutions such as Ombudsperson’s Office and Auditor-General’s office. Also, it has assisted oversight committees to draft their annual work plans, monitored implementation of these work plans, and took stock of progress. Furthermore, it has helped to facilitate the legislative-executive co-ordination in the preparation and implementation of legislative agenda and legislation. The Mission provided tailored and targeted support, in line with its mandate, to Committees protecting the interest of non-majority communities and human rights (such as Committee on Human Rights, Gender Equality, Missing Persons and Petitions, and Committee on Rights and Interests of Communities and Returns), and advancing gender and youth mainstreaming throughout the work of the Assembly by working with Youth and Women’s Caucuses. Support has also been provided to enhance transparency and help the Assembly raise awareness among the public on key legislative developments.

The Assembly has faced various challenges in its functioning over the years, including early dissolution and elections, periodic boycotting by various parties, and challenges in continuing its work in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, all of which has, in turn, impacted the Mission’s programmatic work as well.

In light of these developments, an external evaluation of the Mission’s support to the Assembly of Kosovo is necessary to provide lessons learned, findings, and recommendations to inform the Mission’s work for the future. The evaluation is to be conducted under the Governance Section (GS), Democratization Department as part of the Activity on External evaluation of the Missions work with the Assembly of Kosovo. The evaluation will guide future programming of the support. It will cover the last three legislatures of the Assembly starting with the Assembly’s 6th mandate, following the early elections of 2017,  to the present. The evaluation is limited in time to allow for more breadth of analysis.  The Mission has supported legislative processes and strengthening the oversight role of Assembly for a long time; however, an external evaluation is considered particularly useful on this occasion to provide an objective and impartial assessment, including recommendations, on the Mission’s engagement so far and recommendations for future programming.

The assignment, among others, will assess; (i) support to and collaboration with the Assembly of Kosovo on legislative processes and strengthening its oversight role; (ii) support provided to the Assembly to enhance transparency and raise public awareness of legislative developments, and; (iii) support provided to the Assembly staff and Committees in delivering support and/or deliberating on legislative initiatives.

Primary users of the report will be the Governance Section, Democratisation Department, and ultimately the OSCE Mission in Kosovo as a whole. The findings and recommendations of the report will be discussed with key external stakeholders, including the Assembly of Kosovo staff and members of other relevant public institutions, international and foreign partners, and civil society organizations.

Objective of Assignment: 

The expert will evaluate the work of the Mission in support of the Assembly of Kosovo from 2017 to the present. The overall objective of the evaluation is to assess the relevance and effectiveness/efficiency of the Mission’s work in support of the role of Assembly to conduct inclusive, open and transparent legislative processes; and to provide lessons learned, findings, and recommendations for the Mission’s future programmatic work.

Duration of Assignment:

The consultant will be engaged for a total of 90 working days.

Tasks and Responsibilities:

The consultant will perform the following tasks:

• To conduct desk review of available documents, summarizing the findings as part of the evaluation inception report. The report has to include a detailed proposed methodology and evaluation matrix;
• To design tools for primary data collection among all relevant stakeholders, beneficiaries and interlocutors, and collect the data;
• To conduct face to face interviews and/or group discussions with relevant senior local and international interlocutors and counterparts across Kosovo, as per agreed evaluation methodology;
• Analyse the collected data and evaluate the performance of Mission’s support to the Assembly of Kosovo as per the evaluation guiding questions;
• In consultation with the Evaluation Manager and the Mission’s reference group, identify results, progress, strengths and weaknesses of Mission’s approach towards the Assembly;
• Formulate recommendations for future programming, future potential support, including potential activities and proposals for changes, if any, to be designed/implemented in the short- to mid-term.
• To prepare a presentation summarising the work done, outcomes and conclusions of the evaluation;
• To prepare the final evaluation report and submit to the OSCE Mission in Kosovo for review.

All tasks are to be completed through maintaining regular and timely communication with the Evaluation Manager and the Mission’s reference group.

Deliverables:

The consultant shall submit the following deliverables:

• Within 5 working days from the contract signature, submit a first draft of the inception report, which includes a detailed proposed methodology and evaluation matrix;
• Within 20 working days from the contract signature, submit a desk review and finalized methodology, with OSCE Mission comments addressed and incorporated;
• Within 50 working days from the contract signature, deliver a first draft of the report including a summary of findings and recommendations as well as a corresponding presentation to the Mission;
• Within 90 working days from the contract signature, submit the final evaluation report, considering feedback given by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo.

Performance Indicators:

The consultant’s work shall be assessed against the following indicators:

• On-time drafting and submission of the inception report, including the evaluation’s proposed methodology and the evaluation matrix;
• Draft evaluation report, including a summary of findings and recommendations submitted to OSCE Mission in Kosovo, within the deadline agreed;
• Final report, incorporating the OSCE Mission in Kosovo feedback, including a summary of findings and recommendations submitted on time and upholding quality standards;
• Timely and qualitative submission of all other deliverables to the Evaluation Manager, should that be the case (deliverables not listed here that might arise during the inception phase);
• Engage in effective and efficient communication with the Evaluation Manager in co-ordination with Missions’ reference group with officials from the
• Assembly and other stakeholders as deemed appropriate.

Necessary Qualifications:

• University degree in law, public administration, political science, international relations, social sciences, international development, or similar;
• A minimum of 7-10 years’ experience working with legislative bodies and/or experience in supporting Assemblies’ legislative processes and their oversight role;
• Proven expertise in programme/project evaluation or impact assessments,
• Familiarity with mainstreaming of gender, youth, and non-majority communities’ concerns in the context of good governance;
• Strong analytical skills;
• Outstanding writing and reporting skills;
• Experience designing research/evaluation tools (e.g., interview and focus group discussion questionnaires);
• Experience conducting interviews, focus group discussions, and surveys for primary data collection;
• Capacity to co-ordinate with a multitude of interlocutors to ensure comprehensive data collection;
• Full professional fluency including excellent drafting and analytical skills in English language.
• Familiarity with OSCE Mission’s engagement in the Kosovo political context is desirable.
• Experience working in or with international organizations with multicultural, multilingual environments is a strong asset.

Remuneration Package:

In order to apply for this position, you must complete the OSCE’s online application form, found under https://vacancies.osce.org/. Applicants are encouraged to use the online recruitment and only fully completed OSCE applications will be accepted. However, if you have technical difficulties with the system, you may use the offline application form found at Offline application form | OSCE Employment and forward the completed form quoting the vacancy number by e-mail to: consultancy.omik@osce.org. In line with your qualifications please indicate a preference for one or more fields of expertise listed above (while using the online application the field of expertise preference can be indicated in the cover letter part). Kindly note that applications received after the deadline, submitted in different formats than the OSCE Application Form or other languages than the English language would not be considered. 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.

Remuneration will be based on the selected consultant’s/expert’s qualifications, experience, the tasks and deliverables for this position and in accordance with the OSCE established rates.