Achiziții de bunuri și contractări de servicii

Technical advisory services in inclusive affordable and social housing, and in the inclusion of forcibly displaced and stateless persons^[1] in national housing and social-care systems, provided by CDA with the financial support of UNHCR for the benefit of MLSP.

1. Project Context and Scope

The Republic of Moldova faces a long-standing housing affordability challenge that has moved sharply up the national agenda in 2026. On 1 April 2026, the cash-compensation pillar of the Prima Casă programme was suspended after its annual budget was exhausted within a single quarter, exposing a housing market dependent on public subsidy and mortgage-backed demand rather than on a permanent supply of affordable homes. Apartment transactions in Chișinău subsequently fell by roughly half year on year. Moldova’s current legislative toolkit, essentially social housing, service housing and Prima Casă, remains too narrow and is not operating at the scale required: the public housing stock is limited, service housing is underdeveloped as a labor-mobility instrument, local delivery capacity is constrained, and credit-based subsidies have introduced fiscal vulnerabilities and inadvertently skewed broader real estate market dynamics. Moldova now needs to broaden its affordable-housing instruments, with public-private partnerships and other private-sector-enabled and not-for-profit models as the missing element.

Housing affordability is closely tied to the country’s demographic and labor outlook. Moldova is experiencing one of the fastest rates of population decline in the world, with a majority of recent emigrants of working age, and the Government has estimated the broader labor shortfall at around 300,000 workers. When young people cannot afford to rent or buy independently, they postpone forming families or leave the country, further shrinking the labor force and the tax base while social and ageing-related costs rise. Affordable housing is one of the few instruments able to help retain young people and other residents, support women’s participation in the labor market, keep essential workers in peripheral areas, and stimulate construction and local jobs, objectives that are also central to Moldova’s convergence path under the EU Growth Plan and to the European Union’s first Affordable Housing Plan.

Forcibly displaced persons are among the groups most exposed to this affordability pressure and offer a preview of the challenges increasingly facing young Moldovan families. Among Ukrainian TP holder households, 64.5% nationwide and 78% in Chișinău spend more than 30% of income on housing and utilities, and 40.4% nationwide and 67% in the capital spend more than half.^[2] At the same time, support has contracted rapidly: UNHCR cash assistance has been significantly reduced, WFP host-family support ended in February 2026, and the Refugee Accommodation Centre (RAC) network has been consolidating since late 2023 from 56 centers to roughly 15 at the moment, with further reductions ongoing. Beneficiaries of temporary protection remain largely locked out of social assistance, disability allowances, and parts of the national social protection system, even though many support themselves through work.

Years of consolidation of the RAC network have reduced the number of centers but concentrated vulnerability in those that remain. Residents who could achieve self-reliance with limited support have largely done so, while those who remain are increasingly persons with the lowest self-reliance capacity, including a high proportion of women, children, older persons and persons with disabilities. Several of the remaining centers are specialized institutions under MLSP that, in practice, function as de facto residential care for residents who require daily assistance with mobility, hygiene, medication, feeding or supervision. Yet the stay of beneficiaries of temporary protection in these facilities remains regulated under the temporary-protection framework, including Government Decision No. 21/2023 and MLSP Order No. 209 of 1 September 2025 on the management of these facilities, rather than through access to the national social-care system, because under current national legislation beneficiaries of temporary protection cannot access national residential-care services on equal terms with Moldovan citizens. Short-term rental assistance and labor-market activation cannot address the needs of this group. Instead, a dual-track social-care pathway is required, combining access to residential care where needed with deinstitutionalization options where appropriate.

Against this background, UNHCR is funding, through its implementing partner the Law Center for Advocates (CDA), a Housing Consultant to be seconded to MLSP. The consultancy responds to a time-sensitive policy window. As MLSP develops a new Affordable Housing Policy for Young Families and considers a broader set of housing instruments, there is a unique opportunity to ensure that forcibly displaced and stateless persons are included by design — recognized explicitly as an eligible beneficiary group in current and future instruments — before exclusion becomes hard-coded into the framework. In parallel, the consultancy will support MLSP in developing durable solutions for the highly vulnerable residual RAC caseload, including the inclusion of beneficiaries of temporary protection in national residential-care and social-protection services and in community-based alternatives to institutional care. The position is established specifically to advance this inclusion agenda, which lies at the core of UNHCR’s mandate, and is therefore designed as a joint undertaking of MLSP, CDA and UNHCR.

2. Objective of the Consultancy

Overall objective: To strengthen the Republic of Moldova’s affordable housing and social-care policies, and to support MLSP in operationalizing pathways that systematically include forcibly displaced persons, on conditions equivalent to those of Moldovan citizens, in current and future national housing and social-care solutions.

Specific objective 1 — Inclusive affordable and social housing policy: To support MLSP in developing and articulating affordable and social housing policy, including the new Affordable Housing Policy for Young Families, and in broadening Moldova’s affordable-housing instruments, while ensuring that forcibly displaced and stateless persons are explicitly recognized as an eligible beneficiary or target group in the design of all such instruments.

Specific objective 2 — Inclusion of highly vulnerable displaced persons in residential care and social protection: To support MLSP in developing durable, deinstitutionalized and rights-based solutions for the highly vulnerable residual caseload in Refugee Accommodation Centers, including the inclusion of beneficiaries of temporary protection in national residential care, home care, personal assistance, mobile-team services, relevant state social allowances, etc., on conditions equivalent to those available to Moldovan citizens.

3. Secondment, Organizational Placement and Coordination Arrangements

The consultant will be contractually engaged and remunerated by CDA, with funding provided by UNHCR, and will be seconded to and embedded within MLSP (in the directorate responsible for housing and social-protection policy) to provide dedicated technical expertise.

4. Tasks and Responsibilities

Under the present Terms of Reference, the consultant shall:

1. support the MLSP in the design and articulation of the new Affordable Housing Policy for Young Families, including its objectives, eligibility criteria, instruments, and delivery and governance mechanisms;
2. analyze Moldova’s housing affordability challenges and its existing legislative and programmatic toolkit, including social housing, service housing, the Prima Casă programme, etc., drawing on available assessments and evidence;
3. advise on broadening Moldova’s affordable-housing instruments beyond the current toolkit, including public-private partnerships, land-for-units arrangements, social rental agencies, revolving housing funds, and other private-sector-enabled and not-for-profit models;
4. support the formal recognition of forcibly displaced and stateless persons as eligible beneficiaries or target groups in the design of all current and future affordable and social housing instruments, so that wherever Moldovan citizens are eligible to apply for or benefit from a publicly enabled housing instrument, eligible forcibly displaced and stateless persons may do so on equivalent terms, and ensure that this inclusion is reflected, in clear and unambiguous language, in the relevant policy, legal, regulatory and administrative texts;
5. conduct legal, regulatory and administrative analysis of eligibility conditions and access barriers affecting beneficiaries of temporary protection and other forcibly displaced and stateless persons, and advise on the policy, legal, regulatory, administrative and digital changes required to operationalize inclusive housing instruments;
6. design inclusion safeguards that enable forcibly displaced and stateless persons to access housing schemes alongside Moldovan citizens, without creating parallel housing structures or fueling community tension;
7. support the identification and preparation of pilot-ready options, including in coordination with municipalities, for example through the Cities of Solidarity initiative and Local Action Plans, and with relevant national authorities;
8. provide technical input to inter-ministerial coordination on housing, including the Housing Technical Working Group, and support the MLSP’s engagement with other ministries, municipalities, international financial institutions and private-sector actors;
9. analyze the situation of the highly vulnerable residual caseload remaining in Refugee Accommodation Centers (RACs) following consolidation, including residents in MLSP-owned specialized institutions that function in practice as residential care;
10. support the MLSP in developing a time-bound transition pathway from temporary, humanitarian-funded accommodation to inclusion in the national social-protection and social-care system, distinguishing residents who require residential care, those who require home care or personal assistance, and those who could exit with housing and livelihood support;
11. analyze the legal, regulatory and procedural conditions governing access to specialized residential care, home care, personal assistance, mobile-team services, disability- and old-age-related state social allowances, and other relevant elements of the social-protection system, and recommend the changes required to enable beneficiaries of temporary protection and other eligible forcibly displaced and stateless persons to access these services and benefits on conditions equivalent to those available to Moldovan citizens;
12. ensure that access is delivered through the national system rather than a parallel, refugee-only structure, and prioritize community-based and deinstitutionalized solutions wherever possible, so that inclusion does not expand institutionalization;
13. support the design of individual case-review, admission, referral, assessment and case-management procedures linking RACs to national care services, in coordination with the MLSP, the National Agency for Social Assistance (ATAS), local authorities, RAC management, UNHCR and partners;
14. advise on quality, staffing, safeguarding and protection-sensitive management standards for accommodation centers, including support to the review of regulations and procedures governing center management, consolidation and closure, so that transitions are planned and implemented in a protection-sensitive manner, with appropriate vulnerability assessment, communication with residents, cash-for-rent support where applicable, and referrals to NEA and other relevant services as needed;
15. contribute to the costing and fiscal-transition analysis required to absorb the eligible caseload into national budgets as humanitarian funding declines, in coordination with relevant partners;
16. develop and maintain a consolidated work plan, agreed jointly with the MLSP, the CDA and UNHCR, including a coordination calendar;
17. maintain regular and direct technical coordination with UNHCR, including bi-weekly working meetings, joint review of progress and deliverables, and the timely sharing of relevant analysis and outputs;
18. build and maintain constructive working relationships with MLSP directorates, other ministries and state agencies, municipalities, international financial institutions, the European Union Delegation, and civil-society and private-sector partners;
19. prepare technical reports, briefing notes, policy papers and presentations for the MLSP, and UNHCR, as required; and
20. perform other housing- and inclusion-related technical tasks within the scope of these Terms of Reference, as agreed jointly by the MLSP, the CDA and UNHCR.

5. Deliverables and Performance Indicators

Performance will be evaluated based on: the quality, relevance and timeliness of the technical support and deliverables provided; the formulation of clear technical provisions to include forcibly displaced and stateless persons as an eligible or target group within the draft policy, legal and programmatic documents developed or revised with the consultant’s support; demonstrable progress on a transition pathway and on options for the inclusion of beneficiaries of temporary protection in national residential-care and social-protection services; the effectiveness of coordination and partnership with the MLSP, the CDA and UNHCR, including regular engagement with UNHCR; and the timely submission of activity reports.

Deliverables shall include: an inception work plan agreed jointly with the MLSP, the CDA and UNHCR; technical contributions to the new Affordable Housing Policy for Young Families and related housing-instrument design, with inclusion provisions for forcibly displaced and stateless persons; legal, regulatory and administrative recommendations enabling their eligibility and inclusion in housing instruments; a time-bound transition pathway for the highly vulnerable residual RAC caseload, with options for inclusion in national residential care and community-based alternatives; recommendations for resolving systemic and administrative barriers (e.g., digitalization gaps, documentation prerequisites) and adapting eligibility criteria to ensure displacement status does not inadvertently disqualify individuals, without distorting existing national programs; technical reports, briefing notes and presentations as required; monthly activity reports signed by the consultant and validated by the designated supervisors, accompanied by and shared with UNHCR; and a comprehensive final recommendations report upon completion of the consultancy.

6. Place of Work and Duration of Consultancy

The consultant will be based at MLSP premises in Chișinău and will also participate in regular coordination meetings at UNHCR premises in Chișinău. Limited remote work may be possible subject to prior approval by CDA and coordination with MLSP and UNHCR. The consultant may be required to travel within the Republic of Moldova, including to municipalities and accommodation or care facilities, as relevant to the assignment.

The consultancy is envisaged for an initial period of 4 months, renewable subject to satisfactory performance, the continued relevance of the assignment and the availability of funding.

7. Education, Experience and Skills Required

Education. Advanced university degree (Master’s level) in architecture, urban or spatial planning, housing studies, civil engineering, or a closely related built-environment discipline. A first-level university degree (Bachelor’s) in one of these disciplines, combined with an additional two years of relevant housing-sector experience, may be accepted in lieu of an advanced degree.

This position requires specialized housing and built-environment expertise that complements the social-protection and social-care expertise already resident within MLSP. Accordingly, housing-sector qualifications are treated as essential. A degree in an unrelated field, without demonstrated professional specialization in housing and the built environment, will not meet this requirement.

Experience — essential:

• at least five years of professional experience in housing policy and/or the affordable and social housing sector;
• demonstrated, hands-on experience contributing to the development of housing policies, programmes, assessments or roadmaps, ideally including in the Republic of Moldova or a comparable context;
• demonstrated experience advising or working with government authorities on housing or the built environment;
• familiarity with a range of affordable-housing instruments, such as social housing, service housing, public-private partnerships, social rental agencies, land-for-units arrangements and revolving housing funds;
• sound knowledge of the Moldovan housing sector and policy landscape, or a demonstrated ability to acquire it rapidly;
• demonstrated experience working on the inclusion of vulnerable populations, and an understanding of the situation of forcibly displaced persons.

Experience — assets:

• knowledge of social-protection, residential-care and deinstitutionalization systems (home care, personal assistance, mobile teams, and old-age and disability social allowances);
• experience in interagency, humanitarian or humanitarian-development coordination, including within a Refugee Response Plan or a similar framework;
• experience working with UN agencies, international financial institutions, the European Union or international NGOs;
• proficiency in preparing policy and analytical documents.

Candidates may be required to provide evidence of relevant housing-sector work, such as prior housing policies, assessments, roadmaps, publications or built projects, and/or to demonstrate this knowledge through a written test and interview process.

Languages. Fluency in Romanian is mandatory; a good command of English is required; working knowledge of Russian is considered a strong asset.

8. Competencies

Values: Commitment to inclusion, equality and non-discrimination, including for forcibly displaced and stateless persons; integrity and impartiality; professionalism and a results orientation.

Core Competencies: Specialized technical expertise in housing and the built environment; strong policy, negotiation, analytical and drafting skills; the ability to develop practical, investable and legally actionable options; stakeholder management, coordination and partnership-building across multiple institutions; and the ability to work effectively within a government institution while maintaining the inclusion focus of the assignment and constructive working relationships with all partners, including UNHCR.

9. DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS

Interested individual consultants must submit the Technical and Financial offer in 2 separate emails to law-center@cda.md by September 18^th, COB.

• Technical offer: CV, including information about past experience in similar assignments and contact details for at least 2 referees.
• Financial offer including net monthly cost for 169 h per month

^[1] Definition for the purpose of these Terms of Reference: “Forcibly displaced and stateless persons” collectively refers to individuals who are seeking or have received international protection in the Republic of Moldova, as well as stateless persons. This includes, inter alia, asylum-seekers, persons granted refugee status or humanitarian protection, beneficiaries of temporary protection, and stateless persons. Where these Terms of Reference refer specifically to “beneficiaries of temporary protection”, the reference is to that particular sub-group within this population.

^[2] HECA 2026 (which applies the same income-and-expenditure methodology as the national Household Budget Survey) and Chișinău Community Profile 2025 survey (n ≈ 530 households).