Background

The Law and Order Trust Fund (LOTFA) ‘Akheri’ (‘final’ in Dari) coincides with the beginning of a “decade of transformation” in Afghanistan. While significant security challenges remain, the Afghan National Police and Afghan National Army took over full responsibility for security from the international coalition forces in 2014. The security transition has led to an increased focus by international partners on development. At the London Conference in December 2014, the new Government announced reform plans in seven critical areas: security and political stability; tackling corruption; building better governance; bolstering private sector confidence; creating jobs; ensuring citizen’s development; and human rights.

The central goal of LOTFA Akheri is to support the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIROA) in ‘achieving a paid, professional Afghan National Police (ANP) that delivers essential services to the Afghan people for improved public trust, safety and security’.

To achieve the project goal, LOTFA is structured into four pillars, as follows:

• Pillar 1: Payroll Transition;
• Pillar 2: MOIA Institutional Development;
• Pillar 3: Police and Correction Officers Professionalization;
• Pillar 4: Improved Police Service Delivery.

Pillar 2 aims to ensure that systems and practices for accountable and efficient civilian management and oversight of the ANP and CPD are improved.

In line with the priorities of the new Government, the project will support a closer alignment between development and security objectives, in particular by bringing civilian procurement, human resource management and financial transparency and accountability into normal MOIA operating procedures, as well through strengthening democratic governance and human rights. To this end, the project will support policymaking, planning and budgeting capacities in addition to MOIA operations in such areas as procurement, ICT, facilities management, HR, financial management and logistics. This Pillar will also support efforts aimed at strengthening internal accountability mechanisms and internal control functions in the Government.

Pillar 2 will address priority challenges in these areas through the following three outputs:

• Output 1: MOIA policymaking, planning, budgeting and monitoring and evaluation is strengthened to enable implementation of the ten-year vision;
• Output 2: MOIA Operational Police Support Services meet benchmarks for the transition of implementation responsibilities;
• Output 3: Anti-corruption and internal control and accountability measures (systems and enforcement mechanisms) are established and functional.

LOTFA Akheri intends to strengthen civilian management by helping to make it more accountable and efficient including improving oversight through developing the Ministry’s public administration capacity, such as in MOIA financial management, budget execution, internal control and accountability. LOTFA will support the MOIA capacity to develop annual work plans, which should be linked to a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework, underpinning the National Police Plan and annual budget planning.

Capacity development is central to UNDPs work and is at the core of its mandate. UNDP defines capacity development as the process through which individuals, organizations and societies obtain, strengthen and maintain the capabilities to set and achieve their own development objectives over time. It is the ‘how’ of making development work better. Thus, capacity development is integral to UNDPs approach, and underlying its support to national institutions. UNDP supports capacity development particularly at the institutional level because institutions are at the heart of human development, and when they are able to perform better, sustain that performance over time, and manage ‘shocks' to the system, they can contribute more meaningfully to the achievement of national human development goals.

Objective

The objective of the consultancy is to improve the functions and performance of the Office of Inspector General of the Ministry of Interior to fulfil its objectives under Goal 8 of the National Police Plan, as part of the implementation of the Joint International Community Action Plan.

The specific objectives are:

• Prepare a Capacity Development Strategic Plan for the Office of the Inspector General, including all staff, with respect to capacities of people, the organizational framework and its operations and systems.

Identify and assess the capacity and actual performance of the Office of the IG of the MoIA, with respect to the following standard IG tasks:

• Investigate or audit fraud, waste and abuse after they occur;
• Identify vulnerabilities and recommend program or procedural changes to strengthen controls or mitigate risk;
• Investigate allegations of mismanagement, including conduct program inspections, evaluations and track recommendations and findings and compliance of the required parties thereto;
• Conduct fact-finding to keep the ministry leadership and oversight bodies of the Parliament informed of problems and deficiencies;
• Coordinate with ministry management for self-assessment and risk mitigation;
• Report suspected crimes when identified in the course of normal investigative duties, reporting crimes directly to the judicial authorities without prior clearance by the Ministry leadership;
• Provide information to the public and enable complaints to be presented by internal and external stakeholders;
• Receive complaints from “whistleblowers” and provide for relevant confidentiality and protection for whistleblowers;
• Identify and assess the organizational structure and operating environment of the Office of the Inspector General, including aspects of personnel, support and budget for the Office operations;
• Identify internal MoIA and departmental vulnerabilities, opportunities for improvement and best practices that can apply.
• Assess the independence and objectivity of the IG functions, including structural and organizational aspects which contribute positively or negatively to such independence and objectivity;
• Identify and assess the standards of professionalism for the recruitment of IGs and for their performance evaluation.
• Identify and assess who has oversight of the IG, and how oversight has worked;
• Assess the nature, degree, frequency and results of coordination between the IG and the Office of the Auditor General;
• Assess compliance with General Auditing Standards of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and their alignment with international standards and make relevant recommendations for improvement;
• Identify and assess the capacity, clarify the functions, and identify needs for capacity development of the staff of the Internal Audit and Document Inspection Department, working with the findings and recommendations of the LOTFA micro-capacity assessment (April 2015),  in order to improve their capacity to obtain and provide relevant documentation and financial statements required by the Supreme Audit Office to conduct external audits of the MoIA and related police forces;
• Review, evaluate and help prepare the MOIA to conduct compliance audits on operational Directives for AUP, CID, FRU and CPD.
• Assist the MoIA to draft a plan for conducting provincial level audit compliance on operational directives for AUP in police offices and correctional facilities, including drafting protocols and questionnaires for conducting the audits.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work, Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

Scope of work

The consultant will fulfil the following tasks during this assignment:

• Meet with MoIA and LOTFA officials and managers to propose a work plan for the consultancy and clarify the parameters and requirements of the Terms of Reference;
• Review the micro-capacity assessment conducted by LOFTA with the MoIA in April 2015, with a view toward assisting the MOIA to implement its recommendations;
• Review the findings of the LOFTA consultancy on the complaints mechanism and the policies and procedures for ministerial complaints management, and support the OIG office to take actions on the recommendations;
• Review the capacity development plan for complaints analysts completed by the LOFTA consultancy on the complaints mechanism and support the OIG office to take actions on the recommendations;
• Review the results of the LOTFA assessment on existing barriers for reporting and blockages in complaints process by female staff of the MoIA, ANP and CPD, and incorporate recommendations into the general strategic plans for the IG Office.
• Collect perceptions within the MoIA concerning the effectiveness of the IG in the MoIA to combat waste, fraud and abuse in the programs and operations of the respective departments and across the MoIA and the police forces;
• Prepare and help the MoIA conduct a self-assessment questionnaire on the role of the IGs in the MoIA, including the following areas of responsibility: combat waste, fraud and abuse in programs and operations; conduct audits and investigations relating to programs and operations of the ministry and police forces; provide leadership and coordination and recommend policies to promote economy, efficiency, effectiveness and to prevent and detect fraud and abuse in the MoIA and police forces; inform the head of the ministry and the oversight bodies in Parliament about problems and deficiencies related to the administration of programs and operations in the MoIA and police forces;
• As needed, conduct workshops to present and discuss technical information on the subject, enhancing the level of knowledge among MoIA staff and leadership and sharing international best practices;
• Coordinate and share information with other LOTFA consultants and other international partners working on related fields of institutional development for the MoIA.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

The outputs / deliverables of the consultant and the estimated duration to complete the deliverables are given below:

Deliverables/Outputs/Target Due date after contract signing/inputes and Payment:

• Submission of work plan for the consultancy and report of initial meetings with the MoIA, 1 week (10%);
• Submission of self-assessment questionnaires and questionnaire for perception survey, 1 week;
• Submission of Report of field visit to 1 province , 1 week;
• Submission of draft report of findings on the capacity and performance of the IG Office, 3 weeks (3%);
• Submission of draft capacity development strategic plan for the IG Office with presentation to MoIA leadership, relevant representatives of the Parliamentary oversight body and LOTFA management, 3 weeks (30%);
• Submission of draft plan for the MoIA to conduct provincial level audit compliance on operational directives for AUP in police offices and correctional facilities, 1 week;
• Submission of Final report submission with incorporation of comments and feedback from the MOIA and LOTFA, in soft and hard copies, 2 weeks (30%).

Payments under the contract shall be made on submission and acceptance / certification of the deliverables by LOTFA Programme Manager in accordance with the schedule of payments.

Working Arrangements:

Institutional Arrangements

The international consultant will work under overall supervision of LOTFA Programme Manager and under day-to-day supervision of the LOTFA Pillar 2 Manager. The consultant shall work in close collaboration with LOTFA staff under Pillar II Institutional Development and shall liaise closely with LOTFA counterpart agencies CSTC-A and EUPOL in the implementation of this contract.

LOTFA project office will provide office space and internet facility, logistical and other support service including transport and security applicable to UNDP international personnel. The consultant however is expected to bring his/her own laptop and mobile phone and meet local communication cost (LOTFA will provide a local pre-paid sim card). Costs to arrange meetings, workshops, travel costs to and DSA during field visits (if any), etc shall be covered by LOTFA project.

Duration of the Work

The performance under the contract shall take place over total contract duration of 12 weeks (60 days) excluding joining and repatriation travel days. The target date for the start of work will be 20 April 2015.

Duty Station

The duty station for the contractor is Kabul, Afghanistan for the entire duration of the contract. One field visit in one of the provinces is envisaged under the contract. The Contractor will be required to report regularly and be present at LOTFA project office during the working hours. The contractor will follow the working hours and weekends as applicable to LOTFA staff. Contractor’s movement for meetings and consultations shall be coordinated by LOTFA project office. The contractor is at all times required to observe UNDP security rules and regulations.

Competencies

• Sound analytical skills in fragile states and emerging economic groups;
• Understanding change management principles;
• Strong communications abilities;
• Able to work consultatively within an existing close knit team;
• A demonstrated understanding and ability to relate to other cultures/religions.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in social sciences, public administration , programme planning /monitoring ad evaluation and or other related field.

Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years relevant work experience in the area of institutional capacity building, preferably with the government ministries/departments;
• An understanding of Public Administration Reform theory and principles and regional knowledge of working in an Islamic Culture would be beneficial;
• Experience in working in post conflict countries will be an advantage;
• Experience in analyzing computer and information systems, infrastructure and programming.

Language:

• Fluency in written and spoken English is a requirement;
• Knowledge of Dari, Pashto or Farsi would be an advantage.

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

The contractor shall submit a price proposal as below:

• Daily Fee – The contractor shall propose a daily fee which should be inclusive of his professional fee, local communication cost and insurance (inclusive of medical evacuation). The number of working days for which the daily fee shall be payable under the contract is 60;
• DSA – The contractor shall propose a DSA at the Kabul applicable rate of USD 181 per day for his stay at the duty station. The number of days for which the DSA shall be payable under the contract is 84 (77days @ full rate and 7 days @ half rate for 7 R&R days). The contractor is NOT allowed to stay in a place of his choice other than the UNDSS approved places. UNDP will provide MORSS compliant accommodation in Green Village (GV) to the contractor. The payment of GV accommodation shall be made directly to GV by the contractor;
• Travel & Visa – The contractor shall propose an estimated lumpsum for home-kabul-home travel and Afghanistan visa expenses;
• R&R – The contractor shall be entitled for one paid (USD 2,606) R&R (7 calendar days) during the course of the assignment; During these 7 R&R days when the contractor is away from Kabul, the contractor shall be paid the DSA at half rate (USD 90.50 per day) and the contractor is required to retain his/her room in GV for these 7 days for which the cost recovery shall be affected.

The total contract price, inclusive of the above elements, shall be converted into a lumsum contract and payments under the contract shall be made on submission and acceptance of deliverables under the contract in accordance with the abovementioned schedule of payment.

Evaluation Method and Criteria:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis:

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• a) Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
• b) 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 a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

Technical Criteria 70 points:

Technical Proposal (40 marks)

• Technical Approach & Methodology (25 marks) – This explain the understanding of the objectives of the assignment, approach to the services, methodology for carrying out the activities and obtaining the expected output, and the degree of detail of such output. The Applicant should also explain the methodologies proposed to adopt and highlight the compatibility of those methodologies with the proposed approach;
• Work Plan (15 marks) – The Applicant should propose the main activities of the assignment, their content and duration, phasing and interrelations, milestones (including interim approvals by the Client), and delivery dates. The proposed work plan should be consistent with the technical approach and methodology, showing understanding of the TOR and ability to translate them into a feasible working plan.

Qualification and Experience (30 marks) [evaluation of CV]

• General Qualification (10 marks);
• Experience relevant to the assignment (15 marks).

Experience of working for projects funded by UNDP (5 marks).

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information:

• Personal CV and P11, including at least three professional references; (Annex);
• Technical proposal describing his or her approach, methodology and timeline to achieve the deliverables (to be included in the online submission);
• Financial proposal that indicates thefixed total contact price for a six-month assignment, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per the template provided.

Note:

• Only one document can be uploaded and hence it is suggested that the CV, P-11, financial proposal and sample writing/editing/publication are uploaded as one document;
• Only 3-5 best candidates would be invited to the interview and be requested to submit financial proposals.

Annex (to be downloaded from UNDP Afghanistan Website, procurement notices section.

http://www.af.undp.org/content/afghanistan/en/home/operations/procurement.html