Background

Implementation of prudent economic policies by the Government of Uzbekistan over the last several years has significantly contributed to the achievement of financial and macroeconomic stability in the country. Within the reform program that is currently under implementation, the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan has set itself all-encompassing goals for the achievement of structural and institutional changes that require significant financial resources, on the one hand, and efficient system of distribution and use, on the other. Efficient and transparent management of the budget system becomes an important tool to address these problems in this context.

A number of transformations in the public financial management (PFM) in Uzbekistan have been implemented within the course of liberalization policy and intensification of economic reforms. Key public finance reform focus areas, targets and sequencing have been set forth in the Public Finance Management Strategy for the period 2007- 2018, developed by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan jointly with IMF’s Fiscal Policy Department. Major changes were associated with a phased transition to the treasury-based budget execution, improving the regulatory framework of budget preparation and increasing the effectiveness of control over budget expenditures.

Since 2007 UNDP has been supporting the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan in promotion of PFM reforms with ultimate goal of improving the welfare of the population. The current joint initiative of UNDP and the Ministry of Finance “Budget System Reform in Uzbekistan” project which is under implementation since July 2010 aimed to continue assistance and further enhancing the capacity in the area of PFM reforms with focus on achieving greater effectiveness, accountability, and transparency of the budget preparation system.

Key thematic areas of project activities include further strengthening of budgetary and public procurement legal frameworks, promotion of performance-based budgeting and mid-term budget planning methodologies, reforming public sector accounting and reporting system, enhancing fiscal decentralization through improving intergovernmental fiscal relations, capacity building of professionals and etc. The project objectives is being achieved  through supporting analytical works on various aspects of budget policy improvement, facilitation of policy dialogue among key stakeholders, involving academic and civil society into the reform process as well as strengthening the human resource capacity for the implementation of reforms.

In light of the upcoming closure of the project in December 2015, UNDP project implementation procedures require that BSR project should undergo an external evaluation to take stock of the project’s progress, its successes and weaknesses. The results of the evaluation will be used to provide the project stakeholders with an unbiased outcome-level assessment of project results, while also providing lessons learned and directions for a possible next-stage cooperation framework between UNDP and the government in the area of PFM reforming.

In this regard, UNDP needs the service of an external evaluator to conduct the assessment of the BSR project results and formulate recommendations on exploring new avenues of cooperation between the government and UNDP in the area of public finance management.

Duties and Responsibilities

The International Consultant will work under the general guidance of the Head of Economic Governance Unit and direct supervision of Programme Coordinator.

The Consultant’s main mission will consist of the following duties and responsibilities:

  • To conduct an impartial and expert assessment of the outcome-level results of UNDP’s  cooperation with the Ministry of Finance of Uzbekistan (MoF) under the Budget System Reform project;
  • Provide a review of achieved results and lessons learned against the expected targets, outputs and indicators laid down in the project document.

Prepare questionnaires for the meetings with project stakeholders. Meet with and gather substantive feedback from the project stakeholders. The stakeholders’ groups should consist of:

  • Government Agencies (Ministry of Finance, Treasury);
  • Parliament (Oliy Majlis);
  • Academic and research institutions (Institute of Finance, Banking Academy);
  • IFIs and bilateral organizations (World Bank, ADB, JICA, KOICA);
  • Assess the project’s contribution to the progress made in support of PFM reform process in Uzbekistan and building MoFs capacity to employ modern budget planning methodologies, reforming public procurement procedures and practices, public sector accounting and reporting standards, etc.;
  • Assess the degree to which the policy formulation process has been carried out through participatory dialogue and policy communication with the stakeholders;
  • Assess the degree to which the resources and funding for the above project directions have been used effectively and efficiently
  • Assess how effectively the knowledge base, information technology, and communication means (ie, social media, web site, regular publications, etc.) are being used to expand the outreach and knowledge-sharing by the project;
  • Assess the extent to which a knowledge base is being established so that a sustainable capacity is being built for addressing the relevant development problems;
  • Present and discuss the findings and recommendations to UNDP, and beneficiaries;
  • Review and elaborate the comments presented with regard to the daft final evaluation report;
  • Review and incorporate the inputs provided by UNDP and stakeholders into the final evaluation report;
  • Provide quality assurance and ensure timely submission of the final evaluation report in a format agreed with UNDP.

Deliverables & deadlines

The following tentative schedule of deliverables is expected under the current assignment. The Economic Governance Unit of UNDP Uzbekistan reserves the right, if necessary, to amend the terms of reference of an expert upon a written agreement. The final schedule will be agreed upon in the beginning of the assignment. All deliverables should be submitted to UNDP project in electronic form by the Consultant in English.

Outputs/Deliverables of Stage I (1st installment: (50%), Due date: November 20, 2015):

  • Background information on the project results and progress received and reviewed;
  • A Skype call held with UNDP CO to discuss the assignment and agree on the evaluation strategy;
  • Questionnaires for the meetings with project stakeholders prepared;
  • First draft of the evaluation report prepared and submitted to UNDP.

Outputs/Deliverables of Stage II (2nd  installment: (50%), Due date: December 10, 2015):

  • Mission to Tashkent completed, with meetings with the project stakeholders;
  • A pre-final draft evaluation report is submitted, presented and discussed in UNDP;
  • Evaluation report containing in-depth outcome-level assessment of the project results, including the review and summary of stakeholders’ feedback, lessons learned, and recommendations on the next stage cooperation between the UNDP and the government (ie, Ministry of Finance) in the area of public finance management reform finalized by the consultant and approved by UNDP.

This is a lump sum contract that should include costs of consultancy and other related costs, if any, required to produce the above deliverables.

Monitoring and control

Contract will be completed after the submission of final drafts of deliverables defined by the current TOR in two stages and upon acceptance by the Head of Economic Governance Unit, UNDP Uzbekistan.

Competencies

  • Strong data collection, communication, analytical, research, and writing skills;
  • Extensive experience in evaluating technical assistance projects in public finance management area in the Europe and CIS region, and/or in Uzbekistan in particular;
  • Knowledge and practical application of RBM principles in programme and project evaluation;
  • Client-orientation and excellent interpersonal and cross cultural communication skills;
  • Ability to use information and communication technology as a tool and resource.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Advanced university degree in economics, finance, public or business administration, management or related studies.

Experience:

  • Proved record of solid work experience minimum 3 years (or conducting minimum 5 project evaluations) in evaluating technical assistance projects in the region and/or Uzbekistan.

Languages:

  • Fluent English. Knowledge of Russian will be an asset.

How to apply:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

  • P-11 form;
  • Offeror’s letter.

Applicants are required to fill and sign a P11 Form and Offeror’s Letter and apply through UNDP job online system. You will be asked to upload your P11 Form and Offeror’s letter on the second page of the online application form. Please note that the system will not accept the uploading of more than one document so please merge or scan all your documents into one prior to uploading.

Only Shortlisted candidates will be requested to provide financial offer.

Financial Proposal

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount. Payment will be made in lump sum in two installments upon completion of the tasks/works indicated in the present TOR and their acceptance by the Supervisor as well as submission of payment documents (PEF, CFP etc.). In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days).

Duration of the service:

November – December 2015 (20 working days, including 5-day mission to Tashkent (tentative).

  • 10 w.d. desk work in country of residence (Nov 09 - 20, 2015);
  • 5 w.d. mission to Tashkent (Nov 23-27, 2015);
  • 5 w.d. desk work in country of residence (Nov 30–Dec 04, 2015).

Travel

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel.  In general, UNDP does not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Evaluation of the offers will be arranged according to Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract shall 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 a minimum of 49 points would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

Individual Consultant General Terms and Conditions (available at http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf).