Antecedentes

Project Title/Department: Local Government Support Programme /Phase 2

Local Government Support Programme /Phase 2 is a joint project of UNDP and the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan. Objectives of the project are promoting more effective, accountable and inclusive governance in Uzbekistan by enhancing local government performance, increasing citizen participation in local governance, and supporting accountability and transparency.

Building on the success of “Local Governance Support Programme /Phase-1” (LGSP/Phase-1), implemented from 2010 to 2013, LGSP/Phase-2 will support efforts of the Uzbek government to increase the capacity of regional and district level authorities to manage the increased decentralisation and deconcentration of administrative and fiscal authority.

LGSP-2 activity focuses on reforming the public administration system and supporting civil service reform in Uzbekistan, through development of proposals for strengthening the powers of local authorities by specifying distribution of powers between the national, regional and city/district governments.

Uzbekistan pays much attention to public administration reforms. In particular, as a result of the Presidential decrees of 2003 "On improving the system of republican government" and "On improving the system of economic management sphere of public administration" 27 ministries and departments were abolished with more than 40 thousand public servants being released. Changes to the Constitution allowed to transfer a part of the President's responsibilities to the Prime minister and strengthen the accountability of the Government and regional khokims to the Oliy Majlis and Kengashes of people’s deputies, respectively. To strengthen the legal framework of democratic processes a number of regulatory documents as the Law "On the openness of public authorities and management", the Law "On social partnership" and the Law "On public control", along with the Tax and Budget codes were adopted. Measures are also being taken to enrich the capacity of training and retraining of the institutions.

At the same time, currently operating national and local public administration systems seem to suffer from a number of issues as:

• Unclear distribution of responsibilities between the central and regional authorities and lack of authority in decision-making;
• Limited financial and economic authority of local governments;
• Centralized decision-making;
• Inadequate capacity of government officials and institutions for training and retraining;
• Lack of transparency of public authorities;
• Weak accountability to the public and Kengashes of people’s deputies.

Legislative framework formally grants some powers to local governments for elaboration of regional development plans, budget income generation and management, property administration, usage of land and other natural resources, social protection of population, as well as to introduce local tax and fees.

On the basis of the study of international experience, the LGSP proposed a Roadmap to decentralization consisting from 5 large areas, namely:

• The implementation of holistic functional analysis allowing to clarify the distribution of functions and responsibilities between the central and local governments;
• Strengthening the financing of local governments by enhancing regulatory base on budgeting and financing of local governments;
• Capacity building through the introduction of a national strategy of human capacity and the Law "On public service" ;
• Increasing the transparency and accountability of the government agencies and higher involvement of civil society in local governance and decision-making processes;
• Development and implementation of long-term regional development strategies.

To shape the balance where extent of local government responsibilities vis-à-vis available resources and capacities is determined within the decentralized environment, it is essential to conduct functional review and identify any major gaps, challenges and way forward.

Functional review will examine:

• Whether the policy goals and objectives of the Khokimiyat of the region and district level khokimiyat (khokimiyat of the district) are clearly defined in measurable and achievable terms;
• Whether the management systems, policies, staffing, and organizational structure are appropriate for them to meet their objectives;
• Whether factors external to the institutions that may impede their ability to meet their objectives.

Plan of conducting Functional review of the Khokimiyat was approved by “Minutes of the meeting of Interagency Coordination Working Group (ICWG) and Project Board of the LGSP” in November 20, 2014. The results of FR will be used for Roadmap on Decentralization, elaboration new amendments to legislation or further institutional and individual capacity building of local governments.

International Consultant on Functional review of the Local Regional Authority (Khokimiyat) in Uzbekistan will assist LGSP team to design and facilitate a participatory process of functional review with involvement of a Team of national consultants and representatives from concerned national partners (Working group) in close coordination with UNDP Good Governance Unit and under overall supervision of Project Manager. The functional review exercise will be carried out in close cooperation with Khokimiyat of Tashkent region, Cabinet of Ministers and other relevant ministries and local authorities.

Deberes y responsabilidades

The International Consultant, with support from project staff, will perform the following tasks:

• Develop and submit to LGSP-2 Team to agree with main stakeholders the Methodology for functional review, as well as the Action plan for carrying it out (plan for the Team of national consultants and Working group);
• Prepare the first mission agenda to Uzbekistan along with a list of issues to be discussed during meetings with Tashkent region’s khokimiyat staff, members of the Working group and submit it to LGSP-2 for approval;
• Provide necessary Training  on Functional review to the national consultants as well as to the concerned government agencies and khokimiyat staff. The training package will include a training agenda, handouts, profile of trainees, pre-test and post-test evaluation forms, if applicable, power point presentation or lecture materials etc.;
• Analyze the functions (Functional review) of local government to determine core and non-core functions;
• Identify and clarify functions to be performed by central government, regional, and local khokimiyats;
•  Identify cross-cutting, overlapping or duplicative activities and functions that legally should be performed but are not being performed;
• Identify and eliminate “internal conflicts of interest”;
• Identify functions that are not in the sphere of regional/district khokimiyats’ responsibility and which may be transferred to private sector, civil society;
• Prepare the second mission agenda to Uzbekistan along with a list of issues to be discussed during meetings with Tashkent region’s khokimiyat staff, members of the Working group and submit it to LGSP-2 for approval. The second mission will include the presentation on the Results of Functional review by International Consultant on Functional review of the Local Regional Authority (Khokimiyat) in Uzbekistan and collecting feedback from stakeholders (Tashkent region’s khokimiyat staff, members of the Working group). The results of the second mission will be incorporated into final report;
• Prepare an Analytical Report which should include situational analysis, problem identification, and recommendations with Implementation plan.

Competencias

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent analytical and report writing skills;
• Excellent communication skills;
• Ability to perform under tight deadlines and timely task performance, ethics and honesty.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education:

• A Master’s Degree in Public Policy, Public Administration, Sociology, Law, Economics, or related area.

Experience:

• At least 5 years’ experience of consulting governments on public administration and reforming of local administration system;
• Successful experience in conducting functional reviews of ministries and government agencies as well as local governments;
• Experience with decentralization policies, particularly in the regional development would be an advantage;
• Specific management experience in the regional administration system would be an advantage;
• Experience in conducting trainings would be an advantage;
• Experience in CIS region and/or in Eastern Europe;
• Relevant experience in other transition economies would be an advantage.

Language:

• Fluency in oral and written English;
• Ability to communicate in Uzbek or Russian would be an advantage.

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals.

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

Proposal:

• Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work and providing samples of previous consultancy assignment results;
• P-11 form and Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability.

Applicants are required to fill and sign a P11 Form and Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability and submit it to the online application

Abovementioned documents can be obtained at http://www.uz.undp.org/content/dam/uzbekistan/docs/Operations/Jobs/PH_form.doc

Application process:

To submit your application online, please follow the steps below:

    Download and complete the UN Personal History Form (P11);
    Merge your P11 and Proposal into a single file;
    Click on the Job Title;
    Click “Apply Now” button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and click “Submit Application”;
    Upload your P11 form instead of CV.

You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

Note:

Only shortlisted candidates will be asked to provide a financial proposal.

Financial Proposal

Lump sum contracts

This is a lump sum contract. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount. ). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.  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).  

The payment will be made in three installments to be issued upon completion and submission of Performance Evaluation Form (PEF) on the works performed as indicated in the terms of reference:

• First instalment of 25% will be paid after the successful submission and successful evaluation of the Output No.1: June 25, 2015;
• Second  instalment of 35% will be paid after the successful submission and successful evaluation of the Output No.2: July 25, 2015;
• The final instalment of 40% will be paid after the submission and successful evaluation of the Output No. 3: November 20, 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

The individual consultants will be evaluated based on the Cumulative analysis methodology.

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

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable;
• Having received the highest score out of the 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 for the Technical Criteria will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.