Background

Successful implementation of the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) provides a better opportunity for the Revitalized Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU) to carry out reforms skilfully, structurally, systematically, symbiotically and synthetically to develop strong and more accountable government institutions. It will contribute to effective and efficient delivery of peace dividends with positive impact on development of over 12.58 million people of South Sudan. However, this will largely depend on effective capacity  building of the targeted Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) based on assessment finding in the context of the following existing realities:

• Low level of institutional development.
• Lack of  adequate qualified personnel.
• Limited financial and institutional capacity.
• Weak organizational control and systems.
• Limited access to ITC to support the managerial functions.

In order to develop the institutional capacity of South Sudan National Revenue Authority (NRA) on long-term basis, it is important that a systematic capacity assessment be conducted with the aim to identify critical gaps and propose strategies for guiding the execution of its mandates effectively and efficiently.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant is expected to assess the capacity of the NRA by focusing on information management, internal results management system, development planning (including incorporation of sustainable development goals), monitoring and evaluation of the responsibilities with effective tools and instruments used.  The following are the specific activities to be performed by the consultants:

• Collect data on the existing capacity of the NRA using a variety of means, including desk review of comparative best practices from other selected countries or institutions and individual interviews as well as focus group discussions of stakeholders.
• Conduct consultation meetings with development partners who are currently supporting the NRA and look at details of their interventions to help identify synergies and reduce duplication of efforts (information shall be gathered from all partners supporting the NRA).
• Identify capacity gaps with comparison of desired capacities against existing capacities of the NRA with determination of the level of effort required to bridge the established gaps.
• Formulate capacity development plans based on the findings on capacity gaps, assets and needs of the NRA. This should be an integrated set of deliberate and sequenced actions (a combination of quick impact intervention, short and medium-term response, and long-term programming or projection to address the ‘capacity for why?’, ‘capacity for whom?’ and ‘capacity for what?’ The formulated plan is expected to include the designed targets and execution cost.

All these will require the consultant to review of the mandate of the NRA, national legislation on revenues, strategic plan, policy framework, operational standards and protocols. The consultant shall also map the responsibilities of the NRA, its internal/external relationships and coordination mechanisms. Further, the consultant shall assess the budget allocation, work procedures, operational environment, existing infrastructure (office Space, IT equipment, etc), and their adequacy to the execution of the mandate of the NRA. The consultant shall assess the level of staffing vis-a-vis the current structure in the context of achieving organizational mandate. This will include raining needs and capacity development of staff of NRA to accomplish their duties accordingly. Finally, the consultant will analyse, consolidate and produce capacity gap assessment report with a plan for short, medium and long-term implementation modalities.

METHODOLOGY.

The consultant will be based in Juba to conduct capacity gap assessment of NRA. In addition, the contractor is expected to develop a response strategy for the identified gaps following a multi-layer, consultative and comprehensive approach. This is expected to be guided by UNDP’s capacity assessment framework (http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/capacity-building.htm). According to UNDP, capacity development is defined 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. This reflects the viewpoint that capacity resides within the following three levels:

• The enabling environment describes the broader system within which individuals and organizations function and one that facilitates or hampers their existence and performance. This level of capacity is central to the understanding of capacity issues, as it determines the ‘rules of the game’ for interaction between and among organizations. Capacities at the level of the enabling environment include policies, legislation, power relations and social norms, all of which govern the mandates, priorities, modes of operation across different parts of society.
• The organizational level of capacity comprises the internal policies, arrangements, procedures and frameworks that allow an organization to operate and deliver on its mandate, and that enables the coming together of individual capacities to work together and achieve goals. If these exist, are well-resourced and well-aligned, the capability of an organization to perform will be greater than that of the sum of its parts.
• The individual level, at which capacity refers to the skills, experience and knowledge that are vested in people. Some of these are acquired through formal training and education, others through learning by doing and experience.

Each of the three levels can be the point of entry for a capacity assessment with acknowledgement of  dimensional influence through complex co-dependency relationships on:

• Core issues: These are the capacity issues that are most commonly encountered across sectors and levels of capacity: 1) institutional arrangements; 2) leadership; 3) knowledge; and 4) accountability. Not every assessment needs to cover all four issues, and it can be amended based on its relevance and appropriateness to the NRA.
• Functional and technical capacities: These are necessary for creating and managing policies, legislations, strategies and programmes. The following functional capacities are key: 1) engage stakeholders; 2) assess a situation and define a vision and mandate; 3) formulate policies and strategies; 4) budget, manage and implement; and 5) evaluate.

Various technical capacities may also need to be assessed, depending on the situation and; they may be added to the set of functional capacities as required. The exercise should move away from the traditional capacity building approach by adopting purpose-oriented approach with reference to international best practices, standards and norms. The various levels of the NRA would be expected to provide capacity development plans relevant to the context that addresses the following:

• Development institutional planning change management and innovative economic governance guided by realistic and achievable goals.
• Analysis of policies, strategies and implementation gaps through medium and term priorities.
• Generation of designed technical and professional result-oriented solutions.
• Adopting a modular approach to capacity building programming.
• Proposing a resource mobilization strategy for sustainable capacity and performance.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

• Good knowledge and understanding of the UN system, familiarity with UNDP mandate an asset.
• Knowledge of issues concerning governance, women's rights and gender equality.
• Specific knowledge in the subject area (e.g. democratic governance, rule of law, access to justice, GBV, decentralization, federalism and local government);
• Thorough knowledge of results-based management and strategic planning processes.
• Excellent facilitation and communication skills.
• Wide experience in quantitative and qualitative data collection methods and –analysis including surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews etc.
• Ability to deal with multi-stakeholder groups.
• Ability to write focused Strategic Plan and costed capacity development package.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• PhD’s or Master’s degree in Economics, Finance, Accounting, Public Administration, Political Economy or equivalent in relevant fields of humanities and social sciences.
• Chartered Account, Certified Public Accounting, or similar qualification.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of professional working experience in relevant fields of economic governance, public administration or revenue collection.
• At least 7 years (and recent – latest should have been conducted within the past 2 years) in conducting capacity assessments of similar institutions.
• At least five years in planning, implementing, and monitoring economic governance ad reforms projects, or capacity building projects for government institutions.
• Excellent writing skills in English language with a strong background in report drafting (to provide sample or similar reports.
• Demonstrated ability and willingness to work with people of different cultural, ethnic and religious background, different gender, and diverse political views.

Technical Proposal

• Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
• Personal CV or P11, indicating all experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidates and at least three (3) professional references indicating the last experience in the domain
• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment,
• Qualification documents of the consultant. These include degrees and certificates.
• A detailed methodology to be applied in capacity assessment and development plan package. The consultant wishing to submit his/her offer must note that this is the crucial part of his/her offer
• At least 3 certificates of good completion of similar tasks.
• Note: any certificate without the client’s name, address, and signature will not be accepted.
• Any other document deemed relevant to this consultancy service.

Financial Proposal:

A Financial Proposal must be submitted that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price supported by a breakdown of costs as per template provided. If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate this at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.

Criteria for Selection:

The offer will be evaluated by using the Best value for money approach (combined scoring method). Technical proposal will be evaluated on 70% whereas budget proposed will be evaluated on 30%. Below is the breakdown of technical proposal on 100% which will be brought to 70%:

The assessment will be carried out over a period of 30 working days broken down as follows:

Interested consultants should provide their technical (70% score) and financial proposals in USD (30% score). Fee payments will be made upon acceptance and approval by UNDP planned deliverables, based on the following payment schedule: