Background

Purpose

The purpose of the assignment is to increase transparency in funds disbursement to civil society organisations (CSOs) from public budgets. This will be done by suggesting and introducing a development-oriented and project-based approach to funding of CSOs that contributes to realization of local priorities in line with local development strategies. In this regard, a Public Administration and Policy Consultant (hereinafter the Consultant) will be engaged for developing an evidence based assessment of existing mechanisms and regulations within the public funding for CSO context.

Objective

The objective of the consultancy is to develop an evidence-based assessment (in the form of a report) in relation to existing financing mechanisms and regulations as a preparation for the introduction and institutionalization of a mechanism for transparent project-based funding for CSOs. The assessment will also serve as a baseline in each country as well as a stepping stone for preparation of recommendations for improvement and alignment of practices with the principal model utilized in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) that follows EU rules (PRAG) and standards.

Background Information

The Western Balkan (WB) countries are facing complex set of similar development challenges. These countries, namely Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo*[1], Montenegro, and Serbia, invest significant efforts to mainstream the EU accession agenda within their socio-political contexts. 

An integral part of the EU accession agenda is to promote the inclusion of civil society and further development of participatory democracies in the region. All the WB countries face challenges, specifically related to the lack of collaboration between the government and civil society. Also, lack of transparency of existing public mechanisms for support of civil society organizations (CSO), mainly at the local level, is perceived as one of the main obstacles for development and functioning of credible civil society.

Local governments in the WB are one of the key funding providers for CSOs and absence of a conducive financial environment is one of the main challenges civil society is experiencing in the current period. CSOs still largely depend on funding by foreign donors while the government funding mechanisms, which could represent an important alternative support, lack accountability and transparency.

All the WB countries, and local governments consequently, use similar models for funding of CSOs from public budgets, where common challenges relate to insufficient transparency and/or clear criteria of the selection processes. These uncompleted and often discriminatory models limit the reinforcement of the position and importance of civil society and hamper further development of participatory democracies in the WB Region.

To address these challenges, the EU-funded Regional Programme on Local Democracy in the WB (ReLOaD) aims to strengthen partnerships between local governments and civil society by scaling-up a successful model of transparent and project-based funding of CSOs. The funding model offered for replication from BiH will be adapted to each country specifics taking into consideration existing regulatory frameworks and funding practices developed by relevant state/entity/local government institutions. The ReLOaD will focus on institutionalization of interaction between local governments and CSOs, while strengthening capacities of all relevant stakeholders to engage more productively in such partnerships. Importantly, the underlying intention of the Programme is to put in practice and sustain a transparent, development-oriented and project-based approach to funding of CSOs by municipal budgets that contributes to realization of legitimate local priorities in line with local development strategies.

ReLOaD will partner with 50 selected local governments: (5 in each of Kosovo*, FYROM, Montenegro and Serbia, 10 in Albania and 20 in BiH). Partner local governments will be provided with capacity development assistance to adapt and institutionalize the methodology for transparent fund disbursement for CSOs, as well as to put it in practice through a grant awarding scheme.

As regard Albania, in general, “local government lacks adequate capacity to ensure proper cooperation and funding of civil society.”[2]This statement was reconfirmed in the EC Albania 2014 Progress Report, noting that “Cooperation between CSOs and local government units remains very weak due to the lack of adequate capacity to ensure proper cooperation and funding for CSOs. The civil society sector remains fragmented and overly dependent on donor funding.”[3] Public funding is available only for the past three years through the state agency, Agency for the Support of Civil Society (ASCS).[4] In addition to the support by the Agency, grants and non-financial support are limited and available only in big municipalities.[5] One of the biggest threats to the sustainability of the work of CSOs is the lack of clear rules and procedures for public funding of CSO programs and contracting CSOs for delivering social services. “At the moment, the procedures for distributing public funds are described only in the law on ASCS and other internal regulations of ASCS. As the existence of ASCS itself is not enough to meet all needs for funding of CSO programs and delivering social services, it is necessary to invest in setting clear-cut rules, standards and procedures for allocating public funds for CSOs at all levels, especially local government units.”[6]

The Albanian Government has made clear its commitment to establishing healthy environment that will encourage civil society independence, efficiency and sustainability. To that end, the Government programme 2013-2017 emphasizes the necessity of reforms in regard to: 1) Improving legal and fiscal framework for the activities of non-profit organizations; 2) Increasing transparency of work of public institutions through publicizing opportunities for cooperation as well as rules and procedures for applying for public funding of non-profit organizations’ projects; 3) Submitting new legal initiatives to a broad consultative process with the CS 4) Building capacities of civil society organizations to provide services which the State is incapable of delivering yet.

In this regard, the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania approved on May 27, 2015 the Road Map for Drafting Policy and Measures for Enabling Environment to Civil Society. This document sets out a targeted programme of priority areas of action that the Albanian Government is taking to improve environment for cooperation with civil society. In addition, the Law on the Establishment and Functioning of the National Council of Civil Society was adopted in November 2015 with the aim to ensure institutional collaboration between government and CSOs in favor of expanding democracy, consolidation of good governance, increased transparency in public decision-making through better involvement of civil society in this process. The National Council of Civil Society was established in June 2016 through an open voting process.

[1] * This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

[2] Albania Civil Society Facility Programme 2014-2015 - Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA II) 2014-2020, p 4. http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/financial_assistance/ipa/2015/multi-country/ipa_ii_2014-031-605.02_2015-037-653.02-csf-and-media-albania.pdf.

[3]    Albania 2014 Progress report available at: http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/key_documents/2014/20141008-albania-progress-report_en.pdf

[4]    http://www.amshc.gov.al/web/index-en.php 

[5]       Monitoring matrix on enabling environment for civil society development, country report Albania. http://www.partnersalbania.org/Albania_MonitoringReport_Executive_Summary.pdf page 1.

[6]    Road map for Albanian government policy towards more enabling environment for civil society development; TACSO Albania, December 2014. http://www.integrimi.gov.al/files/news_files/Annex-RoadMap-overview_of_actions_(4).pdf

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of work

The consultancy will consist of the following tasks:

1. Performing in-depth analysis for each administrative level capturing the overall legal framework for CSO funding in Albania;
2. Producing and presenting a report.

Task 1. - Performing in-depth analysis for each administrative level in respective country

Analysis will be performed in regard to the existing systems and regulations for funds disbursement to CSOs at all administrative levels. For these purposes, the Consultant will:

• Perform a desk review: Collect all relevant government’s policies and operational procedures regarding funds disbursement to CSOs and assess them;
• The consultant will get acquainted with the key project documents, Methodology for transparent fund disbursement to CSOs (LOD Methodology) and other relevant documents in order to be able to compare existing practices with the Methodology;
• Identify ministries/institutions in charge for funds disbursement at the state and lower administrative levels with focus on local governments level where existing framework and practices ought to be analized;
• Develop a questionnaire and interview questions for the research. The focus of the questionnaire and interviews will be on discussing procedures for funds disbursement for CSOs in place in specific institutions, especially local governments, as well as identifying challenges in distributing funds in more transparent and project based approach. Possible good practice examples in CSO fund disbursement will also be  recorded. Specific areas at the local level to be taken into consideration: Analysis of the processes of preparation and launching of public calls for CSOs (identification of priority areas, method of announcement and duration of the Call, consultations with CSOs, i.e. “open days“ within the calls, project-based approach, etc.); Analysis of common practices of CSO project proposal evaluation (composition of the evaluation committee, selection of its members, scoring criteria, transparency of the process, etc,.). Reporting and monitoring procedures applied for the awarded CSOs;
• Conduct in-person interviews with representatives of at least 50% of targeted ministries/institutions in central level. Other interviews will be conducted by telephone, or email correspondence;
• On the basis of desk review, questionnaires, and face to face interviews propose tailor-made, concrete and precise recommendations for introducing and anchoring the transparent, project based model to be used at all administrative levels. It should outline the process on how existing procedures and practices could be aligned with the LOD Methodology as a foundation for the financing model to be developed and adopted in the country, and which should incorporate all the principles and tools that the Methodology entails.
• The consultant will especially take into consideration the mandatory treasury operations and financial management system that all institutions need to comply with as well as long term effects of the action, in view of country’s accession path to the EU. Also, potential differences between applied approaches in funds disbursement for different CSOs categories should be taken into consideration.

The key findings drafted under this task will serve as immediate input for defining adequate recommendations and identification of necessary follow-up support for capacity development of the government staff.

The time foreseen for this task is 9 days.

Task 2. - Producing and presenting a report

On the basis of the findings gathered through Task 1, the Consultant will:

• Develop a comprehensive report in English containing detailed analysis, findings and recommendations for improvement. Report will include guidelines to each administrative level on how to practically run the funds disbursement for CSO in more transparent manner as a part of their regular operational procedures. The consultant will capture main issues and challenges which need to be considered in the development of the new methodology for funds disbursement. To that end, human and institutional resources needed for the implementation will be identified, where possible.
• Share the draft version of the report with the Project Team for comments and approval;
• Present the findings of the analysis to the Project Team along with the submission of a final report.

The time foreseen for this task is 6 days.

Under this assignement the consultant is expected to spent 3 travel days in municipalities of Albania.

Deliverables and timelines

The consultant is responsible for the following deliverables:

Competencies

a. Corporate Responsibility and Teamwork:

• Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Plans, prioritizes and delivers tasks on time;
• Strives for and promotes excellence in performance continually;
• Participates effectively in a team-based, information-sharing environment, collaborating and cooperating with others;
• Generates ideas and seizes opportunities to support corporate strategic objectives.

b. People Skills:

• Demonstrated ability to work harmoniously with persons of different national and cultural backgrounds;
• Recognizes and responds appropriately to the ideas, interests, and concerns of others;
• Builds trust and engenders morale by displaying open, transparent and credible behaviour;
• Respects individual/cultural differences; utilizes diversity to foster teamwork;
• Ensures others’ understanding of, involvement in, and adaptation to a change process.

c. Partnering and Networking:

• Communicates sensitively and effectively across different constituencies;
• Ability to work as a member of a team as well as work autonomously.

 d. Results-Orientation:

• Plans and ensures quality results to meet established goals.

e. Communication:

• Formulates written information clearly and persuasively;
• Shares information openly with co-workers and partners while using discretion to protect confidences;
• Presents information in a clear and articulate manner.

f. Job Knowledge and Expertise:

• Strong analytical skills;
• Advanced writing skills,
• Proven skills in conducting researches, interviews, and reporting,
• Conceptual and practical knowledge of policy development, with specific focus on public budgets,
• Ability to review data, identify and adjust discrepancies,
• Good knowledge of administrative rules and regulations regarding civil society sector,
• Executes day-to-day tasks systematically and efficiently,
• Initiative and sound judgment.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Master degree in law, public policy, public administration and finance or a related social science field.

Experience

• A minimum of 7 years of professional experience.
• Experience working on policy development and analysis preferably dealing with governments and institutions, civil society and budgetary system in Albania.
• Previous experience with EU funded projects, is an asset.
• Proven experience and expertise in public finance.

Language Requirements

• Fluency in written and spoken English and Albanian.

Evaluation Procedure

UNDP applies a fair and transparent selection process that would take into account both the technical qualification of Individual Consultants as well as their financial proposals. The contract will be awarded to the candidate whose offer:

• Is deemed technically responsive / compliant / acceptable (only technically responsive applications / candidates will be considered for the financial evaluation)
• And has obtained the highest combined technical and financial scores.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max points: 70

Criteria A: Experience working on policy development and analysis preferably dealing with governments and institutions, civil society and budgetary system in Albania – max points: 50

Criteria B: Educational background– max points: 20

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max points: 30

Application Procedure

Interested applicants are advised to carefully study all sections of this ToRs and ensure that they meet the general requirements as well as specific qualifications described. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.

The application should contain:

• Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application.
• Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability-please fill in the attached form...http://www.un.org.al/editor-files/file/PSU_%20ICLA.doc.
• Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees, please upload the P11 instead of your CV. Download here.
• Financial Proposal in ALL* - specifying a total lump sum in Albanian Lek  for the tasks specified in this announcement.  The attached template may be used - http://www.un.org.al/editor-files/file/Financial%20Offer%20template.doc. Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant during the contract period (e.g. fee and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services).
• Copy of Diplomas and copy of Passport.

*Kindly note that Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability and Financial Proposal are two separate documents and should be both part of your application.

How to Submit the Application:

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

• Download and complete the UN Personal History Form (P11) for Service Contracts (SCs) and Individual Contracts (ICs);
• Merge your UN Personal History Form (P11) for Service Contracts (SCs) and Individual Contracts (ICs), Financial Proposal Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability and cover letter into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded;
• Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement);
• Click “Apply Now” button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click “Submit Application;”
• Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above);
• You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.