Background

Local governments in Albania have been subject to considerable Technical Assistance (TA) in the past decade, encompassing the full range of needs from administrative/institutional building, service delivery improvement, local finances and good governance. Within the limits of specific TAs, such assistance has been varied, geographically limited and despite the development of several good models, tools or practices, most often, such experiences have not been scaled up, continued or absorbed as applicable standards. To this adds the unsystematic and partial TAs offered from different development partners and schemes through a multitude of programmes and projects that propose original, yet not integrated, solutions to local challenges, which often target the same groups of local stakeholders.

Furthermore, the legal framework supporting the above areas has been developed with low levels of engagement and coordination across relevant institutions, resulting quite often in conflicting legal decisions or legal impediments to sustain reform actions at local level.  In this view, a structural governance deficiency is spotted, which calls for immediate address. The current situation also raises concerns for the Minister of State on Local Issues on the necessity to improve coordination, optimize resources, adopt common standards and ensure reform impact and TA support reaches all LGUs with clear and similar messages and approaches.

A first reaction to the lack of inter-institutional coordination and the absence of proper and clear coordination mechanisms is the establishment of the Integrated Policy Management Groups (IPMGs), even though the IPMGs should still prove to be an effective body. On their side, the new Local Government Units (LGUs) need to adopt innovative approaches for the discharge of traditional and new delegated functions on their territories, establish new institutional and communication lines with the central government, re-assess the extent of flexibility and initiative as well as compliance with the national policies, regulations, legal framework, etc. 

Moreover, the 2015 administrative and territorial reform which brought to life 61 new and larger municipalities, has created some new challenges for the LGUs. One of the challenges of the new administrative division is the transfer of six new functions to the local government in 2016 in accordance with the Law on Local Governance, including staffing of preschool and secondary education, forest and pasture management, rural roads management, secondary irrigation and drainage infrastructure management, social services management and fire protection and rescue. The transfer has not been smooth and it is still ongoing for some functions. The main challenge remains the completion of the legal framework for the full transfer. In parallel, low levels of local institutional capacities to deal with the delegated new functions and lack of a proper planning for managing those functions effectively are yet to be addressed.

STAR 2 project recognizes that ’municipalities are struggling to restructure service provision in accordance with the new responsibilities they have over the territory and within the financial limitations. They should find ways to ensure a better coverage, improve citizens’ access to services, and contain and estimate necessary financial resources for the implementation. It is essential to link these efforts to effectiveness, that is moving away from the traditional emphasis on managing inputs (budgets and staff) and processes (rules and structures) if the aim is to seek for a service that is provided with efficiency, effectiveness and is responsive to the needs of all women and men wherever they live within the LGU territory”.

One out of three main outputs of STAR2 is to contribute to the increased local service delivery, efficiency, quality, coverage, accessibility and inclusiveness for men and women nationwide. In view of the above, the project has designed its interventions in two main directions:

• Provide capacity building to technical municipal staff on the way services are planned, organized, managed and delivered, The assistance will aim to make known at the local level the principles and definition of the concept of public service, the service delivery standards and the necessity for a continuous search for innovation to better serve the citizen, also in connection with the national public service reform led by the Ministry of Innovation and Public Administration and implemented by ADISA. 
• Reorganize several local public services in terms of purpose and standards. All new municipalities have had their boundaries extended and are faced with a similar challenge of the need to deliver services also to new areas or reorganize existing services in the enlarged territories and to perform new functions. To this end, depending on the service specifics and SWOT analysis, two options will be considered: a) working with individual municipalities or b) working with a cluster of municipalities.  A possible menu of services to consider is that deriving from the transfer of new functions (excluding forests and pastures management which will be addressed by another programme of assistance) or any of the traditional services (excluding water supply and waste management). Some services might be more municipal specific such as fire protection and rescue, cleaning, public transport, preschool education, etc., while some other services might be more appropriate to address across municipalities such as rural development (which might encompass also irrigation and drainage management and rural roads management).

In view of the above and in order to start the project activity on service reorganization, MoSLI and STAR2 are seeking to identify an international legal expert who could provide a set of services related to the reorganization of local public services in Albania in view of STAR2 project. 

Duties and Responsibilities

The objective of the assignment is two-fold:

• To develop a proposal aiming at improving the legal and institutional framework of public service delivery at local level in Albania;  
• To develop a methodology and advice the MSLI on an institutional approach aiming at improving the level of coordination regarding local service provision;

He/she will engage within the project and work closely with the project team to facilitate the data gathering and the consultation processes and coordinate inputs from the local stakeholders.

Specifically, the expert will provide advice and support on the following project activities:

• Selection of services to be re-organized and selection of pilot municipal clusters subject to the action
  • Conduct a SWOT analysis on the current situation of service provision at local level in Albania in terms of quality, availability, coverage, cost, resources, data, etc., with a special focus on main challenges LGUs are facing to deliver on new competences; (through desk review and with support from project regional coordinators)
  • Undertake an assessment on the existing legal framework on service provision at local level identifying gaps and overlapping/incompatible legal acts;
  • Review of EU acquis communautaire on service delivery at local level and identify approximation obligations for Albania in this area;
  • Advise on draft criteria for the selection of services to be re-organized;
  • Based on the assessment, identify and propose local services to be re-organized;  
  • Based on the assessment, identify and propose Clusters of Municipalities to be targeted;
• Development of reorganization and /or optimization options for the selected service
  • Conduct a legal review of the service definition in terms of standards, access criteria, focus and target;
  • Participate in consultation meetings with selected cluster municipalities to ensure legal conformity of the proposed re-organization / re-optimization options;
  • Provide inputs from the legal perspective to the cost-benefit analysis of considered options for service re-organization (ways of delivering the service (direct provision or partnerships), the required basic infrastructure, staffing levels, user fees, budgetary provisions and revenue projections).
• Public consultations for introducing viable options for service re-organizations
  • Participate in public consultations meetings and provide inputs from the legal perspective on the service re-organization and legal benefits / implications for citizens.
• Fine tuning targets, baselines and indicators of performance as well as performance monitoring mechanisms
  • Provide inputs from the legal perspective to the project team in view of defining the service performance indicators.
• Dissemination of experiences to other municipalities on the matter
  • Develop a set of proposals for the upgrading of the existing institutional and legal framework on re-organization of public services at local level.
• Advice the MSLI on the institutional approach to coordinate the TAs targeting improvement of public services at local level
  • Conduct a review on the existing level of coordination regarding various TAs on service provision at local level;
  • Develop an action plan on the institutional approach to improve coordination and action in this area. 

Main Deliverables and Outputs

• SWOT analysis on current situation of public service provision at local level in Albania;
• Assessment of the existing legal framework on service provision at local level in Albania;
• Set of proposals on the criteria to select services for re-organization and clusters of municipalities;
• Analysis of the service definition in terms of standards, access criteria, focus and target;
• Set of proposals for the upgrading of the existing institutional and legal framework on re-organization of public services at local level in Albania;
• Action plan on the institutional approach to improve coordination and action in Technical Assistance on public services at local level in Albania. 

Institutional arrangements

The Consultant will work under the close supervision of UNDP’s Cluster for Governance and Rule of Law and the Minister of State for Local Government, and in close collaboration with STAR 2 Project Management Team. For contract matters, the consultant will coordinate with Project Coordination Unit/UNDP. A working post will be available for the Consultant in the UNDP/PCU office.

In terms of support, UNDP and its STAR2 Project Management Unit will facilitate the Consultant’s meetings with relevant stakeholders. 

Duration of the assignment

The assignment will consist of 72 working days, divided indicatively in four country missions, within the period of 22 June – 31 Dec 2017, at the end of which the Consultant should have submitted the required deliverables.  Depending on the progress, the consultant may judge necessary to shorten the mission duration, and therefore the available field work days and extend home based working days, or vice versa.  This will definitively call for a revised work plan, reflecting the changes, but should still be limited preferably to a total of 90 working days.

The indicative time-frame is shown below

 Price and schedule of payments

UNDP shall effect payments to the Consultant after acceptance by UNDP of the deliverables (with a prior clearance from the PMT), submission of the corresponding invoices submitted by the Consultant, and in accordance with the following schedule of payments corresponding to the achievement of the indicated milestones and deliverables

Schedule of Payments

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness by modelling UN values and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural and gender sensitivity and adaptability;
• Shows strong corporate commitment.

Functional Competencies:

• Ability to facilitate carrying out of analytical work and presentation of consolidated conclusions/recommendations
• Ability to generate creative, practical approaches to overcome challenging situations
• Strong technical and practical knowledge in issues related to local governance and its multi-level assessment for effectiveness and responsiveness
• Ability to work well in multi-disciplinary teams
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to write in a clear and concise manner
• Excellent interpersonal skills and objectivity
• Proven track record in provision of technical assistance in the area of reforms in public services at local level, institutional development, analyses of legal framework, standard definition and/or criteria setting related to service provision at local level;
• Proven multiyear track record in advisory positions on legal and institutional reforms with regard to Local Government support programs, preferably within UNDP or any other international agency;
• Prior experience of development work in the region would be an asset

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master degree or higher in law, public administration, development studies or other relevant field

Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years progressively responsible and relevant professional working experience in the area of legal technical support to local governance;

Language Requirements:

• Excellent command of written and spoken English;

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:            Professional experience in the required areas – max points: 35

Criteria B:            Educational background– max points: 10

Criteria C:            Adequacy of brief proposed methodology – max points: 25

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

Application Procedure

The application should contain:

• Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position and a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work (if applicable). Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application.
• Completed and signed UN Personal History Form (P11) for Individual Contracts (IC) – Blank form Download here.
• Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability - please complete the attached form...
• Financial Proposal - specifying a total lump sum amount (working days, travel, per diems, and any other possible costs) for the tasks specified in this announcement. Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of service, etc.). All envisaged international travel costs should be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel .http://www.un.org.al/editor-files/file/Financial%20Offer%20template.doc.
• 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 both be part of your application. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

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 a 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.