UNDP Jobs - 77360- Consultant to Study Policy Coordination Mechanisms

Consultant to Study Policy Coordination Mechanisms of the Government of Georgia (Local Hire)

Location :

Tbilisi, GEORGIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

08-Mar-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Up to 40 consultancy days during March 2018 – May 2018

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

UNDP Georgia is implementing a multi-year project “Supporting Public Administration Reform in Georgia”, funded by the UK Government. The project addresses a complementary but distinct set of specific, predetermined needs in three crucial areas of the ongoing Public Administration Reform (PAR) - Policy Development and Cooperation; Civil Service and Human Resource Management and Service Delivery, as stipulated by the PAR Reform Roadmap 2020. The initiative intends to sustain, support and build key institutions and processes required for advancing the Public Administration Reform through offering consultancy, capacity building, technical assistance, etc. Among the main objectives of the Project is to support the establishment of a sound and unified policy monitoring system across all the Ministries, under the general coordination and guidance of the Administration of the Government of Georgia (AoG).

The Government has taken a number of major steps over recent years to improve its policy planning system, strengthen the link between policy planning and budgeting, and build strong mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation. In 2014, a structural and functional review of the Administration of the Government of Georgia (AoG) led to the establishment of the Policy Planning and Strategic Coordination Unit (PPSCU), which is responsible for planning and monitoring the work of the Government, including policy development, coordination, monitoring, reporting, and evaluation. In 2015, the Government of Georgia adopted the Public Administration Reform Roadmap 2020, which aims at encouraging, assisting and facilitating the establishment of "a transparent, predictable, responsible, and efficient public administration that would meet the society's demands and correspond to European standards." The Public Administration Roadmap Action Plan 2015-2016 contains a number of key commitments, including strengthening the functions of the Policy Planning Department of the AoG and the establishment of policy planning /analytical units in all Ministries. The Government also adopted the Policy Planning Reform Strategy 2015 – 2017, which contains a detailed analysis of the challenges to be addressed in the policy planning system, methodological guidance on the policy-planning process, and a series of commitments to be implemented in 2016 and 2017. These and other commitments were included and further elaborated with specific timelines in the 2016 agreement for EU Support for the Public Administration Reform.

Much more remains to be done, however, to build a strong and coherent network of policy planning units able to carry out their work effectively, in accordance with uniform standards and practices in line with international requirements. Although the units have generally been in place for at least two years, they have started to identify common challenges and share their experience in carrying out their work only recently. Additionally, the methodological guidance for the units has been neither clear nor consistent. The lack of Government capacity to provide adequate training on monitoring and evaluation (M&E) guidance materials and international practices has undermined efforts to establish a common approach to policy planning, monitoring and evaluation. The differences in approaches have been reflected in more than 60 national action plans currently being implemented in Georgia, which employ differing formats, terminology, and implementation strategies.
A related challenge has resulted from the proliferation of ad hoc coordination mechanisms created in the dozens of thematic, multi-sectoral action plans and strategies adopted over the years. A complete inventory of these interagency council and commissions does not exist despite that the Ministries are heavily invested in participating in their work. Each coordination mechanism has given rise to its own network of thematic working groups, many of which are supposed to meet quarterly. Each Ministry is a member of at least several interagency coordination commissions and their working groups, most of which have been in existence for many years.

A UNDP-supported international consultancy is presently underway to assist the Administration of the Government of Georgia in establishing a unified system for developing, monitoring, reporting on, and evaluating policy. As outlined by the international expert in his Scoping Report, four main elements of the unified policy planning system have been identified: (1) Development of a Unitary Digital Policy Platform (UDPP); (2) Adoption of a single, comprehensive, authoritative guidance on effective M&E terminology and practices; (3) The creation of the capacity in Government to carry out regular and uniform M&E training; and (4) A stocktaking and lessons-learned study, with recommendations, of the Policy Planning Network: the Ministerial policy planning and analytical units; the interagency coordination councils, commissions, etc. and their working groups; and the support secretariats for the interagency coordination mechanisms. Another related UNDP consultancy will undertake a needs assessment of all the policy planning units during the same period with a view to develop professional competencies and deliver a comprehensive training and consultations package on public policy.

Objective of the Assignment:

The primary goal of the local consultancy is to undertake the analytical study of the Policy Planning Network and provide recommendations aimed at fostering and development of a more consistent and effective approach to all stages of the policy planning process (i.e., policy development, monitoring, reporting, and evaluation).

Although most of the Ministerial policy planning/analytical units in the Ministries were established only around two years ago, there is a broad range of experience among the units, owing to differences in mandate, size, and the nature of the strategies and action plans they are responsible for. There appears to be an even broader range of experience among the secretariats servicing the interagency coordination councils and commissions and their thematic working groups. Some of the interagency coordination mechanisms and their working groups have developed effective terms of reference and working methods while others have not. The secretariats represent a rich source of expertise and experience in policy development, monitoring, reporting, and evaluation. Until now, there has been little exchange of information or experience within the Policy Planning Network aimed at identifying effective solutions to common challenges.

To that end, a study will be undertaken by a local consultant in relation to the policy planning units and the implementation coordination mechanisms (including the secretariats that service them) in order to identify challenges, best practices and lessons learned. The study will include an updated inventory of all policy strategies and action plans approved on a Ministerial/Governmental level and presently being implemented by the Government of Georgia. Particular focus shall also be made on an analysis of available reports on Basic Data and Directions (BDD) developed by the ministries.

The scope of the assignment will also include:

The periodicity of the coordination mechanisms, both mandated and the actual regularity;
Achievements and the main challenges experienced by coordination secretariats and ways they have addressed those challenges;
The experience of integrating input from CSO and NGO stakeholders, including their participation in the coordination mechanisms and their thematic working groups;
How to address the problem of overlapping mandates between related coordination mechanisms and duplicate reporting under related strategies and action plans;
Suggestions and recommendations for improving the functioning of the policy planning units, the coordination secretariats, and the coordination mechanisms;
Suggestions and recommendations on how the proposed Unitary Digital Policy Platform might best address the challenges identified; and
Recommendations on how to improve the exchange of experience among the members of the policy planning network.

The draft study along with its recommendations, will be widely circulated within the Policy Planning Network and discussed at a workshop for that purpose, to be convened by the Policy Planning and Strategic Coordination Unit of the AoG. The finalized study and recommendations, taking into account input from the workshop, will constitute a key contribution to the effort of the AoG to establish a unified policy planning system. The study shall be conducted in 25 days, whereas remaining 15 days shall be allocated for support in the development of a concept on Unitary Digital Policy Platform.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Public Administration Reform Project Manager and in close cooperation with relevant staff of the AoG, relevant government agencies and the international expert, the local consultant is expected to assume the following tasks and responsibilities:

Carry out a desk review of the relevant policy documents and reports;
Conduct interviews with all Ministerial policy planning /analytical units, the secretariats of all interagency policy coordination mechanisms and other relevant stakeholders, including NGOs actively participating in policy coordination mechanisms;
Map out and update a comprehensive list of all existing strategies and action plans developed by the government institutions and currently in force;
Based on results of the desk review and interviews with the key stakeholders, develop a study on best practices and lessons-learned of the Policy Planning Network, to include the points listed above under the scope of the assignment;
Circulate the draft study to the Policy Planning Network and conduct a workshop with participation of all relevant stakeholders to validate and finalize the study;
Participate, as appropriate, in relevant meetings, workshops and other activities organized for the development of a Unitary Digital Policy Platform (UDPP).

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Understanding of the mandate and the role of UNDP would be an asset;
Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism

Functional competencies:

Possesses knowledge and understanding of public administration system.
Strong and proven research and analytical skills;
Proven ability to deliver quality output working under tight deadlines;
Proven ability to coordinate with others and to work as part of a team;
Excellent communication, interpersonal and presentation skills;
Ability to work independently and under pressure.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree in law, social sciences or other relevant fields

Experience:

At least two years of actual involvement in government policy planning, implementation and monitoring processes (minimum requirement);
At least three years of working experience with government agencies or international organizations;
At least one research paper/article related to reforms in the field of public policy and administration developed in the last three years.

Language:

Excellent command of English and Georgian.

Evaluation:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis method against combination of technical and financial criteria. Maximum obtainable score is 100, out of which the total score for technical criteria equals to 70 and for financial criteria – to 30. Offerors that do not meet Minimum Qualification Criteria will be automatically rejected, while the rest will form up the long list. The offerors who obtain minimum 35 points as a result of the desk review will be invited for the interview. Offerors who pass 70% threshold, i.e. obtain minimum 14 points, as a result of the interview will be requested the financial proposal.

Financial Proposal:

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). 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. Maximum 30 points will be assigned to the lowest price offer. All other price offers will be scored using the formula (inverse proportion): Financial score X = 30* the lowest price offer/suggested price offer. All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal as well.

Deliverables:

The local expert is expected to provide the following deliverables:

A desk review of relevant policy documents and interviews with representatives of the organizational members of the Policy Planning Network and stakeholders (March 2018);
A comprehensive study with recommendations on the Policy Planning Network, as described above and an updated list of all Government strategies and action plans currently in force (April 2018);
A workshop on the draft study with the participation of relevant stakeholders (April 2018);
The finalized study and recommendations (April 2018);
Participation in relevant meetings, workshops and other activities organized for the development of a Unitary Digital Policy Platform (UDPP) (April-May 2018).
A final activity report detailing all the work performed during the consultancy including major findings (May 2018).

Management Arrangements:

The local expert’s work will be directly supervised by the PAR Project Manager under the overall supervision of the Democratic Governance Team Leader. The service provider will be directly responsible to, reporting to, seeking approval from, and obtaining certificate of acceptance of outputs from the above-mentioned persons.