Background

National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat), is an institution established to produce the official statistics and disseminate the statistical information according to the Georgian legislation.

Since 2004, substantial progress has been made in improving the capacity and the performance of Georgia’s national statistical system. In May 2010, Georgia subscribed to the IMF’s Special Data Dissemination Standard. At the same time the effectiveness of the statistical system as assessed by the World Bank’s Statistical Capacity Indicator has increased significantly. In line with this progress, the first National Statistical Development Strategy (NSDS) was developed for the period 2011-2014.  In 2015, a new Law of Georgia on Official Statistics was introduced by ensuring the production of independent, objective and reliable statistics according to the principles of the United Nations and European Statistics Code of Practice and on the basis of internationally recognized basic principles of statistics.

In order to maintain its progress, Geostat has requested that UNDP provide it with expert support to establish an up-to-date development strategy for the next 5 years.

The main objective in preparing the NSDS is to develop a unified and comprehensive National Statistical System (NSS) for the collection, management, dissemination and utilization of official statistics in the country. An NSDS is a national policy document to be formulated with wider participation of all stakeholders and expected to provide the framework for strengthening statistical capacity across the NSS as well as set the vision and milestones for where it would be in medium to long terms.

It is noteworthy that the National Statistical System of Georgia is currently undergoing a global assessment carried out by a team of international experts, led by Eurostat (for the ENP East countries and by UNECE (for the Central Asia countries), with support from UNECE/Eurostat and EFTA, at the request of the national statistical institute. It is part of a set of similar global assessments carried out in the countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. The aim of the Global Assessment is to review the strengths and weaknesses of the national statistical system, and propose improvement actions where relevant. The findings of this assessment will be finalised and made available to the consultant, by the start of the contract. The report will outline recommendations for Geostat and should therefore direct the National Strategy that the incumbent develops. This Terms of Reference (ToR) sets out the objective of the consultant’s assignment, scope of work, schedule of deliveries and institutional and organizational arrangements.

Duties and Responsibilities

The overall objective of the consultancy is to create a development strategy for the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) for 2019-2023. The Lead Expert will work with Geostat staff in scoping exercise and will provide input for drafting the strategy document.

Developing draft and finalized versions of NSDS with a vision and objectives for the entire national statistical system 2019-2023, strategies to achieve these objectives, and indicators to measure progress, should be based on the completed assessment and in consultation with stakeholders, and must be in line with, and in the format outlined by, the Official Government of Georgia Guidelines.

The scope of work for the Lead Expert will include, but may not be limited to:

  • Develop methodology for mapping political, economic, legal and technological environment that support/hinders the effectiveness of the Geostat’s operations;
  • Undertake a situation analysis of Geostat operations envisaging stakeholder mapping, conducting in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with key stakeholders and etc;
  • Establish platform for user-producer consultation and/or sector working groups as needed;
  • Conduct user-producer consultations to establish the key priorities in terms of statistical domains and indicators and to solicit user-feedback on communication and dissemination tools;
  • Analyse findings and recommendations of the Eurostat Global Assessment of Geostat and other relevant documentations, as needed;
  • Through consultative process identify focus areas and develop strategic objectives;
  • Study international best practices and provide recommendations on relevant models/systems, based on Georgian context;
  • Define and propose new innovative approaches to Data Collection, Processing and Dissemination Policy and Practices;  
  • Design the strategy including overall vision, mission, strategic goals and linkages with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and draft the NSDS document based on the template approved by Administration of the Government of Georgia;
  • Draft the strategy implementation action plan;
  • Elaborate Monitoring and Evaluation Plan for the NSDS, through setting out the medium-term goals in each of the areas targeted by the NSDS and developing appropriate indicators to monitor performance along with establishing baselines, milestones and targets for each indicator;
  • Discuss draft strategy with working group members and relevant personnel of Geostat;
  • Finalize Strategy 2019-2023 (NSDS), action plan and M&E plan based on feedback generated from WG members and Geostat;
  • Present the documents at a national consultation and dissemination workshop.

Deliverables:

  • Situation Report (by end of October 2018)
  • Draft NSDS 2019-2023 (November 2018)
  • Draft Action Plan of NSDS (December 2018)
  • Draft Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (M&E Plan) (December 2018)
  • Finalized NSDS 2019-2023, Action Plan and M&E Plan (by mid-January 2019, for presentation end of January 2019)
  • Field report including accomplishments undertaken during the consultancy period and provide a set of recommendations for further implementation of NSDS.

Management Arrangements:

The Lead Expert will work under overall supervision of Governance Reform Fund (GRF) through the Governance Reform Fund Project Manager and in close coordination with respective personnel from National Statistics Office of Georgia.

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. In addition, the respective GRF team will be responsible to share relevant documents, contact details and other necessary information with the service provider.

Payment modality and deliverables:

The payment schedule is given below and will be made upon satisfactory completion/submission and approval of the deliverables by the supervisor:

  • Situation Report (by end of October 2018)
  • Draft NSDS 2019-2023 (November 2018)
  • Draft Action Plan of NSDS (December 2018)
  • Draft Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (M&E Plan) (December 2018)
  • Finalized NSDS 2019-2023, Action Plan and M&E Plan (by mid-January 2019, for presentation end of January 2019)
  • Field report including accomplishments undertaken during the consultancy period and provide a set of recommendations for further implementation of NSDS.

Payment Schedule:

  • Deliverable 1: 30% of the total amount
  • Deliverables 2 - 4: 50 % of the total amount
  • Deliverables 5 - 6: 20 % of the total amount

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

  • Demonstrates integrity by modelling 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 favouritism.

Functional competencies:

  • Strong communication and analytical skills;
  • Demonstrated skills in drafting reports;
  • Ability to work under pressure with several tasks and various deadlines;
  • Actively generates creative, practical approaches and solutions to overcome challenging situations;
  • Excellent writing, presentation/public speaking skills;
  • A pro-active approach to problem-solving;
  • Computer literacy.

Leadership and Self-Management skills:

  • Builds strong relationships with the working group and with the project partners; focuses on impact and results for the project partners and responds positively to feedback;
  • Cooperates with working group effectively and demonstrates strong conflict resolution skills;
  • Consistently approaches work with energy, positivity and a constructive attitude;
  • Demonstrates strong influencing and facilitation skills;
  • Remains calm, in control and good humored under pressure;
  • Demonstrates openness to change, new ideas and ability to manage ambiguity;
  • Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
  • Demonstrates ability to transfer knowledge and competencies;
  • Is able to work independently and hurdle competing priorities.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • At least Master’s degree in statistics, social sciences, public policy or other related fields (minimum requirement: Master’s degree - 7 points; PhD – additional 3 points).

Experience

  • At least 10 years of professional experience in statistics or economics, or a sector relevant for the implementation of this contract (minimum requirement: 10 years - 10 points; more than 10 years – additional 2 points);
  • At least 10 years of experience delivering statistical and strategy-based consultancy (minimum requirement: 10 years - 8 points, more than 10 years - additional 2 points);
  • At least 5 years of experience in the development of NSDS or similar documents for developing countries (minimum requirement: 5 years - 10 points, more than 5 years - additional 5 points);
  • Extensive knowledge of statistical systems of other countries and their statistical development strategies; 
  • Strong knowledge and experience in statistics strategy development; 
  • Strong knowledge of Monitoring and Evaluation systems;
  • Experience of working in Georgia and/or knowledge of the region’s context is an asset (3 points);
  • Experience with the UN organization is an asset.

Language Requirements:

  • Excellent command of written and spoken English.

Evaluation: 

Offerors will be evaluated against combination of technical and financial criteria. Maximum obtainable score is 100, out of which the total score for technical criteria equals to 70 (desk review: 50 points, interview: 20 points) 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.