UNDP Jobs - 81022- Consultant to produce “Stakeholder Engagement and

Consultant to produce “Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Strategy 2018-2020” for Rural Development

Location :

Tbilisi, with travel to regions of Georgia, GEORGIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

24-Sep-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

60 working days during the period of October 2018 – December 2018 with travel to regions of Georgia

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

The signing of the Association Agreement (AA) with EU in June 2014 (http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-14-430_en.htm) earmarked a new stage of cooperation between EU and Georgia. The AA aims to deepen political and economic relations between the EU and Georgia and to gradually integrate Georgia into the EU’s internal market. This entails, as one element, creating a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area between the EU and Georgia.

The Article 333 of the Association Agreement (Cooperation between the Parties in the field of agriculture and rural development) provides with the clause on ‘facilitating the mutual understanding of agricultural and rural development policies’. This is the basis for the formulation of a Rural Development Strategy for Georgia which will in turn yield specification of measures which will benefit from funding under the European Neighborhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD).

A National Rural Development Strategy elaboration process has been supported by FAO and UNDP under ENPARD programme and with UNDP’s support to Ajara Government within the framework of EU supported ENPARD Programme. The Ajara Rural Development Strategy 2016-2020 approved by Government of Ajara Autonomous Republic (March 2016) was followed by the establishment of the Rural Development Council of Ajara (hereinafter referred to as RDC). Government of Georgia approved the first ever National Strategy (30 December 2016, Government Decree N631), which provided the country’s vision in the coming four years (2017-2020) related to the key areas of rural development – growth and diversification of local economies, improvement of social and public services, increase of employment and sustainable use of national resources. The strategy represents a new approach to rural development in Georgia grounded on the best EU practices in this field. The adoption of the national strategy was also followed by the establishment of an Inter-Agency Coordination Council (hereinafter referred to as IACC) for Rural Development led by the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia with technical assistance from the European Union (EU) and UNDP.

The goal of the Rural Development Strategy for Georgia 2017-2020 is to support Georgia’s sustainable economic development through enhanced social-economic activities in rural areas and improved living condition of rural population. It provides the country’s vision for 2017-2020 in key areas of rural development – growth and diversification of local economies, improvement of social and public services, sustainable use of national resources and local engagement in the development process. Local community involvement will be supported and widespread participation from many groups in the rural development will be pursued and facilitated.

Both Councils - the Inter-Agency Coordination Council for Rural Development (hereinafter referred to as IACC) and the Rural Development Council of Ajara AR (hereinafter referred to as RDC) coordinate the implementation of rural development policies and promote cooperation and coordination among its members. Both councils have approved multiyear Action Plan 2018-2020.

Stakeholder engagement, especially efficient use of the LEADER approach is an essential institute for rural development practice in EU. MEPA needs clearly defined communication strategy to adequately manage stakeholder engagement process. Assistance to the government should ensure that the rural development policy dialogue is established. It needs to be taken into consideration that there is a lack of awareness of the stakeholders about rural development issues in general, as the rural development is somewhat a new notion in Georgian reality. Evolution of Rural Development Strategy of Georgia, its Actions Plans, priorities, activities and implementation mechanisms should be communicated to public by the respective state authorities for supporting and ensuring stakeholder engagement in the process of rural development policy delivery.

It is expected that stakeholder engagement process is affected by bumpy reform process. Mistakes, reversals of once taken actions, need for corrective measures are usual characteristics of any reform process. The stakeholder communication strategy should give due consideration to the fact that the rural development policy is not fully established policy, but rather is ongoing reform. There is still long way to go before putting in place rural development policy system fully aligned with EU practices. Moreover, this process is not about simply copying the practice of one of the countries. Within the common framework EU leaves significant room for member countries to set up their own model for rural development. Georgia doesn’t have to fully adjust to EU framework, however intention to share best practices and Georgia’s aspiration to EU provide arguments for Georgia to take policy decisions on rural development model and sequence of steps towards adoption of this model.

With the objective to further support multi-stakeholder dialogue, engagement and cooperation among government and non-government actors and to enhance communication on the reform, UNDP Project “Support to Rural Development in Georgia”, initiated under the EU ENPARD II to develop a Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Strategy as a tool for the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia.

It’s worth mentioning that currently the process of establishing a Georgian Rural Development Network (GRDN) is ongoing GRDN will be using various instruments of communication among which the website is expected to be one of the most powerful channels. The GRDN will be a „platform“ for information provision and sharing on RDS, Action Plans, programmes, projects and other initiatives, raising efficiency of stakeholder engagement, advocacy for mainstreaming priorities and solving local problems, improving the quality of implementation of rural development programmes, promoting cooperation and coordination among its members and beyond, identification sources of funding, sharing local learning and practices, receiving advices, supporting innovations and etc. The GRDN will also be an effective tool/mechanism for communication to wider stakeholders.

The Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Strategy (hereinafter, the Strategy) is expected to use GRDN as one of the instruments to promote more focused engagement and consultation processes, particularly during the development of the RDS for 2021-2024. In general, the Strategy is considered as one of the effective tools for supporting stakeholder involvement in rural development policy elaboration and implementation.

The Strategy should be a consolidated document, addressing all aspects of rural development in Georgia and so forth, communicate on the RDS 2017-2020, future RDS 2021-2024, respective Action Plans and entail the information provision on other initiatives towards shaping the rural development according to best practices.

The Strategy should serve as “guidebook” for the use by line ministries, public authority at national, regional and local levels in Georgia, IACC, RDC of Ajara A.R.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of National Project Manager of the Project “Support to Rural Development in Georgia” and in close consultations with the UNDP Economic Development Team Leader.

The major tasks and responsibilities of the incumbent shall include, but not be limited to:

Encourage and facilitate discussions with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, and its national, regional and local partners, including the Ministry of Agriculture of Ajara A.R. on the fundamental basis of stakeholder engagement and communication tools/mechanisms, underpinning on rural development context of Georgia;
Undertake analysis of the existing practices of the Lead Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia and its national, regional and local partners, including the Ministry of Agriculture of Ajara A.R. for stakeholder engagement and communication tools/mechanisms they utilize and they wish to undertake;
Consult with relevant agencies: UNDP Economic Development Team, EU Delegation to Georgia, FAO Georgia, UNDP Project on the topics the stakeholder engagement and communication tools and find out their views towards the issues of concern;
Encourage and facilitate the discussions with the LAGs and their supporting NGOs, other NGOs, civil society representatives and agencies, as well as donors operating in the sector on the issues for strengthening stakeholder engagement and communication in rural development policy planning and implementation, how do they see the enhancement of their inclusion in the processes and consultations leading to decision-making;
Provide information to Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, and its national, regional and local partners, including the Ministry of Agriculture of Ajara A.R. about the EU best practices for stakeholder engagement and communication.
Advise the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, and its partners from the international perspective, experience and lessons learned on stakeholder engagement in rural development action, effective communication tools/mechanisms and measures to be undertaken for rising effectiveness of rural policy planning and delivery, including but not limited to the most appropriate set of actions on the ground.
Advise the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, the Ministry of Agriculture of Ajara A.R., IACC and Ajara A.R. RDC and its partners on streamlining the Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Strategy as one of the main tools for rural development policy delivery.
Based on the lessons learnt, draw up the draft „Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Strategy 2018-2020“, discuss the draft version with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, the Ministry of Agriculture of Ajara A.R. and other relevant parties.
Involvement of MEPA at all stages of drafting the strategy should be sufficient to ensure ownership of the Strategy;
Develop the final version of the „Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Strategy 2018-2020“, that among others, will earmark and examine the following questions and not be limited to:
- How will the key rural, including environmental, economic and social stakeholders be identified at national / regional / local levels and engaged in the process?
- Which steps will be put in place to ensure that the identified stakeholders can effectively be involved from the first stages of programme development, through to delivery on the ground, according to the capacity and means of each?
- How will the results of the stakeholder participation be communicated? How will the stakeholder input be considered and the final decision reached?
- What type of tools/mechanisms could be used for communication with wider stakeholders?
- Which communication tools could be applied to ensure application of bottom-up principles in policy shaping axis and decision-making process?
- How to develop a clear and effective communication channels to ensure appropriate exchange of information, e.g. to avoid duplication of efforts between various initiatives of different players on the ground?
- How to communicate to ensure transparency and timeliness of for a more successful rural development planning process and outcome?
- How to promote application of the LLCD/LEADER principle in rural development context of Georgia, by putting an emphasis on the role of LAGs of the 8 municipalities supported through the ENPARD rural development pilot projects, AMAGs in Ajara A.R., best practices of their operation?
- How to ensure engagement of local communities in municipalities where LAGs or AMAGs do not exist?
- How to enable best practice and opportunities to be shared with LAGs from activities funded through different initiatives?
- What are the effective and efficient communication tools for interacting with and involvement of other rural stakeholders including sector-focused groups of interest for rural development and who have a role to play in the implementation of targeted interventions? Special focus should be made on partnering and empowering groups of women, youth and representative of vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, ethnic minorities and IDPs;
- How to communicate for mapping of existing rural development support programmes, both public and donor funded, to ensure complementarity and synergy between different undertakings?
- How to communicate and engage more stakeholders to ensure sustainability of the actions?
- How to communicate on and involve stakeholders in planning and implementing monitoring and evaluation frameworks for rural development policy and programmes in a participatory way?
- What are the opportunities for international networking and what kind of added-value could it produce?
Draft the Action Plans of “Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Strategy” for Georgia and Ajara AR:
- Define target groups and for each target group to elaborate tailored communication plan including methods of communication (such as: forums, seminars, workshops, video material, booklets, TV broadcasting, etc.) and information that needs to be exchanged.

The Action Plans should include the provisions/information/data on Priority Measures, Activities, Performance Indicators, Responsible Agencies, Partnering Organisations, Indicative Budget, Funding Source and Comments (typical to a format of RDS APs).

The “Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Strategy 2018-2020” shall be produced in Georgian language.

Deliverables and payment schedule:

Deliverable 1: Inception report including a work plan and analysis of existing practice for stakeholder engagement and communication within the Lead Ministry and its national, regional and local partners, including the Ministry of Agriculture of Ajara AR – due on 25 October 2018 (20% of the total amount)
Deliverable 2: At least one workshop conducted for government stakeholders on good practice examples in EU member states and upon submission of the Draft “Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Strategy 2018-2020” for Rural Development in Georgia – dues on 30 November 2018 (40% of the total amount)
Deliverable 3: Final version of “Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Strategy 2018-2020” for Rural Development in Georgia and draft Action Plans for “Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Strategy 2018-2020” for Georgia and its Ajara region with recommendations for future consideration – due on 20 December 2018 (40% of the total amount)

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN's values and ethical standards;
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:

Knowledge management and learning:

Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more Practice Areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills.

Development and operational effectiveness:

Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
Ability to lead formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects, mobilize resources;
Strong IT skills, particularly with MS Office and databases;
Excellent written and oral presentation skills.

Management and leadership:

Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Leads teams effectively and shows conflict resolution skills;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors;
Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree in Public Relations, Strategic Communication, Media Relations, Social Communication or Applied Sociology (minimum requirement: 8 points).

Experience:

Experience of drafting/planning at least 3 policy documents and/or communication strategies (minimum requirement: 3 to 5 - 10 points; more than 5 - additional 2 points);
Experience in implementation of the communication measures (such as campaigns, action plans and others) is an asset (5 points);
Minimum 5 years of experience in providing consultancy services and/or on-the-job support to government and non-government institutions on social and/or economic aspects (minimum requirement: 5 to 7 years - 10 points; more than 7 - additional 2 points);
Experience of working on social engagement issues will be an additional asset (3 points).

Language Requirements:

Georgian native speaker. Fluency in English.

Evaluation:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the Cumulative analysis, against combination of technical and financial criteria. Technical evaluation stage encompasses desk review and interview of applications. Experts not meeting any of minimum technical qualification requirements will be automatically excluded from the list of candidates for further technical evaluation.

Maximum obtainable score is 100, out of which the total score for technical criteria equals to 70 points (70%) and for financial criteria 30 (30%). Technical criteria composed of desk review (40 points) and interview (30 points). Offerors who pass 70% of maximum obtainable scores of the desk review (i.e. 40 x 70% = 28 points because of a desk review of applications will be invited for the interview. Those offerors who pass 70% of maximum obtainable scores for interviews of (i.e. 30x 70% = 21 points) will be considered as short-listed offerors and requested to provide financail proposals.

Financial Proposal:

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum, with the cost breakdown. Payments are based upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.