Historique

1. Project Description 

The project “Towards a Professional and Citizen-centred Civil Service in Mongolia” (Project) will be implemented from 2018 till 2022, jointly with the Civil Service Council (CSC), the Cabinet Secretariat (CS) and other government entities. The project is funded by the Government of Canada. The project will support the implementation of the civil service reform priorities towards creating a stable, impartial, professional and citizen-centred civil service and their implementation through capacity-building. The project will also support the implementation of the gender quotas for administrative posts in the civil service set by the Gender Equality Law, and citizen’s engagement in improving the quality of public services.

The Parliament of Mongolia approved the revision of the Civil Service Law (SCL) in December 2017. The overall aim of the CSL is to strengthen merit-based and performance driven culture and systems in the civil service of Mongolia. It has introduced some new elements in the civil service such as standardization of the civil service, professionalization training specific to each post ranking, with mandatory requirements for career advancement, reform of the examinations based on tests and interviews and with a new content, strategic and business planning in public sector organizations. The new Civil Service Law will be effective from January 2019.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Sustainable Development Vision of Mongolia 2030 has put forward the principles of governance for sustainable: 1) ensure continuity of public policies, improve inter-sectoral coordination; 2) adherence to the principle of rule of law; 3) ensure transparency in the public sector management; 4) decentralization and participation of all parties in the decision making; 5) improved ethics management and zero-tolerance to corruption.

In February 2018, the Government of Mongolia passed a resolution, approving “Three Pillars Development Policy”. Improved integrity, discipline and accountability in the civil service has been defined as one of the three pillars. It further defines the goals of professionalization and capacity building, and to promote ethics, integrity and transparency in the civil service. In May 2018, the Cabinet Secretariat established a working group with a task of developing “Civil Service Reform Programme for Mongolia” within the overall framework of the Three Pillars Development Policy.  

In spite of the initiatives being taken towards modernization of the civil service, challenges remain. The problems identified by the Project Partners include:

• The absence of a cohesive reform policy and institutional framework; 
• The inherent rigidity of the public administration structures not conducive to innovation; 
• New elements are proposed without clear conceptual underpinnings and sufficient preparation;
• Limited collaborative policy making and sharing of information in support of achieving common goals and a more result driven and accountable Civil Service.

The purpose of this consultancy assignment is to assist the Government of Mongolia in developing a comprehensive and coherent civil service reform strategy underpinning implementation of the revised CSL, reflecting on the current realities of the civil service of Mongolia, key legal and policy changes, emerging global trends in public administration and civil service improvement that has been achieved in other countries.   

Devoirs et responsabilités

1. Scope of Work

Output 1: Civil Service Reform Strategy and a roadmap for its implementation (First and second mission in Mongolia).

Expected activities include (but not limited to):

1. Review of existing reform initiatives and build an understanding of the reform context.
2. Conduct assessment of the civil service structure of Mongolia based on the data of the Civil Service Council, against established international benchmarks relevant to the Mongolia Civil Service context. The assessment should include but not be limited to gauge current structure, size, wage bill, skill mix, geographic distribution, gender equality, turnover, competency framework and training requirements.  
3. Review mandates and functions on policy analysis, planning, coordination and human resource management in the Civil Service of Mongolia. 
4. Conduct core stakeholder consultations to identify the priorities and sequencing of key building blocks for Civil Service Reform, covering among other issues:
   1. Instilling a culture of performance and excellence in the civil service, including the review of the existing code of conduct on standard of behaviour for public officials;
   2. Improving system of reporting and information management aimed at managing resource efficiently and with a view to provide citizen centered and result-focused services;
   3. Strategic planning and results based performance monitoring and evaluation systems;
   4. Review of Human Resource Management processes and frameworks.
5. Proposal of context-relevant strategic approaches to address priority reform issues, including sequencing and prioritization of the reform process.
6. Formulation of a draft Civil Service Reform Strategy document (incorporating, at minimum, a Human Resource Strategy, Capacity Building Strategy, People Centered and Accountable Civil Service Strategy) on the basis of the above.
7. Development of a draft Implementation Matrix for the short, medium and long term Activities attached to the Strategy, along with SMART (sustainable, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound) indicators of success.

Output 2: Feedback from wider stakeholders on the draft Civil Service Reform Strategy (The third mission in Mongolia)

Expected activities include (but not limited to):

1. Convening of validation workshops with Heads of Ministries/Agencies and relevant stakeholders including: representatives of the private sector, civil society and the civil service
2. Collection of reflections and recommendations on the draft Strategy
3. Refinement and finalization of the Strategy and Matrix on the basis of wider stakeholder feedback and guidance from the key government partners, including the Parliament of Mongolia, the Civil Service Council and the Cabinet Secretariat.
4. Submit a final Civil Service Reform Strategy and final report. 

1. Expected Deliverables and Payment Schedule

1. Institutional Arrangement

The contractor shall report to the Project Manager, and through Project Manager to UNDP. S/he is expected to carry out the assignment in close consultation and cooperation with the Civil Service Council and the Cabinet Secretariat.  The international consultant will also engage in extensive consultations with sectoral stakeholder in other ministries and agencies and work closely with the Senior Technical Advisor of the Project and the member of the government inter-agency civil service reform working group.   

Compétences

Competencies of the Successful Individual Contractor

• Excellent communications and facilitation skills;
• Fluent English (written and oral);

Qualifications et expériences requises

Qualifications of the Successful Individual Contractor

• Advanced degree (Master’s Degree or equivalent) in Management, Pubic Administration or a related field from a recognized and reputable institution.
• Minimum of 10 years’ experience at senior management level, including at least 5 years’ experience in the development and/or implementation of reforms strategies in the public sector, including change management and organizational reengineering.
• At least 3 prior assignments of a similar nature and complexity, developing performance management and result-focused strategic planning and delivery in the public sector.
• Experience of civil service or public-sector reforms of developing countries is an asset;
• Experience of producing high quality policy documents, including phased implementation matrixes and monitoring indictor

1. Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

Selection criteria is Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications will be weighted a maximum of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a max of 30%. Scores of the technical qualification are:

Educational background – 20 points

Relevant experience – 50 points

Technical proposal/approach/workplan – 30 points

Documents to be submitted as part of the application:

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
• Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, if applicable, on how they will approach and complete the assignment;
• Sample/reference of the previous written work of relevance (paper, strategy, report, analysis, etc.)
• Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided.