Antecedentes

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.

Article 333 of the Association Agreement (Cooperation between the Parties in the field of agriculture and rural development) provides with the clauses on ‘facilitating the mutual understanding of agricultural and rural development policies. Article 332 of the Association Agreement states that the “Parties shall cooperate to promote agricultural and rural development, in particular through progressive convergence of policies and legislation”. A National Rural Development Strategy elaboration process has been supported by FAO and UNDP and with UNDP’s support to Ajara Autonomous Republic of Georgia within the framework of EU supported ENPARD. Government of Georgia approved the first ever National Rural Development Strategy (Programme) in December 2016, which provided country’s vision for the coming years (2017-2020) in 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 European Union practice and the EU MS knowledge and experience in this field.

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.

With the objective to support multi-stakeholder dialogue and cooperation among government and non-government actors, there is formal consultation process that seeks to take broad stakeholder voices in the delivery of Rural Development Strategy. It is expected that participatory planning will continue to be used as a mechanism for civic activation and inclusive decision-making.

The adoption of the national strategy was followed by the establishment of an Inter-Agency Coordination Council (hereinafter referred to as IACC) for Rural Development which is led by the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia. The Ajara Rural Development Strategy approved by the Government of Autonomous Republic (A.R.) was followed by the establishment of the Rural Development Council of Ajara (hereinafter referred to as RDC) which is chaired by the head of A.R. Government.

Both Councils coordinate the implementation of rural development policies and promote cooperation and coordination between and among its members. The membership of IACC and RDC involves representatives from various state agencies/line ministries, grouped under the 3 pillars of the Rural Development Strategy: economic, environment and social. Thematic Working Groups were established to contribute to advances in knowledge about rural development and enable the Strategy and respective Action Plans to become more effective in terms of delivering sustainable rural development outcomes.

Due to structural and functional reorganization of the Government of Georgia, announced in November 2017 and implemented in December 2017, followed by the second wave of Government reshuffle announced by the newly-appointed Prime-Minister in June 2018 and finalized in September 2018 (changes in the Law of Georgia on the Structure, Authority and Rules of Operation of the Government of Georgia), the composition of the Inter-Agency Coordination Council (IACC) changed. Also, the counterpart Ministry was affected. The environment component of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Recourses Protection has been merged with the Ministry of Agriculture to form the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture (MEPA). This change resulted in challenges in terms of reconstituting institutional arrangements and functional distribution, but the change also facilitates the cooperation with MEPA kin relation to the implementation of the environmental component of the project Improving Rural Development in Georgia (IRDG) under the EU ENPARD III programme.

UNDP project “Improving Rural Development in Georgia” under EU-funded ENPARD III has at its core a cross-cutting capacity development component for public sector agencies and officials involved in laying down the general policy framework of the rural development of Georgia as well as for all structural units involved in formulating and implementing rural development actions (measures);  the successful implementation of the rural development policy in Georgia requires technical support to national agencies and relevant frontline departments in increasing effectiveness, efficiency and performance of the RD policy/strengthening the strategic approach; ensuring better coordination and complementarity with other policy areas; enhancing RD policy potential to better address specific development needs of rural areas; making RD intervention logic more user friendly  and supportive for beneficiaries; and facilitating the movement of labour out of agriculture to sectors with higher productivity.

Deberes y responsabilidades

The primary objective of the consultancy is to provide to the UNDP/IRDG project, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia (MEPA) and the Ministry of Agriculture of Ajara AR of Georgia (MOAA), based on relevant EU MS experience and successful practice, in identifying relevant and practical approaches in designing, establishing and running a credible, traceable, overarching Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for measuring performance of Rural Development in Georgian.

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the National Project Manager, Project Technical Leader and Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator of “Improving Rural Development in Georgia” Project in close collaboration with the Department of Policy and Analysis of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia and the Department of Rural Development of the Ministry of Agriculture of Ajara AR of Georgia.

The UNDP in Georgia will make arrangements for meetings and travel within Georgia and facilitate liaison with government, other national stakeholders.

At national/Autonomous Republic of Ajara levels, major tasks of the incumbent shall include, but not be limited to

• Conduct desk research to build understanding on UNDP/IRDG, the Rural Development Inter-Agency Coordination Council (IACC/National), the Rural Development Council (RDC/Ajara) Common M&E systems of Rural Development Strategies and Action Plan, Government of Georgia (GoG) M&E and etc.
• Support IRDG project M&E/MIS system
  • In review existing results framework and elaborated suitable indicators (milestones, intermediate indicators, connection to higher level development indicators) for measuring its performance and for management information
  • Advice about the costs and time schedule of the monitoring on the proposed of the identified key project indicators.
  • Develop data collection methodology, (including data collection plan, data collection methods/tools, frequency, data sources, ICT tools, data analysis and visualization and etc.)
  • Recommend how to Identify system that allows comparative evaluation of interventions.
  • Advice the Project on proposed linkages with 1. A Revised EU International Cooperation and Development Results Framework; 2. SDGs 3. ENAPRD Phase III and 4. UNDP Country Program Document Results and Resource Framework and incorporate in the IRDG’s M&E MIS.
  • Review the existing M&E system in the prism of if it is Technology-Enabled.
• M&E of RDS/RDAP. Support MEPA in:
  • Successively introducing feasible impact indicators in the RD M&E.
  • Integrating feedback-loops for continuous improvement in the M&E of RD.
  • Assess RD, agricultural, ARDA and other M&E systems feasibility, elaborate recommendations for improvement before Integrating into one system.
  • Adjusting the M&E soft to the new demands (integration, GoG M&E) and to be highly user-friendly (esp. analysis and reporting).
  • Ensuring that all M&E can sustainably be implemented by MEPA/MoA, like identification of critical points, system traceability, skills, feedback of users/system user-friendliness.
  • Sustainably and correctly conducting M&E for the measuring an ENPARD phase III intervention logic and performance indicators.
• M&E of the RD grant system managed by ARDA. Support IRDG and ARDA in:
  • Establishing suitable indicators for measuring of the degree of implementation and the impact of the IRDG financed municipality level interventions in economic diversification and environment and sustainable management of natural resources.
  • Identification of the needs for additional tools for upgrading/adjusting the M&E system and soft elaborated to track results of the Rural Development Action Plan for 2018-2020.
• Provide a joint training for the IRDG project partner ministries/agencies on Results-based management (RBM) and monitoring & evaluation techniques.
• Assist IRDG, MEPA/MoA and ARDA as appropriate, to conceptualize or/and propose a better system how to consolidate progress reports (including data analysis, visualization, infographics and etc.), and to support compilation and dissemination of the Annual Reports.

Deliverables and timeframes:

The Consultant is expected to deliver the following main deliverables:

• Deliverable 1: Inception report covering methodology, preliminary findings of desk research – due by 30 November 2019
• Deliverable 2: Concept note on IRDG / MEPA M&E systems;  Concept note on M&E of the RD grant system managed by ARDA – due by 15 January 2020
• Deliverable 3: Develop curriculum of results-based management and monitoring & evaluation techniques, as well as providing on job training; Concept note on the system how to consolidate progress reports (including data analysis, visualization, infographics and etc.), and to support compilation and dissemination of the Annual Reports – due by: March 25, 2020

The Consultant will be requested to provide Mission Reports on the tasks accomplished and deliverables elaborated. She/he will also be requested to elaborate inputs to the Project Progress Reports.

Payment modality:

• 1st Mission Report on the tasks accomplished and deliverable 1 (30 November 2019) – 30%;
• 2nd Mission Reports on the tasks accomplished and deliverable 2 (15 January 2020) – 40%;
• 3rd Mission Reports on the tasks accomplished and deliverable 3 (25March 2020) – 30%.

The consultant will report to the National Project Manager of the “Improving Rural Development in Georgia” Project and will work in close cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia and in consultation with the UNDP Economic Development Team Leader. The payments will be produced upon the confirmation by UNDP of high-quality performance.

Competencias

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;
• 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

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education:

• Master’s degree in social science fields with solid experience in Result Based Management, Monitoring and Evaluation and Software (GIS) Development (minimum requirement: 5 points)

Experience:

• Hands-on experience in developing RD M&E frameworks in EU-member state or accession country related to rural non-farm economy (minimum requirement: 15 points);
• 7 years of experience in providing advisory services to the government and/or non-government organizations on rural development M&E framework (minimum requirement: 7 years - 8 points, more than 7 years - additional 5 points)
• Experience in delivering trainings will be an additional asset (7 points).

Language requirements:

• Fluency in English.

Evaluation:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the Cumulative analysis: Individual consultants will be evaluated 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 as a result of a desk review of applications will be invited for the interview. Those offerors who pass 70% of maximum obtainable scores for interviews (i.e. 30x 70% = 21 points) will be considered as short-listed offerors and included in the roster of qualified consultants.

Financial Proposal:

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum. Payments are based upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.  All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel.  In general, UNDP does not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources. 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.