Enhancing Quality Portfolio Performance in the Pacific - Needs Assessment and Developing Country and/or Region-Specific Capacity Enhancement Strategies

To support operational priority 6 (strengthening governance and institutional capacity) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Strategy 2030, a knowledge 
and support technical assistance (TA) was approved to help improve the capacity of 14 Pacific developing member countries (DMCs) to develop and 
implement projects, with a view to enhancing the performance of the Pacific portfolio.  The TA will provide support by (i) developing approaches for 
country- and/or region-specific capacity enhancement (short to long term), (ii) delivering targeted training programs and workshops, (iii) conducting 
technical audits and procurement reviews, and
(iv) providing capacity reinforcement for specific projects. Of these four outputs, output 1 requires a comprehensive needs assessment in all the 
Pacific DMCs in all aspects of project development and implementation, including financial management, and developing country and/or region-specific 
capacity enhancement strategies both in the short term and medium to long term. The Pacific Department (PARD) intends to recruit a consulting firm to 
undertake these tasks through a quality- and cost-based selection process. These terms of reference describe the specific tasks of the consulting team.

The consultants, in close coordination with the Pacific DMCs, will first undertake a comprehensive review of the current project preparation and 
implementation capacities of the 14 Pacific DMCs including institutional arrangements, policies, financial resources and allocations, human resources 
availability, skills, capacity enhancement initiatives, etc., and identify the capacity gaps and needs. The consultants will analyze the capacity needs 
in all the areas of the project cycle from country operations business plans to project completion. Based on thorough analysis of the capacity needs, 
the consultants together with government counterparts, will develop strategies for short-, medium- and long-term capacity enhancement. The consultants 
will also review the market situation, availability of local consultant and contracting industry, interest and availability of international resources, 
etc., and develop strategies for the local industry development. For short-term, the consultants may identify the capacity supplementation requirements 
in key areas of project preparation and implementation including project management, procurement, financial management, technical and climate and gender 
action plan implementation, etc.  For the medium- and long-term, the consulting team will develop strategies to establish sustainable regional 
institutional mechanisms to deliver certified training programs or accreditation schemes. Options that should be explored is partnering with regional 
universities, professional institutions and existing in-country training institutes.

The consultants also need to identify relevant local resources to partner with including individual national consultants to coordinate with the remote 
working of international consultants. Strong linkage of local and international resources is expected to effectively carry out the assignment.

The consultants will work closely with PARD’s Portfolio, Results, and Quality Control Unit, Pacific Country Offices (PCOs), resident mission in PNG and 
project administration units; and coordinate with relevant project teams and other development partners in the region. When working with Pacific DMCs, 
their executing and implementing agencies, the firm will also involve and coordinate with the Pacific Liaison and Coordination Office in Sydney, 
Australia and the Pacific Subregional Office in Suva, Fiji.