Capacity Assessment: Joint Programmes

‘Delivering as One’ in Ethiopia

Terms of Reference

RFP/009/2010

1.      Background

The United Nations Country Team in Ethiopia has been developing a Delivering As One programme since 2008 [1]. As part of the One Programme component of Delivering As One a new set of Joint Programmes have been developed.

These consist of 5 Programmes funded under the Spanish MDG fund. These are 

• Edible Oil Value Chain Enhancement
• Children Food Security and Nutrition
• Leave No Woman Behind
• Harnessing Diversity for Sustainable Development and Social Change
• Enabling Pastoral Communities to Adapt to Climate Change and Restoring Range Land Environment.

These are currently in the early stages of implementation.

In addition as part of the Midterm Review of UNDAF 2009 the UNCT and the Government indentified three new Joint programmes known as Flagship Joint Programmes  to be implemented  at scale in areas where progress towards the MDGs is lagging and the UN could provide leadership the donor community  based on its comparative  advantage. 

They are:

• Enhancing Public Service Delivery to Accelerate Regional Employment Outcomes In Four Developing Regional States

• Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment

• Improving Maternal and Newborn Health and Survival.

The design of these programmes is nearing completion.

The UN Country Team wishes to undertake an external assessment of its capacity to successfully implement the Joint Programmes and to draw out implication for the Delivering As One agenda in the future.

2.      Objectives of Consultancy

The specific objectives of the Capacity Assessment are as follows:

• To profile the capacity (person hours) and the competency (skill sets) required to deliver on the 8 Joint Programmes.
• To assess the coordination mechanism in place or proposed for the implementation of the programmes and the way in which they interact with other national or donor coordination mechanisms.
• To assess the technical capacities and the competency available within the UN system in Ethiopia, including external UN support to agencies in Ethiopia and the division of labor between agencies to implement the programmes and deliver  results,  taking into consideration the UNs positioning within the wider DAG division of labor.
• To use the previous three stages as a basis to develop a view of the balance or imbalance in capacity and competency supply and demand; this analysis should identify critical capacity gaps, overlaps, synergies and technical requirements, segmenting the same by agency, based on the division of labor.
• To present clear recommendations to the UNCT for actions to address the findings proposing specific strategies with associated rationales and responsibilities by UN stakeholders. The recommendations should be  costed , to enable  the UN system to select the most suitable/cost-effective approaches and to mobilize resources for their implementation

3.      Scope of work

Under the supervision of UNCT and the day-to-day coordination of the Resident Coordinator’s Office, the capacity assessment team should undertake the following activities:

3.1  Initial Planning for the Assessment

Preparatory discussions and meetings with UNCT,  Consultative Committee and OMT to understand the expectations and concerns relating to technical capacities for the implementation of the Joint  Programmes .

Development of an interview guide/specific diagnostics tool to analyze the demand and supply for both capacity and competency relating to the Joint Programmes

Develop the timeline and activities, including schedule of field visits, to be undertaken during the consultancy

3.2 Data Collection and Analysis

Desk review of key documents, including;

• PASDEP 2005-10
• Ethiopia ‘Delivering as One’ Concept Paper
• Ethiopia UNDAF  (2007-11)
• Mid term Review of UNDAF 2009
• One UN Programme (2010-11)
• Programme documents for the 8 Joint Programmes
• UN capacity assessments undertaken in other pilot countries, as available
• Individual agency Country Programme Action Plans, country strategy documents and related operational plans (Country Programme Management Plans or similar documentation outlining staffing and technical support structures)
• National Sectoral; Coordination  frameworks including Health, Education and Water sector development plans
• National multi donor coordinated programmes  including   PBS, PSCAP, PSNP. DIP
• DAG division of labor
• Any other relevant documents

3.3  Conduct individual and group consultations with:

• UNCT  members
• Groups of UN Staff at all levels in Programmes and Operations in country
• Staff posted outside of Addis Ababa particuly in the developing Regional states
• UN staff association representatives
• Government of Ethiopia national and regional/district levels, senior leadership and technical staff particularly  MOFED and BOFEDS
• Selected bilateral donors
• Selected multilateral partners - for example, World Bank, AfDB, EU
• Civil society partners: representative group from local and international NGOs at national and local levels and community based organizations (as representatives of ‘beneficiaries’) (as appropriate)
• Private sector, including consultancy firms (as appropriate)

3.4  Review staff lists (which could include educational background, current post title, programme area(s), earlier professional experience, etc) and Job Descriptions as necessary

3.5  Analyze findings, and :

• Report on the ability of the UN in Ethiopia to implement   the Joint Programmes  and deliver the expected  results
• Analyse the adequately of existing coordination mechanism both within the UN and with  external partners
• Identify capacity  gaps and areas where coordination needs to be enhanced
• Recommend measures to fill identified capacity and competency gaps and to strengthen   coordination where necessary
• Consider  agency staff incentives  and performance assessment to enhance  Joint working
• Consider  on how to better incorporate contributions from Non-Resident Agencies
• Analyze the role of the UN in Ethiopia in relation to the changing aid environment.

3.6  Presentation and discussion of findings to the UNCT.

3.7  Outline a strategy  to better position the UN to deliver more effectively on a wider portfolio  of Joint Programmes  in future and make recommendations for actions to be taken up as part of an overall change management strategy, including:

• A Costed menu of options enabling UNCT to select the most efficient and cost-efficient approaches and mobilize resources for their implementation. Options should include  learning and staff development needs for existing staff, as well as additional or new skills sets and profiles required for results delivery

• The Magnitude of external support (technical support from region, additional resources, etc) required to deliver results
• How to maximize the complimentarity of the different UN agencies in Ethiopia and   share capacity across agencies, both to address gaps and also to increase the ‘cross-fertilization’ of technical capacity across the UN system

• The way to incorporate performance review related to joint working in the existing agency based performance review and management processes
• The Competencies required for UN agency programme officers who will be engaged in all stages of Joint Programme work including upstream design and dialogue with GOE and other partners, annual work planning, implementation of activities, delivery of results, monitoring and evaluation and effective reporting  on results.

4.      Reporting and Interfacing

The capacity assessment team will report to the UNCT, interfacing with RCO during the course of its work.  The RC will facilitate the designation of point persons who, among other responsibilities, can facilitate interactions with UN staff as required.

5.      Work Approach and Timing

The assignment should last not longer than 30 working days, in two phases outlined as follows:

Phase I

The purpose of this phase is to share the main findings of the capacity and competency assessment, to solicit input from UNCT and to generate buy-in.

The key milestone for Phase I is a preliminary document describing the capacity and competency needs of the UN to deliver on the Joint  Programmes  and  the current ability of the UNCT to satisfy those needs. The document should leverage sources described in the ‘scope’ section above, and provide a basis for discussion and consensus at the UNCT level on the capacity demand and supply of the UN in Ethiopia.

Phase II

The key milestone to be achieved in Phase II is an articulation of the recommendations responding to the consensus on the Phase I document. Recommendations should, as laid out in the ‘scope’ section above, define clearly actionable steps, costs, timelines and decision points to strengthen the capacity of the UN in ‘Delivering as One’ as regards Joint Programmes.

6.      Expected Deliverables

The capacity assessment team will deliver:

• A clearly defined work plan and schedule for implementation of the assessment (within first week of Phase I)

• An assessment interview guide / analytical tool (within first week of Phase I)
• Concise, analytical report assessing capacity and competency for delivery of Joint Programmes (at the end of Phase I)
• A set of recommendations, including costed menu of options, for the UNCT to consider as part of its overall change management strategy (at the end of Phase II)

7.      Profile of Experts

The capacity assessment team will be comprised of experts (minimum of one with experience in institutional reforms and another one with a good knowledge of the local milieu and language) with a combination of the following qualifications:

• Proven experience in organizational change management and business process reviews across the private and public sectors
• Demonstrated experience in working with, or supporting, the development of new and innovative approaches, particularly in all areas relating to human resource management
• Proven track record in performance management, human resource development, innovative learning strategies and incentive programmes, knowledge management and goal alignment
• Good knowledge of the UN and latest developments in Delivering As One at the country level
• Familiarity with the changing development aid environment particularly aid delivery, donor harmonization and alignment and aid cooperation in general
• Experience in working in/with developing countries and in a cross-cultural setting
• Ability to translate strategic thinking and innovative ideas into practical operational recommendations
• Solid analytical and presentation skills
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and negotiating skills
• Excellent proficiency in written and spoken English.

8.      Supervision and work relations

The assignment will be under the supervision of the RCO. The Experts shall also work with other Stakeholders that may be deemed necessary. It will be an office-based assignment with a minimum of two trips to the field to be covered by the successful consulting firm.

Evaluation Criteria

Technical proposals will be rated as per the following matrix. A firm will have to score a minimum of 70% to be considered for the next step. Financial evaluation will be conducted for the qualified and responsive technical proposals (i.e 70% and above). The responsive and qualified firm with the lowest financial proposal will be issued a contract.

Submission of Technical & Financial proposals

Qualified and interested Firms should submit their Technical and Financial proposals in separate sealed Envelopes to the following address no later than 15 March 2010.

UNDP Ethiopia

Procurement Specialist

ECA Compound Old Bld.

Africa Hall 7^th Floor

P.O.Box 5580

Vacancy No: RFP/009/2010

Fax: 251 11 5514599 / 5515147