International Consultant to support gradual introduction of LEADER/CLLD as a rural development approach measure in Georgia

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GE Home-based; Georgia

Application deadline 2 years ago: Monday 6 Sep 2021 at 23:59 UTC

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Contract

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Background

Article 332 of the Association Agreement between the EU and Georgia states that the “Parties shall cooperate to promote agricultural and rural development, in particular through progressive convergence of policies and legislation”. The Government of Georgia demonstrated its commitment in implementing an institutional reform aimed at creating a policy management system which represents a new approach for rural development in Georgia aligned with the relevant EU regulations and common provisions on agriculture and rural development.

UNDP project “Improving Rural Development in Georgia” under EU-funded European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development - ENPARD III has at its core institutional and a cross-cutting capacity development for institutional actors (civil actors, private sector and public organizations) involved in laying down the general policy and governance framework for rural development in Georgia.

With this purpose, UNDP Project has been supporting MEPA concerning institutional set up of the following separate authorities, operating in close cooperation: (i) the Managing Authority, being a public body acting at national level, to be in charge of preparing and implementing the programmes, including selection of measures and their publicity, the coordination, evaluation, monitoring and reporting of the programme concerned and managed by a senior official with exclusive responsibilities; and (ii) the Rural Development (IPARD) Agency with functions of a similar nature as a Paying Agency in the Member States being in charge of application processing as well as authorisation, OTS inspection, Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS), accounting of commitments, payments and the execution.

Agriculture and Rural Development Strategy of Georgia provides country’s vision for the coming years (2021-2027) 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 member state knowledge and experience in this field. The ongoing UNDP support under EU-funded ENPARD is instrumental in assisting the Government (Inter-Agency Coordination Council for Rural Development - IACC) in its endeavor to develop the institutional and human capacities for management of the rural development sector.

In support for diversifying the rural economy and improving the quality of life in rural areas, the Georgian Government agreed to support Bottom-up approach – LEADER/CLLD (LEADER and CLLD both refer to a local development method to engage local actors in the design and delivery of local development strategies. The principle of this approach is that a local partnership assumes the responsibility for designing and implementing a strategy financed by different funds as long as they comply with the core values and goals of these funds. Hereinafter, LEADER is a term used to imply also CLLD)

operating successfully in the EU since 1991. From 2015, with ENPARD support, 14 projects were launched in regions where agriculture by itself cannot become a sufficient source of income for the rural population. Local Action Groups were established in Lagodekhi, Dedoplistskaro, Akhmeta, Kazbegi, Tetritskaro, Tsalka, Borjomi, Akhalkalaki, Keda and Khulo (In Ajara region, A.R. Ministry of Agriculture established 46 Unions of Local Active Citizens known as AMAGs. They are considered as a mechanism for community engagement in identification of local needs contributing to relevant policies and programmes at AR Governmental level),Tskaltubo and Mestia. These projects are implemented as a pilot measure aiming to promote LEADER and adapt to the Georgian policy and legislative context in line with the declared intention of the Government to encourage non-farm economic activities in rural areas. This process is meant also to assist the elaboration of a coherent approach and operating structure for LEADER in Georgia.

LEADER’s reputation as an integrated rural development method is growing, however, greater prominence leads to greater scrutiny; the financial and institutional sustainability of Georgian LAGs is not yet secured. In line with the EU integrated approach to rural development, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia is planning to further promote Local Action Groups and gradually introduce LEADER as a rural development approach measure, which takes into account not only the creation of employment and income-generation opportunities, but also factors such as community relations, human development and preservation of natural resources. National and local decision makers are expected to capitalize on the investment in LEADER and learning lessons; local communities empowered during the ENPARD supported pilot LEADER projects are eager and motivated to build on the solid foundations they have managed to set up and they see LEADER as an effective tool to tackle Georgian rural development challenges. Therefore, the LEADER model is further supported in Georgia as an effective mechanism to enhance rural development at municipality level.

Duties and Responsibilities

The overall objective of the consultancy is to lay down a coherent approach and operations manual for introducing LEADER as a method of delivering rural development support to beneficiaries through Local Action Groups, ensuring that individuals with local knowledge are involved in key decisions about how public funds are spent. The consultancy should stimulate the Government decisions on establishing an enabling environment by putting in place an operations framework for LEADER/CLLD where local communities are in charge of executing local development/service delivery initiatives.

The below listed tasks of the incumbent shall be performed in close cooperation with a Capacity Development Coordinator of the project “Improving Rural Development in Georgia” and include the following:

  1. Familiarize with Agriculture and Rural Development policy and governance structure including various bottom-up models so far applied in Georgia.
  2. Lay down a realizable LEADER scheme requirements based on the analyses of existing bottom-up models so far applied in Georgia: A General Assembly of Settlement (GAS), Council of Civil Advisors (CCA) and Active Citizens Local Unions (AMAGI).
  3. With substantive input and involvement from MEPA, lay down a LEADER National Operations Manual which should provide a governance framework for the implementation of LEADER, and LAG Local Development Strategies in accordance with the national policy priorities. The operations manual should be developed in tandem with relevant EU Regulations and national regulatory and governance requirements. The operations manual should be based on understanding local context and building on existing capacities. It should consist of the following sections:
  • LEADER Implementation Structure.

Division of responsibilities: Managing Authority, Paying Agency and Accountable Body.

  • Eligibility Conditions (minimum criteria).

Local Action Groups Governance and Management Requirements.

LEADER themes, sub-themes and geographical areas eligible for funding.

  • LEADER Programme Management Requirements.

Procedures, Minimum Funding (Grant) Threshold, Project Matching Funds.

Administrative Checks, Financial Oversight, Monitoring and Control.

  • Information and Publicity.

Information and Publicity Requirements for LEADER Funded Projects.

  • Indicative examples of generic templates.

    1. Deliver a 1-day capacity building workshop for relevant public sector entities and functionaries (up to 20 participants) at the national level to raise awareness on LEADER operating rules in the EU member states, to ascertain viability of different models and operationalization of the LEADER/CLLD framework in Georgia.

    2. Deliver two awareness raising workshops for selected public and civil sector entities (up to 30 participants each with the duration of 1-day each) at the municipal level to raise awareness on LEADER operating rules in the EU member states and the best suited approaches for Georgia.

All documents shall be developed in English.

Deliverables:

50% - Deliverable 1 - Terms of Reference.

50% - Deliverable 2 - Consultations on the feasibility of the submitted technical proposals.

Management Arrangements:

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the PAR-2 Project Manager in cooperation with the AoG and DGA. He will be directly responsible for reporting to, seeking approval, and obtaining a certificate of acceptance of work from the above-mentioned person.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

  • Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
  • Understanding of the mandate and the role of UNDP would be an asset;
  • Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UNDP;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional Competencies:

  • Strong and proven research and analytical skills;
  • Proven ability to deliver quality output working under tight deadlines;
  • Proven ability to coordinate with others and to work as part of a team;
  • Ability to work independently and under pressure.

Leadership and Self-Management skills:

  • Builds strong relationships with the working group and with the project partners; focuses on impact and results for the project partners and responds positively to feedback;
  • Cooperates with the working group effectively and demonstrates strong conflict resolution skills;
  • Consistently approaches work with energy, positivity and a constructive attitude;
  • Demonstrates openness to change, new ideas and ability to manage ambiguity;
  • Demonstrates strong oral communication skills;
  • Demonstrates the ability to transfer knowledge and competencies.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Master’s degree in public administration, public policy, agriculture and rural development, economics and business administration or related field (Minimum Requirement) - 8 Points.

Experience:

  • At least 7 years of professional experience of working with LEADER, either via Managing Authority/Paying Agency/Accountable Body and/or Local Action Group (Minimum Requirement) - 10 Points.
  • At least 5 years’ experience of work on establishing or operating LEADER as a rural development approach measure within the EU, accession or a candidate country (Minimum Requirement) - 10 Points.
  • Experience in providing consultancy to government or non-government organizations on themes and areas eligible for funding under the European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) will be an asset (additional 4 points).

    Experience in providing consultancy services to bi-/multi-lateral donor organizations and EU Pre-accession Assistance for Rural Development (IPARD) beneficiary countries will be an asset (additional 4 points).

    International experience in providing technical assistance within a comparable transition context (including Georgia) would be an asset (additional 4 points).

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 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 financial proposals.

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.

Added 2 years ago - Updated 2 years ago - Source: jobs.undp.org