International Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Expert to identify gaps and recommend/justify priorities for aligning the Rural Development Agency systems, operating structures, staffing and c

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.

The Agriculture and Rural Development Strategy 2021-2027 of Georgia was developed based on the experience and results of implementing the 2017-2020 Rural Development Strategy and the 2015-2020 Agricultural Development Strategy. The 2021-2027 ARDS was drafted on the basis of the analysis of agricultural sector and existing situation in rural areas in Georgia. It gives data and analyses the policy significance of a range of broad socio-economic indicators. It fully reflects the ex-ante evaluation conducted with support from UNDP and FAO of locally implemented and ongoing programs and other evaluations. The ARDS sets out the priorities of the Government of Georgia, together with the directions for sectoral and multi-sectoral development linked to Georgia’s rural and agricultural development. The Common Monitoring and Evaluation System (CMES), developed with UNDP IRDG support, was nationally adopted on 22 December 2017. The national CMES 2018 document can also be downloaded from https://mepa.gov.ge/En/PublicInformation/6346.

Implementation of ARDS (https://eu4georgia.ge/wp-content/uploads/Agriculture-and-Rural-Development-Strategy-of-Georgia-2021%E2%80%932027.pdf) will make it possible to address important environmental, social and economic challenges facing Georgia and to have major breakthrough in regard to social-economic development in rural areas. Maximizing the agriculture potential of Georgia and its purposeful utilization is of vital significance for the national economy. Development of rural territories of Georgia is important for addressing the objectives such as: food security, environment protection, economic development, establishment of high quality of life and state security. The implementation of integrated management of natural resource is one of most important contributors to effective and sustainable rural development., especially improving sustainable forest management which will “ensure continuous delivery of vital direct and indirect benefits and resources to the population. This in turn facilitates the functioning of the field of economy, the growth of human welfare, poverty elimination and creates a favorable environment for the sustainable development of the country”.

The ongoing UNDP project “Improving Rural Development in Georgia” (IRDG) support under EU-funded ENPARD III 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 managing rural development sector and gradually bringing into alignment with the EU policy framework and CAP rules – basic regulations.

In support of this GoG commitment, UNDP has been supporting the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture (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 strategic programming, designing measures, including implementation procedures and their publicity, the coordination, monitoring and evaluation and managed by a senior official with exclusive responsibilities; and (ii) the subordinate entity Rural Development Agency (RDA) with functions of a similar nature as a Paying Agency in the Member States being in charge of application processing/selection of projects as well as authorisation, OTS inspection, Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS), accounting of commitments, payments and the execution.

The UNDP has supported RDA in conducting analysis of gaps between current capacities and those required for EU approval of IPARD II Paying Agencies, set out in the “standard” IPA Framework Agreement. On 18 November 2020, MEPA established an intra-ministerial working group “on institutional reform of RD policy management system in Georgia”, chaired by the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture (order N2-1072). The Working Group has approved a multi-year Institutional Reform Action Plan (2021-2024) on 7 April 2021, as a result, RDA will undertake large scale organizational changes and capacity building, to cover:

• Administration and payment operations management system incl. system for managing the application verification, evaluation and authorization process.
• Fundamental changes in monitoring and control system (regional on-the-spot inspections and overall monitoring data management).
• Introduction of an EU-compliant Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) including a Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS-GIS).
• Harmonization of written procedures, HRM standard and continuous training system.

RDA have established thematic working groups to implement RDA’s commitments under the overall Action Plan and associated supporting actions needed to comply with EU requirements for conferral of authority to non-EU Paying Agencies in Candidate Countries and Neighbourhood Countries to make and account for decentralized ex ante commitments of EU rural development funds.

IRDG provides capacity development and policy support for MEPA and RDA to progressively align their systems for designing, consulting, publicizing, processing applications, making local inspections and other controls, monitoring, evaluating and reporting awards to individual businesses and cooperatives of rural and agricultural support grants and other financial aids and accounting for use of national rural development funds and foreign assistance funds to EU standards (Managing Authorities and Paying Agencies). The Commission advised and requested all Member States to adopt CAP Strategic Plans for 2021-2027 in line with the Commission’s individual sets of recommendations annexed as Staff Working Documents to COM (2021) 846. The Commission provided aggregate summaries of its specific recommendations to each individual Member States for achieving the Green Deal targets and those stemming from the Farm to Fork Strategy and the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. In addition, Member States were instructed to include actions and plans to make their CAP Strategic plans more “Fit for the Purpose” by 3.1. Integrating the Green Deal in the CAP Strategic Plans; 3.3. Reinforcing the partnership principle.

It should be assumed that the beneficiary Candidate Countries and Neighbourhood Countries will have to follow and be able to prove compliance, at least in part with the Commission’s general instructions and principles established for EU Member States’ CAP Strategic Plans, Rural Development Plans and related programming documents. This approach will increase considerably the range and number of indicators required and preparation demands on RDA M&E sections from 2022 onwards.

UNDP IRDG project under EU ENPARD provides support on specific activities to be undertaken by the Rural Development Agency under the Ministry Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia with the overall aim to ensure progressive transformation of RDA into an IPARD-compliant Paying Agency by the end 2024.

Duties and Responsibilities

The overall objective of the assignment is to provide guidance support to the management of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture and the Rural Development Agency of Georgia in implementing activities envisaged by the multi-year Institutional Reform Action Plan (2021-2024) and the annual 2021 work plan and provide recommendations on strategic responses, closing gaps and corrective actions for each of the weaknesses related to the monitoring and evaluation system and corresponding institutional processes.

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the National Project Manager of “Improving Rural Development in Georgia” Project in close collaboration with the Rural Development Agency.

The UNDP will make arrangements for meetings and capacity building workshop(s); UNDP will facilitate liaison with government and other stakeholders as necessary.

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. Assessments of strengths and weaknesses of current RDA organizational arrangements, staff numbers and capacities of individual responsible staff to collect and verify data and other information required to generate objective and progress indicators for: (a) management and monitoring of RDA processing and control of applications and claims for payments; (b) MEPA monitoring and reporting requirements as specified in and subsequently implemented by the individual responsible institutions identified in the (i) Common Monitoring and Evaluation System 2017; (ii) in the responsibility assignment matrix – RACI; and (c) “core” 2021-2027 indicators listed in Appendix 1, up-dated as necessary to take account of further Commission guidance issued and relevant EU legislation published after 31 July 2021.
2. Provision of recommendations on the comparative advantages and costs (staffing, financing, training, etc.) of: (a) establishing a dedicated organizational unit in RDA responsible for all actions listed in Task 1; or (b) continuing to share Task 1 actions between staff in different RDA Departments and Unit responsible for processing and evaluating applications and claims for payment.
3. Recommend curricula and training materials (incl. pre-/post- knowledge evaluation tests) for RDA in-house or external training of staff new to monitoring and reporting progress on RDA mission and values, organization, procedures, conflict of interest safeguards, adoption of statistically robust aggregation methods to prepare indicators, etc. [possibly] Suggest country hosts for study visits and short work placements for managers and/or subordinate staff responsible for collecting, verifying and transmitting data and other information and preparation of indicators required by MEPA for policy review and reporting purposes and by RDA for monitoring processing of applications and claims for payments.
4. Deliver a 1.5-day training for MEPA and RDA relevant officials (max 25 participants) to build knowledge on M&E elements, Commission guidance and relevant EU requirements.
5. Propose criteria for use by RDA management to identify officials needing top-up or remedial training to strengthen processing and/or control performance and types and frequencies of subsequent management reviews of on-the-job performance by trainees.
6. Proposed approach for creation of a “Ready Reckoner” of staff time and other costs of preparing desk and field instructions, training, publicity materials and opportunity costs and other impacts on RDA’s principal processing and control operations in response to requests from MEPA (Managing Authority) and/or the EU Commission for data or information needed to adopt new or significantly changed indicators and briefing senior RDA managers accordingly.
7. Identification of possibilities, based on systems used by Member States or Candidate Countries, to adapt current and developing RDA IT systems to generate data and indicators automatically from: applications for grant processing and control; on-line applications for RDA support measures by rural customers; and payments of grant.
8. Presentation and discussions with the ministerial thematic working group (steering panel) members on findings and recommendations of the mission.
9. Propose a timetable and ToRs with estimated costs for contracting experts between 2021 and 2023 to support RDA’s implementation of actions 2 to 5 above.
10. Provide strategic recommendations for integration or improved inter-operability of relevant regional (Autonomous Republic of Ajara) M&E requirements, systems, instructions with MEPA/RDA equivalents.
11. Deliver a 1.5-day training for Ajara AR Ministry of Agriculture relevant officials (max 25 participants) to build knowledge on M&E elements, Commission guidance and relevant EU requirements.
12. Participate in the working group meetings, events and conferences), present findings/recommendations and promote best-suited approaches, including possible impacts of changes in the EU acquis for agricultural and rural development for 2021-2027.

All documents shall be developed in English.

Payment Schedule for the initial contract:

50 % - upon submission and clearance of the deliverable 1 (November 2021) - Presentation to and discussion with RDA thematic working group members of main findings and recommendations for Tasks 1 to 9 inclusive.

50% - upon submission and clearance of the deliverable 2 (December 2021) - Final report covering implementation aspects of the contract and full details of the deliverables required for tasks 1 to 12 including training curriculum and evaluation report with relevant annexes from the trainings.

Management Arrangements:

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the National Project Manager of “Improving Rural Development in Georgia” Project in close collaboration with the Rural Development Agency and the Capacity Development Coordinator of the Project “Improving Rural Development in Georgia”.

Competencies

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 and databases;
• 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.

Language Requirements

• Proficiency in both spoken and written English.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

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

Experience:

• At least 5 years of experience in analyzing and recommending actions to be taken by government agencies or Ministries to strengthen monitoring and evaluation capacities of official Operating Structures for agriculture and RD in line with EU requirements (Minimum Requirement) - 10 Points.
• At least 2 separate projects implemented in Candidate, Pre-Accession or Eastern Partnership countries between 2015 and 2021 to strengthen monitoring and evaluation capacities of official Operating Structures for agriculture and rural development (Minimum Requirement) - 10 Points.
• Working as a middle management official in an Agricultural and Rural Development Paying Agency or Managing Authority of an EU Member State or (since 2013) in Candidate Country (additional 4 points). Experience in developing training programmes and delivering users’ trainings in monitoring and evaluation (additional 4 points). Experience in providing technical assistance in Georgia (or within a comparable transition context) (additional 4 points) - 12 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