SHORT-TERM CONSULTANCY TO FACILITATE THE INTEGRATION OF GENDER CONSIDERATIONS IN THE COMMISSION ON REVENUE ALLOCATION (CRA) OWN SOURCE REVENUE ADMINISTRATION AND IMPLEMENTATION IN SELECT COU

Contract

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Background

1. Background

UN Women’s mandate is to support the UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality, and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented across the board. Through the UN Joint Programme on Devolution, UN Women, recognizing that counties are the vehicles that deliver inclusive services to citizens, has been providing technical assistance to institutions that support devolved governance, including generation of data to strengthen accountability and the delivery of inclusive and high-quality services to the people of Kenya.

The Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA), is an independent Commission set up under Article 215 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010. Its core mandate is to recommend the basis for equitable sharing of revenues raised nationally between the national and the county governments, and among the county governments, defining and enhancing revenue sources of national and county governments. With support from the World Bank, CRA is in a process to develop a devolution data portal whose objective is to provide policymakers and other stakeholders with an online data platform to improve devolution data availability and usability, including through the latest technologies in data visualization and spatial representation. The Commission will continue supporting the counties to strengthen its own source revenue mechanisms and public participation in planning and budgeting processes through the strengthening of CBEFs.

The Commission, therefore, intends to undertake the following key activities in line with the year 2020 Workplan:

1. Mainstream gender in the devolution data portal
2. Develop and support the implementation of gender-responsive revenue administration and enforcement frameworks in partnership with KRA and UNCDF in four select counties;
3. Mainstream gender in CBEF training tools and support capacity strengthening in four select counties, to increase citizen participation in the budgetary process for equitable service delivery and increased accountability of the use of public resources within counties

UN Women in partnership with UNDP will support CRA to strengthen counties own source revenue mechanisms towards equitable service delivery, effective public participation in the budgeting process through CBEFs and integrate gender dimensions in the devolution data portal. This work is being undertaken under the auspices of the UN Joint Devolution Programme.

2.0 Purpose of the Consultancy

Kenya has invested significantly in counties allocating over USD 15.8 billion cumulatively since the onset of devolution in 2013. County governments are largely dependent on national transfers as the main source of revenue. National transfers constituted the main component of county revenues, accounting for over 80 per cent of county total revenue, while own source revenue accounts for less than 15 per cent. Own source revenue mobilization remains relatively low and below potential. Growth in county own source revenue (OSR) has decreased between the period 2016 and 2018 but recorded moderate growth in FY2018/19. The National Treasury commissioned a study on own-source revenue potential and tax gap analysis for counties that found substantial unrealized county revenue potential ranging between Ksh.55 billion to Ksh.173 billion compared to the current collection of about Ksh.40 billion in FY2018/19.

Drawing from the findings of the study, county revenue-raising guidelines have been approved by the cabinet, providing guidance on the introduction of new taxes, levies, fees, and waivers. Implementation of this policy will need support, even as counties strive to raise more of available revenue potential over-time. Fiscal space for public investment and service delivery is further constrained by relatively high wage bills in county governments, especially in densely populated counties.

To date, neither the tax literature nor public debates in Kenya have adequately addressed how gender differences in economic roles and behaviour affect equity outcomes, given that tax policies have different impacts on men and women. To sustain economic growth and poverty reduction, development efforts must ensure that policy interventions in revenue administration do not negatively affect the desired outcomes of a more equitable society. It is imperative that counties have the capacity to conduct gender analysis in planning and budgeting so that relevant interventions can be identified and considered in county revenue mapping and collection mechanisms, resource allocation and actual expenditure.

Against this background, supporting the counties to gradually fund an increasing share of local services delivery from own source revenue, with a gender a lens, remains critical. In this regard, CRA seeks partnership with UN Women in the following key areas:

1. Development of gender-responsive counties revenue administration and enforcement framework,
2. Establishment of effective County Budget Economic Forums (CBEFs) to strengthen citizen participation in the budgetary process for equitable service delivery and increased accountability of the use of public resources within counties,
3. Integration of gender dimensions in the devolution data portal for CRA.

3.0 Aims and Objectives

The Programme which will be implemented in 2020, seeks to address the following key objectives:

1. Review and develop gender-responsive revenue administration and enforcement framework for Samburu and Lamu Counties in partnership with KRA, UNCDF and UNDP
2. Support the implementation of the revenue administration and enforcement framework in Turkana and Isiolo
3. Mainstream gender in the CBEF training tools and support the strengthening of CBEFs in Samburu, Kilifi, Busia and Lamu counties to strengthen citizen participation for effective and equitable service delivery, transparent and accountable use of public funds
4. Provide technical assistance to integrate gender dimensions in the devolution data portal for CRA

The selected counties[1] have been prioritized to build on the initial work on strengthening county OSR mechanisms undertaken by UNDP in partnership with CRA.

[1] Samburu, Lamu, Kilifi, Busia, Turkana and Isiolo

Duties and Responsibilities

4.0 Scope of work

The scope of work for this task will primarily entail the recruitment of a consultant to provide technical assistance to CRA on mainstreaming gender in the formulation and dissemination of the outputs spelled out for this task. The consultant shall play a critical role in providing technical support to the CRA team to ensure the gender dimension is mainstreamed in the three output areas for an accountable PFM system in the selected counties. The tools developed out of this assignment will subsequently be used to upscale specific and localized interventions in other counties. Additionally, the tools will also be produced as guidance documents to be utilized by CRA in future country-level capacity strengthening interventions.

Specifically, the consultant will provide technical support to CRA in the following outputs:

1. Integrate gender dimensions in the CRA’s devolution data portal
2. Develop guidelines for gender-responsive county revenue administration and enforcement
3. Mainstream gender in the CBEF training tools, with an M&E framework to assess progress made by these forums in strengthening transparency, accountability and public participation in the management of public funds
4. Facilitate validation of the gender-responsive guidelines on county revenue administration and enforcement and the CBEF training tools and M&E framework
5. Support CRA in the development of gender-responsive revenue administration and enforcement framework for Samburu and Lamu counties
6. Support CRA to facilitate two dissemination and sensitization workshops in Samburu and Lamu for the gender-responsive revenue administration and enforcement framework

7. Facilitate two dissemination and sensitization workshops in Turkana and Isiolo for the gender-responsive revenue administration and enforcement framework

8. Support CRA to facilitate CBEF training in Kilifi, Lamu and Busia counties

9. Provide reports related to this consultancy ie, inception report, progress report, training evaluation report and final close-out report

5.0 Deliverables

1. An inception report detailing the methodology to be adopted and timelines for delivery of expected outputs
2. Guidelines for mainstreaming gender in county-level revenue administration and enforcement frameworks
3. A gender-responsive revenue administration and enforcement framework for Samburu and Lamu counties
4. A Gender-responsive CBEF training tool, utilized to train Kilifi, Busia and Lamu counties
5. CBEF training report for Kilifi, Busia, Lamu counties
6. Status report on technical support provided on mainstreaming of gender in the CRA devolution data portal
7. Final close-out report

6.0 Time Schedule

The assignment period is 70 calendar days spread between September 2020 to 31st December 2020.

7.0 Key performance indicators

1. Approved inception report by both UN Women, CRA and UNDP
2. Adopted gender-responsive revenue administration and enforcement framework
3. Adopted gender-responsive CBEF training tool
4. Gender dimensions integrated into the Commission’s devolution data portal

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity;
• Integrity;
• Professionalism.

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading by Example.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

Functional Competencies:

• Strong program formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills;
• Strong knowledge of Results-Based Management;

Required Skills and Experience

8.0 The Consultant (Evaluation Criteria)

The ideal consultant for this assignment should preferably have a Master’s degree in the field of gender, public policy and finance management, human rights, law, and other relevant social sciences, with not less than 7 years in undertaking similar work.

Additionally, the applicant should: -

1. Demonstrate in-depth knowledge and understanding of county-level procedures and practice on planning and budgeting, program implementation and revenue/ own source revenue mechanisms.
2. Be familiar with the Government of Kenya and the United Nations undertakings on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment and normative frameworks
3. Strong understanding and experience in the gender discourse as it relates to public financial management (samples of consultancies of a similar nature must be highlighted in the CV)
4. A sound understanding of gender statistics
5. Submit a detailed CV with relevant certificates
6. Be fluent in English with excellent writing and presentation skills
7. Demonstrate a capacity to work with diverse stakeholders including the Government of Kenya officials.
8. Computer literacy is critical.

Consultancy timeframe

Task:

No. of days: 70

1

• Introductory and debrief meetings with CRA and UN Women
• Development and submission of engagement plan for approval by CRA, UN Women and UNDP
• Review of relevant CRA documents
• Consultative meetings with CRA on development of the gender-responsive administrative and enforcement framework and the CBEF training tool
• Consultative meetings with CRA on the devolution data portal
• Support the finalization of the revenue administration and enforcement framework and the CBEF training tool

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2

• Support two dissemination workshops for the revenue administration and enforcement framework in Samburu and Lamu
• Support three CBEF training in Kilifi, Busia and Lamu counties
• Support implementation workshops on the Dissemination Report for Turkana and Isiolo
• Submission of the training reports and progress reports
• Continuous technical advice on mainstreaming gender in the devolution data portal

40