CONSULTANCY TO SUPPORT DECENTRALISATION EFFORTS IN LESOTHO

Background:

Lesotho is facing multiple development challenges: reducing poverty, fighting HIV/AIDS, accelerating economic growth, improving social services, and consolidating the democratic gains made at both central and local level. The Government of Lesotho regards decentralisation as a key ingredient for successfully addressing these challenges. The Ministry of Local Government and Chieftainship (MoLGC), established in 1994, has been instrumental in formulating the legal framework for decentralisation through the Local Government Act (1997). However, progress in implementing the Act has been hampered by a number of factors, including political unrest and a deteriorating security situation in the aftermath of the general election of May 1998. Only in 2005 did the inaugural local elections take place in the 128 community councils, but the resources as well as the political authority devolved to the councils have generally been inadequate to ensure reasonable functioning of the councils and satisfactory delivery of services to local communities. 

Lesotho’s external development partners (particularly the UN, the European Commission and GTZ) are supporting the decentralisation process at the central as well as the local level.  The key objective is to create an environment whereby communities freely and effectively participate in the planning and management of development and have access to improved services through decentralized organizations and institutions.

UNCDF and UNDP are currently supporting decentralisation in Lesotho through a four year project, the Lesotho Local Development Programme (LLDP). The LLDP aims at assisting the Government of Lesotho in implementing the decentralization process (through improved local governance and local development procedures and processes) in order to improve public service delivery. The LLDP, launched in 2009, has 5 main objectives which aim  to ensure that:

1.   Systems enabling decentralized, inclusive, pro-poor effective planning and budgeting of local development and service delivery are established at central and local levels (three pilot districts of Berea, Maseru and Thaba Tseka).

2.   Pilot programs providing demanded social and economic infrastructure and social services delivery for poverty reduction in the three districts are implemented.

3.   Financing mechanisms for local public infrastructure, social service delivery, and local economic development of rural communities are established through fiscal decentralisation, revenue mobilization and a local development fund.

4.   LLDP lessons are informing National Policies on decentralization, local development and poverty reduction.

5.   The capacity of the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftainship to implement and coordinate the decentralization process is strengthened.

The LLDP will be operational through the following structures:

1.     A National Decentralization Steering Committee (DSC), chaired by the Government Secretary and comprising the Principal Secretaries of all decentralizing line ministries.

2.     A Decentralization Management and Coordination Committee (DMCC), chaired by the PS MoLGC and comprising both Heads of Departments and those development partners (namely UN, GTZ, EU) who are supporting the decentralization programme.

Objectives of the assignment:

To formalise a national decentralisation policy and a national decentralisation action plan within the Lesotho Local Development Programme (LLDP), with an emphasis on establishing a national decentralisation framework enabling inclusive, pro-poor effective planning and budgeting of local development and service delivery both at central and local levels (three pilot districts of Berea, Maseru and Thaba Tseka).

Scope of work:

• Developing a National Decentralisation Policy and Action Plan in cooperation with other development partners (especially GTZ), after having facilitated the dialogue for the formulation of a decentralisation policy;

• Providing the needed technical guidance to the LLDP Dedicated Support Team for the effective and efficient execution of those activities leading to the formalisation of a decentralisation policy and an action plan;

• Establishing tools and mechanisms to support decentralisation in each of the three pilot districts of Maseru, Berea and Thaba Tseka (including setting up of local development fund, fiscal decentralisation etc);

• Setting up and implementation of decentralisation pilots in the three districts of Maseru, Berea and Thaba Tseka, focusing on applying centrally developed tools and mechanisms and feeding local experiences back into the national decentralisation policy;

• Set up the necessary structures to implement decentralisation in the pilot districts through training local governments on access to local funds, providing input on resource allocation criteria as well as disbursement mechanisms, and establishment of accountability modalities;

• Oversee a needs assessment exercise concerning basic service delivery and basic social and economic infrastructures in the three pilot districts;

• Complete, working closely with the Capacity Building Expert of the DST, a capacity needs assessments for the three pilot districts;

• Supporting the establishment of an M&E system for the programme, including reporting to partners of the programme; and

• Identify blockages and bottlenecks within the central and local government systems and formalize a change management framework to ensure that a symbiotic relation exists between the two levels of government, so that both are geared towards enhancing public service delivery;

• Create innovative solutions to the challenges of the LLDP, initially in the three selected pilot districts but with the prospects of wider application and replication nationwide;

• Develop a synthesis of lessons learnt and best practices in decentralisation in the Public Service in Lesotho.

The duration of the assignment, duty station and expected places of travel:

The execution period for the contract is expected to start from July 2009 (exact date is negotiable) and last for 18 to 24 months (initially a one year contract will be issued which is renewable). The consultant will be based at the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftainship in Maseru. She/he will provide full-time support to the designated Programme Manager of the LLDP, namely the Director General of the Ministry of Local Government. The consultant will benefit from the technical supervision of the UNCDF Regional Local Development Adviser and the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Lesotho.

The consultant is expected to travel extensively to the three pilot districts in Lesotho (Maseru, Berea, Thaba Tseka) in support of the decentralisation efforts there. Travel to other districts in Lesotho are not planned nor excluded at this stage. In addition, the contractor will be expected to travel to Johannesburg to work with the regional UNCDF team at regular basis.

Monitoring and progress controls:

In addition to the deliverables in the form of the decentralisation policy, action plan, implementation framework for the pilots etc, the consultant will provide both UNDP and UNCDF with a 3,000 words quarterly report on the progress of his/her activities. Deadlines on the deliverables are to be set in agreement with the implementing partner, the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftainship, at the start of the engagement.

Final products or deliverables:

• Finalized decentralisation national framework geared at ensured better

        provision of public services;

• Survey on current capacity gaps completed;

• Tools and mechanisms for fiscal decentralisation in Lesotho established;

• Local Development Fund operational in the three pilot districts;

• M&E framework established;

• Report identifying the required change management activities to support

        the effective implementation of the decentralisation reform.

Payment schedule:

Given the nature and length of the consultancy, which will require inputs and approvals from Government stakeholders, UNDP and UNCDF have exceptionally decided to pay the consultant in partitions at the end of each month. The monitoring framework has been put in place to ensure the necessary progress towards the different deliverables. Payments will be authorised on a monthly basis after receipt of a completed and signed timesheet, detailing time spent per core deliverable. The monthly amounts will be based on the agreed daily fee and time spent on each deliverable.

UNDP Lesotho will ask for price offers from qualified candidates. For comparison purposes, candidates are requested to indicate their daily fee and any international travel costs as a separate line item. The candidates will be given a one week deadline for submission of the price offers. The price offer will be part of the evaluation process (see below).

Required qualification

Education: A post-graduate degree in Economics, Business Management, Development Studies,  Public Financial Administration or a related discipline.

Experience:

·    A minimum of 12 years of progressively responsible experience at local, national and international levels, dealing with local governance and decentralization.

·    Ability to appreciate and understand the decentralisation process and governance structure of Lesotho; profound knowledge of the decentralisation process in Lesotho highly desirable.

·    Recognized leadership in decentralisation policy and system development, and local development programme initiatives.

·    Wide experience of technical advisory support and overall capacity development for a decentralized system.

·    Resident professional experience in government decentralization, planning and budgeting reform.

·    Country level experience in working directly on local government reform and public expenditure management.

·    Effective presentation and report-writing skills; strong analytical and strategic skills as well as good written and oral communication skills

Language skills: Fluency in English

Evaluation criteria:

The selection process will be competitive ensuring that a minimum of three qualified candidates who fulfill the conditions will be interviewed for the service. The selection will compare the responsiveness of candidates against the criteria set in the Terms of Reference. Financial offers are considered for applicants who obtain at least 70% in this technical evaluation and thus who would be found qualified for the job.

The contract is awarded to the applicant achieving the highest cumulative score both from the technical and financial side of the proposal. The financial criteria will form 30% of the evaluation. The points for the financial proposal will be calculated in the following manner: where "x" is the price of the lowest proposal and "y" is the price of any other proposal, the points for price allocated to the lowest proposal will be 30 points, and to any other proposal x/y times 30.

UNDP reserves the right to negotiate the final cost with the best qualified bidder.

Other information:

Please contact the UNDP office in Lesotho (registry.ls@undp.org) for further information on this advertisement.

Deadline for receipt of applications:

Applications with full CVs should reach the Resident Representative, UNDP, UN House,  P.O. Box 301, Maseru or by e-mail to registry.ls@undp.org by Sunday 12 July, 2009 .