Team Leader - Public Institutions Specialist

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Formulation of the 10^th EDF NAO Support Programme, phase III

EUROPEAID/127054/C/SV/multi

LOT N° X:  REQUEST N° 2010/230039

• BACKGROUND

The Government of Nigeria is currently implementing institutional and economic reforms through poverty reduction strategies such as Vision 2020, National Development Plan (NDP) and State Development Plan (SDP), at both federal and state level respectively. The European Union supports these reforms of the Government through the current 9^th European Development Fund (EDF) and 10^th EDF, but the implementation of this support has been hampered by a lack of capacity on behalf of the National Planning Commission (NPC) to manage the disbursements of the EDF efficiently. In this regard, NPC faces serious constraints in several areas such as technical expertise, internal control systems and monitoring and evaluation capabilities. Lessons learnt from the implementation of the 9^th EDF also demonstrate lack of effectiveness in project coordination from the NPC, and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) should play a more important role in the execution of projects.

The support to the office of the NAO programme, which started in 2004 (phase I) and continued its activities in 2008 (phase II), is the specific mechanism to address two main problems: the weak institutional and management capacity of the NPC to manage EDF funds and the lack of ownership of NPC in the coordination, management and evaluation of all external Official Development Assistance (ODA). Therefore, this programme foresees to improve the quality and impact of not only EDF funded projects in Nigeria but also the external aid of other donors, which may also benefit other departments of the federal and state levels of government.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE ASSIGNMENT

• Ø Global objective

The overall objective of this assignment is to support the Government of Nigeria in the formulation of the Support to the office of the NAO programme, phase III.

• Ø Specific objective(s)

The specific objective of this assignment is to produce a complete set of project documents for the EC intervention within the scope of the 10^th EDF National Indicative Programme for Nigeria.

• Ø Requested services

The Specific tasks can be summarised as follows:

• 1. Analyse the proposed project coherence with the Government's development policy and expenditure plans. The formulation should assess the soundness of any such policies and plans and how far the proposed NAO Support programme can be linked to them.
• 2. Analyse the absorption capacity and the degree of local ownership of national stakeholders and beneficiaries, including the commitment of the Government of Nigeria and its contribution to the project.
• 3. Analyse the operational and management capacity of the National Planning Commission.
• 4. Provide analysis of the options and justification for the recommended implementation modality of the project.
• 5. Review of ongoing/planned projects from other donors and identify the gaps, complementarity and division of labour with other interventions.
• 6. Define the geographical scope of the project, if needed.
• 7. Define the details of the governance and the management/coordination structure and procedures. The structure and procedures should demonstrate how institutional strengthening and local ownership will be effectively supported.
• 8. Provide the indicative Logframe matrix. This will include identifying necessary resources (inputs).
• 9. Provide a description of the proposed performance measurement (monitoring, review and evaluation) and accountability system.
• 10. Design a set of SMART and OVI to be included in the Logframe to enable a systematic monitoring and evaluation mechanism of the project.
• 11. Provide a complete analysis of assumptions/risks and a risk management plan.
• 12. Identify synergies/links with other EC programmes.
• 13. Redefine the indicative budget of the PIF according to the needs and activities proposed and redefine the timeframe of the project, if necessary.
• 14. Analyse the relevant cross cutting issues (accountability of public funds), whenever needed.
• 15. Prepare the visibility strategy of the project.

18. Prepare ToR for any service contract (Policy advise, Technical Cooperation, Capacity Development, Technical Assistance) to be involved in project implementation.  

Methodology

The formulation will be done following the steps below:

1. The experts will carry out desk study of the relevant documents at the beginning of the mission. These documents will be provided to them at the beginning of the assignment. The experts will take into account the remarks, comments and suggestions of the QSGI (foreseen by early February 2010) when carrying out their mission.

2. A briefing meeting with the EU Delegation will be organised.    

2. A kick-off meeting will be organised with the NPC and the consultants. In this meeting the experts will present the project to the participants and a general discussion will follow.

3. Several bilateral meetings with the relevant stakeholders will be organised by the experts in order to fully capture the needs of the beneficiaries and the best way to translate them into activities. This will include the stakeholders identified in the PIF.

4. A consultative meeting will be organised with the NPC and relevant stakeholders where the experts will present the findings of the mission and the participants will discuss and validate them.    

5. A debriefing session will be organised at the end of the mission to inform the EU Delegation on the main findings and the steps forward for the finalisation and delivery of the outputs.  

The experts will work in close and regular contact with the EU Delegation during their mission and will immediately raise any important issue to the EU Delegation, if any. The experts will conduct the necessary interviews and desk work as to ensure that the formulation documents are in line with the Government of Nigeria Priorities and that the project meets the quality standards to be financed.   

All the outputs and deliverables will be conducted fully in line with the provisions, methodologies and templates of the Project Cycle Management Guidelines (March 2004),   the Backbone Strategy (2009), Institutional Assessment and Capacity Development (September 2005) and any other EU related methodology. Any other methodologies could be used if duly justified and as long as the quality expectations of the EU Delegation are met.    

In case of serious discrepancies with the documents prepared during identification (PIF and Annexes) the experts will raise the issue to the EU Delegation immediately and will include a SWOT analysis and an exit strategy/corrective measures to be put in place.

• Ø Required outputs or deliverables.

The mission will produce the following results:

1. An analysis of the operational feasibility of the proposed project, including its relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability.
2. An institutional and organisational capacity assessment that will analyse the operational and absorption capacity of the National Planning Commission; assessing its structures, human resources, technical capacity, flexibility to recruit and deploy qualified personnel, willingness and commitment.

3. An Action Fiche (Financing Proposal) including the Technical and Administrative Provisions (TAPs) and the draft of the Financing Agreement. These documents must follow the format provided for projects implemented by EuropeAid, including a detailed budget, a plan of action and a logical framework. The Action Fiche produced will have to ensure that it responds adequately to the QSG II checklist for the formulation phase.

4. The Terms of Reference for the governance structure (Programme Management Committee) and the operational management (Programme Support Unit) needed and identified in the PIF. These ToRs should include all the details in terms of human, material and financial resources of these structures: number and competence of its personnel, technical expertise, administrative procedures and daily operation practices.

5. Analysis of the relevant cross-cutting issues, to be carried out line with the EU guidelines and methodologies (accountability of public funds).  

3.    EXPERTS PROFILE

• Ø Number of requested experts per category and number of man-days per expert

Two experts are required for this assignment

• Ø Profile required (education, experience, references and category as appropriate)

Team Leader - Public Institutions Specialist

• Master Degree in public administration, social sciences or related field, or at least 15 years equivalent professional experience in the relevant sector where the expert has no such academic qualification.
• Minimum 10 years of professional experience.
• Experience in leading missions for project identification/formulation
• Knowledge and experience with EDF programming procedures
• Sound knowledge and experience in public administration with specific expertise in designing technical assistance, capacity development and training programs
• Knowledge and experience in monitoring and evaluation of public administration structures
• Expertise in problem analysis, stakeholders' analysis and preparation of Logframes
• Understanding of governance and public administration in Nigeria will be an asset
• Full working knowledge of English, as well as excellent report writing and communication skills

Minimum required skills

• Knowledge and experience with EDF programming procedures
• Sound knowledge and experience in public administration with specific expertise in designing technical assistance, capacity development and training programs

Expert in institutional capacity

• Master Degree in public administration, social sciences or related field
• Minimum 3 years of professional experience
• Experience in project/program design in development projects
• Expertise in problem analysis, stakeholders' analysis and preparation of Logframes
• Sound knowledge and experience in preparation of institutional capacity assessments and preparation of ToRs for management/operational project structures
• Experience in EC programme design and EDF procedures will be an asset
• Experience in designing public administration projects will be an asset
• Working experience in Nigeria and understanding of Nigeria's government environment will be an asset.
• Full working knowledge of English, as well as excellent report writing and communication skills

Minimum required skills

• Sound knowledge and experience in preparation of institutional capacity assessments and preparation of ToRs for management/operational project structures.

If needed evidence may be required of the above skills.

4.    LOCATION AND DURATION

• Ø Starting period: 1^st March 2010

• Ø Foreseen finishing period or duration: 23rd April 2010

Planning: It is envisaged that the tasks of the consultants will be covered through a period of 35 calendar days for each expert. 30 working days will be needed in Nigeria, while the remaining will be in their home base. The NPC and the EU Delegation will assist in facilitating meetings with stakeholders

• Ø Location(s) of assignment: Nigeria and home base of the experts

5.    REPORTING

• Ø Content

The consultant will be responsible for the following reports:

• 1. Inception report after one week of the beginning of the assignment containing a work plan of the assignment agreed by the EU Delegation. The experts may suggest adjustments to the assignment's scope to better address the beneficiary needs.
• 2. Draft final report including all the deliverables to be submitted not after the 9^th April 2010.
• 3. Final report to be submitted at the end of the assignment, not later than 23^rd April 2010.

• Ø Language: All the reporting will be done in English language

• Ø Submission/comments timing

The formal reports will be subject to EU Delegation approval. Once the reports are submitted, the EU Delegation will indicate to the consultants its approval or indicate the necessary changes to the consultants in writing. The consultants will have 5 days after the receipt of the comments to make the necessary modifications and for submission of the final version of the reports. The EU Delegation on will indicate to the consultant in writing its acceptance of the final report and other deliverables submitted.

• Ø Number of report(s) copies

All draft documents and inception report to be submitted to the EU Delegation in electronic format by email. The Final programming documents and other reports are to be submitted in electronic format by email and in 3 paper copies. Electronic/email versions must be in standard computerized format: Microsoft Word and Excel files.

• Ø Tax and VAT arrangements

On the ground of the specific Council regulations governing the concerned EC external aid program, VAT and any other local taxes and duties are excluded from the Community financing

Documents for consultation

1. Comments from the QSG I (foreseen for early February 2010)

2. Template of the Action Fiche

3. Template of the Technical and Administrative provisions

4. PIF - Support to the Office of NAO, phase III (submitted to QSG December 2009)

5. Specific Sector documents and other relevant annexes included in the PIF

6. Checklist of the QSG II

7. Relevant EC guidelines

8. Any other documents relevant to the formulation 

  The Logframe should include project objectives, a set of activities for delivering each project output and resource/cost schedules.

  Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound (SMART) and Objectively Verifiable Indicators (OVI)

  In terms of Technical cooperation, Capacity building and Supply of equipment and the related activities.

"Reforming Technical Cooperation and Project Implementation", "Making Technical Cooperation more Effective" and     "Toolkit for Capacity Development" (March 2009).

  Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.