Functional assessment of institutions under Chapter 1 and IV of ARCSS

The Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) signed on 12 September 2018 in Addis Ababa provided a roadmap for peace through reforms, political transformation, security, development and national reconciliation. After nine months delays in the formation of the RTGoNU, the President in a Republican Decree returned the country to the former 10 states and creation of three administrative areas following extensive consultations. The decree paved the way for the formation of RTGoNU in February 2020 followed by the appointment of state governors, and agreement on state structures and responsibilities that has brought renewed hope and peaceful path toward peace and development in South Sudan. The R-ARCSS is much more than a power sharing deal and has the potential of transforming South Sudan’s political economy. It is a compact for deep political and socio-economic reform.

According to the Revitalized Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (R-JMEC), R-ARCSS implementation is positive with deficiencies in the creation of an enabling environment and management of risks associated with implementation such as trust-building, transparency process, consensus-building nature of the state, federal versus central, security sector reform, demilitarization, demobilization and integration, allocation of oil revenue, governance architecture and public service reform, constitution-making, and elections. Therefore, investing in the implementation of the R-ARCSS has the potential of showcasing success demonstrating a new way of working in a protracted and complex humanitarian context of South Sudan. UNDP is positioning itself as the partner of choice, through a transformative agenda and leadership support, shaping country ideas and building partnership and trust and influencing R-ARCSS transitional institutions and mechanisms in both state and non-state actors.

The RTGoNU has the President as the Head of State and a Government with five clusters coordinated by Vice Presidents. The Governance Cluster will be under the First Vice President whilst the Economic; Service; Infrastructure; and Gender & Youth clusters will each be under a Vice President. However, the planned mapping/functional assessment will focus on the priority 12 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) organized under the Governors (six) clusters and Economic (six) clusters. The rapid functional capacity gap assessment needs to be realistic, feasible and with time-bound actions for the implementation of chapters I and IV of the R-ARCSS with the RTGoNU.

Governance Cluster:

Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Peacebuilding, National Constitutional Review Commission and Political Party Council.

Economic Cluster:

Ministry of Petroleum, Ministry of Mining, Ministry of Trade and Industry,

Bank of South Sudan, National Bureau of Statistics and National Revenue Authority.

The MDAs in these cluster will be reviewed by the National Consultant who will engage on strategic gaps with the view to improve capacity, performance and impact

Under the direct guidance and supervision of the UNDP Democracy and Stabilization Team Leader, and direct supervision of the project Manager, the National Consultant will support the perform of the following duties:

• Functional capacity assessment of 12 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), six in the Governance Cluster and six in the Economic Cluster.
• Provide summary recommendations on institutional key s/challenges and gaps and propose priority areas of need for capacity development.
• Recommend key areas for SSEs intervention within the scope of the GEMS project.
• The consultancy will be for a total of 30 of working days.

Deliverables:

Work collaboratively with UNDP Governance Team Leader, UNDP Economics and Governance  Advisors and the GEMS Project Manager and the MDAs, the consultancy will:

Report on the following:

• a capacity assessment of the 12 MDAs, 6 in the Governance Cluster and 6 in Economic Cluster.
• an analysis (based on five S’s) skills, systems, structures, Symbiosis, and Synthesis of organizational capacity with focus on activities required for the MDAs to meet the requirements in Chapters I and IV of the R-ARCSS regarding institutional reforms of RTGoNU (20 Days).
• Summary of recommendations on institutional key achievements/challenges and gaps and a proposal on priority areas of need for capacity concern (5 Days).
• Proposal on deployment of Special Skills Experts (SSEs) under governance and economic clusters institutions (5 Days).

Corporate Competencies

• Demonstrate integrity by modeling UN values and ethical standards
• Respect the vision, mission, and strategic goals of the UNDP
• Display cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Treat all people fairly and without favoritism

Functional Competencies

• Substantive previous experience of law, political science, and public policy, public administration
• Excellent interpersonal and oral and written communication skills
• Proven skills particularly using participatory research techniques
• Results oriented, flexible and problem-solving skills
• Demonstrated team-building capacity
• Ability to cope with a difficult environment where formal institutions of government are at nascent stage
• Deal diplomatically with challenging bureaucratic processes and pressure to meet strict deadlines
• Build strong relationships focusing on impact and results and responds positively to feedback 
• Consistently approach work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
• Demonstrated openness to changes and ability to manage complexities; remain calm, in control and good humored, even under pressure 

Academic Qualifications:

• Advanced Degree in in Law, Political Science, public policy, public administration, or Development studies.

Experience:

• Seven years of relevant experience in public administration and social policy, political science
• Experience or knowledge in research studies, using participatory techniques in the relevant areas
• Previous experience working with government counterparts and development partners desirable
• Past experience with UNDP or other UN Agencies or international non-governmental organizations in similar positions will be an advantage

Language:

• Ability to communicate clearly in written and spoken English and Arabic;
• Knowledge of any local language of South Sudan an advantage.

Appliction procedure

The application package containing the following (to be uploaded as one file):

• A cover letter with a brief description of why the Offer considers her/himself the most suitable for the assignment;
• Personal CV, indicating all past experience from similar projects and specifying the relevant assignment period (from/to), as well as the email and telephone contacts of at least three (3) professional references;
• Two pages to describe the methodology to respond to the TOR (understanding of the project requirements

Note: The above documents need to be scanned in one file and uploaded to the online application as one document.

Shortlisted candidates (ONLY) will be requested to submit a Financial Proposal.

• The financial proposal should specify an all-inclusive daily fee (based on a 7-hours working day – lunch time is not included – and estimated 21.75 days per month).
• The financial proposal must be all-inclusive and take into account various expenses that will be incurred during the contract.
• In the case of unforeseeable travel requested by UNDP, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.
• If the Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.

The Financial Proposal is to be emailed as per the instruction in the separate email that will be sent to shortlisted candidates.

Evaluation Process:

Applicants are reviewed based on Required Skills and Experience stated above and based on the technical evaluation criteria outlined below.  Applicants will be evaluated based on cumulative scoring.  When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Being responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation where technical criteria weighs 70% and Financial criteria/ Proposal weighs 30%.

Technical Evaluation – Total 70% (700 points):

• Criteria 1: 

Education

• Advanced Degree in in Law, Political Science, public policy, public administration, or Development studies: Weight = 10%; Maximum Points: 10;

Criteria 2: 

Experience

• Seven years of relevant experience in public administration and social policy, political science, knowledge in research studies, previous experience working with government counterparts, UNDP or other UN Agencies or international non-governmental organizations in similar positions will be an advantage : Weight = 40%; Maximum Points: 40;
• Criteria 3: 
• Competence and Skills
• Demonstrate integrity by modeling UN values and ethical standards
• Respect the vision, mission, and strategic goals of the UNDP
• Demonstrated team-building capacity
• Ability to cope with a difficult environment where formal institutions of government are at nascent stage
• Deal diplomatically with challenging bureaucratic processes and pressure to meet strict deadlines Weight = 20%; Maximum Points: 20;

Having reviewed applications received, UNDP will award the top candidates with highest scores. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (70 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

Financial Evaluation – Total 30% (30 points)

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

p = y (µ/z), where

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Contract Award:

Candidate obtaining the highest combined scores in the combined score of Technical and Financial evaluation will be considered technically qualified and will be offered to enter into contract with UNDP.

Institutional Arrangement:

The consultant will work under the direct guidance and supervision of the UNDP Democracy and Stabilization Team Leader for the fulfilment of the deliverables as specified above.

Payment Modality:

• Payment to the Individual Contractor will be made based on the actual number of days worked, deliverables accepted and upon certification of satisfactory completion by the manager.
• The work week will be based on 35 hours, i.e. on a 7-hours working day, with core hours being between 9h00 and 18h00 daily.