SUPPORT FOR RESPONSIVE ACCOUNTABLE LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN NGHE AN PROVINCE, VIETNAM (RALG) - VIE1505011
TERMS OF REFERENCE
DEVELOPMENT OF A HANDBOOK FOR PEOPLE COUNCIL’S DELEGATES AT ALL LEVELS
Duty Station: Vinh city and 3 targeted districts of Quy Chau, Quy Hop and Cua Lo
Duration of consultancy: 39 working days
Deadline for Application: 05 January 2017
Starting Date: In January 2017
Objective
Develop a comprehensive and contextualized handbook for PCc’s delegates at all levels that aims at improving performance of the delegates in particular and enhancing functioning of the PCc at all levels in general.
Project background
In response to the findings of the “Report on socio-economic development in 2014 and major tasks for 2015”, the Government of Vietnam (GoV) re-emphasized highest-level political demand for improved transparency, accountability and responsiveness in the public sector and a significant reduction in corruption and wastefulness. Belgium confirmed its commitment to support Vietnam’s effort in that direction by allocating an amount of € 3,000,000 to be divided equally between three provinces (Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Kon Tum) with the objective of strengthening citizen-government engagement as a means of promoting more transparent, accountable and responsive local governance, improved service delivery and increased levels of citizen satisfaction. Belgium’s government contribution to the project in Nghe An province is € 1,000,000. The Vietnamese contribution for Nghe An is equivalent to €150,000. The Provincial People’s Committee of Nghe An is the administrative entity responsible for the coordination, implementation and monitoring of the project, and for the Vietnamese contribution to the project.The project design is based on a thorough analysis of the national and the specific provincial contexts with regard to state-citizen interactions at policy and operational levels. Notwithstanding the demonstrated commitment of provincial authorities, and continuous efforts made to improve local government performance and service delivery, a number of challenges remain to be overcome for a more responsive and accountable local governance in Nghe An province. The theory of change for this project is that to contribute to the improvement of local social, economic and administrative service delivery and increasing citizen satisfaction with local government performance one should focus on two main strategic areas: (i) increasing citizen feedback and engagement on policies and local government performance at all levels; and (ii) increasing local government capacities, at all levels, to access, analyse and utilize citizen feedback.The project specific objective is “Improved citizen-government interaction leading to improved service delivery and increased citizen satisfaction. The project has five expected results as follows:
- Improved capacity of local government at all levels to disseminate information in a citizen-friendly manner.
- Improved capacity of People’s Councils and Mass Organizations, and specifically People’s Inspection Boards and Community Investment Supervision Boards to facilitate and promote improved two-way communication between citizens and government at all levels.
- Improved capacity of local government at all levels to collect, analyse and utilize citizen feedback in a transparent and deliberative fashion for more responsive and accountable local governance and improved service delivery.
- Improved capacity for local government at all levels to identify, plan, coordinate and oversee public administrative reforms in response to engagement with citizens and socio-political organizations.
- The exchange and effective utilization of innovations, lessons learned and good practices with regard to citizen-government interactions; is promoted at provincial and national levels.
- Project’s area consists of 30 communes of 3-targeted districts of Quy Chau (12 communes), Quy Hop (10 communes) and Cua Lo (8 communes) where main project activities will be implemented.
Purpose of the consultation
With an objective of improving performance quality of the PCc’s at all levels, the project is looking for a consultant(s) to develop a comprehensive and contextualized handbook for the delegates (activity 2.1). Details of the activity are as follows:
- Assess the current documents & processes, related regulations, and minimum requirements of the operation of PCcs’ delegates
- Assess the delegates’ needs and expectations of the handbook.
- Develop a framework for the handbook
- Compose the first draft of the handbook
- Present and consult the PCcs’ delegates on the draft of the handbook
- Revise and complete the final version
Tasks to be performed
The consultant(s) is expected to carry out the following specific tasks:
- Prepare assessment tool/questionnaire and assess current documents & processes, related regulations, and minimum requirements of the operation of PCcs’ delegates.
- Conduct individual interviews/focus group discussions with PCcs’ delegates at all levels on their needs and expectations of the handbook.
- Consolidate collected information and propose a concept for the handbook
- Make a draft handbook and collect comments
- Make a final handbook.
Deliverables
The consultant(s) is expected to submit the following deliverables:
- An inception report (maximum 5 pages) within 3 working days on the methodology, proposed contents of the handbook and timeline of the consultancy
- An approved concept for drafting the handbook
- Draft version of the handbook in MS Word format
- The complete handbook will contain minimum the followings:
- Part 1: General information (The basic information about Nghe An, its organizational structure,the operation of delegates and PCcs, and updates on legislations concerning the operation of PCcs)
- Part 2: Responsibilities and authorities of delegates
- Part 3: Important and necessary skills of delegates (focus more 3 groups of skills including problem analysis in meetings with citizen, contact with constituents on special subjects, and monitoring
- The handbook shall have 70 - 80 pages at a 480 Vietnamese words per page
- The handbook shall be in the Vietnamese language
- A short summary in English shall be provided (5 pages)
- The handbook shall be delivered in MS Word format, HTML format as well as in .pdf
Duration and timeline of the consultancy
Timeline for activities
Activities Working days per lot
Preparation of assessment tools 1 5
Assessment of current documents &
processes, related regulations and
legislations
Conduct individual interviews/focus 3
group discussions with PCcs’ delegates at
all levels
Information analysis and consolidation 3
Concept for the handbook 2
Draft handbook 20
Final edition of the handbook 5
TOTAL 39
Qualifications / requirements
University in journalism, policy communication, communication and public policy, public administrative reform or related field- At least 7 years of relevant field-based experience in the fields of governance and capacity development of People’s Councils- Proven experience in publishing articles with high journalistic standards (at least 5 publications)- In-depth knowledge and understanding of operation of People’s Councils Vietnam especially in the context of Nghe An province- Experience in providing training services for strengthening capacity for People’s Councils
Duty Station
Vinh city and 2 targeted districts of Quy Chau or Quy Hop and Cua Lo
Steering
The consultant(s) will coordinate with the Project Management Unit (PMU), and government agencies involved and other stakeholders to carry out the above tasks under the steering and supervision of the PMU and the provincial PCc. The PMU assures related departments will make documents in due time available as well as cooperation for interviews and working sessions. The PMU assures that in preparation, all basic documentation shall be available before the consultancy starts. A specific list of documents and key persons shall be drawn up.
Contact
Expressions of Interest, including an achievement-oriented CV and a letter highlighting in particular the required competencies and experiences should be sent directly to the PMU of RALG project in Nghe An province via email: [email protected] [1] by 05th January 2018.