Terms of Reference for International Consulting Services

Integrated Strategic Planning Systems in Crimea – End of Project Review and Recommendations for Future Intervention

• Programme Title: UNDP / Crimea Integration and Development Programme (CIDP)
• Post Title: short-term International Expert
• Project Number: UKR/00/006
• Duration: 6 working days
• Duty Station: Simferopol, Crimea / Ukraine

I. Introduction

The main goal of UNDP’s Crimea Integration and Development Programme (CIDP) is to foster sustainable human development in a manner that contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability in Crimea through initiatives aimed at preventing interethnic violence and enhancing peaceful coexistence among different ethnic groups.

This includes the following five sub-goals:

• Promote good governance and integration by encouraging citizens of multi-ethnic communities to actively participate in improving their living conditions in partnership with local authorities;
• Improve quality and accessibility of basic infrastructure and social services in needy areas;
• Reduce marked economic disparities between underprivileged groups and the rest of the population by promoting income and employment creation with special emphasis on entrepreneurship and small and medium enterprise development;
• Increase tolerance and social cohesion through education and culture;
• Increase responsiveness to potential conflict areas through the setting up of a Human Security Monitoring System.

During the current fourth phase, CIDP is complementing the well-proven social mobilization approach with an integrated approach to regional development in Crimea that goes beyond the community level to intervene at the policy level.

Building on CIDP’s significant achievements in strengthening good governance and improving public services at a local level, it is now essential to develop the necessary institutional and administrative capacities, make linkages between achievements at the community level and policy processes, and build a platform for the establishment of a supportive legal and policy framework.

In June 2006, CIDP launched a Project on Integrated Strategic Planning Systems which aimed to strengthen democratic governance and facilitate local and regional development in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (ARC) through the establishment of a strategic, integrated and accountable planning system.

The project is building on the following three components:

1. Establishment of a supportive policy framework for strategic planning and result-oriented public financial management in Crimea.

A comprehensive assessment of the situation was undertaken and approved by the Project Advisory Committee, comprising representatives from the two pilot districts, the ARC Ministry of Economy (MoE), other ARC Ministries and the ARC Parliament. On that basis, a Manual for Integrated Planning Methodology was elaborated – its implementation is subject of a training course. The manual proposes a system of integrated strategic planning, describes the key stages of the strategic planning process including the preparation of key strategic documents, and monitoring and reporting procedures. The Manual determines a unified approach to strategic planning in the ARC applicable at all vertical levels of governance.

2. Development of a capacity building package for strategic planning and public expenditure management and capacity-building of civil servants responsible for strategic planning in line ministries and district administrations;

Simultaneously, the Consultant offers a training package to civil servants at Ministerial and District levels. The trainings aim at upgrading the skills of managers and civil servants in the public administration at central and local level, thereby contributing to the successful implementation of the project. As a result of an initial training needs assessment, four main thematic areas, namely ‘Strategic Planning for Regional Development', 'Project Development', 'Budgeting and Financial Management', and 'Introduction and Application of the Manual for Integrated Strategic Planning System' were identified and corresponding curricula elaborated. The courses are conducted by the Consultant with local trainers acting as co-trainers. They were previously selected in the framework of a Train-the-Trainers programme which has been prepared in close collaboration with the Institute for Enhancement of the Qualification of Civil Servants of Crimea.

3. Pilot of the strategic planning methodology in 2 districts of Crimea, including support to the development of a strategic plan, linking its objectives to the budgeting process, establishment of the institutional framework for its implementation and the introduction of result-based management methods.

The third component mainly consists of a review of the functioning of the District Administration in general and the Strategic Planning Process in particular. The findings of the reviews have been discussed with high-level representatives of both the District Administration and Council. The districts are being assisted in their efforts to implement the recommendations as agreed upon until the end of the project.

A final project conference will be held in May, and a presentation for the ARC Council of Ministers as well as interested Districts on the achieved results is planned for mid-April.

In the course of the ongoing intervention, it has become clear that the lack of strategic planning capacity and the inability to formulate clear and concise projects at the district level is a key constraint for the districts to mobilize additional resources and to access funds from the state budget through the processes described above. Resources available on the district level depend to a large extent on the ability of the district administrations to draw up and defend good projects as part of a coherent development strategy. Moreover, it can be expected that the availability of better designed strategies and projects presented by the districts, will create demand on the upper tiers of Government to improve strategic planning processes, ensure more equitable regional development and further decentralize responsibilities to the local level. This fact has been acknowledged both by the districts themselves and the ARC MoE.

In view of the above, CIDP decided to continue its assistance in the area of strategic planning and budgeting. The Programme therefore intends to have a rapid end of project review with recommendations for a realistic and meaningful extension project.

The purpose of this review is to provide an assessment of the extent to which planned outputs have been achieved and to prepare a guide for future similar interventions.

The short-term International Expert is expected to assume the following main tasks:

Preparatory Work

- Familiarization with the project proposal and its outcome and intended objectives;

- Study of all major documents that have been produced in the course of the current project, in particular the Technical Papers, the Functional Reviews of the two pilot districts, the Manual for Integrated Strategic Planning Methodology, and the training materials;

- Furthermore, the Consultant should familiarize him-/herself with all relevant national legislation, among others the Budget Code of Ukraine, the law of Ukraine “On State Forecasting and Elaboration of the Programme of Economic and Social Development”, and the law of Ukraine “On Regional Development Stimulation”.

Meetings with Project Stakeholders

- Bilateral meetings with all major stakeholders to the project, in particular the representatives from the two pilot districts, the First Deputy Minister of Economy, and the Head of the Department of Strategic Planning and Regional Development in the MoE;

- Participation in a high-level presentation of project results by the districts at the ARC Council of Ministers, expected to take place in mid-April.

Review of Training Package and Manual

- Specific attention should be paid to the relevance, completeness, and applied methodology of the training materials developed in the framework of the ToT Programme; if needed, additional training subjects should be suggested;

- A meeting with the Director of the Institute for Enhancement of the Qualification of Civil Servants of Crimea as well as two skilled local trainers should provide further information on how to design future training in the district and relevant Ministries; the possibility of including such training courses into the annual curriculum of the Institute should be explored;

- Under the current project only three local trainers could be instructed. Therefore, there might be a need for more trainers who could be identified within targeted District Administrations. Such trainers could provide sort of a peer-to-peer training, very hands-on, including post-training coaching (backstopping);

- The Manual for Integrated Planning Methodology should also be reviewed carefully, and modifications should be proposed if deemed necessary.

Overall Assessment of Project

- Short appraisal of the interventions that took place under the current project phase, i.e. an assessment of the achievement of each project output. This includes the identification of lessons learned which should then be linked to the recommendations for an extension project.

Overall Recommendations

The Consultant is expected to deliver a well articulated and substantive set of specific recommendations on how to set about an extension of the current project.

The list of issues to be addressed includes, but is not limited to, the following questions:

- What should be the main strategy and directions, including outputs and activities, of an extension to the project?

- How to increase local ownership at the Crimean level, e.g. through an increased engagement of the Ministry of Economy, the involvement of the the Standing Commission of the ARC Verhovna Rada on Economic, Budgetary, Financial and Fiscal Policies etc.?

- Should the project continue to work exclusively with the current two pilot districts or expand to other districts? If yes, how many additional districts should be covered, based on which criteria should they be selected, and how the assistance should look like?

- To what extent and in what ways can the ARC Government be supported in its efforts to elaborate a long-term Regional Development Strategy on the basis of the Ukrainian Law "On Regional Development Stimulation"?

- Is international consulting essential for the implementation of the project? If yes, to what extent, and what kind of backstopping would be required?

IV. Deliverables

The International Expert is expected to provide CIDP with the following documents not later than one week after termination of works in Crimea:

- Project Review Report (7 — 10 pages);

- Written and detailed recommendations for the strategy of an extension project, incl. terms of reference for required consultancy services (7 — 10 pages).

Both documents should be submitted in English.

V. Required Qualification

The short-term International Expert shall dispose of the following professional qualification:

• Master’s degree in economics, public service management or related fields;
• In-depth theoretical and practical kknowledge of participatory strategic planning and results-oriented public expenditure management at regional and local levels in the CIS region;
• Know-how of international best practices on integrated strategic planning systems;
• Familiarity with relevant Ukrainian legislation and regulatory norms would be an asset;
• Experience with community-based development and familiarity with regional development planning;
• Excellent command of English; knowledge of Russian / Ukrainian languages is an asset;
• Computer literate (MS Word, MS Excel, MS Power Point etc.);
• Excellent analytical and writing skills;
• Affinity with United Nations mandate and principles.

VI. Duration and Implementation Arrangements

This short-term consultancy service is limited to six working days and should take place in April 2007.

Since the practicability of the mandate to some extent depends on a stakeholder meeting (presentation) at the ARC Council of Ministers to be held in Simferopol, the Consultant is expected to show flexibility with regard to the exact time period.

The International Expert engaged for this mandate will work in close collaboration with relevant CIDP staff, in particular the Local Governance Officer and the Community Development Specialist, and under the overall supervision of the International Programme Coordinator to whom he or she is accountable.

The International Expert will receive an electronic version of all required information, including CIDP Programme Strategy, all documents produced by the project team, and other relevant papers before the start of the mandate.

Interested candidates should submit their complete proposals via e-mail: vacancy@undp.crimea.ua or fax it: +38 0652 248011.

The deadline for submission of applications is Friday 13 April 2007.

Please note that applications received after the deadline will not be accepted.

Applicants will be contacted only if they are under serious consideration.

Simferopol, Crimea / Ukraine