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Consultant for Capacity Building in Conducting Feasibility Study of Development Projects – North Central & Uva Provinces - For Sri Lankans only

state ministry of provincial councils and local government affairs (smpclga) with frequents travel to uva and north central provinces

  • Organization: UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
  • Location: state ministry of provincial councils and local government affairs (smpclga) with frequents travel to uva and north central provinces
  • Grade: Consultancy - National Consultant - Locally recruited Contractors Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Education, Learning and Training
    • Governance and Peacebuilding
    • Scientist and Researcher
    • Project and Programme Management
  • Closing Date: Closed

Background

The Capacity Development for Local Government (CDLG) Project of UNDP Sri Lanka is part of larger efforts by the Government of Sri Lanka to strengthen the local governance system in the country. These efforts are supported by the European Union, and the World Bank.

The overall objective of the CDLG project, implemented by UNDP, is to strengthen the capacities of LAs to be inclusive, responsive, and accountable and be able to plan, enhance resilience, and deliver better services. The capacity development support, coupled with the fiscal support (through Basic Transfers and Performance Transfers provided through Local Development Support Project -LDSP) for inclusive service delivery and economic investment, is aimed at strengthening the role of elected representatives at the local level. It is about improving local governance systems and making local governments “fit for future”, as well as increase downward accountability of elected officials and local governments. The project also aims to strengthening mechanisms for public engagement in local decision-making processes.

The State Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government Affairs (SMPCLGA) in Sri Lanka is implementing the Local Development Support Project (LDSP) with financial support from World Bank and the European Union (EU). The goal of LDSP is to strengthen all 134 Local Government Authorities (LGAs) in Northern, Eastern, Uva and North-Central provinces of Sri Lanka for effective and responsive local service delivery and accountable governance. The LDSP will provide Basic Transfers (BT) and Performance Transfers (PT) as grants to the LGAs and institutionalize local government’s accountability to citizens via participatory processes in the form of regular ward-level meetings, preparation of Ward Development Plans and Local Area Participatory Development Plans (LAPDPs), open budgeting, regular performance monitoring and assessment. The overall responsibility for implementing the LDSP rests with the Project Coordination Unit (PCU) within the MPCLG while Project Implementation Units (PIUs) in Provincial Councils (PCs) are responsible for ensuring implementation of activities via the respective LGAs.

One of the components under LDSP is designed to finance delivery of local services and economic infrastructure by LGAs and provinces in an accountable, equitable and effective manner. Under the component of ‘Economic Cluster Support’, it is expected to finance identification and provision of infrastructure that supports local economic development such as roads, minor irrigation, markets, IT connectivity, rural electricity etc. SMPCLGA will allocate funds to participating provinces to implement this component. The provinces will work with LGAs, businesses and other stakeholders to analyze potential economic clusters or value chains that can benefit from infrastructure investments that cut across administrative boundaries of multiple LGAs. Investments will be selected based on three compulsory basic criteria: (i) support or advance economic activity in a selected cluster or value chain; (ii) boost or catalyze economic activities of local residents; and (iii) activities that result in greater climate resilience, e.g. reduced flooding, improved accessibility, reliable water supply, ensuring continued economic and livelihood activities, preserving perishable food item etc., to help project beneficiaries adapt to climate change impacts.

UNDP is seeking to employ the services of a suitable consultant to facilitate feasibility assessment of selected projects identified by the PIUs of the LDSP by creating a resource pool at the PIUs in North Central and Uva provinces using appropriate capacity building approaches by building capacities of the PIUs.

 

Scope and Objectives

The scope of services associated with this assignment can be broadly categories into three components as follows.

  • Component 1: Situational assessment and Literature review;
  • Component 2: Development of Project Feasibility Assessment Manual;
  • Component 3: Support to assess the feasibility of projects using Project Feasibility Assessment Manual.

 

The main objective of this assignment is to build the capacities of officials at the Department of Local Government in North Central and Uva provinces in project formulation and assessing the feasibility of planning and implementation of development projects in terms of social, political, environmental, and economic factors.

The consultant is expected to closely engage with the Project Coordinating Unit (PCU) of LDSP at the State Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government affairs (SMPCLGA) and respective Project Implementation Units (PIUs) at the Uva and North central provinces in which LDSP is being implemented. The consultant will have to undertake tasks under three major components as described below.

 

Component 1: Situational assessment and Literature review

The consultant will have to understand the current status of interventions planned under the ‘economic cluster support’ component of LDSP. Some of the potential tasks to be performed under this component are.

  • Study the ‘economic cluster support’ component of LDSP;
  • Study the identified projects submitted by the PIUs of LDSP;
  • Consultation with relevant stakeholders.

 

Component 2: Development of Project Feasibility Assessment Manual

Main objective of this component to design and development of a tool for enabling the decision makers to effectively assess the feasibility of development projects considering following factors influencing the viability of implementation.

  • Social factors and considerations;
  • Political factors ;
  • Environmental factors ;
  • Economic factors including financial viability.

 

Illustrative tasks for the consultant will have to engage under this component are.

  • Study available models of ‘feasibility assessment framework’ used for decision making on deciding viable development projects;
  • Develop a ‘feasibility assessment framework’ that can be used by LDSP exclusively to achieve the objectives of ‘economic cluster support’ component;
  • Design all necessary checklists and templates that can be used for feasibility assessment of development projects;
  • Develop the ‘feasibility assessment manual with guidelines and necessary checklists’ based on the finalized ‘feasibility assessment framework;
  • Present the draft ‘feasibility assessment manual’ to the PSU and any other key stakeholders in view validating the manual;
  • Finalize with ‘feasibility assessment manual’ by incorporating all comments.

 

Component 3 : Support to assess the feasibility of projects using Project Feasibility Assessment Manual

The consultant will have to engage with the PIUs to facilitate assessing the feasibility of all the projects identified for ‘economic cluster development’ component of LDSP. Some of the potential tasks to be performed by the consultant under this component are;

  • Conduct training program for selected officials at the PIUs using the ‘feasibility assessment manual’ to cerate a resource pool within the province;
  • Facilitate the ‘resource pool’ to assess all the projects identified under the ‘economic cluster development’ program of LDSP;
  • Assess the review process by the resource pool and support them with proper guidance;
  • Report the PCU and PIUs on the final results of the feasibility assessment of all projects under the economic cluster development component .

 

Duties and Responsibilities

Expected Deliverables

The consultant is expected to generate the following deliverables during the period this assignment:

  1. Inception report with content of feasibility assessment manual-20% by 15/07/2021;
  2. Finalized feasibility assessment manual with guidelines and checklists. -30% by 31/08/2021;
  3. Reports on the trainings for the officials of PIUs.- 20% by 30/09/2021;
  4. Final report on the process adopted by the trained resource pool in feasibility assessment on the selected projects under ‘economic cluster support’ component of LDSP and results of the assessment process. - 30% by 15/12/2021.

 

Management Arrangements

The consultant will directly work with the Project Coordination Unit (PCU) of LDSP at the State Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government affairs (SMPCLGA). But the contract is managed by UNDP and the consultant need to report to the project manager- CDLG project, UNDP.

 

Duration of Contract

The assignment should be completed within six months. PCU of SMPCLGA will make arrangements for liaising with the respective PIUs to facilitate this assignment and will also provide support for logistics during the assignment.

 

 

Competencies

A. Technical competencies

  • Consultant should possess the abilities, skills and experience appropriate to undertake the tasks proposed.
  • Pro-active, results driven and able to meet strict deadlines.
  • Strong research, and excellent writing skills in English and Tamil.
  • Excellent organizational skills.
  • Excellent training skills.
  • Experience in producing corporate products, training manuals.

 

B. Behavioral Competencies:

  • Respect the security, dignity and self-worth of respondents, program participants. Consultant has the responsibility to be sensitive to and respect differences amongst participants in culture, religion, gender, disability, age and ethnicity.
  • Ability to be flexible and respond to changes to text/layout as part of the review and feedback process.
  • Strong interpersonal skills, able to communicate and work with diverse people.
  • Participate effectively in team-based, information-sharing environment, collaborating and cooperating with others.
  • People Management, maturity and confidence in dealing with senior members of government institutions.
  • Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and results for the client and responds positively to feedback.

 

C.  Results

  • Proven delivery of high-quality results, in a timely manner.
  • Ability to plan own work and use time efficiently, manage conflicting priorities and work under pressure of tight and conflicting deadlines.

Required Skills and Experience

Following are the minimum qualifications required for the selected consultant;

 

a) Academic Qualifications

  • Master’s degree or above in the relevant field obtained from recognized Universities.

 

b) Experience

  • At least five years professional experience in local government or similar field;
  • Experience in financial analysis and conducting feasibility studies of development projects;
  • Demonstrated experience in working with government partners and other stakeholders in public sector development programs especially in the areas of capacity development;
  • Prior experience in working with the Provincial Councils and Local Authorities.

 

Application

The application should contain:

  • Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position and a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work;
  • Updated CV to include qualifications/competencies and relevant past experience in similar projects and contact details of 3 professional referees who can certify your competencies, professionalism, quality of writing, presentation, and overall suitability to this TOR;
  • Individual Consultants will be evaluated based on a combination of factors including cover letter, the credentials on offer, and a brief interview (optional) and the offer which gives the best value for money for UNDP;
  • Please send the Financial Proposal separately to the following e-mail address: consultants.lk@undp.org stating the vacancy number/position in the subject line.

 

FINANCIAL PROPOSAL

All Inclusive Daily Fee: LKR (_____________________________________)

Amount in words:(LKR_____________________________________________________)

 

Link for Financial Proposal Template

Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual IC, including Financial Proposal Template

 

Note: Payments will be based on invoices on achievement of agreed milestones i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR and certification of acceptance by the UNDP. The applicant must factor in all possible costs in his/her “All Inclusive Daily Fee” including his/her consultancy and professional fee, travel (economy class flights is required to and from the Duty Station) honorarium, board and lodging, and any other foreseeable costs in this exercise. No costs other than what has been indicated in the financial proposal will be paid or reimbursed to the consultant. UNDP will only pay for any unplanned travel outside of this TOR and Duty Station on actual basis and on submission of original bills/invoices and on prior agreement with UNDP officials. Daily perdiums and costs for accommodation/meals/incidental expenses for such travel shall not exceed established local UNDP DSA rates.

 

For an Individual Contractor who is 65 years of age or older, and on an assignment requiring travel, be it for the purpose of arriving at the duty station or as an integral duty required travel under the TOR, a full medical examination and statement of fitness to work must be provided.  Such medical examination costs must be factored into the financial proposal above. Medical examination is not a requirement for individuals on RLA contracts.

 

PAYMENT OF SERVICES

Payments will be based on the submission of written reports specifying the tasks accomplished and corresponding number of work days put in towards achieving the deliverables outlined above.

This vacancy is now closed.
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