Terms of Reference for consultancy to carry out Project Base line study in the Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and SADC region STRENGTHENING THE SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND OVERSIGHT CAPACITY OF PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES AND CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS FOR RIGHTS-BASED PUBLIC RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN HEALTH AND AGRICULTURE IN SOUTHERN AFRICA 30 th August 2015 0 P age
Call for Expressions of Interest Introduction and Background ActionAid International is the principal/lead in a consortium of six organisations contracted by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) to implement a project which aims to Strengthen Social Accountability and Oversight Capacity for Rights-based Public Resources Management in Health and Agriculture in Southern Africa. The other consortium members are International HIV/AIDS Alliance, SAfAIDS, East and Southern Africa Small Scale Farmers Forum, Training Centre for Development Cooperation and the Public Service Accountability Monitor programme of Rhodes University. The pre-planning phase of the project will run from 1 August 2015 30 March 2016. The main implementation Phase 1 of the project is expected to run for 3 years from 1st April 2016 to 31st March 2019. The main geographic region of the project is the 15 member states of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), with a focus in the first phase on four countries - Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. The expected outcome of the project is that selected parliamentary committees and issue-based CSOs including smallholder farmers organisations and media are better able to engage with and oversee the executive branch in the health and agriculture sectors with a particular focus on HIV/AIDS, SRHR and food security. By the end of the project, it is envisaged that adoption and contextualisation of social accountability monitoring by national and regional actor enhances the quality of decisions and actions of government departments on public resources management related to health and agriculture with tangible results to demonstrate success. Specifically, the project intends to: develop the capacity of parliamentary committees of: (1) health (HIV/AIDS and SRHR), (2) agriculture and food security, (3) public accounts, and (4) budget to properly oversee the sectors of health and agriculture in their countries; develop the capacity of issue-based CSOs, smallholder farmers organisations and media (particularly community radios) to engage in rights-and-evidence based social accountability monitoring and advocacy in health and agriculture; develop the capacity of relevant government departments on public resources management, social accountability and oversight; support the setting up of and strengthening of parliamentary budget offices in the target countries; facilitate learning, experience-sharing and collaboration on social accountability monitoring and oversight in health and agriculture at national and regional levels; support joint and concrete collective actions by parliamentary committees and issue-based CSOs to address challenges associated with public resources management in health and agriculture at national levels. 1 P age
The project document states that: Public resources management in sectors of health and agriculture is conceptualised based on five processes, which include but not necessarily limited to: (1) planning and resources allocation; (2) expenditure management; (3) performance management; (4) public integrity; and, (5) oversight. 1 These processes constitute the major aspects of a socially accountable state whereby their fulfilment ensures the proper allocation and use of public resources and contributes to the efficient and effective delivery of public services. 2 An effective state accordingly is characterised by the capability of the state institutions to properly implement these public resource management processes complemented by effective oversight by parliaments and the watchdog roles of CSOs. Improved public resources management in turn leads to a more efficient public service delivery. In line with this, the regional project is expected to contribute to the strengthening of social accountable state institutions in the sectors of health and agriculture in seven SADC countries. TOR for consultancy We are looking for a consultancy firm with the experience of citizens and the state s engagement in social accountability issues in public resources management in the sectors of health and agriculture in Southern Africa and knowledge of the role of civil society in enhancing access to quality service delivery. In particular local knowledge of Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania and Malawi as well as of SADC regional processes will be an added advantage. The consultancy firm will work closely with the consortium representatives and the project manager in undertaking these tasks. They will report to the project manager on a day to day basis. Activities to be undertaken 1.1. Project Baseline: Regional and National Baselines and Stakeholder Mapping The Project Baseline assessment, which will be conducted at two levels, regional and national, will inform the design of project activities to ensure effectiveness and sustainable results. The two baseline elements will also highlight the linkage between national and regional policy processes and social accountability mechanisms. Findings from the baseline will inform the detailed design of activities for the implementation phase including interventions to fill identified capacity gaps as well as the development of tools and resources. A thorough baseline will document state of play of social accountability across health and agriculture sectors at national and regional levels, including political and economic considerations, to inform the definition of target outcomes, indicators and measurement of results later during the project end-line assessment. At the national and regional levels: the baseline data will be collected and analysed for selected parliamentary committees, issue-based CSOs, smallholder farmers organisations, media and relevant government departments active in the areas of health (SRHR and HIV/AIDS) and agriculture (food security and nutrition). It will identify the ways in which the relevant parliamentary committees are setup; their status as standalone structures and as part of other broader parliamentary and State structures; their capacities and oversight roles; the nature of their interaction with governments, extra-parliamentary institutions and civil society; as well as their current capacity and development needs. The baseline will also incorporate gender equality as an integral part of public resources management and service delivery; and be framed around a rights-based approach, cognisant of 1 Public Sector Accountability Monitor, Rhodes University, South Africa (www.psam.co.za) 2 Ibid. 2 P age
the various facets of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) agenda to be rolled out within the same period as this project. 1.2. Presentation of the draft national baseline study at the National Stakeholder Consultation Meetings These one-day meetings will be organised by ActionAid leads in Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and Mozambique with involvement of the other consortium partners based in the countries. Expected outcomes from the 4 national meetings will include (i) increased buy-in secured from key national stakeholders across relevant constituencies, (ii) cross-checking data to and identifying broader entry points for strengthening baseline findings and (iii) building a community of practice to further engage during implementation of the project. The consultants are expected to present draft baseline findings at the stakeholder consultation meetings and support ActionAid leads with facilitation of these stakeholder meetings where possible. 1.3. Presentation of draft regional baseline at the Regional Consultative Meeting Building on the National Consultative Meetings, a one-day Regional Consultative Meeting will be convened with project Consortium partners and representatives from key regional stakeholders. The regional consultative meeting will be led by ESAFF and SAFAIDs with support from ActionAid International. The purpose of this platform will mirror that of the National Consultative Meetings and further secure buy-in at regional level. This meeting will also define strategic entry points at regional level to enable project efficacy and sustainability during and post implementation. The consultants are again expected to present their draft findings from the regional baseline at the regional consultative meetings to further refine the regional baseline study. 1.4 Development of the Pro-Doc Consultants are expected to produce the Pro-doc with inputs from the Consortium members and under guidance of the Project Manager. Pro-doc will build on the national and regional baseline and will take on board inputs from the consultative meetings. The Pro-Doc will follow the agreed SDC template. First draft of the Pro-Doc to be shared with the Consortium members at the working group face to face meeting end of October/beginning of November, with the final draft of the Pro-Doc to be submitted to the Project Manager third week of November for submission to SDC. Expected Outputs from the consultant 1. EOI including methodology for the consultancy - EOI to include: full analytical framework (ensuring consistency with project objectives and design); design and methodology; questions to be used towards the refinement of the theory of change; details on the data required to address the questions and assumptions, and the overall baseline study work plan and timelines. 2. Baseline from 4 countries, and regional level: Preparing a draft baseline report of no more than 75 pages in length, including an executive summary of no more than four pages, which describes the study and puts forward the consultant s findings and recommendations. The presentation of results is to be intrinsically linked to the objectives of the project, establishing a flow of logic development derived from the information collected. The report should be evidence-based, and, where appropriate, present findings and concepts visually in the form of illustrative diagrams and tables. Appendices should include details on the methodology, interviews and data collection instruments, as well as the dataset. 3. Presentation of draft baseline at the 4 national stakeholder workshops and regional workshop - Presentation of the first draft of the baseline study to a workshop of the Consortium team. The comments and suggestions from the workshop will be incorporated into the final version of the baseline study. 4. 2 day Pro-Doc writing/consultation workshop with the working group 3 P age
5. Pro-Doc Submission: Consultants will submit 2 versions of the Pro-doc, draft one first week of November, and 2 nd draft 3 rd week of November. 6. M&E framework: consultants to produce the logframe and a draft M&E framework working with project manager 7. Regular progress reporting to the ActionAid Consortium Project Manager through emails and/or phone calls. Qualifications and Experience of the Consultant Post-graduate degree in public administration, development studies, economics, or the social sciences. Proven track record in successfully undertaking research involving political economy analysis; mapping of public resources management systems; as well as the identification of capacity needs and support strategies for parliamentary committees, issue-based CSOs, small holder famers organisations, community and social media and relevant government departments. Experience in, and knowledge of the legal, social sciences, or development field Knowledge of, and experience in, the civil society sector (preferably in the SADC region) Extensive experience in conducting political economy analysis preferably with a basic understanding of political economy issues in the 4 project countries. High level analytical and excellent written skills Experience and knowledge of the relevant legislation and the operating environment of civil society organisations in the SADC region. Demonstrated experience in the transparency and accountability sector, particularly in the interaction between supply and demand side actors for the improvement of service delivery A good understanding of the state of service delivery in the key project sectors Logistics ActionAid will cover all travel costs (including flights, accommodation, ground transportation, and meals only) and provide the necessary logistical arrangements. ActionAid will also provide reasonable assistance to the consultant in arranging meetings with relevant partners and other stakeholders. Budget The consultants to provide for their fee including no of days needed, for carrying out the consultancy as part of the EOI. Submission of Expressions of Interest ActionAid welcomes expressions of interest consultants who meet the requirements set forth in this document. Proposals should include: CV detailing educational background, specific relevant skills, related work experience and expertise. Please provide a profile outlining expertise as per the qualifications and experience listed above. An outline of the proposed approach including a description of the methodology, work plan, and budget. Ata least two examples of previous baseline survey or related research undertaken by the consultant within one or more of the 3 key focus areas of this consultancy i.e. social accountability, health and or agriculture. Proposals should be submitted to Ruchi.Tripathi@actionaid.org no later than 7 th September 2015. 4 P age