Ministry of Local Government And Community Affairs Decentralization Secretariat

 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

 CONSULTANCY SERVICES FOR THE REVIEW AND CONDUCT  OF THE COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT SYSTEM (CLoGPAS)

 INTRODUCTION

The Government of Sierra Leone through the Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs is seeking a national consultant to review the Local Government Performance Assessment System (CLoGPAS).

This system was designed in 2006 to take stock of functions devolved to all 22 Local Councils and the increased funds they handle on a sustainable basis, as an annual local council management accountability (compliance accountability and performance accountability) mechanism for the Local Councils, devolving MDAs, Civil Society, and other stakeholders in the on-going decentralization process of Sierra Leone. The original design consisted of only Minimum Conditions and Performance Measures.

The Minimum Conditions deal with aspects of local council management, accountability; functional capacities of the Local Councils in terms of their preparedness to take over devolved functions and deliver services at the acceptable standards; assess/review the compliance of Local Councils with existing laws and regulations that guide the Decentralization process.

The Performance Measures deal with Council’s operational proficiency in terms of effectively using existing and established structures/institutions to improve decentralized service delivery, support good governance, transparency, accountability and inclusiveness.

After two rounds of implementation (2006 and 2008), the framework was reviewed in 2010 to incorporate additional competencies including modules on Ward Committees, Devolved sectors etc to ensure that cross-cutting issues that all council need to address are included.

Since then, a lot of issues are emerging on the Decentralization platform. New functions have been devolved to the Local Councils; the focus has shifted to service delivery and a new Decentralization Policy,2020 has been launched and currently rolled-out. There is also a revised M&E system and policy which the National Monitoring and Evaluation Department (NaMED) has developed and councils are expected to follow and the details of which would need to be taken onboard. There is also a National Mid-term Development Plan(2024-2028) which has been launched, and it is important to capture some data from councils. As a result, it is therefore necessary to take stock of the process to determine its relevance and future trend.

This activity will be funded by the Government of Sierra Leone through the guidance of the Decentralization Secretariat in the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.

The consultant will work closely with the Secretariat in the review and final report whilst providing capacity building support to the M&E staff in the Secretariat.

Objective

The main objective of the consultancy will be to assist the Government of Sierra Leone to conduct a review of  this assessment process to address the aforementioned inadequacies the system presently exhibits. 

SCOPE OF WORK:

The consultant will be required to carry out the following:

• Revise the performance assessment tool to include the required range of Local Council competencies and devolved functions;
• Develop additional modules to assess Local Council capacity in technical areas relating to Local Council Annual Work Plan implementation in the devolved sectors, the National Development Plan etc
• Review the content of the existing tool to ensure that it provides useful information to enable the Ministry and its partners make informed decisions with respect to capacity building aspects; and be able to respond to emerging needs.
• Review the administration of the CLoGPAS tool and recommend improvements with a view to using it in the future;
• Ensure that the CLoGPAS is aligned to essential documents eg Local Council M&E Framework; NaMED M&E Guidelines and Policy, the National Development Plan etc
• Work with the DecSec, M&E and Capacity Building Unit to administer sessions for the Local Council M&E Officers and Chief Administrators to allow buy-in on the new aspects of the assessment and its tool; and
• Provide the necessary technical support and training to the Decentralization Secretariat (DecSec) M&E team after the review.
• Consult with other units including the Fiscal Descentralization Division(FDD), the Local Government Service Commission and other key stakeholders including donors etc to make pertinent inputs into the tool
• Perform any other task in the conduct of the assessment

DELIVERABLES

The consultant will be required to deliver on the following:

Institutional Arrangement:

The national/Local  consultant shall work directly with the Decentralization Secretariat and report on a weekly basis to the Director, Dec-Sec. He/she will also need to submit brief weekly updates. The consultant will work in conjunction with staff of the Units on a day to day basis. Working space will be provided.

The consultant will be required to arrange and cover the costs of transportation, accommodation, travels upcountry, the printing and completion of reports, and other logistics associated with the assignment.

Material Availability:

The activity will include desk research and working directly with staff from the Capacity Building and M&E Unit to obtain the necessary information. It is important to note that this research will be carried out before data collection. Data and reports from previous assessments and reports in implementing the assessment will be made available.

Duration of the assignment:

The assignment is required to be done within 2 months beginning from the date of commencement of the contract.

 Transfer of Knowledge:

The consultant will be required to build the capacity of staff in the Capacity Building and M&E Unit of the Secretariat by providing training. 

Budget:

The consultant should prepare a detailed budget.

 Confidentiality Statement

All data and information generated for the purpose of this assignment are to be treated confidentially and are only to be used in connection with the execution of these Terms of Reference. All intellectual property rights arising from the execution of these Terms of Reference are assigned to the Government of Sierra Leone. The contents of written materials obtained and used in this assignment may not be disclosed to any third parties without the expressed advance written authorization of the Government of Sierra Leone

 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Interested National consultants are requested to submit proposals and most recent Curriculum Vitae by  30th May 2024 to:

The Admin& Finance Officer

Decentralization Secretariat

Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs

Email: joanmickey@ymail.com

Requests for proposals should include:

• A capacity statement, stating the consultant’s capacity, qualifications and experience in delivering the aforementioned scope of work
• A detailed work plan, including timelines
• A detailed budget, specifying all the costs required, as per the specifications provided in this proposal

 QUALIFICATION

1. Masters Degree in Economics/Development Studies, with emphasis on local government development with at least 5 years experience in the related field;
2. An understanding of the Decentralization Process in Sierra Leone and experience working on local government reform programmes as well as with decentralization of sector programmes: health, education, water and sanitation, gender etc and the design and implementation of a local government assessment system.
3. Experience in conducting research, monitoring, implementation and review of development projects will be an added advantage; and
4. Strong performance data analysis and report writing skills