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1 CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT 1. BACKGROUND Organizational Context: The National Federal Parliament (NFP) was inaugurated in August 2012, with the selection (by traditional elders and a vetting panel) of 275 new Members of Parliament. The NFP currently consists of a single House of the People, though the Provisional Constitution envisages the eventual establishment of an Upper House which will be comprised of Federal Member State representatives (once the states are legally created). The NFP executes its powers based on Article 55 of the 2012 Provisional Constitution. Headed by the Secretary General (SG), the Secretariat of the Parliament is the administrative arm of the House and is responsible for managing house procedures and day-to-day operations, including recordkeeping, public relations, staffing and finance. The Secretariat staff also support the House and its committees to legislate, perform oversight functions and serve constituents. Expected Outcome: The expected outcome of this assignment is to capacitate the NFP to operate as inclusive, transparent and effective law-making, oversight and representative body contributing to national peacebuilding and nation-building goals. Output 2 of NFP s 2015 annual workplan and Objective 3 of the current Parliament Strategic Plan calls for strengthening NFP to be an effective institution, with a functioning administration and infrastructure and leadership supported to discharge their constitutional mandates to fairly, inclusively and transparently manage the business of Parliament and lead the Parliamentary Administration. ABRIMO Assessment: A UNDP-sponsored micro capacity assessment was conducted by ABRIMO Company in 2014 to assess the institutional capacity of NFP to manage funds in accordance with the Harmonized Approach for Cash Transfer (HACT) framework and guidelines. The assessment identified a number of deficiencies in the areas of staffing, financial controls, procurement, reporting and information systems. The NFP seeks a qualified local consulting firm who will be responsible for providing technical assistance in order to implement improvement activities and organizational changes, procedures and 1

2 regulations as well as staff capacity development (training) that will eliminate and address administrative short-comings stated in the ABRIMO capacity assessment. This firm will be working in close cooperation with a national expert directly contracted by the UNDP Parliamentary Support Project. 2. CONSULTANCY OBJECTIVE In accordance with the NFP strategic plan, Letter of Agreement (LoA) with UNDP Parliamentary Support Project and the HACT (Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfers) framework, the selected firm will provide technical assistance and develop the institutional capacity of the NFP secretariat with specific focus on the following areas: Human resources management, including division of labor and training; Procurement management; Financial management and accounting; and Reliable internal controls 3. SCOPE OF ASSIGNMENT The capacity development firm will be responsible for providing technical assistance in order to implement improvements recommended by ABRIMO micro capacity assessment and assist the NFP to eliminate the deficiencies stated in the findings of the assessment. The consultancy services should encompass staff training; development of policies, procedures and guidelines; advising the NFP Secretariat and preparing progress reports and sharing with the NFP Secretariat and UNDP Parliament Support Project team. 4. OUTLINE ACTIVITIES TO BE UNDERTAKEN The firm will be responsible for undertaking the following capacity building activities: Organizational structure and staffing Develop and adopt an improved organizational structure and implement an efficient, merit-based recruitment process to fill a number key positions, including development of staff background check policy, employee job descriptions and all paperwork necessary for staff selection; Design and deliver training workshops to build staff capacity; and Develop a training policy, employee performance appraisal process and annual training plans. Accounting Policies and Procedures Establish effective internal control framework and establish sufficient segregation of duties among staff in conducting accounting, procurement and asset management transactions; Become better able to monitor Ministry s budget on on-going basis; Develop an accounting manual that would be used as a guideline for all financial management related procedures; Develop and adopt documented financial management policies, including conflict of interest policy and fraud risk management policy. 2

3 Internal audit Establish internal audit function within the Secretariat with clearly stated qualification and experience requirements and write an audit charter for the internal audit function; and Establish binding mechanism to ensure that NFP is financially audited periodically and audit recommendations are implemented. Reporting and monitoring Become better able to prepare financial statements on an on-going basis, detailing the income, expenditure, assets, liabilities as well as the statement of financial position of NFP, using appropriate standards (IFRS) to guide the process of preparation of these statements; and Prepare reports detailing a comparison between actual and budgeted expenditure for each budget line on a monthly basis and explaining variances identified. Information System Roll out a proper accounting system which will help effectively manage financial information and develop policies on the use of the system covering areas around access controls, licensing, accountability etc. Procurement Develop procurement manual that encompasses policies and procedures that would guide the procurement practices of the Parliament including conducting market surveys, establishing database of active suppliers, developing procurement code of ethics, establishing procurement authorization levels and developing standardized bidding documents as well as standard templates for contracts. Fixed Asset Management Established rigorous, enhanced asset management practices, such as establishing and maintaining fixed asset register and ensure staff are trained on conducting frequent physical inventory of fixed assets. 5. DELIVERABLES Based on the outcome of the ABRIMO assessment recommendations and in accordance with the capacity building action plan included in the LoA, the selected firm is expected to achieve the following monthly deliverables and submit a monthly report on the assigned deliverables: Deliverables Completion date 3

4 1. Rapid capacity needs assessment undertaken of NFP Secretariat to identify staffing, training, structural, documentation and other needs and a comprehensive workplan is produced and submitted to the parliament; 2. Organogram for parliament Secretariat drafted and approved by the SG; 3. Job analysis for key relevant positions undertaken and job descriptions, including duties and responsibilities, qualification and competence requirements developed. 4. A documented process for staff background checks for all new hires developed; 5. Staff recruitment action plan prepared, all new staff recruited into the Secretariat, new hire orientation and management training for any new managers delivered and report of all recruitment and staff orientation activities submitted; 6. Audit charter for the internal audit functions prepared, including clearly stated qualification and experience requirements for Internal Audit staff; 7. Technical assistance provided to establish binding mechanism that will ensure the parliament is financially audited periodically, reliable evaluations are produced and disseminated; 8. A process ensuring that the following functional responsibilities are conducted by different individuals is prepared: a) authorization to execute a transaction; a) recording of the transaction; and c) custody of assets involved in the transaction; and 9. Invoice processing procedures set up to provide for the following: a) copies of purchase orders and receiving reports to be obtained directly from issuing departments; b) comparison of invoice quantities, prices and terms with those indicated on the purchase order and with records of goods actually received; and c) checking the accuracy of calculations. 10. Account codes for payment vouchers for invoices for the relevant expenses established and assigned. By end of Month 1 4

5 11. Documented internal control framework established, which may consist of conducting a risk assessment exercise and developing a risk register where each identified risk would be mapped to the relevant control to mitigate it; 12. Staff training delivered on maintaining cashbooks to record cash movement, which shall have columns for recording the date, the reference number, the description for the transaction, the income, the payments and the running balance; 13. Staff training delivered on obtaining bank statements from the bank on a monthly basis and ensuring the balances reflected reconciled against the cashbook balances; 14. Staff trained on preparing monthly bank reconciliation statements; and 15. Staff trained to prepare reports detailing a comparison between actual and budgeted expenditure for each budget line on a monthly basis, providing explanation next to each variance identified; 16. Develop a fixed asset manual used as a guideline for all fixed asset related procedures e.g. roles and responsibilities, processes around receipts and payments and safeguarding and accounting for fixed assets; 17. Fixed asset register established detailing for each asset: asset description, unique identification number, location, original cost, depreciation, NBV and the user; and 18. Staff trained to conduct a physical inventory of fixed assets at least once every year, and include the details of individuals conducting the inventory exercise as well as the date of the exercise in the count sheets. 19. Annual training plans developed, including establishing performance appraisal system/process, developing staff training policy, conduct an employee satisfaction survey to determine the root cause of staff turnover; 20. Accounting and finance manual developed, which will establish relevant financial reporting responsibilities and outline reporting formats for financial reports; 21. Staff training on preparing financial statements on an on-going basis delivered detailing, the income, expenditure, assets and liabilities as well as the statement of financial position of all target institutions ensuring use of appropriate standards (IFRS) to guide the process of preparation of financial statements; 22. Technical assistance provided to roll out a proper accounting system which will help effectively manage financial information; and 23. Professional assistance provided to develop policies on the use of the system covering areas around access controls, licensing, accountability etc. By end of Month 2 By end of Month 3 5

6 24. Standard bidding and contract templates and documents developed; 25. Documented procurement strategy developed, including procedures for handling complaints related to procurement, procurement code of ethics, fraud risk management policy, formal guidelines and procedures identify and deal with potential conflicts of interest with potential suppliers/procurement agents and well-defined process to ensure a secured and transparent bid and evaluation process; 26. Staff training delivered on various topics related to procurement, such as market survey, maintaining suppliers database, tracking suppliers past performance and checking the market in order to estimate the prices of potential purchases and facilitate planning; 27. Procurement policies and procedures that would guide procurement practices within national counterpart institutions developed, which will document the fraud risk management policy which would among other things assist the IP in designing fraud & corruption response plans, establishing investigation protocol s, remediation policies and uniform disciplinary processes; and 28. Final report produced summarizing activities undertaken, results achieved and any recommendations for additional improvements required. By end of Month 4 6. REVIEW AND APPROVAL The work of the firm will be supervised by the Secretary General of the NFP and/or his designee. Payments are contingent on timely completion of the agreed upon deliverables. Achievement of deliverables/milestones will be jointly reviewed and approved by the Secretary General of NFP and UNDP Parliamentary Support Project Manager before payments are made. 7. EXPECTED DURATION OF ASSIGNMENT The task is expected to be completed within four months from the date of signing the contract. The selected firm is, therefore, required to prepare and submit a workplan for the entire assignment in a way that allows the achievement of all deliverables within the four-month period. 8. REPORTS Based on this ToR and workplan, the selected consulting firm will submit monthly reports to the NFP Secretary General and UNDP Parliamentary Support Project Manager. The consulting firm will receive technical supervisory backstopping and support from the UNDP Parliamentary Support Project national consultant. In addition to the deliverables detailed above and in the work plan, reporting will include the following: Weekly updates; Monthly report; Bi-monthly (mid-term) report; and 6

7 Final report detailing deliverables achieved, activities carried out, challenges encountered and recommendations for further improvements. 9. DUTY STATION The selected firm shall not be required to be present at the NFP office and may work in its office with coordinated visits to the NFP which will ensure transfer of knowledge and adequate interaction with the House leadership and staff. As and when required by the satisfactory completion of the work, the firm shall visit other relevant institutions including, but not limited to, the Ministry of Finance, National Tender Board and National Civil Service Commission. 10. CONSULTANCY PROFILE The contracted firm shall have following minimum criteria: At least 6 years of experience in financial management, procurement and development of internal control policies and procedures for parliaments, governmental institutions and international organizations; Demonstrated capabilities in policy analysis of government structures and governance systems and implementing administrative reform activities in post-conflict environments; Proven ability to provide staffing services, such as conducting organizational restructuring, preparing employee job descriptions, undertaking recruitment activities and delivering staff training; Ability to render consulting services in the most professional, effective and efficient manner; Proven ability to network and build strong working relations with senior level elected officials, senior parliament staff and staff of international partners; Familiarity with Somali National Parliament rules and regulations will be an asset; Fluency in English and Somali languages; Excellent writing and presentation skills; and Ability to meet tight deadlines. 11. EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS Proposals will be evaluated using the cumulative analysis method with a split 80% technical and 20% financial scoring. The proposal with the highest cumulative scoring will be awarded the contract. Applications will be evaluated technically and points are attributed based on how well the proposal meets the requirements of the Terms of Reference using the guidelines detailed in the table below: Technical Evaluation 80% At least 6 years of experience in financial management, procurement and development of internal control policies and procedures for parliaments, governmental institutions and international organizations Demonstrated capabilities in policy analysis of government structures and governance systems and implementing administrative reform activities in post-conflict environments Proven ability to provide staffing services, such as conducting organizational restructuring, preparing employee job descriptions, undertaking recruitment activities and delivering staff training 20% 10% 10% 7

8 Ability to render consulting services in the most professional, effective and efficient manner 5% Proven ability to network and build strong working relations with senior level elected officials, 5% senior parliament staff and staff of international partners Familiarity with Somali National Parliament rules and regulations will be an asset 5% Fluency in English and Somali languages 10% Excellent writing and presentation skills 10% Ability to meet tight deadlines 5% Financial Evaluation 20% 12. PAYMENT SCHEDULE Upon submission of mid-term report by the end of month 2 of the assignment 50% Upon submission of final report detailing achievements, activities undertaken and 50% recommendations for additional development. Total 100% 13. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION Proposals must consist of (or contain) the following documents (or sections): 1. A brief background of the applicant firm and a letter of intent; 2. Evidence of past experience in undertaking similar works (provide examples and references); 3. Technical proposal: A summary of the methodology and timelines for ensuring completion of service by required time; 4. CVs of the lead consultant and key team members; and 5. Financial proposal (all-inclusive lump sum amount with a cost breakdown) The financial proposal must be submitted separately from other documents. All applications must be clearly marked with the title of Institutional Capacity Development Consulting Services and submitted in electronic format by 6:00 P.M. on 20 August 2015 to abdikarimbuh@yahoo.com and smado4@hotmail.com. For further information concerning these Terms of Reference, please contact abdikarimbuh@yahoo.com and smado4@hotmail.com. Incomplete applications will not be considered, and only candidates for whom there is further interest will be contacted. 8