Institutional Development and Governance Consultant

Terms of Reference for a Study on Political Economy, Institutional and Stakeholder Assessment (Study 1)

Position Title: Institutional Development and Governance Consultant
Location: Hanoi, Lao Cai, and Son La
Period: 16 January 2018 to 15 June 2018
Inputs: Approximately 20 days
Reporting To: Team Leader with coordination to Technical Panel Coordinator

Background: CowaterSogema is recruiting an institutional development and governance consultant to join the Aus4Equality (GREAT) project team to conduct a study on political economy, institutional and stakeholder assessment. This GREAT project is a socio-economic development initiative working in Son La and Lao Cai provinces and funded through the Australian Aid Program in Vietnam. The Program aims to increase women’s economic participation and decision-making through improved access to markets and more effective engagement in the agriculture and tourism value chains in ethnic minority regions of North-West Vietnam.

This study will provide the GREAT project and its partners a thorough understanding of the policies, programs and projects by the Government of Vietnam, development partners (DPs), and other stakeholders in the North-West region, especially those in agriculture and tourism sectors of Lao Cai and Son La provinces. The study will also provide in-depth institutional assessment as well as a political economy analysis in the two provinces. The findings and recommendations from the study will be inputs for the project to identify, inter alia, policy formulation and implmentation gaps and challenges, potential policy tranmission mechanisms for women economic empowerment (WEE), the champions or blockers of changes, potential partners to work with, lessons learned (including success and failure, innovative approaches) from the relevant programs and projects etc. This will be integral parts of the project’s strategies and plans.

The study will use Market for the Poor (M4P) and women’s empowerment (such as WEAMS, WEAI, GALS etc) are the main analytical frameworks. In addition, the consultants should employ specific analytical frameworks for institutional assessment and stakeholders analysis. Indicative study questions to be addressed include:

• How changes take place in the two provinces especially in tourism and agriculture sectors as well as ethnic minority women economic empowerment?

• Who are key actors and their roles in this political economy environment?
  Who are champions or blockers of changes?

• What are the policies promoting ethnic minority women’s empowerment, gender equality, women led enterprises, inclusive business and enterprise development in the two provinces and in particularly in the two sectors?
  What are policy gaps that need advocacy for changes?

• Roles of informal rules and norms that affect access to and benefits of EM women from the existing policies, programs or other external support as well as private sector investment?

• What could be learned from the past and existing programmes and projects on innovative and effective approaches to poverty reduction for ethnic minority women, gender equality in Vietnam and in the two provinces particularly in agriculture and tourism (both those of the GoV as well as those of the development partners, private sector)?

In doing this analysis, a stakeholder mapping would be useful to inform who are the key actors in this political economy context. Understanding how different stakeholders play their roles in the change processes is the key to identify who are (current and potential) champions or blockers of changes. It would provide the project suggestions for the project engagement strategy, partnership strategy, policy advocacy agenda etc.

As some of the poorest provinces with high concentration of ethnic minorities in the country, the two provinces have been subject to different policies and programs by the GoV for poverty reduction and particularly to assist ethnic minority groups in the two provinces in their combat for better living standards (especially the two national target programs – NTPs). It is important for the project to understand what policies and program exist and how these have exerted influences/changes to the poor, ethnic minorities, and women. It is likely that the GREAT project might contribute to women economic empowerment in the two provinces by leveraging the existing policies and programs (including the two National Target Programs) and advocating for policy changes when appropriate and needed. Therefore, a policy mapping will be conducted to review the GoV policies and programs in the two provinces (with a particular focus on agriculture and tourism sectors). In addition, another focus of this review and mapping is also placed on the policies related to gender equality, women’s economic empowerment, women-led SMEs, inclusive growth… to identify policy gaps, which could be useful entry points for the project to plan for its advocacy agenda.

In addition to policies and programs of the GoV, the two provinces have been subject to a numbers of projects of various scales supported by development partners. Many of these projects have recently completed and some are still in operation. Hence, a quick assessment of these projects, completed and existing, could be useful for the GREAT team to (i) learn from experience and lessons from these projects, their donors and partners; and (ii) to explore opportunities for the GREAT project to cooperate with the existing initiatives. To name a few, the WB’s NMPRP2, WEAVE (another DFAT-supported project), ADB’s Border Areas Development, KOICA’s Happiness Program in Lao Cai could be the potential projects (among many others) to explore partnership. Ideally, an indicative assessment of the potential and willingness to partner with the GREAT project should be made.

The study will led by the GREAT team (mainly the Policy and Governance Advisor, with inputs from other senior management and the project’s Technical Panel). An institutional development and governance consultant will be recruited to collaborate with the GREAT team in some parts of this study.

Specific Duties of the Consultant:

The GREAT team will lead the study. The institutional development and governance consultant is expected to perform the following duties:

TASK 1: To participate in the orientation sessions

• The GREAT team will organize an orientation week between 15-18 Jan to discuss among the team about the background studies (including this study) and other strategic inputs for the Inception Phase of the project. In particular, the team will discuss the existing evidence on the study questions, the gaps for next steps, as well as design of the tools for data collection. The outlines of the deliverables (e.g. Aide Memoire, Final Report, Policy Brief etc.) will also be discussed. If possible, the consultant will attend the orientation on Tuesday January 16 to Thursday Jan 18 (am). Otherwise, the consultant will be briefed by GREAT team on the study’s methodology, data collection and analysis tools, fieldwork plan etc. The consultant should contribute his/her expertise to finalise the data collection tools;
• To get on board fully, the consultant will also spare some work days to review the existing literature etc. This is to ensure that the consultant and the GREAT team will be on the same ‘footing’ before conducting the fieldwork (below).

TASK 2: Fieldwork

The intensive fieldwork will be organized in both Son La and Lao Cai provinces.

The purpose of the fieldwork will be:

• To assess the dynamics of changes in the two provinces with a focus on who are the champions (blockers) of changes;
• To collect information and verify the maps of stakeholders, policies, projects/programs in the two provinces (these maps are available from the desk study by the GREAT team);
• To explore the potential/willingness/capacity of potential partners for the GREAT project;
• To collect information in order to assess the roles of informal rules and norms that affect access to and benefits of EM women from the existing policies, programs or other external support as well as private sector investment;
• To discuss with relevant partners on what could be learned from the past and existing programmes and projects on innovative and effective approaches to poverty reduction for ethnic minority women, gender equality. Debriefing(s) are organized right after the completion of the fieldwork in each province. This is to allow an opportunity for the GREAT team to present the preliminary findings and observations with the relevant stakeholders, partners. Participating in this task, the consultant will support the team to do data collection. Assignment of work between the GREAT team and the consultant will be discussed and jointly agreed at the orientation sessions. It is likely that the consultant will focus on assessment of the roles of informal rules and norms that affect access to and benefits of EM women from the existing policies, programs or other external support as well as private sector investment. In addition, the consultants might also be required to coordinate inputs from the 02 research assistants.

TASK 3: Data analysis and report writing

The consultant will contribute to data analysis and writing up the deliverables. Task assignment between the GREAT team members and the consultant will be
discussed and jointly agreed at the orientation sessions. It is likely that the consultant will contribute to the following deliverables:

• Aide Memoire: this is required before submission of the study report for to provide the GREAT team with main findings and recommendations which could then be inputs for the GREAT team to develop a number of deliverables required for the Inception Phase (to be completed before the Mid of April 2018) including provincial engagement strategies, GESI plan, innovation plan, theory of change etc.;
• Final report: after the submission of the Aide Memoire, the fina report with more detailed analysis (compared to the Aide Memoire) will be developed;

Workplan and Deliverables

Workplan: the study workplan is outlined below (the consultant is not required to participate in all the stages of this workplan):

• Jan 16-18, 2018: Orientations
• Jan 30, 2018: Inception Report that describes a review of the existing studies and, based on the review, methodology and work plan, and report outlines;
• Feb 05, 2018: Data collection instruments with detailed field work plan
• Mar 18, 2018: Fieldwork and debriefing
• Mar 31, 2018: Submission of the Aide Memoire with key findings and recommendations;
• April 15 2018: GREAT team utilize the Aide Memoire and other related information generated from this study to revise/enhance the project strategies and plans required for the Inception Phase;
• May 05, 2018: First draft of the report;
• May or Jun, 2018 (tbc): Presentation at workshop as parts of the project kick-off;
• Jun 15, 2018: Final report and a 2-page Policy Brief.

Deliverables: the consultant will not be required to submit any complete deliverables. Instead, his/her input will be parts of some key deliverables (mainly Aide Memoire, draft and Final Report). Details will be discussed and jointly agreed between the GREAT team and the consultant. It is likely that the consultant will submit:

• All the fieldnotes (in all forms) from the meetings, interviews, or focus group discussions that the consultant is assigned for the fieldwork;
• Parts of Aide Memoire and Final Reports that are assigned to the consultant;
• In addition, some technical inputs from the consultant will also be required such as slides for workshops, inputs for the deliverables of the Inception Phase etc.

Required Qualifications:

Required Skills, Knowledge and Experience:

• Postgraduate derees in relevant subjects;
• At least 5 years experience with proven track record on conducting similar analysis (policy mapping, stakeholder mapping, political economy analysis, institutional analysis);
• Intensive experience in working with government agencies, private sector, development partners, and NGOs;
• Experience in conducting studies in the agriculture and/or tourism sectors is a plus;
• Experience in conducting studies on ethnic minority and gender;
• Clarity of analysis and written expression;
• Ability to work under pressure of strict timeframe and deadlines;
• Fluency in Vietnamese and English;

Desired Skills, Knowledge and Experience:

• Knowledge and experience in the North-West region, especially in Lao Cai and Son La; understanding the local EM language, culture is an asset;
• Knowledge of programs, policies, and projects in the region, particularly those with a focus on agriculture and/or tourism sectors;
• Having intension to contribute in the resource network of consultants that will be developed and maintained by the project;
• Female and EM candidates strongly encouraged to apply.

Application

Interested consultants should send their most update CV (with details of at least two referees), a proposal, and at least one sample of previous work.

The proposal should not be more than 5 pages with the followings:

• Demonstration of in-depth knowledge and experience related to the duties of this study;
• Proposed consultancy rate (other cost such as travel etc. will be covered by the Project).

Interested candidates should submit to [email protected] [1], indicating “Institutional and stakeholder assessment” in the subject, before COB Jan 14, 2018

Successful candidate should be prepared to make his/herself available to attend the orientation sessions between 16-18 Jan, 2018.