Consultant for Assessment of Communication Methods and Capacity-Building Needs of Local Governments

SUPPORT FOR RESPONSIVE ACCOUNTABLE LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN NGHE AN PROVINCE, VIETNAM (RALG) - VIE1505011

TERMS OF REFERENCE

CONSULTANT FOR ASSESSMENT OF COOMUNICATION METHODS AND CAPACITY-BUILDING NEEDS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

Duty Station: Vinh city and 3 targeted districts of Quy Chau, Quy Hop and Cua Lo

Duration of consultancy: 10.5 working days

Deadline for Application: 30 June 2017

Starting Date: In July 2017

1. Project background

The project of Support for Responsive, Accountable Local Governance [hereafter project] in Nghe An province funded by Belgian government has an implementation duration of 25 months, starting from May 2017. The general objective of the project is to accelerate social and economic development in Nghe An province through more responsive, transparent and accountable local governance. The specific objective is to improve citizen-government interaction leading to improved service delivery and increased citizen satisfaction. Belgium’s government contribution to the project is EUR 1,000,000. The Vietnamese contribution for Nghe An is equivalent to EUR 150,000.

The project design is based on a thorough analysis of the national and specific provincial context with regard to government-citizen interactions at policy and operational level. The project’s theory of change is that to contribute to the improvement of local social, economic and administrative service delivery and increasing citizen satisfaction with local government performance, the project should focus on two main strategic areas: (i) increasing citizen feedback and engagement on policies and local government performance at all levels; and (ii) increasing local government capacities, at all levels, to access, analyse and utilize feedback. The project assists the local government achieve five outcomes:

• Improved capacity of local government at all levels to disseminate information in a citizen-friendly manner.

• Improved capacity of People’s Councils and Mass Organizations, and specifically People’s Inspection Boards and Community Investment Supervision Boards to facilitate and promote improved two-way communication between citizens and government at all levels.

• Improved capacity of local government at all levels to collect, analyse and utilize citizen feedback in a transparent and deliberative fashion for more responsive and accountable local governance and improved service delivery.

• Improved capacity for local government at all levels to identify, plan, coordinate and oversee public administrative reform in response to engagement with citizens and socio-political organizations.

• The exchange and effective utilization of innovations, lessons learned and good practices with regard to citizen-government interactions; is promoted at provincial and national level.

There are comprehensive arrangements in place for the dissemination of information to citizens and citizen engagement. These arrangements, and the manner in which public servants tend to implement them, often result in the dissemination of information which is difficult for citizens to understand and is perceived to be of questionable relevance. Further, citizens often consider arrangements for engagement with government to be rather rigid and formalistic and not oriented towards the promotion of sustained two-way dialogue.

With an objective of improving capacity of local government at all levels to disseminate information in a citizen-friendly manner, the project is looking for a consultant to conduct i) assessment on the current methods of communication, and ii) capacity building needs assessment of government departments. Details of activities are as follows:

Activity 1.1.2: Assess the effectiveness of existing communication methods at provincial and district levels

Activity 1.2.1: Conduct a capacity building/training need assessment of local government departments

3 meetings at targeted districts and another meeting at provincial level will be conducted for the assessment. Assessment pays special attention to how gender aspect and gender sensitivity influence citizen feedback and engagement.

District level: Quy Hop, Quy Chau and Cua Lo

• Review and assess and critique strengths and weaknesses of existing communication methods and co-relations between subject matter and mode of communication and engagement.

• Review and assess capacity building/training needs of local government departments

Participants are leaders or representatives of government departments and mass organizations at district and commune levels, and local people

Provincial level:

• Review and assess and critique strengths and weaknesses of existing communication methods and co-relations between subject matter and mode of communication and engagement.

• Review and assess capacity building/training needs of local government departments

• Identify prioritization of issues to be communicated of the most relevance to citizens and government;

Participants are leaders or representatives of government departments and mass organizations at provincial and district levels.

2. Objectives of the assignment

The consultant will: i) review and analyze the existing communication methods at provincial and district levels and assess the effectiveness of these methods, ii) conduct a capacity-building need assessment of local government departments on communicating governmental policies and programs to citizen.

To this end, the consultancy will carry out the following tasks:

• Assess the strengths and weaknesses of current communication methods and co-relations between subject matter and mode of communication and engagement at all levels. The assessment should pays special attention to how gender aspect and gender sensitivity influence citizen feedback and engagement;

• Assess the needs for capacity-building activities for government departments on communicating governmental policies and programs to citizen;

• Provide guidance and specific recommendations for future communication strategies of government department at all levels;

• Identify prioritization of issues to be communicated of the most relevance to citizens and government;

• Provide specific recommendations addressing capacity building needs of local government departments on disseminating information on government policies procedures and programs

• Identify (i) innovative models of inter-departmental collaboration for preparation of communication material and vetting of material with PCc and mass organizations to obtain citizen’s perspective, and (ii) new forms of collaboration between the different tiers of local administration with the VFF and other mass organizations for dissemination of official communications;

3. Deliverables

• Draft Assessment Reports are in MS Word and are presented in both Vietnamese and English.They are to be presented to key local stakeholdersand the PMU during a workshop. The feedback and recommendations of the workshop is to be used to finalize the assessment reports.

• Power point Presentation on preliminary findings for stakeholders.

• Final Assessment Reports, including an Executive Summary, clearly articulated recommendation section, and annexes as required (MS Word and in both Vietnamese and English).

4. Duration and timeline of the consultancy   

Timeline for activities

5. Qualifications / requirements

• University in policy communication, communication and public policy, public administrative reform or related field

• At least 7 years of relevant field-based experience in the fields of policy communication and public administrative reform

• In-depth knowledge and understanding of policy communication in Vietnam especially in the context of Nghe An province

• Experience in developing communication strategies for communicating public policies

• Experience in providing training services for government departments on disseminating information of government policies procedures and programs

6. Duty Station

Vinh city and 3 targeted districts of Quy Chau, Quy Hop and Cua Lo in Nghe An province.

7. Contact

Expressions of Interest, including an achievement-oriented CV and a letter highlighting in particular the required competencies and experiences should be sent directly to the PMU of RALG project in Nghe An province via email: [email protected] [1] by 30 June 2017.