INTRODUCTION
The “Water Supply and Sanitation Program in Binh Dinh Province” (WSSP) attempts to improve the quality of life and the environment of the inhabitants from several communes in 6 districts of Binh Dinh Province (Phu Cat, Phu My, Tuy Phuoc, Tay Son, An Nhon and Hoai Nhon districts), through the following programme of activities:
(1) Building the capacity of the agencies in charge of planning, designing, implementing and managing rural water schemes and solid waste management systems
(2) Raising the awareness on the use of safe drinking water and on the preservation of water resources as well as on the importance of protecting the environment with proper recycling, disposal and treatment of domestic solid waste
(3) Constructing rural water systems in 2 districts: Phu Cat and Tuy Phuoc, and possibly, rehabilitating Hoc Mon dam, its spillway and the related irrigation canals, with efficient operation & maintenance modalities and secured funding
(4) Implementing solid waste treatment schemes in 4 districts: An Nhon, Hoai Nhon, Tay Son and Phu My with efficient operation & maintenance modalities and secured funding
The Provincial Project Management Unit (PPMU) manages and implements the project. The project stakeholders and the PPMU are the first beneficiaries of the service. The project is co-funded by the Belgian and the Vietnamese Government.
The project supports a systematic involvement of stakeholders related to the management of the RWS system in the 7 project communes, and wants to ensure a well-prepared management model for the implementation of an efficient and effective RWS scheme.
The need for systematic stakeholder involvement originates in the general experience that a lack of social preparation, community participation, reliable assessment of demand and willingness to pay, and a final institutionalization of participation and accountability mechanisms between demand side (water user organizations) and supply side (water supply provider), leads to a higher risk of users not paying their fee once the water supply scheme is operating. Such weak cost recovery is a major factor leading to poor operation & maintenance (O&M) arrangements.
The project wishes to assign a consultant to facilitate a comprehensive participatory stakeholder analysis as well as a participatory institutional-organizational capacity assessment (IOCA) together with Binh Dinh pCERWASS.
These participatory analyses and assessments should create good understanding of the issues at stake when delivering the water supply service to the customer. The analyses will be the basis for developing stakeholder buy-in at all levels of local governance (provincial to hamlet level) towards planning and implementation of further (institutional-organizational) arrangements (such as mechanisms for improved participation and accountability) with regards to the management, operation & maintenance of the rural water supply system in Phu Cat/Thuy Phuoc districts.
2. OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The objective of this assignment is a comprehensive participatory institutional-organizational capacity assessment (IOCA) of key actors, key performance results and key processes.
The result of the assessment will be used by the key stakeholders to develop a RWS management model for pCERWASS’ rural water supply system in Phu Cat-Thuy Phuoc districts.
3. SCOPE OF WORK
Content
Essential elements to analyze (with regard to pCERWASS’ management model of RWS systems) are:
- institutional: (1) policy and regulatory framework related to the management, operation & maintenance of RWS systems (by pCERWASS in Binh Dinh Province); (2) key actors/stakeholders’ analysis from provincial to local level;
- organizational: (3) external organizational components of pCERWASS and (4) internal components of pCERWASS;
against issues of:
- coordination, participation and accountability mechanisms in planning, budgeting and operating of RWS schemes;
- promotion and incentives for the development of a stronger “demand side” of the water supply, such as customer groups and their opportunities for establishment and involvement in management, operation and maintenance of RWS schemes, voice mechanisms etc.;
- financial viability of RWS schemes managed by pCERWASS, and the opportunities and challenges that this brings;
Approach
The consultant will take the lead in the assessment, but also provide development training for pCERWASS on institutional assessment. This training should be learning by doing through meaningful participation and collaboration with pCERWASS, thus developing pCERWASS to incrementally take up more responsibility for assessment activities.
The main activities will be:
- Preparation of the assessment: identification of pCERWASS collaborators, train about approach, methodology, tools; ensure shared vision about the objectives; establish working arrangements;
- Review of policy documents, regulations, guidelines; stakeholder analysis/mapping; analysis of planning, budgeting and implementation (including O&M and financial mechanism) processes; analysis of cooperation mechanisms; accountability and participation mechanisms; and monitoring & evaluation (M&E) systems;
- Assess external and internal aspects of key stakeholders’ organizations/agencies involved in RWS management, operation & maintenance such as pCERWASS, water user organizations (WUO), mainly
against output effectiveness and efficiency of processes, customer relations and accountability, financial mechanisms, human resources development;
- Identify recommendations to address constraints/gaps/changes necessary and propose a range of options for more efficient and effective RWS management systems by pCERWASS.
Timing
Timing of this assignment: short term consultancy assignments spread over the months October until December.
4. QUALIFICATIONS NEEDED
The following qualifications need to be met by the consultant team:
- National Target Program on Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (phases 1, 2)
- Thorough knowledge of the RWS sector in Vietnam (existing policies, laws, regulations, actors, management models for service delivery of RWS, ...)
- at least 7-10 years of experience in the management and implementation of RWS-projects at provincial, district and commune level, with experience in working together with pCERWASS as main partner in the implementation
Institutional-organizational capacity assessments
- At least 5 years of proven experience in analyzing organizations in their institutional environment (legal framework, actors, etc.) and supporting these organizations with the development of strategic orientations and implementation plan towards improvements of the service provided/products produced
Community Development and stakeholder involvement
- at least 5 years of experience in the planning and implementation of community development projects whereby service delivery (of any kind) is developed in a demand-responsive way;
- having proven experience and skills in facilitating the formulation of beneficiaries’ interests towards service providers and local authorities.
5. EXPRESS YOUR INTEREST
To express your interest in this assignment and in order to be shortlisted, please send us the following information :
- Company/organization profile: experience, capacity (not required for individual consultants)
- CV’s of persons involved in this assignment
- Three (3) contact references of employers of previous assignments taken up by your company/organization.
Please send this information per e-mail to: [email protected] [1], latest by September 30, 2011.
Questions about this assignment may as well be addressed to the same e-mail address.