Terms of Reference

National Consultant to Conduct Legal, Regulatory and Policy Gap Analysis on Decentralization in Libera

Local Empowerment for Accountability and Decentralization (LEAD)

Background

The USAID Liberia Local Empowerment for Accountability and Decentralization (LEAD) Activity was awarded to DAI Global LLC for a period of five year, from May 19, 2023 to May 18, 2028.The goal of this Activity is to improve the capacities of targeted ministries, agencies, and commissions (MACs), and local government to formulate and administer sound tax policies, improve budget transparency, deepen decentralization, and deliver much-needed quality services at the sub-national level through the following objectives:

1. Objective 1: Domestic Resource Mobilization (DRM) Improved,
2. Objective 2: Budget Transparency Improved, which comprises of three sub-objectives
3. Objective 3: Local Development and Service Delivery Improved

Under Objective 3 Local Development and Service Delivery, LEAD will partner with national government institutions such as Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA), Governance Commission (GC) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to formulate appropriate programs aimed at supporting the realization of the Government of Liberia’s decentralization objectives. These include capacity of local governments to perform the following devolved functions among others:

• planning and budgeting
• financial management
• own-source resource mobilization
• local government administration and management
• service delivery.

Objectives of the Assignment

The overall purpose of the consultancy is to take stock of the progress of the Local Governance Act Implementation Plan and review legal, regulatory and policy gap analysis on the implementation of the National Policy on Decentralization and Local Governance and all the related laws, regulations and policies that have been promulgated to facilitate its implementation.

• Scope of Work of the Assignment

• • Work with the MIA, the GC, and other donors to assess the status of the LGA Implementation Plan, building on existing analyses.

• Based on the status assessment undertake gap analyses of the legal, regulatory and policy instruments and other available documents that will help in achieving decentralization in Liberia

• Conduct consultations with MIA and GC to review the findings and prioritize key policy interventions for deepening decentralization.
• Specific decentralization laws, policies regulations and procedures for national and sub-national government authorities identified and prioritized for LEAD support.
• Provide recommendations for revisions, amendments, adaptations to their implementation strategies
• Develop Scope of Work for a legal expert to undertake needed revisions/updates of the identified priority law, policies, procedures and/or procedures
• Map out the legal contexts, objectives, implementation strategies, scopes at the time those laws, regulations and policies were developed against similar contexts in the present time

• Specific Tasks

Under the overall guidance of the Local Governance Expert (Objective 3 Lead) the Consultant will perform the following tasks:

• Consult the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the Governance Commission, Liberia Revenue Authority, Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, local government officials, other relevant government institutions, development partners as part of the desk review in order to determine the status of their respective efforts in decentralization
• Review the Local Government Act of 2018, its 10-year implementation plan, and the associated policies and regulations
• Develop a report describing the progress and challenges in the implementation of the LGA 10-Year Implementation Plan, with recommendations for consolidating the progress and addressing the challenges.

• Duration & Work Schedule

The duration of the Consultancy is estimated to be for 25 days extending over a period of two months from date of signature. The consultancy begins with an inception report that outlines work schedules and activities.

• Methodology

Based on the scope of work above, this consultancy will employ a mixed methodology outlined as follow:

• Undertake desk reviews:

This task will entail a careful and thorough review of the LGA-2018; other related policy and regulatory documents including review of overall local government literature related to the tasks.

1. Hold consultations with stakeholders:

Hold consultations with key stakeholders to solicit their views on various aspects and components of the proposed manual. Stakeholders to be consulted will include the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the Governance Commission (GC); National Elections Commission. and members of Legislative committees on internal affairs and local government.

• Deliverables

1. A work plan

1. An inception report

1. Prepare an assessment report to include status of progress of activities presented under the LGA Implementation plan.

1. Prepare a report to consolidate the outcomes generated from the stakeholders’ (MIA, GC, and relevant legislative committees) validation session to identify priority regulations, laws, policies and/or procedures to be reviewed and updated.

1. Scope of work for the legal consultant to undertake the review of the priority policies and regulations that are selected by LEAD project based on the priority list generated after consultations.

• Professional Experience

• The consultant must be a Liberian or a non-Liberian citizen with a minimum of a Master of Arts degree in Public Policy, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Law, Human Rights or related field of studies.
• He/she must have at least 3-5 years of experience in policies and drafting of policy implementation strategies; experience in working with government civil society will be an added advantage;
• The consultant must have vast experience in working with government institutions, specifically with county officials;
• He/She must have sound understanding of the social, economic and political context of Liberia;
• The consultant must have a solid understanding and proven record of analytical work on public service, development planning and local government institutions;
• He/ She must be willing to work openly and transfer knowledge to staff assigned; and
• He/She must have proven research experience evidenced by a minimum of one (1) report of recent research work completed and;
• Excellent writing and communication skills in English.
• All interested candidates are encouraged to send their resume and cover letter to (insert recruitment email address)

Please indicate in the subject line of your mail, application for the position of (Decentralization Legal, Policy and Regulatory Analyst).

Deadline for the submission of applications is January 24, 2024 at 5:00 PM.

Women and people with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

The job advertisements are now live for Liberia LEAD. Interested candidates are invited to apply via this email:

LiberiaLEADRecruitment@dai.com