Consultancy - Capacity Building for Wajir County Assembly officials

1.Background

Oxfam is an International Organisation working with others to overcome poverty and suffering. Oxfam has been working in Kenya since 1963 working in long term development and humanitarian response in collaboration with others. In collaboration and partnerships Oxfam continues to work in Wajir in a 3 year UKAID funded project on (Strengthening Community Resilience for Wajir).

One key pathway within the project is to contribute towards capacity building of the Wajir County Government .The overall objective will ensure that Wajir County Government has support to plan for climate resilience and invest in disaster risk reduction (DRR) priorities through improved county plans and budgets. Disaster Risk Reduction strategies and vulnerability assessment is increasingly becoming a prerequisite for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) county planning and budgeting processes. This act of planning and budgeting for improved DRR policies and practice shall contribute to early actions by both Governments and citizens, to cushion and increase options for communities to cope, respond to environmental shocks and the negative impacts of drought.

This action will facilitate training for 40 county government officials who shall comprise of public servants drawn from the County and sub/county wards representatives. In addition to the National Drought Management officials for a 3 day training organised and conducted in Wajir County. The training shall aim to build abilities of County officials in inclusive planning , budgeting , management and monitoring as well as the interpretation of roles and responsibilities outlined in the County structure that help ensure planning priorities are fed to and from the county and in line with National structures. Main emphasise and training content will be geared enforcing knowledge on County planning anchored on Constitutional context as per county planning in schedule (iv) of the Constitution.

The participants shall draw key lessons from the training to enable county officers to better manage County planning and devolution. Through a letter by the Wajir County Assembly, it has been stated that members of County assembly in the various sectoral committees lack capacity gaps to deliver legislative and oversight roles. At the end of the training sessions participants will have gained skills and knowledge on the following key areas -

· Constitutional context of county planning, to include drafting of county bills, policies and legal frameworks mainly for 2 key departments of Agriculture and Natural resources and the Planning, Trade ,Tourism and Cooperatives department.

· Planning as per schedule 4 of the Constitution

· County mandates related to development planning/paradigm shift in county planning

· Steps towards the preparation of an integrated County Development plan and linkages of integrated planning and County Governance.

1. Methodology

The training will be conducted by consultants and will ensure that the training sessions are conducted in a participatory manner mixing both lecture, and buzz groups ensuring the exercises enables participants pick useful analysis skills. The consultant(s) must develop an appropriate methodology which they propose to use and appropriate tools.

To achieve the purpose of this training, the consultant will be expected at minimum to:

• Conduct reviews (through consultations with County Executive and desk reviews) to identify gaps with the Wajir Government and County planning processes. Challenges experienced in the drafting of County legislations including policies and legal frameworks.


• Develop relevant data training materials and instruments and share tools with Oxfam.

3. Deliverables

· Detailed and comprehensive tools and material content developed and shared with Oxfam.

· Actual training conducted

· Draft progress report write up and submission to Oxfam for review and comments

· Submit final training report

The training report should be:

· Produced in English language and should be simple in expression and easy to understand.

· Maximum of 60 pages with some short annexes.

· A5 Page summary highlighting key issues for Oxfam and Partner’s attention and action.

· The report format and text should be an A4 paper size and a legible font (e.g. Times New Roman 11 or 12, Arial 10 or 11.

· The consultant/s are liable to submit at least 01 hard copy and 01 electronic copy of the study report by the agreed deadline.

5. Eligibility for Consideration.

Bids are invited from suitably qualified and experienced consultants with capacity to undertake the above activity. Applicants should have traceable referees and records of previous work in Public Finance Management training as well accountability and governance trainings. In addition, the consultant should be registered to operate in Kenya.

6. Consultant/ team qualifications

The Consultancy team must be multidisciplinary as the study is an opportunity to set the overall direction of the proposed program. At the minimum, the consultant(s) must possess the following:

I. At least a degree in Political Science or Governance Studies, Social Sciences or any other related discipline in Development Studies.

II. Demonstrate a good understanding of the Arid and Semi Arid Areas (ASALs) with practical working experience in such environments and delivering trainings on county planning and Devolution.

III. Experience of effective interaction with local and national institutions, government departments, and County Governments.

IV. Be Conversant with current laws on county planning and devolution and transition into county management and models and practice around the Northern Region in Kenya.

V. Practical application of cross cutting themes like gender mainstreaming, and gender competence, M&E, Advocacy.

VI. Good spoken and written communication skills in English and Swahili.

VII. Proven experience of using participatory tools and methodology.

VIII. Excellent analytical and report writing skills.

7. Bid Requirements

Firms or Consultant(s) who meet the requirements should submit expression of interest (Maximum 15 pages), which should include the following:

· A suitability statement, including commitment to availability for the entire assignment.

· A brief statement of on the proposed training methodology including a detailed plan.

· A detailed financial proposal. The financial proposal should include daily cost per major activity.

· Updated curriculum vitae that clearly spell out qualifications and experience.

8. Adherence to Oxfam principles and policies

Once hired, the consultant shall operate under the principles governing Oxfam ways of working including adherence to policies and procedures of Oxfam with regards to such key issues as non partisan, neutrality, gender sensitivity, impartiality and accountability, mainstreaming of Gender and HIV/AIDS as well as other policies governing Oxfam operations on transport usage, security guidelines and confidentiality of information collected.

9. Reporting Lines

The consultant shall work under the direct supervision of the Wajir Program Manager in Wajir in close liaison with ASALs Program Officer in Nairobi.

10. Timeframes and Budgets

It is anticipated that the assignment will take 10 working days. The total costs of the assignment will be negotiated with the consultant.