72011420RFI00005- Local Self-Government Strengthening Activity in Georgia.pdf

SUBJECT: Request for Information: USAID/Georgia Local Self-Government

Strengthening Activity

ISSUANCE DATE: August 17, 2020

CLOSING DATE: September 9, 2020

CLOSING TIME: 10AM, Tbilisi Time

DOCUMENT NUMBER: 72011420RFI00005

TO: All prospective offerors of a possible future Georgia Local

Self-Government Strengthening Activity solicitation and interested Georgia local self-government stakeholders

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to conduct market research, determine the interest of capable organizations to provide USAID/Georgia with technical, advisory, and capacity building services, and request comments and recommendations from stakeholders to identify ways we can work together to strengthen local self-governance in Georgia over the next 5 years. USAID/Georgia also seeks feedback on its approach to better shape the activity for a potential future solicitation and understand what is feasible with the estimated budget.

This is an RFI, nor a Solicitation or Request for Proposals. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the U.S. Government to issue any solicitation or ultimately award a contract on the basis of this RFI, nor to pay for any information submitted as a result of this request, nor does it commit the Government to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of any comments.

Any funding proposals submitted in response to this request will not be considered. Responses to this notice must be received no later than the due date and time stated above in this notice. All materials submitted will become the property of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and will not be returned. USAID reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for USAID’s own purposes. While it is not the intention to make public any response to this RFI, proprietary and sensitive information must not be sent.

It should be noted that responding to this RFI will not give any advantage to any organization in any subsequent procurement. Only responses in English will be accepted.

Deborah Perlman Regional Contracting Officer, USAID/Caucasus

Request for Information # 72011420RFI00005– USAID Georgia Local Self-Government Strengthening Activity Draft Documents for Informational Purposes Only

- This is not a Solicitation or Request for Proposals -

REQUEST for INFORMATION Questions and Response Considerations

I. Cover page not to exceed one (1) page. Respondents must include all of the following information.

1. Organization name and address.

2. Point of contact name, telephone number, and email address.

3. A brief Statement of Interest that indicates the role the organization envisions playing in a potential USAID award to support USAID/Georgia’s Local Self-Government Strengthening Activity. If a team, coalition, or consortium is envisaged, please provide the names and contact information of the potential partner organization(s) as well.

4. Organizational small business status.

II. Comments and questions on the draft Statement of Objectives (SOO), not to exceed five (5) pages total. Respondents may respond to any or all of the following questions/requests for comments. (Note: USAID will not be providing responses to questions submitted. The USAID design team will review all comments and questions and may use them to inform the development of the SOO. USAID asks respondents not to send any additional information beyond what is requested and to adhere to the page limits mentioned.)

1. Objectives and Results. Are the objectives, results, parameters, and cross-cutting requirements proposed in the draft SOO achievable and/or realistic? If not, why? Please be specific. Are there additional objectives or results that you believe would make this SOO more effective in achieving the stated purpose of supporting Georgia’s ongoing decentralization reform and enhancing the effectiveness, accountability, and citizen-responsiveness of target local governments in Georgia?

Please describe and explain why.

2. Indicators, Milestones, and Targets. Are there sufficient quality third-party indicators available to measure progress and achievement of proposed objectives and results? Can measurement gaps be addressed by custom indicators? Please be specific and reference exact objectives/results if describing measurement gaps. Are there any challenges related to the indicator and measurement requirements (Draft SOO section #6) that the design team should be aware of?

3. Program Scale and Budget. Are the 4 objectives and 15 results achievable at the proposed scale

(15-20 municipalities) with the proposed budget (approximately $17 million)? Please explain your response.

4. Selection of Target Municipalities. Are there any challenges or concerns related to the selection of target municipalities (Draft SOO section #7) that the design team should be aware of?

5. Use of SOO. What are the potential benefits and risks of utilizing a SOO to procure technical assistance services to implement this program?

Request for Information # 72011420RFI00005– USAID Georgia Local Self-Government Strengthening Activity

6. General Comments and Feedback. USAID/Georgia welcomes any general comments on the attached draft SOO not already solicited under the other listed questions (this response may not exceed one (1) page in length).

Request for Information # 72011420RFI00005– USAID Georgia Local Self-Government Strengthening Activity

SECTION J – DESCRIPTION/ SPECIFICATIONS/ STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES (SOO)

1. SCOPE

Based on this Statement of Objectives (SOO), a Performance Work Statement (PWS) must be submitted that describes an approach that will achieve the objectives of the activity. The PWS must enable USAID/Georgia to assess the performance of the work against specific, clear, and measurable performance standards in terms of quality, quantity, and timeliness. The PWS must also clearly explain the method that USAID/Georgia will utilize to assess contractor performance against the performance standards.

2. PURPOSE

The purpose of the Local Self-Governance Strengthening Activity (hereafter referred to as the “Activity”) is to support Georgia’s ongoing decentralization reform and enhance the effectiveness, accountability, and citizen-responsiveness of target local governments in Georgia.

3. BACKGROUND

Background Georgia’s journey toward meaningful local self-governance has not been linear, nor is it complete. Since regaining independence in 1991, Georgia has experienced periods of both accelerated decentralization and regressive centralization. As a result, after nearly 30 years, true local self-governance, beyond the capital, remains elusive as local governments receive insufficient resources and are delegated incomplete authorities. Nevertheless, with the government’s launch of the new Decentralization Strategy, 2020-2025, expectations are high for Georgia to usher in a new phase of decentralization and, ultimately, deliver the conditions necessary for authentic self-governance at the local level.

History of Decentralization in Georgia Georgia’s local government system was established with the first post-independence multiparty elections in 1991 and consisted of locally elected councils and president-appointed prefects. Nevertheless, the system collapsed a few months later in late-1991 with the military coup d’état of President Zviad Gamsakhurdia’s government and the advent of civil war in Abkhazia in 1992. During the ensuing 1992-1998 period, Georgia underwent a period of centralization whereby local governments were appointed by central authorities. Representative local governance was reestablished with local elections in 1998 and 2002 under a new law that created elected local councils (Sakrebulos) at the village, community, town, and city levels. The lowest level of self-governance at the village and community levels was later removed with the introduction of a new local governance law ahead of the 2006 local elections. Ultimately, the period following the Rose Revolution and through the 2008 war was generally marked by strengthened central control over local governments. Nonetheless, following 2010 local elections, Parliament amended the Constitution adding a “Local Self-Governance” chapter which established the main principles of local self-governance. With Constitutional guarantees in place, Parliament developed the 2014 Local Self-Government Code and launched a comprehensive territorial and administrative reform for 2014 local elections. Importantly, the Code ensured the direct election of all mayors as well as councils. Yet, by the 2017 local elections, the 14 new municipalities established by

Request for Information # 72011420RFI00005– USAID Georgia Local Self-Government Strengthening Activity the 2014 reform were remerged into seven and the number of self-governing cities was reduced from 12 to five. During the same year, nonetheless, the Constitution was again amended and, this time, added the subsidiarity and commensurability principles to address ongoing local government concerns of lack of autonomy and resources.

Decentralization Strategy, 2020-2025 In January 2018, Georgia launched a multi-stakeholder process to develop a new decentralization strategy. Following a long two-year formation process, the Decentralization Strategy was adopted in December 2019. The five-year Strategy (2020-2025) aims to implement the principles enshrined in the Constitution and facilitate consistent development of local self-governance in Georgia. The Strategy has three strategic objectives: (1) Increase the role of self-governments in managing a substantial share of public affairs; (2) Ensure adequate material and financial resources for local self-governments; and (3) Develop reliable, accountable, transparent, and results-oriented self-government. The three strategic goals are underpinned by eight objectives and 26 priority activities with corresponding targets, detailed in an accompanying monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework. Implementation will be guided through biennial/annual Actions Plans managed by the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure

(MRDI).

Present Challenges to Achieving Meaningful Local Self-Governance Achieving citizen-responsive and meaningful local self-governance is hindered by a quintet of interrelated challenges and their derivatives, including: lack of exclusive and delegated local government authorities, lack of independent financial resources, low human and institutional capacity, weak checks and balances and accountability practices, and underdeveloped citizen participation in local government affairs.

According to the Local Self-Government Code Article 16, LSGs are afforded 24 separate competencies;

however, these are, first of all, insufficient to ensure local autonomy and, second, not fully implemented by the majority of municipalities. A main reason for the latter is the lack of financial resources provided to local governments. Despite a noteworthy reform in 2019 to provide LSGs VAT receipts instead of equalization transfers, which is expected to increase local revenues, LSGs face numerous challenges to boosting revenues, including delays in the transfer of immovable property, agriculture land, and natural resources as well as lack the capacity to effectively mobilize local revenues through local taxes and fees.

Capacity deficits equally challenge LSG ability to deliver effective, economic, and efficient public services to local constituents. Thus, before LSGs are provided additional authorities, they require the resources and capacity to implement existing authorities. Another challenge is the over-concentration of power in the hands of the mayor vis-à-vis local councils, including the difficulties faced by political minority members of local councils in accessing the information required to provide legislative oversight.

Additionally, formal citizen engagement mechanisms afford participants little-to-no influence or power and, as such, are largely underutilized, which drives a disconnect between local government and constituent priorities. See Council of Europe’s Local and Regional Democracy in Georgia monitoring report for detailed discussion of related challenges.

Resource Accountability in Local Government According to the World Bank’s Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) Georgian Municipality Synthesis Report, Georgian municipalities are making progress toward implementing the government’s national Public Financial Management Reform Strategy (2018-2021) and exhibit numerous strengths including: use of information technology (IT) solutions for budget preparation, execution, personnel and payroll, revenue services, and procurement; public availability of fiscal information; and accounting for revenue, among others. Nevertheless, there are several remaining challenges which add https://matsne.gov.ge/en/document/view/30346?publication=35 https://matsne.gov.ge/en/document/view/30346?publication=35 https://mrdi.gov.ge/pdf/5e468e292b317.pdf/Decentralization-strategy-ENG.pdf https://mrdi.gov.ge/pdf/5e468e292b317.pdf/Decentralization-strategy-ENG.pdf https://matsne.gov.ge/en/document/view/2244429?publication=44 https://matsne.gov.ge/en/document/view/2244429?publication=44 https://search.coe.int/cm/pages/result_details.aspx?objectid=09000016808e551a https://search.coe.int/cm/pages/result_details.aspx?objectid=09000016808e551a http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/868341543249717354/132483-WP-P165226-PUBLIC.docx http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/868341543249717354/132483-WP-P165226-PUBLIC.docx http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/868341543249717354/132483-WP-P165226-PUBLIC.docx https://mof.ge/images/File/strategia/2020/PFMRS%202018-2021%20ENG.pdf https://mof.ge/images/File/strategia/2020/PFMRS%202018-2021%20ENG.pdf

Request for Information # 72011420RFI00005– USAID Georgia Local Self-Government Strengthening Activity public accountability risk, especially as local government revenues are increased in line with the Decentralization Strategy. Areas for improvement include: legislative scrutiny by Sakrebulos, performance information and evaluation for service delivery, consistency of medium-term expenditure budgeting, public investment management, and public debt management, among others.

Public Perceptions of Local Government According to Caucasus Barometer polling, public trust in local government has declined from 45 percent a decade ago to 27 percent in the most recent poll; nonetheless, this is higher than the 20 percent that express trust in central government. Trust in local government is higher among the minority population, especially for ethnic Armenians, where 60 percent express trust. As for performance, according to National Democratic Institute (NDI) polling in Georgia, 28 percent believe their Mayor’s Office and Local Council is performing well, which is roughly the same share for the central government. Again, perceived performance is higher among minorities. According to International Republic Institute (IRI) polling in Georgia, only 21 percent of the public believes that local governments represent the interests of municipal residents; rather, the public perceives local governments represent central government, political party, and private interests instead.

Regarding public service delivery, according to NDI polling, the top three national public service problems in local municipalities are roads, cost of utilities, and pollution of the environment. For rural residents, the top problems are roads, water supply, and gas supply, and for urban residents, the top problems are cost of utilities, pollution, and sewage. According to the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Study on Citizens’ Satisfaction with Public Services (third wave), citizens consistently positively assess the work of public schools (88 percent), availability of electricity (98 percent), availability of preschools (83 percent). Big improvers include tourism development (from 29 percent in 2013 to 49 percent), improved waste management (from 21 to 54 percent), and gasification in rural areas (from 47 to 59 percent), and proper functioning of public transportation (from 73 to 87 percent). Stagnation or regression was observed in the level of civic participation (10 percent admit engaging with local government) and citizen appeals to local government (from 20 to 16 percent), satisfaction with urban planning (consistent at 59 percent) and construction policy (consistent at 55 percent), and awareness of state preventive vaccination program (from 86 to 79 percent).

Prior USAID Support to Local Self-Government Development in Georgia Between 2000-2009, the USAID/Georgia Mission implemented two back-to-back stand-alone local governance programs, namely, the Local Governance Reform Initiative (LGRI) from 2000-2004 and the Communities Empowered for Local Decision-making (CELD) Program from 2004-2009, both implemented by the Urban Institute. LGRI supported decentralization legislative reform, developed municipal and local government professional associations, built local government public administration capacity, and citizen participation in local government decision-making. CELD continued LGRI interventions, including during the post-war period, but with larger geographic coverage, and increased support for local government service provider organizations and raising public awareness for decentralization.

Following the conclusion of the CELD program and during a time of questionable government commitment for decentralization, USAID decided to continue support to local self-governments through its central governance programming. This includes the Good Governance in Georgia (G3) activity, from 2011-2014, implemented by Management Systems International, which focused on supporting decentralization policy reform, building local government capacity for public service improvement https://caucasusbarometer.org/en/ https://caucasusbarometer.org/en/ https://caucasusbarometer.org/en/datasets/ https://caucasusbarometer.org/en/datasets/ https://www.iri.org/country/georgia https://www.iri.org/country/georgia https://www.iri.org/country/georgia https://www.ge.undp.org/content/georgia/en/home/library/democratic_governance/citizen-satisfaction-with-public-services-in-georgia--2017.html https://www.ge.undp.org/content/georgia/en/home/library/democratic_governance/citizen-satisfaction-with-public-services-in-georgia--2017.html

Request for Information # 72011420RFI00005– USAID Georgia Local Self-Government Strengthening Activity planning, and strengthening citizen engagement in local decision-making. Most recently, the Good Governance Initiative (GGI), from 2015-2021, implemented by Tetra Tech ARD, is supporting decentralization policy reform, municipal participation in the Open Government Partnership, as well as transparency and accountability reforms in the Batumi, Kutaisi, and Akhaltsikhe municipalities, including strengthening strategic planning, participatory budgeting, and internal controls.

In the context of renewed government political will for decentralization, USAID plans a stand-alone local government support program to assist the government to implement the new Decentralization Strategy and deliver more citizen-responsive local governance. All USAID/Georgia support to the Decentralization Strategy will be implemented under the local government support program.

Development Partner Programming with Local Government in Georgia There are a multitude of donors in Georgia providing development assistance to LSGs across numerous sectors. Nevertheless, there are four main development partners supporting the decentralization and local governance strengthening agenda. Below is a brief description of their programming. USAID is committed to ensuring strong donor coordination, cooperation, and complementarity of efforts within the scope of the Decentralization Strategy.

The World Bank is implementing: the Second Regional and Municipal Infrastructure Development Project ($59 million, 2014-2021) to improve the efficiency and reliability of targeted municipal services and infrastructure; the Third Regional Development Project ($75 million, 2015-2022) to improve services and infrastructure to increase regions-based tourism; the Innovation, Inclusion, and Quality Program ($128 million, 2019-2026) to expand access to preschool education and general education quality; as well as the Improving Preschool Education in Georgia through Social Accountability Processes program ($680 thousand, 2017-2020) to empower citizens to improve resource allocation to pre-school education services. Ecorys is implementing, on behalf of the EU, the Mayors for Economic Growth program ($14 million, 2017-2020) to support municipalities to become active facilitators for economic growth and job creation. UNDP is implementing the Fostering Decentralization and Good Governance program ($4 million 2018-2023) which supports local governance policy reform, human and institutional capacity development, service provision capabilities, and citizen participation in local policymaking as well as the Fostering Regional and Local Development program ($9.5 million, 2017-2021) which builds the competence of LSGs to serve as catalysts for stimulating regional and local economies. Finally, GIZ is implementing the forthcoming Good Governance for Local Development in the South Caucasus program ($17.3 million, 2020-2023), which will build the capacity of local public institutions in Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan to provide citizen-oriented services.

Development Challenge The overarching problem facing local governments is that fractured and incomplete decentralization has resulted in weak local governance and poor-quality public service delivery at the local level, which in turn is hindering Georgia’s socioeconomic and democratic development. Within this broad contextual challenge, USAID looks to address the following specific problem set:

● Decentralization efforts have not transferred sufficient autonomy, authority, or resources to local self-governments (LSGs) to realize meaningful self-governance;

● Weak subnational public administration and accountability practices limit the ability of LSGs to effectively, transparently, and responsibly govern and implement competencies prescribed by Georgia’s LSG Code;

https://www.tetratech.com/en/projects/georgia-good-governance-initiative https://www.tetratech.com/en/projects/georgia-good-governance-initiative https://www.tetratech.com/en/projects/georgia-good-governance-initiative https://projects.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/project-detail/P147521 https://projects.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/project-detail/P147521 https://projects.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/project-detail/P147521 https://projects.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/project-detail/P150696 https://projects.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/project-detail/P150696 https://projects.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/project-detail/P168481 https://projects.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/project-detail/P168481 https://projects.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/project-detail/P161435 https://projects.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/project-detail/P161435 https://www.m4eg.eu/en/about-m4eg/ https://www.m4eg.eu/en/about-m4eg/ https://www.ge.undp.org/content/georgia/en/home/projects/decentralisation-good-governance.html https://www.ge.undp.org/content/georgia/en/home/projects/decentralisation-good-governance.html https://www.ge.undp.org/content/georgia/en/home/projects/fostering-regional-and-local-development-in-georgia.html https://www.ge.undp.org/content/georgia/en/home/projects/fostering-regional-and-local-development-in-georgia.html

Request for Information # 72011420RFI00005– USAID Georgia Local Self-Government Strengthening Activity

● LSGs lack the resources and capacity to deliver inclusive, accessible, and citizen-responsible public services; and

● Citizens are insufficiently engaged and do not hold LSGs accountable.

4. OBJECTIVES AND THEORY OF CHANGE

The Activity will advance the governance objectives outlined in USAID/Georgia’s new Country Development Cooperation Strategy Development (CDCS), including:

DO2: Enhanced citizen-responsive governance consolidates fragile democratic gains

IR 2.1: Civic Participation Catalyzed Sub IR 2.1.2: Civic Activism and Oversight Increased IR 2.2: Accountability and Accessibility of Governance Institutions

Sub IR 2.2.1: Public Administration Effectiveness and Oversight Increased Sub IR 2.2.2: Municipal Government Capacity Increased Sub IR 2.2.3: Equal Access to Targeted Service Delivery Improved

The overarching Activity objective is:

Overarching Objective: Support Georgia’s ongoing decentralization reform and enhance the effectiveness, accountability, and citizen-responsiveness of target local governments in Georgia.

The Activity has four objectives, or components, which are designed to advance the overarching objective and respond to the identified problem set:

Objective 1: National institutional capacities, legislative frameworks, and partnerships for meaningful decentralization strengthened.

Objective 2: Subnational public administration and accountability systems improved.

Objective 3: Subnational capacity to deliver inclusive, accessible, and citizen-responsive public services, in alignment with national standards, enhanced.

Objective 4: Communities engaged and empowered to hold subnational governments accountable.

The Activity’s’s objectives contribute to the following theory of change:

Theory of Change: IF national commitment, legislative frameworks, institutional capacities, and partnerships for meaningful decentralization in Georgia are strengthened, AND IF the capacity of local self-governments to effectively and accountably govern and provide accessible, inclusive, and citizen-responsive service delivery is improved, AND IF citizens are engaged and empowered to ensure local government accountability THEN local self-governments will be more accountable and

Request for Information # 72011420RFI00005– USAID Georgia Local Self-Government Strengthening Activity responsive to citizen needs.

5. STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES (SOO)

The PWS must specifically address the below objectives and results:

Objective 1: National institutional capacities, legislative frameworks, and partnerships for meaningful decentralization strengthened.

● Result 1.1: Capacity of MRDI and other central-level stakeholders to implement, manage, and oversee the Decentralization Strategy and Action Plans enhanced.

● Result 1.2: Constraints to implementing existing LSG competencies addressed, and opportunities for new competencies explored and piloted.

● Result 1.3: National partnerships (including civil society, private sector, municipal, and business associations) for decentralization supported.

Objective 2: Subnational public administration and accountability systems improved.

● Result 2.1: Municipal councils’ (Sakrebulos) capacity to monitor and provide oversight of the municipal executive (Mayor’s Offices) increased.

● Result 2.2: LSG systems, tools, and capacity for planning, management, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation strengthened.

● Result 2.3: Implementation of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and national Public Financial Management Strategy (2018-2021) reforms in LSGs supported.

● Result 2.4: LSG capacity to mobilize new revenue sources and utilize existing resources in more effective, efficient, and economic ways enhanced.

● Result 2.5: LSG capacity to proactively and meaningfully engage citizens in participatory, oversight, and co-creation mechanisms, including through open government initiatives, increased.

Objective 3: Subnational capacity to deliver inclusive, accessible, and citizen-responsive public services, in alignment with national standards, enhanced.

● Result 3.1: LSG capacity to collect, track, analyze, and use public service delivery data to improve evidence-driven management of targeted public services strengthened.

● Result 3.2: LSG ability to mobilize private sector partnerships and investment for improved service delivery strengthened.

Request for Information # 72011420RFI00005– USAID Georgia Local Self-Government Strengthening Activity

● Result 3.3: LSG capacity and commitment to equitable access to quality public services for minority and marginalized communities expanded.

● Result 3.4: Intermunicipal and intergovernmental coordination for effective subnational public service delivery improved.

● Result 3.5: LSG capacity and commitment to employ social accountability and citizen feedback models strengthened.

Objective 4: Communities engaged and empowered to hold subnational governments accountable.

● Result 4.1: Community understanding, appreciation, and capacity for engaging LSGs increased.

● Result 4.2: Communities utilize social accountability and transparency mechanisms to demand citizen-responsive local governance and service delivery.

The Activity has been designed to specifically (a) support central-level institutions to manage implementation of the Decentralization Strategy (Objective 1) and (b) strengthen accountability across the local governance ecosystem (including across branches of government and across governance functions) (Objectives 2, 3, & 4). All interventions must be directly tied to supporting CDCS implementation and enhancing the effectiveness, accountability, and citizen-responsiveness of target local governments in Georgia.

6. INDICATORS

The Offeror must propose at least one indicator to measure performance toward each Activity objective and result. Below are the basic indicators that USAID/Georgia requires be used to measure the performance of the Activity. However, these indicators are not exhaustive. The Offeror should also propose additional custom and/or third-party indicators to measure progress and impact based on its technical approach.

● Value of Local Self-Government Index in target municipalities

● PEFA scores of target municipalities

● Percentage change in private sector investment in target municipalities

● Percentage change in local revenues generated by target LSGs

● Legal and policy frameworks supporting greater decentralization as a result of USAID assistance

● Number of competencies devolved to LSGs by central authorities and codified in the Local

Self-Government Code.

● Number of social accountability mechanisms operational as a result of USAID assistance

● Number of private sector engagement opportunities identified and pursued

● Number of coalitions supporting decentralization (across ministries and branches of government)

● Percentage change in citizens’ willingness to participate in local government mechanisms

● Percentage change in ethnic and linguistic minorities’ access to and satisfaction with public services as reported by UNDP’s biennial Study on Citizens’ Satisfaction with Public Services http://www.lsgindex.org/ https://www.ge.undp.org/content/georgia/en/home/library/democratic_governance/citizen-satisfaction-with-public-services-in-georgia--2017.html

Request for Information # 72011420RFI00005– USAID Georgia Local Self-Government Strengthening Activity

7. GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS

The Offeror must propose 15-20 target municipalities to work in (of the 64 total municipalities in Georgia’s Tbilisi administered territory) where they plan to achieve Activity objectives. The selection of the target municipalities must be based on a technically sound methodology utilizing objective criteria and indicator data. The offeror must describe the methodology used to select the target municipalities in their PWS. Among the criteria developed by the offeror, the selection should consider a mix of high and low performing municipalities as well as municipalities servicing minority populations and vulnerable communities along the administrative border line (ABL). USAID will work with the successful Offeror to finalize selection of activity municipalities.

8. GRANTS UNDER CONTRACT

The Contractor will be authorized to use Grants Under Contract (GUCs) to issue grants to non-governmental partners to support the activities under the relevant components of the Activity. All requirements that apply to USAID-executed grants in ADS 303 will also apply to grants executed by the contractor. USAID will retain, within the contract, the ability to terminate unilaterally any grant activities under extraordinary circumstances.

The total number of grants made under this provision must be at least 10% of the total contract cost.

Grants made under this contract will be made to carry out activities that are consistent with the objectives in the SOO.

9. SUSTAINABILITY CONSIDERATIONS

Sustainability of the Activity’s results will be monitored throughout the entire implementation period and will constitute one of the focal points of its interim and final evaluations. As such, offerors must include measures that promote sustainability as part of their proposed set of interventions. Illustrative approaches to sustainability may include the following types of interventions:

● Using locally available and appropriate technologies while ensuring these solutions are cost effective and can be supported by partner governments.

● Prioritizing and using, to the greatest extent possible, local organizations to implement interventions, either through sub-grants or sub-contracts.

● Engaging local organizations to implement technical assistance and training whenever possible.

● Tailoring capacity building interventions to correspond with local policies and legal frameworks, national strategies, systems, and standards.

● Strengthening the capacity of targeted government institutions and local organizations to develop internal processes that increase their ability to address capacity building. This will likely require longer periods of time and increased resources to achieve these results.

10. ACTIVITY PARAMETERS

a) Total Estimated Cost and Period of Performance

The Activity has an overall estimated cost of approximately $17 million over a five-year period. The offeror must propose an approach covering the four project components in 15-20 target municipalities.

Request for Information # 72011420RFI00005– USAID Georgia Local Self-Government Strengthening Activity

Interventions in municipalities can be simultaneous or sequential so long as proposed outcomes can be met in the municipalities by the end of the program.

b) Incentive Program for Local Self-Governments

USAID/Georgia is in the process of establishing an interagency agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) in Georgia to address social sector infrastructure improvements, including school and pre-school refurbishment, water and sanitation, shelter for homeless, infrastructure and facilities for the disabled, in Georgian municipalities. According to government decree, LSGs are now responsible for social sector infrastructure, such as school maintenance and renovations.

ODC will provide $300,000 per year for three years (2022-2024), with a possible extension, to support LSGs to renovate and repair schools in target municipalities. Offerors must propose an incentive program detailing how the $900,000 in funding available for social sector infrastructural needs can be used to incentive reform and results in target municipalities. The proposed incentive program must define criteria, including indicators with milestones, targets, and verification mechanisms, to define selection and awarding of social sector infrastructure and maintenance support. The Offeror must be mindful that the Activity cannot directly transfer funding to LSGs for implementation of infrastructure improvements; as such, incentive-funded improvements will be determined by the LSGs, but managed by the Activity.

11. CROSS-CUTTING REQUIREMENTS

a) Thinking and Working Politically/Political Economy Analysis

Offerors must demonstrate in their PWS an understanding of underlying historical factors, formal and informal ‘rules of the game’, relationships, conflict dynamics, gender dynamics, youth and vulnerable population’s dynamics, environmental considerations, power structures and incentives. Offerors must propose and budget for ways to conduct Political Economy Analysis (PEA) around governance issues on an ongoing basis, keep abreast of the political will at different levels to implement reforms and activities, implement thinking/working politically (TWP) activities, and propose Activity adaptations as required.

For example, USAID believes that the depth of GOG resource flow (i.e. financial and property) and assignment/delegation of competencies will be an important measure of the GOG’s attention and commitment to longer-term and self-reliant decentralization.

Offerors must describe their TWP/PEA approach for mapping and tracking political commitment to decentralization in Georgia, including identifying indicators and associate “trigger values” that might signal changes in commitment and/or the need to reorient the Activity. Offerors should consult USAID’s Thinking and Working Politically through Applied Political Economy Analysis when developing their proposed approach.

b) Journey to Self-Reliance and Financing Self-Reliance

USAID has chosen to support decentralization reform and GOG efforts to strengthen LSG effectiveness and accountability as a means to advance Georgia toward the goal of realizing meaningful local self-governance and, ultimately, ensuring self-reliant democratic development. Toward this end, USAID seeks to build the capacity of LSGs to deliver inclusive, responsive, and accountable public services as well as strengthen the commitment, across society, for sustained decentralization and local government development. Offerors’s proposals must describe how activities will directly contribute to Georgia’s https://www.usaid.gov/documents/1866/thinking-and-working-politically-through-applied-political-economy-analysis

Request for Information # 72011420RFI00005– USAID Georgia Local Self-Government Strengthening Activity

Journey to Self-Reliance and Georgia’s self-reliance metrics as presented in the Georgia Country Roadmap.

Offerors’ proposals must also detail which specific activities are aimed at Financing Self-Reliance.

Recognizing the need for LSGs to raise additional revenues in order to implement exclusive competencies as well as the authority granted to LSGs to propose local taxes and fees, a key aspect of Objective 2 of this Activity aims to build the skills of municipal governments to diversify their revenue sources, explore avenues and authorities for raising own source revenue, enhancing efficient and accountable use of existing resource use through strengthened public financial management measures, and promoting private sector investment. Under all four Objectives, the Activity will concurrently work to strengthen fiscal transparency and accountability mechanisms at both the local and central level, to ensure that public resources are used for public purposes. The Offeror must provide details and metrics to meet these objectives.

c) Local Systems, Ownership and Leadership

The Offeror must describe how their approach and activities will work extensively through Local Systems in a systematic and holistic way. Local government system actors should be involved to lead in their own development as co-implementers of the program and in order to build their skills to promote greater self-reliance. As part of this, the Offeror must describe how the Activity will address the broad governance factors, including interagency coordination and cooperation across branches and levels of government. The Offeror must also detail the way in which the Activity will promote local ownership and leadership for all engagements with GOG actors (particularly municipal authorities), civil society, the private sector, and other Georgian stakeholders. The approach should include a coalition of local partners to implement and manage programs, with plans that consider how efforts and cooperation will be sustained beyond the life of the Activity.

d) Private Sector Engagement

Private Sector Engagement (PSE) is critical for sustainable municipal development and more economic and efficient public service delivery. In line with USAID Georgia’s PSE Plan, this Activity will proactively seek - as appropriate, and especially within the context of Objective 3 - to identify market-based approaches, mobilize private-sector investment and expertise, and make more catalytic use of USAID resources.

The Offeror must demonstrate in the PWS their commitment to PSE, including detailing ways in which the Activity will seek to engage and collaborate with the private sector to reach the Activity’s objectives.

Proposals must include metrics that measure, value, and incentivize private sector engagement that builds self-reliance and delivers increased sustainability and deeper impact. Final measurements will be coordinated closely with USAID’s PSE Evidence and Learning Plan that will provide an Agency-wide standard set of indicators for PSE to monitor and evaluate the progress of USAID and its partners.

e) Gender Equality and Social Inclusion:

Gender equality, female empowerment, and social inclusion are essential for achieving USAID’s development goals in Georgia. The USAID Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy advances equality between females and males, and empowers women and girls to participate fully in and benefit https://www.usaid.gov/selfreliance https://selfreliance.usaid.gov/country/georgia https://selfreliance.usaid.gov/country/georgia https://www.usaid.gov/open/financing-self-reliance https://www.usaid.gov/policy/local-systems-framework https://www.usaid.gov/work-usaid/private-sector-engagement https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/15396/PSE_Evidence-and-Learning-Plan_081219.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/policy/gender-female-empowerment

Request for Information # 72011420RFI00005– USAID Georgia Local Self-Government Strengthening Activity from development, through the integration of gender in the entire project cycle, from project design and implementation to monitoring and evaluation.

Per USAID’s Policy, implementing partners are required to develop a gender and social inclusion strategy to accompany and complement the first annual work plan to ensure the integration of gender and social inclusion considerations into the work plan, the MEL Plan, and for reporting on how the project benefited men and women.

In anticipation of this, the Offeror should demonstrate that they have incorporated Gender and Social Inclusion principles in their approach, including detailing the way in which the Activity will (1) increase the overall participation of women and other vulnerable groups in local government and citizen participation measures (2) ensure increased participation of women (from partner institutions) in project implementation; and (3) measure the impacts on women and other vulnerable groups. The proposal must also detail the way in which the Offeror will ensure that women and other identified vulnerable populations are included in Activity staff and among target groups in as representative a manner as possible.

f) Ethnic and Linguistic Minorities, and Youth integration throughout the Activity

The Offeror must ensure that the assistance provided and the results achieved are beneficial to those most vulnerable in targeted areas. The Offeror must detail the way in which the Activity will integrate ethnic and linguistic minorities and youth across all of its proposed activities and in program planning, design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting.

g) Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA)

USAID is commitment to multifaceted Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) approaches for programming based on the understanding that development efforts yield more effective results if they are coordinated and collaborative, test promising, new approaches in a continuous yet also rapid, targeted search for generating improvements and efficiencies, and build on what works and eliminate what does not.

The Offeror must describe their approach to CLA, including detailing how the Activity will collaborate closely with key in-country stakeholders, including government, civil society, and other donors to share data from program results, implementation research, evaluations, assessments, and lessons learned from implementation. The Offeror must ensure that enough effort is proposed to monitor activities, collect, analyze and synthesize data, and to publish/share the data as broadly as appropriate. The proposal must also detail how the Activity will improve and support the institutionalization of the routine use of data analysis and review of global experience (supported by rigorous evaluations) to adjust, adapt, and implement priority interventions. In alignment with the latest USAID guidance, the Activity will adopt an aggressive, data-driven approach to improve government service delivery while ensuring efficiency in the use of foreign assistance. Throughout the life of the Activity, service delivery results will be monitored closely, driving continuous learning and adaptation of interventions. The Offeror’s proposal should include proposed learning questions that could be used to measure progress and address knowledge gaps for improved implementation during the life of the Activity.

https://usaidlearninglab.org/qrg/understanding-cla-0

Request for Information # 72011420RFI00005– USAID Georgia Local Self-Government Strengthening Activity

h) Leveraging, Collaboration and Partnerships with other USG Investments

The Offeror must describe how their approach and activities will complement on-going and future USG investments, collaborating actively with each other and relevant ministries and/or government agencies, private sector actors, civil society, local governments, other donors, and key stakeholders. The purpose of this collaboration is to achieve joint learning and impact, align approaches, avoid duplication of effort, and provide consistent messaging to GOG and other Georgian counterparts. The Activity will help inform USAID/Georgia’s decision-making around local governance work across sectors and share information with USAID implementers as opportunities arise for replication and learning purposes.