The Government of Georgia has launched the local self-government (LSG) reform since 2006, with the enactment of the new organic law on local self-government. The law has given a new impetus to the reform, including adoption of a number of critical legislation and later creation of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure (MRDI), with a special mandate to coordinate the regional and local development process in Georgia.
The reform of 2006 has consolidated previously existing 1000+ local self-government units into 69 municipalities. Currently, the decentralized governance system is carried out by 69 independent LSG entities – 64 Municipalities and 5 Self-Governing Cities. The legislation provides the LSG entities with organizational and financial autonomy vis-à-vis the central authorities in accordance with the European Charter of Local Self-Government. However, the independent competencies of the local self-government units are considerably limited at present. Besides, LSGs have limited capacities pertaining to planning, budgeting, managing or delivering services to their constituency, and there is a very limited linkage and interaction between the citizens and local authorities.
Currently, 10 regions – Autonomous Republic of Adjara and 9 regions without the status of administrative-territorial entity – are established on the territory of Georgia proper. The mandate of the regions are ambiguous and their resources are very limited. The regional Governors lack regular competencies, finances and human resources to provide effective regional development planning and promote achievement of the regional development objectives. They do not have their own budgets and property. The institutional capacity of the Regional Governors’ administrations to lead the regional development planning process, is extremely limited.
In 2010, the State Strategy of Regional Development has been approved. RDSS proposes legal, institutional and financial framework for sustainable regional development in Georgia. It also envisages designing and implementation of the national concept for training local self-government civil servants, harmonization of the sectoral legislation with the Organic Law on Local Self-government, improvement of municipal services and other local governance related activities. However, overall, RDSS has a moderate scope and modest objectives.
After parliamentary elections of October 2012, a new Government has been formed in Georgia, which has declared ambitious plans with regard to enhancing decentralization and strengthening regional governance.
After a year of deliberations and discussion, the government has developed a new code on local self-governance that has been adopted by the parliament on February 2014. Among other changes, the new code establishes 7 additional self-governing cities, transfers the water and melioration management power to municipalities and mandates the LSGs to allocate at least 1 percent of their salary fund to training purposes of municipal authorities. The same period saw progress in the field of regional development. During 2013, the Regional Development Strategies of 7 Georgian regions have been drafted in a participatory manner with support of UNDP and GIZ. All 7 Strategies have been officially approved by the Government of Georgia in September 2013. Currently, MRDI is finalizing the nationwide Regional Development Programme in collaboration with the EU. In addition, the government plans to introduce special policies and legislation to promote development of the mountainous regions in Georgia. The Project is expected to provide MRDI with intensive technical and expert support to successfully accomplish this task.
In May 2014, the training concept in support of local self-governments has been approved by the Government of Georgia. This, along with the mandatory allocation of 1 percent of the municipal salary fund for trainings as stipulated in the LSG code, create good basis for establishing an institutionalized training system for local authorities under the umbrella of MRDI and Center for Effective Governance System and Territorial Arrangement Reform (CEGSTAR). An effective implementation of the training system will highly depend on the well-thought action plan for implementation of the training system to be development by CEGSTAR in collaboration with the Project.
Despite the progress achieved in the field of regional development and decentralization, significant challenges remain. There is a scope for improving, both, the content of the regional development documents as well as the strategic planning processes. Besides, a strong system for resourcing the Regional Development Strategies needs to be established. Furthermore, the level of decentralization of competencies and recourses is still very low and a systematized long-term vision of the local self-government reform is yet to be developed.
Overall, MRDI is enthusiastic to advance decentralization and introduce effective regional development tools. Thus, it is crucially important to strengthen its policy formulation, advocacy and implementation capacities to ensure proper achievement of the reform goals and objectives.
To address the prevailing regional and local development challenges, UNDP in collaboration with ADA and SDC and in partnership with MRDI implements the project “fostering regional and local development in Georgia” since 2012. The project activities are centered around the three interrelated priorities covering national, regional and local levels:
- Strengthening of policy formulation and implementation capacities of MRDI and other national stakeholders. MRDI is supported to implement its commitments and assisted to upscale its relevant policy coordination function. The legislature, especially the parliamentary Committee on Regional Policy and Self-Government is supported to make it an active participants of the reform process. The policy dialogue among different governmental and non-governmental stakeholders is facilitated promoting improvement of the local governance and regional development related policies;
- Strengthening role and capacities of regional and local authorities for intensifying their efforts for development. For this purpose, selected regional administrations and LSGs are being supported in strategic development planning and in implementing selected actions from their respective regional/municipal development plans. Specific emphasis is to be placed on reflecting the municipal development plans in programme budgets;
- Introducing an effective, nation-wide training system for regional administrations and local authorities to strengthen their planning, budgeting, management and service delivery capacities. The training system pursing a long-term impact effectively addresses the training needs at regional and local levels. An innovative mechanism coordinating demand and supply flows is to be set up. As a result, the regional governors’ administrations and LSGs will benefit from a wide range of quality trainings, as well as practical assistance to be used in the regional and local development processes.
The project is scheduled through July 2017, with a budget of over USD 6 Million.
During 2013, the project implementation has been affected by the policy context prevailing in the country, in particular the ongoing LSG reform, therefore the project activities have been adjusted around the new context.
During the summer-fall of 2014 the project will host an international consultant who will review the project and prepare forward looking recommendations on its implementation. The consultant will also be available to provide technical and strategic advice to the manager and the team on the project implementation. The consultant will also review the project workplan and recommend adjustments to the 2014 operation if found needed. Additionally, a long-term international consultant will be recruited in Fall 2014 for a one-year period, and will be made part of the project team, at the moment composed of 2 long-term local experts, an administrative assistant and a driver/logistician.
Duties
Under the supervision of the UNDP Democratic Governance Team Leader, the Project Manager shall carry out the following tasks and responsibilities:
Run the project with a high budget and complex technical dimensions on a day-to-day basis on behalf of the Project Board within the framework laid down by the Board. Ensures that the project produces the results specified in the project document; Contributes into achievement of expected outcomes to the best possible standard of quality and within the specified constraints of time and cost:
- Plan, coordinate, organize, lead, manage and monitor the overall implementation of the project as per the agreed Project Document and in view of achieving its outputs and outcomes; monitor progress against its indicators and targets;
- Establish project work plans and budgets for approval by the UNDP and Project Board; Commit to the implementation of the approved work plans; Ensure consistency of the project activities with the project work plan;
- Liaise with the Project Steering Board or its appointed Project Assurance to assure the project accomplishing activities, outputs and outcomes as specified in the project document;
- Manage project financial resources; Ensure accuracy and reliability of financial reports;
- Monitor the project performance, including risks. Prepare Project Progress Reports and Final Report (progress against planned activities, update on Risks and Issues, expenditures) and submit the report to the Project Board and Project Assurance; Update the status of these risks by maintaining the risk-log;
- In cooperation with international and local expert, be accountable for producing quality inputs and documents on the subjects related to the project mandate;
- Ensure effective and efficient visibility of the project.
Leads and manages diverse project team with variety of national and international experts and administrative personnel; works in close cooperation with an international consultant(s) providing strategic advice to the PM on project implementation:
- Lead the multidimensional project team members, including national and international staff, to ensure their adequate response to the specific aspects of the implementation of the project; Ensure efficient delegation/ distribution of tasks among project team members. Work closely with international consultant(s) providing strategic advice to the PM. Provide regular advice and guidance to the project staff, and assess and evaluate their performance.
Ensure efficient coordination and cooperation with various stakeholders, including within Georgian government and parliament, other national and international stakeholders and respective development projects:
- Develop and maintain excellent professional relationships with all key partners including MRDI, CEGSTAR, Parliament, donors, other government representatives at national, regional and local level as well as respective development partners;
- Represent the Programme as required, vis-à-vis the authorities, and other international and local organizations.
Perform other duties as related to effective and efficient management of the project.
Location: Tbilisi, GEORGIA
Application deadline: 18 July 2014
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