Lună: decembrie 2024

1. BACKGROUND

The Project “MA IMPLIC” (Phase 2: 01.11.2023-31.10.2027) aims to contribute to   improved local governance and better access and quality of public services for the population of Moldova. To this end, the Ma Implic project will support different stakeholders to improve three fundamental dimensions of a well-functioning local government unit:  

• Partner LPA clusters to manage resources and local development in a more sustainable, inclusive, and accountable way. 

• The Government to promote and coordinate the LG reform in an efficient, effective, and transparent manner. 

• People in partner communities to meaningfully engage in local governance processes and to influence the provision of local public services. 

 The project is implemented by Skat Consulting Ltd., a Swiss consulting firm and is financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. 

Phase 2 of the “MA IMPLIC” Project will consolidate the results obtained in Phase I but will also broaden the area of interventions by providing support for LPAs in executing several functions assigned to them. In addition to improving communal services, the project will contribute to the development of other public services, such as administrative public services or public services for local and/or regional economic development.   

At the local level, the project will support up to 14 groups of partner communities in the development of Service Improvement Plans (SIP). The methodology for these Service Improvement Plans has been developed in Phase 1 of the Ma Implic project and has been applied in the 30 partner LPA in the period 2021 – 2023. The SIP comprises a set of “hard” and “soft” activities aimed at improving the delivery of a specific public (communal) service (e.g., waste management, water supply, sanitation, or street lighting). The methodology for developing a SIP is now available to any other LPA in the Republic of Moldova and could be applied individually or as group of LPAs.

Related to the implementation of the SIP, the project supports Service Providers (SPs) in their role of delivering public communal services. To this end, a Methodology for service providers to develop an Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Plan has been developed by the project and applied in Phase 1 of the project.  

Service Providers are usually municipal enterprises. In some cases LPA manage the service provision directly, or contract a private sector operator. The SP face a range of problems and challenges. To better understand the needs and challenges the project is requiring SPs to do a Self-Assessments for which the project has developed a methodology. Results of first Self Assessments of Ma Implic Phase 2 partners and of those carried out in Phase 1 will be shared with the selected consultant.

The project support is expected to positively influence the Economic Sustainability of Service Providers. The SIP comprise measures to introduce or adjust tariffs for service provision to get closer to cost-coverage. Modern infrastructure and equipment and optimised O&M plans are expected to result in reduced operational costs. A project outcome indicator aims to assess the ability of a SP not only to maintain the achieved level of service delivery after Ma Implic support, but also to increase it guaranteeing long term business efficiency.

2. SCOPE OF WORK

The consultant is expected to develop a Methodology to assess the economic sustainability of Communal Service Providers. The assessment of economic stability shall include a wider variety of indicators. The methodology shall measure the degree of economic sustainability of the main service supported by Ma Implic and the degree of economic sustainability of SP organization in cases where the SP provides more than one service.

The assessment shall be carried out three times over the course of the remaining project period:

• Baseline: early 2025 (values for all SP in operation shall be available by the end of April 2025)
• Endline: late summer (August-September) 2027
• At least one intermediate assessment between baseline and endline

Task 1a: Develop a Methodology of measuring economic sustainability. (The estimated scope of work is 10 days)

1. Identify and propose indicators that allow for an assessment of financial sustainability of the operations of the service provider. This shall include data for operational costs, revenues, tariffs, efficiency of use of fixed and other assets and all other relevant aspects of economic activity of SP and other relevant data.
2. Create a database / xls sheet which allows to collect all relevant info from the SP (indicate clearly where data may have to be sourced from LPA or other sources). Dats must be collected, calculated and analysed in such a way that the number of partner LPA groups in which economic sustainability of service provision improved can be established.

Task 1b: Coordinate data-collection for at least 3 iterations of the financial sustainability indicator (baseline, endline, at least one update in-between) measuring financial sustainability. (The estimated scope of work is 3 days for the baseline, 10 days in total for the later updates. 13 days in total)

3. Collect data from SPs in line with the Methodology.
4. Analyse data and draft a short summary report for each of the (at least) 3 iterations.

3. KEY DELIVERABLES AND TENTATIVE TIMETABLE

4. QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS REQUIRED

5. APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Qualified and interested consulting firms/individuals are requested to apply.  Interested applicants will submit the application until 23^rd of December 2024 to the email: info@int.skat.ch, with the subject line “Consultant on Communal Services”, containing the following info:

1. CVs in Romanian or (preferably) English language. (please indicate 3 reference persons)
2. Motivation letter in Romanian or (preferably) English language, highlighting relevant experience. (1 page)
3. A Financial offer for a fee per working day, including travel expenditures where applicable.