TOR – Consultant to Conduct a Study on the Impact of the African Peer Review Mission on Governance in APRM-Participating African Countries

Terms of Reference for a Consultant to Conduct a Study on the Impact of the African Peer Review Mission on Governance in APRM-Participating African Countries

I. Background

The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) is a self-monitoring mechanism to encourage the adoption of policies, standards and practices that lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated regional economic integration through the exchange of experiences and reinforcement of best practices including identifying deficiencies and assessing the needs for capacity building of the participating countries. To date forty Member States of the African Union have voluntarily acceded to the APRM.

The APRM is Africa’s most innovative and ambitious initiative on governance that was launched in 2003. As a voluntary mechanism for self- and peer-assessment of governance policies and practices on the Continent, so far 23 out of the 40 have completed peer reviews, while others are at different stages towards it. Most of the countries that have been reviewed have taken actions on the bases of recommendations and their respective national programmes of action, while a few – Kenya, Uganda and Mozambique – have already undergone their second-generation reviews.

II. Rationale

After seventeen teen years since its establishment, the APRM proposes to undertake a comprehensive and rigorous review of its impact, if any, on the governance landscape in Africa. Given the dynamic nature of countries and recent socioeconomic developments in Africa, it is important to undertake a comprehensive review of the successes and challenges of the APRM process, the impact it has had on the status of governance at the country level of the reviewed countries and at an aggregate level of the 23 reviewed countries.

III. Scope of the Impact Assessment

The assessment will have a thematic as well as geographical focus. Thematically, the assessment will cover the APRM’s four pillars, namely (i) democratic and political governance (DPG); (ii) economic governance and management (EGM); (iii) corporate governance (CG); and (iv) socio-economic development (SED) as well as the cross-cutting issues that are generally part of the country review reports. Geographically, all peer-reviewed countries will be assessed. The linguistic dimension will also be taken into consideration.

IV. Key Objectives

The main objective of this study is to rigorously assess the extent to which the APRM has contributed to the improvement of governance in the countries reviewed to date but also those that are yet to be reviewed.

In order for this exercise to serve its intended objective, the consultant is expected to:

• Provide a clear and shared understanding of impact and the methodology by which it is to be measured or assessed. As such, a mix of methods will need to be used to meaningfully bring out whatever impact the APRM may have produced in those countries;
• Provide a proper appreciation of the likely impact of the process by which the actual APRM reviews are conducted as much as the specific outcomes registered;
• Provide a comprehensive appraisal of the state of implementation of the APRM at the national level;
• Identify and capture lessons learned in APRM reviewed countries;
• Determine how effectively and efficiently the programme is being implemented and the extent to which the net benefits have been achieved; and
• Analyse the mechanisms responsible for producing change in member states.

V. Key Questions for Research

The key questions to be answered include, but shall not be limited to:

• What is the state of implementation of the APRM recommendations at the national level? In other words, to what extent have APRM-participating countries taken legislative and executive steps to implement the obligations emanating from APRM membership, including whether and in what form they have established the necessary institutional structure for the operationalization of the APRM at that level?
• To what extent has participation in the APRM led to improvements in governance policies and practices of reviewed countries?
• To what extent have the impacts at the level of individual reviewed countries had an overflow effect on other APRM-participating countries that have yet to be reviewed? How about on non-APRM-participating countries in Africa?
• Which aspects of the APRM have had the greatest impacts on governance?
• Have any changes in laws or regulations been implemented and has the programme contributed to placing topics higher on the political agenda?
• How could things be done better in the future to enhance impacts and promote best practices?

VI. Key Deliverables/Major Outcome:

The consultant will undertake the study on the ‘Impact of the APRM’ and to this end, the key deliverables and outcomes of the policy research initiative will include:

1. Submission of a brief 2-3-page Inception note to the APRM Continental Secretariat immediately proposing an approach for undertaking the study as well as a detailed methodology for conducting the assignment. This will be reviewed and approved by the APRM Continental Secretariat to facilitate commencement.
2. Submission of a preliminary report on the status report of the implementation of the APRM of all member countries looking at the process (date of accession, of peer review if any, progress reports, establishment or otherwise of the necessary national APRM structures, how they are established (by law, decree, or other instrument), where they are located (e.g. which ministry or department within the state structure), how active and effective they are, and proposing what can be done to speed up their establishment (where they do not exist) and to enhance their effectiveness (where they exist).
3. Submitting the first draft report in 4 weeks for review by the APRM Continental Secretariat;
4. Preparing an evidence-based study of the highest professional standard that clearly identifies quantitative and qualitative indicators of APRM impact;
5. Acting as a resource person in an expert meeting made up of including key academics, practitioners and policymakers to be organised to validate the draft report; and
6. Submitting a final report, which incorporates the comments, suggestions and feedback from the expert meeting and the APRM Secretariat. The final report should explicitly reflect the following general structure:

• • Summary of conclusions and recommendations (maximum 5 pages);
  • Methodology – outlining the evaluators’ approach and including a description of original research undertaken and sources of data and information. The methodology should also include a statement of the evaluators’ assessments of strengths and weaknesses of the evaluation report;
  • Analysis of the findings;
  • Conclusions addressing the questions asked in the Terms of Reference (ToR);
  • Summary of the principle achievements and deficiencies of the programme; and
  • Recommendations of the evaluation team clearly graded in order of importance (in terms of usefulness).

VII. Minimum qualifications and Experience

The appropriate candidate for this project shall be a leading expert on issues of African economic development policy, governance, political economy, peace and security, peace building, and post conflict states with an excellent track record of publications in the aforementioned areas.

Qualification: Minimum a Master’s degree from an accredited academic institution in Political, Social or Human Sciences, Economics, International Relations/Affairs, Development Management, Governance, Public administration, Development studies or related field.

Experience:

• Have at least 10 years of national and/or international experience in public or private sector development in various capacities, etc.; candidates with a PhD in a relevant field need to meet a minimum of seven years of experience.
• Familiarity with the APRM and the practical conduct of country reviews;
• Knowledge of current trends and best practices in development issues and in particular internationally accepted governance codes and standards;
• Excellent analytical and writing skills demonstrated by a strong publication record.
• The ability to maintain effective working relationships with APRM staff, national structures, government authorities, and other project partners; and
• Ability to research, interpret information, identify and analyse problems/ issues and propose solutions

Language proficiency: Fluency in oral and written English is required for this consultancy. Fluency in French is an advantage.

VIII. Expected Output

Under the overall supervision of the Head of Country Review Coordination (CRC), the consultant is expected to deliver a report of the highest professional standard within the agreed time. In meeting all agreed requirements contained or implied in this ToR, the consultant will perform the following tasks:

• Conduct a desk review on the APRM reviewed countries
• Conduct a secondary data analysis of all the completed profiling forms submitted by APRM member states and produce a thematic and regional (geographic) impact profile of APRM in member states.

IX. Conflict of interest

The consultant is required to provide services that are professional, objective and impartial. The Consultant must ensure that there is no conflict of interest between existing assignments, obligations and responsibilities to other clients and the services set out in the TOR. In the event of any uncertainty in this regard, full disclosure in the submitted proposal should be considered. Non-disclosure of a conflict of interest may be grounds for termination of any contract.

X. Confidentiality agreement

The successful consultant may have access to confidential data or information. The appointment of a successful bidder is subject to that bidder agreeing to the contents of, and signing, the APRM’s standard Non-Disclosure Agreement.

1. Duration of the Assignment and Consultancy Fee

The assignment is for a period of 1 month starting from the date of signing the contract with the APRM Continental Secretariat. The consultant will receive a lump sum total of USD 9,000 for the assignment, which will be paid in two installments as will be provided in the contract.

XII. QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE:

• EVALUATION CRITERIA

The opening date is 06 March 2020 while the closing date is 03 April 2020.

All applicants should send their credentials to the [email protected] at 17hrs RSA time.