Government of Antigua and Barbuda Public and Social Sector Transformation Project (Ln 8269-AG) Technical Coordinator, National Beneficiary Management Information System (NBMIS) Technical Unit (PP 3.1.2) Department of Social Policy, Research and Planning Ministry of Health, Social Transformation, Consumer Affairs and Local Government (MHSTCA) Terms of Reference
1. BACKGROUND 1.1 On August 14, 2013, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda signed with the World Bank a loan in the amount of US$10,000,000 (ten million dollars) for the implementation of the Public and Social Sector Transformation (PSST) Project. The development objectives of the Project are to: (i) strengthen the management of the public sector and make more efficient use of its human resources; (ii) enhance the government capacity to develop coherent and efficient social sector policies and interventions on the basis of evidence; and (iii) strengthen and increase the coverage of intermediation services and competency-based training programmes to enhance its effectiveness in increasing the ability of persons between the ages of 17 to 50 years to find and maintain a job. 1.2 One of the components of the PSST Project is to improve efficiency in social protection spending. The primary objective of this component is to enhance Government’s capacity to design, implement and monitor social policies and interventions by: (i) creating a unified targeting system and a single registry for beneficiaries; and (ii) improving Ministry of Health, Social Transformation, Consumer Affairs and Local Government (MHSTCA) leading and coordinating capacity. The Project will support activities to strengthen social protection programmes, improve social sector spending, and harmonise social sector interventions to ensure that poor and vulnerable households receive benefits through evidence-based and objective targeting. One of the expected results of this component is improving the efficiency of social sector spending through the creation of a National Beneficiaries Management Information System (NBMIS) that will combine a unified targeting system and a single registry for beneficiaries of social protection programmes. The NBMIS Technical Unit (NBMISTU), within the Department of Social Policy, Research and Planning (DSPRP) of the MHSTCA will be charged with setting up and managing the NBMIS. The NBMIS will include at least four modules: (i) a single registry for existing beneficiaries of social protection programmes; (ii) a census of potential beneficiaries of SP programmes; (iii) a proxy means test (PMT) to rank households/individuals based on poverty; and (iv) a monitoring report based on key indicators of social protection programmes. 2. CONTEXT 2.1 A 2007 Country Poverty Assessment exposed elderly persons and unemployed single women most of whom have children and receive no financial support from their partners as the PSST Project – TOR for Technical Coordinator Component 3 (1 Nov 2013)
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key indigent population and the at risk groups in Antigua and Barbuda. The Government attaches great importance to improving the standard of living for the population, so it responded to these findings with a national Poverty Reduction Strategy and the introduction of several social protection programmes to immediately improve the quality of life and begin alleviating poverty. Also, as a part of National Economic and Social Transformation Plan (NEST), the Government has demonstrated its commitment to improve social protection programmes to strengthen their impact on addressing poverty and vulnerability. 2.2 The MHSTCA is the principal Government Ministry responsible for social protection in Antigua and Barbuda. As such, MHSTCA holds responsibility for a number of social programmes that seek to reduce poverty, improve living standards and provide a variety of social and community services. The DSPRP plays a leading role in this agenda, with responsibility for policy formulation for all social assistance and subsidy programmes; monitoring and evaluation of social programmes; facilitating macro social sector planning; and providing technical support to the Board of Guardians1 programme, among others. 2.3 Another MHSTCA division, the Citizens’ Welfare Division (CWD), serves as one of the main social service delivery agencies. The Division offers specialised and welfare services to promote and maintain family stability. It also meets the needs of persons coping with personal crises and other family or social problems. The CWD’s mandate also includes counseling, probation services, rehabilitation and programmes for senior citizens. 2.4 Along with programmes administered by the MHSTCA, there are several other social protection programmes that are administered by other public sector institutions and by civil society agencies and groups. These programmes include both cash and in-kind transfers. Beneficiary cohorts include senior citizens, primary and secondary school children and the mentally challenged. Beneficiary selection is not targeted and is determined primarily by selfreporting, age, or geographical location. There is evidence of duplication among programmes, allowing beneficiaries to receive benefits from more than one programme with limited communication across programmes. There are therefore several entry points with no system to track beneficiary uptake and to evaluate the effectiveness of the programmes. Exit from the programmes is not strategically managed and beneficiaries remain in the system for very long time. 2.5 The Government therefore wants to make its social protection spending more transparent, efficient and effective. Transparency would require controls and an objective means of selecting and targeting beneficiaries. Efficiency will depend on an integrated system for administering and monitoring social programmes, to facilitate streamlined applications, referrals, and to prevent duplication and inefficiency in program delivery. Effectiveness would be determined by the use of data and information to evaluate programmes, to track the effect of the programmes on beneficiaries, and to track the impact on society as a whole. 2.6 The PSST Project will support the DSPRP to design and develop an NBMIS and establish a NBMISTU with administrative responsibility for the NBMIS. The NBMIS will capture, register and evaluate socio-economic conditions of families and apply a proxy-means test to identify and rank households in need of social programmes. The system will also be designed to facilitate cross-checking of information with other existing systems such as the 1
The Board of Guardians programme provides financial assistance to elderly persons who are deemed to be poor and destitute as well as children, mentally challenged, destitute, visually impaired and discharged lepers. PSST Project – TOR for Technical Coordinator Component 3 (1 Nov 2013)
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medical benefits, social security and tax administration databases. The NBMIS will also include a Single Beneficiary Registry that combines the list of beneficiaries of social protection programmes. The NBMISTU will sign agreements with agencies and institutions responsible for social protection programmes to create the single beneficiary registry. Registries of social programmes that enter in agreement with the NBMISTU will regularly transfer their databases. 3. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT 3.1 The objective of the consultancy is to coordinate the activities and processes required for establishment and day-to-day operating of the NBMISTU. The consultant will help the DSPRP set up and manage the NBMISTU, ensuring that it has the right technical capacity and expertise, relevant and realistic work plan, the necessary tools and equipment, and established appropriate institutional arrangements. 3.2 The specific duties and responsibilities of this consultancy in the first 12 months of contract are therefore to: (a) Assist the DSPRP with identification of staffing and equipment needs for the NBMISTU, develop work and project implementation plans, and supervise the staff working in the NBMISTU; (b) Monitor the preparation of terms of references, MOUs and other agreements necessary for the design of the NBMIS; (c) Supervise the external consultants working on the design of the NBMIS, including the design of the integrated system and the respective modules, including the unified targeting system, the single registry of beneficiaries and the monitoring of social protection programmes. Among the activities is to put in operation each of the NBMIS modules, the Technical Coordinator would serve as counterpart for external consultants in charge of the design of a proxy means test (PMT), the design of the questionnaires for a census for the potential beneficiaries of the social protection programmes, and the census data collection; (d) Lead the creation of the first Single Registry of Beneficiaries of Social Programmes. This first registry will test mechanism of consolidation of data bases and agreements between institutions and agencies. The technical coordinator will be responsible initially for reaching agreements with all programmes within the MHSTCA that manage beneficiaries and supervise the integration of databases. In a second stage, the technical coordinator, in coordination with the Director of DSPRP will decide what other institutions will integrate databases with the single registry of beneficiaries. Lead the information and education campaign on the uses and benefits of the NBMIS to government stakeholders, beneficiaries and the general public. To assist with executing these responsibilities in an effective way, the Technical Coordinator will be expected to gain detailed understanding of the context in which social protection programmes are targeted, coordinated and managed in Antigua and Barbuda. The MHSTCA will furnish the consultant with relevant briefing materials to support that process once contracted.
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4. DELIVERABLES The consultant is expected to produce the following deliverables: (a) An action plan describing the strategy for executing the assignment within the desired timeframe; (b) Draft Memoranda of Agreement for the Single Beneficiary Registry between the DSPRP and each of the pre-identified departments of MHSTCA and other ministries responsible for administering their respective social protection programmes; (c) Draft the general NBMIS operational design of each of the modules of the system, including key actions that the system should perform and the requirements in terms of cross-checking information with other systems; (d) Based on the operational design of the NBMIS, draft TORs, in coordination with the World Bank and other agents of the DSPRP, on the system design of the MBMIS, design of a proxy means test, the design of the questionnaires for a census for the potential beneficiaries of the social protection programmes, and the census data collection. (e) Supervise the execution of the external consultancies, providing feedback and guaranteeing compliance with the TORs. By the end the contract period, the technical Coordinator will be responsible for: (i) a system design of the NBMIS; (ii) the definition of the PMT; (iii) the data collection of a census for the potential beneficiaries of the social protection programmes; (f) Arrange for signature of agreements for the Single Beneficiary Registry with each of the pre-identified departments of MHSTCA and other ministries responsible for administering their respective social protection programmes. (g) Supervise the consolidation of databases in the first Single Registry of Beneficiary of social programmes and elaborate a report of the main findings of consolidation. (h) Quarterly reports on the progress of the activities describe above. 5. QUALIFICATIONS The consultant should have the following qualifications:
Masters degree or higher in Social or Public Policy, Economics, Human Development or related field;
At least 10 years experience in project management including implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and the design/utilization of appropriate project management tools;
Proven knowledge and experience with managing or monitoring social systems and programmes;
A good understanding of the role of management information system in delivering, controlling, monitoring and evaluating social protection programmes and services;
Knowledge and experience in the establishing and/or managing of a Management Information System is desired;
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Working knowledge of proxy means testing for targeting beneficiaries of social programmes and services is desired;
Strong leadership, management, facilitation and communication skills;
6. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS The Technical Coordinator will report directly to the Director, DSPRP. The Technical Coordinator will, as required, submit written reports to the Director and the Project Coordinator of the PMU. 7. CONTRACT DURATION The contract duration will be for twelve (12) months in the first instance with a fixed monthly salary. The contract may be subject to extension for a period of time and subject to terms and conditions agreed to between the World Bank, the Government and the Consultant.
PSST Project – TOR for Technical Coordinator Component 3 (1 Nov 2013)
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