Participatory Governаnce Expert, South

Chemonics International Inc. is looking for a qualified professional to fill the position Participatory Governаnce Expert, South

Background: 

zone. Since the end of March 2022, the Novovorontsovska community has been temporarily occupied by Russian troops. As of November 2022, the territory was liberated and the Novorontsovska Civil Military Administration (hereinafter NCMA or Administration) and ASC started providing services to the residents of the hromada.

The NCMA and Administrative Service Center (hereinafter ASC) provide citizens with the following services. 

Certifications for elderly people and determining eligibility for pension payment.

Drawing up an act of inspection of housing conditions.

Drawing up an act of destruction or damage to housing.

Other references and acts. 

The KHLA was established on July 23rd, 2015. The KHLA is located in the Berislav raion of the Kherson region. The hromada includes 14 villages with a population of more than three thousand inhabitants. The administrative center is located in the Kochubeivka settlement. 

On February 24th 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. Fighting began across the Kherson Oblast, resulting in multiple Russian victories. On March 2nd, Russian forces captured the capital of the oblast, Kherson, and occupied the city and the oblast. The KHLA was occupied on March 2nd, 2022. During this period, Russian troops destroyed and stole KHLA’s IT equipment. Nevertheless, Ukraine’s army fought for the liberation of occupied territories. In late May 2022, Kochubeivska hromada was liberated by Ukraine forces.

The KHLA and ASC provide citizens with the following services. 

Providing certifications for elderly people and determining eligibility for pension payment.

Drawing up an act of inspection of housing conditions.

Drawing up an act of destruction or damage to housing.

Other references and acts.

DG East is providing support to Novorontsovska and Kochubeivska Civil Military Administrations (hereinafter KCMA) and improving their capacity to provide public services and to improve local governance processes and capacities.

As part of the support to NCMA and KCMA, DG East is looking for a short-term Participatory Governance Expert to provide training modules .

Purpose of Assignment: 

The Participatory Governance Expert will provide support and expertise to DG East in raising awareness and knowledge of Participatory Governance principles for the NCMA and KCMA staff. In particular, the Expert will develop two training modules:

• Participatory governance. Informing, communicating and involving residents in decision-making under martial law and another training module on Customer-centric approach, that will address DG East’s objectives. The target audience for the training are representatives of NCMA and KCMA and ASC staff. The training will be followed by consultancy and mentoring of the newly trained personnel of the Administrations so that they can apply the knowledge they obtained seemly.

Detailed Tasks:

Participatory Governance Expert will be responsible for performing the following tasks:

1. Develop a two 2-day (maximum 4 hours a day) online training for local government representatives of the NCMA and KCMA. The first module, Participatory Governance, will aim to educate the LGE staff on the basics of participation, it’s philosophy and principles. Participants will become familiar with participatory approaches, methods and tools as well as some of the associated skills. At the end of the training participants will be able to recognize the advantages and shortcomings of participatory approaches in governance.

The training must address the following components:

• Participatory approaches. A brief history.
• Why, When and How
• Key principles of applying participatory methods and tools
• Participatory attitudes and behaviours.
• Citizen engagement as a tool to build trust, between local government and the community.
• Adaptation and modification of tools
• Participation as a process.
• Pros and cons of participatory planning
• Decision-making under martial law

The second module, Customer-centric approach, will aim to educate the LGE staff on the main  principles of customer services. Participants will obtain essential skills on how to handle advanced technical inquiries and manage customer expectations and will improve competency in troubleshooting. The training course will give participants solid foundation in customer-centred communication skills, empowering them with the confidence, perspective and tools to communicate effectively with customers.

Both modules will include a theoretical part and a practical component, based on cases adapted to the training audience.

The training must include the following components:

• Customer service principles and techniques
• The basics of communication
• Customer interaction skills
• Problem-solving, resolution of disputes and conflicts
• Outstanding customer service while adhering to standards and procedures

1. Conduct one 2-day online on the job training for up to 10 representatives of the NCMA and ASC staff.
2. Conduct one 2-day online on the job training for up to 10 representatives of the KCMA and ASC staff.
3. Provide consulting and mentoring support, to assist trained personnel to deal with possible difficulties applying their new knowledge they acquired at work. (Remote support)

5. Develop a report with recommendations for DG East on how to address issues on citizen participation and on services delivery in the most efficient way.

Deliverables  

The expected deliverables of the assignment include the following: 

1. Activity program and timeline for both training module
2. Methodology of the training.
3. Two 2-day online on the job training for up to 20 (in total) representatives of the NCMA and KCMA.
4. Training materials for two developed training modules – Power Point presentations, training evaluation forms, list of participants, including screenshots.
5. Expert’s final report, which must include description of all stages of work with recommendations for the future on how to use the results obtained by the trainings and any improvements and modifications needed in the future to address participatory issues and challenges related to service provision in a more effective way. 

Supervision and Reporting: 

The Participatory Governance Expert will work under the direction of the AIM and will report to the Regional Director. The Governance Specialist will be responsible for monitoring the Expert’s performance.

Level of Effort:  
A total of 15 days of LOE. 

Place of Performance 

The assignment will take place remotely from within Ukraine. No in-country travel is anticipated. 

Timeframe: 
The timeframe for this assignment will be on/about December 2023. 

Application Instructions:  

Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV to [email protected]   with  Participatory Governance Expert listed in the subject line by November 12, 2023. Candidates must ensure that CV should  *not* include a photograph, date of birth, and/or marital status information.  

No telephone inquiries, please. Candidates will be considered on a rolling basis, and only finalists will be contacted.  

Chemonics is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its selection and employment practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factors.