strengthening regional and local governance in the kvemo kartli region

Capacity Development Response Strategy

Kvemo Kartli Region

Strengthening Regional and Local Governance in the Kvemo Kartli Region

This document tries to assess the capacity assets and gaps of the regional office of the governor and the seven municipalities of Kvemo Kartli region, Georgia and tries to suggest solutions for some of the gaps through this capacity development response strategy.

2008

Bikash Ranjan Dash Capacity Development Advisor UNDP, Georgia

March 1, 2008 CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT RESPONSE STRATEGY

UNDP | 2

Table of Contents

Acronyms…………………………………………………………………………………………………….................................... 3

Executive Summary ……………………………………………………………………………………….................................. 4

1. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………................................ 16

2. Context ………………………………………………………………………………………………….................................. 16

3. Methodology and process ……………………………………………………………………………........................... 18

3.1. UNDP’s approach to capacity development and assessment ……………………………............... 18

3.2. Process followed …………………………………………………………………………………............................. 19

4. Summary of capacity assets and gaps …………………………………………………………….......................... 23

4.1. Regional Administration ………………………………………………………………………………………………... 23

4.2. Municipal Administration ……………………………………………………………………............................ 26

5. Capacity Development Response Strategy ………………………………………………………........................ 34

5.1. Regional Administration ………………………………………………………………………............................ 34

5.2. Municipal Administration ……………………………………………………………………............................ 35

Appendices

Appendix I – Capacity Development Response Strategy Matrix (Regional Administration) ………… 69

Appendix II – Capacity Development Response Strategy Matrix (Local Administration)................. 74

Appendix III ‐ Executive Summary of Institutional Baseline Mapping Report ……………………............. 92

Appendix IV‐ Prioritized Capacity Gaps (In consultation with the stakeholders )…………………………... 98

Appendix V‐ Sample questionnaire for planning and coordination component ……………………………101


UNDP | 3

Acronyms

ACH‐ Accion Contra El Hambre

BDD‐ Basic data and direction

CA‐ Capacity Assessment

CD‐ Capacity Development

CEGSTAR‐ The Centre for Effective Governance System and Territorial Arrangement Reform

CIS‐ Commonwealth of Independent States

EC‐ European Commission

EU‐ European Union

GDP‐ Gross Domestic Product

ICT‐ Information communication and technology

KK‐ Kvemo Kartli

MTEF‐ Medium Term Expenditure Framework

NALA‐ National Association of Local Authorities

OSCE‐ Organization for Security and Co‐operation in Europe

SIDA‐ Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

UNDP‐ United Nations Development Programme


UNDP | 4

Executive Summary

During the “Rose Revolution” of November 2003, many Georgians—spurred on by rampant

corruption and the state failing to deliver basic services—took to the streets to demand

reform. A new government was formed, which started the reform process. A second wave

of reforms was initiated in 2005 and 2006 to create a solid legal basis for self‐governance.

Numerous laws were passed outlining the broad responsibilities of the regional and

municipal levels of government and attempting to delineate their functions.

UNDP, with support from SIDA, started a series of projects in Georgia in the area of

Democratic Governance. One of these projects was Strengthening Local and Regional

Governance in the Kvemo Kartli Region. The project aims to strengthen local and regional

governance structures in the Kvemo Kartli region by using the capacity development

approach.

UNDP Georgia and the Kvemo Kartli project decided to use UNDP’s capacity development

framework for the regional and local governance reform in the Kvemo Kartli region. The

capacity development framework of UNDP suggests that the capacity development process

should go through five steps:

1. Engage stakeholders on CD process

2. Assess capacity assets and needs

3. Formulate capacity development strategies

4. Implement capacity development strategies

5. Monitor and evaluate capacity development strategies

UNDP’s capacity assessment framework has three dimensions: point of entry, core issues

and functional capacities. It also suggests a capacity assessment methodology and a

practice tool to diagnose capacity assets and needs at three levels where the country’s

capacity resides: enabling environment, organization and individual. The Kvemo Kartli

project adapted the capacity assessment tool to factor in local requirements. Three sources

of information were used to collect data, namely, interviews with beneficiaries and

stakeholders (using open ended questions), self‐assessment questionnaires and focused

group discussions. There was a separate chapter of questionnaires covering issues and

challenges related to the representative body (Sakrebulo).

The capacity assessment process started with an institutional baseline mapping exercise

with the following thematic areas:


UNDP | 5

1. Organizational and human resource management issues

2. Planning and coordination

3. Budgeting and financial management

4. Procurement and service delivery

5. Monitoring and evaluation

6. Communication and implementation

In the inception phase of the project, the Kvemo Kartli project built rapport with the

regional and local administrations, and the municipalities nominated one person each from

the executive and representative bodies as a focal point to work closely with the project. At

the project level, the Capacity Development Advisor developed the questionnaires, which

were translated into Georgian, and got feedback from the staff before they were finalized.

Because of the technicality of the questions, the Kvemo Kartli project decided to use project

officers to help fill out the questionnaires. The departments and committees organized a

series of meetings to discuss different issues and to fill in the questionnaires. All the

information received through these questionnaires was compiled by the project officers,

and a single, completed questionnaire was prepared for each municipality. Two villages in

each municipality were selected on a random sampling basis, where project officers

conducted focused group discussions to get an idea of the responses from community about

service delivery.

The process of designing a capacity development response strategy went through all the

steps prescribed in the capacity assessment methodology user’s guide:

1. Engage partner and build consensus


3. Summarize and interpret results

4. Formulate capacity development response strategies

By using the above mentioned tools, the Kvemo Kartli project collected all the information,

which consisted of capacity assets and gaps for both municipal and regional administration.

These capacity gaps led to the formulation of a capacity development response strategy

having the following four clusters:

1. Human resources

2. Organizational arrangements

3. External accountability

4. Strategic planning


UNDP | 6

For each of the clusters, the Kvemo Kartli project, in consultation with other stakeholders,

came up with short‐, medium‐ and long‐term strategies at three levels: enabling

environment, organizational and individual. The Capacity Development Response Strategy

was described separately for both the regional and local administrations.

Regional administration:

Human Resources: Some of the issues under this section are the unclear and inappropriate

HR regulations and rules, which are necessary to implement functions properly. Under the

enabling environment point of entry, some of the short‐ and medium‐term (no long‐term

activities in this section) activities are the following:

1. Map the processes related to recruitment, performance assessment, and promotion,

and then, suggest improvements

2. Support implementation of recommendations related to recruitment, performance

assessment, and promotion

There are no activities under organizational and individual point of entry.

Organizational Arrangements: Some of the issues under this section are weak horizontal

coordination and information sharing between departments, lack of coordination and

information sharing between regional and local administrations, inappropriate

organizational structure for strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation, and lack of

central government issued methodology/guidelines for data collection, storing and analysis.

Under the enabling environment point of entry, some of the short‐, medium‐ and long‐term

activities are the following:

1. Conduct a review of current municipal and regional offices of the governor and the

line ministry and statistics department practices in the area of data collection, etc.

and provide recommendations for improvement

2. Organize a workshop for relevant central and regional government authorities and

municipalities to present findings and recommendations for review

3. Discuss the recommendations of the study with the regional administration and

support implementation

4. Establish a working group at the national level on local level data collection, sharing,

storage and analysis.

Under the organizational point of entry, the Kvemo Kartli region will address issues of

communication, coordination and appropriate organizational framework for strategic

planning, and it will have the following short‐, medium‐ and long‐term activities:


UNDP | 7

1. Functional and business process mapping and reengineering on communication and

coordination

2. Study to find out the appropriate organizational framework

3. Develop guidelines on why and how information sharing between departments can

occur

4. Organize a briefing workshop on the draft guidelines

5. Implement the recommendations on data collection, analysis and storage

6. Document and disseminate best practices and lessons learned from the Kvemo Kartli

experience.

There are no activities under individual level.

External accountability: The issue under this cluster is a weak communication culture. The

regional office of the governor concerning has limited practice to consult different

stakeholders. They also have a weak system to disseminate information and receive

feedback from the community.

There are no activities under the enabling environment and individual point of entry under

this cluster. Under the organizational point of entry, the Kvemo Kartli region will try to

address the communications issues between the regional administration and community

and vice versa. Some of the short‐ and medium‐term activities (there are no long‐term

activities under this section) are:

1. Functional analysis and business process mapping and reengineering on

communication.

2. Preparation of an analytical study on the strengths and weaknesses of the current

feedback mechanism.

3. Implementation of the recommendations on the reengineered processes.

4. Holding of a workshop concerning findings of the analytical report and other citizen

feedback mechanisms.

5. Selection and implementation of new/improved citizen feedback mechanism.

Strategy and planning: Different issues under this section are the following:

1. Lack of technical and experienced staff to carry out the planning and budgeting

activities

2. Lack of a formal structure to involve different stakeholders in strategy preparation


UNDP | 8

3. Lack of supporting documents or regulations to prepare strategic documents (such

as a manual, guidelines of approving strategic documents, and formation of working

groups for the preparation of strategic documents)

4. Lack of appropriate methodology to design the strategic plan

5. Inappropriate organizational structure for strategic planning, monitoring and

evaluation (addressed above under organizational arrangements)

Under the enabling environment point of entry, the Kvemo Kartli project plans to conduct a

study on current planning methodologies in use as a short‐term activity and provide

recommendations on a comprehensive planning methodology for consideration by the

national government. Some of the short‐term and midterm activities (there are no long‐

term activities under this section) under this point of entry are the following:

1. Conduct a study on the current planning methodologies in use and provide

recommendations on a comprehensive planning methodology for consideration by

national government.

2. Preparation of the manual on “How to Prepare a Regional Strategy.”

Activities under this point of entry are linked to activities under organizational

arrangements. The short‐term and midterm activities under this are the following:

1. Conduct a study on the organizational framework on strategic planning including

involvement of different stakeholders.

2. Implement the agreed recommendations.

Under the individual point of entry, there are no short‐term nor long‐term activities. Most

of the activities under the individual point of entry will be implemented by the regional

administration with support from UNDP project as midterm activities.

1. Organize trainings for staff of regional development unit on strategic and

participatory planning.

2. Organize a visit to one of the European countries having similar experiences.

Municipal administration:

Human resources: Under this cluster and under the enabling environment point of entry,

some of the capacity issues are: unclear or inappropriate criteria in municipalities for

staffing structure (level and number); in regard to the executive, a lack of enforcement of

civil service code (permanent staff being forced out when there are political changes); no

criteria for determining which recruitment process to use (professional vs. short term); lack


UNDP | 9

of awareness at the municipal level of the recruitment procedures; promotion criteria not

clearly defined in the civil service code; and performance evaluation criteria not explained.

Under the enabling environment point of entry, Kvemo Kartli plans to implement activities

to streamline the human resources management system. Some of the short‐, medium‐ and

long‐term activities are the following:

1. Conduct functional analysis in collaboration with CEGSTAR.

2. Design guidelines for staffing structure of municipalities.

3. Organize workshop for municipal staff members, specialized governance

organizations, Ministry of Regional Development and regional office of governor.

4. Organize workshop on current status/difficulties in enforcement of the civil service

code.

5. Organize workshop with municipal and regional authorities to increase

understanding of recruitment procedures.

6. Develop criteria for selection of municipalities and subsequent selection of two

pilots.

7. Apply guidelines in two pilots.

8. Codify the process and make recommendations for improvement concerning the

application of guidelines.

9. Provide advice to municipal authorities on how to improve the civil service code, and

share experiences from new EU member states on civil service code reform and best

practices.

10. Define criteria for application of appropriate recruitment process (whether to

choose permanent recruitment or short term recruitment).

11. Conduct research on promotion policies relevant to the Georgian context.

12. Develop criteria for selection of municipalities and subsequent selection of the two

pilots.

13. Application of staffing structure guidelines in the two pilots.

14. Codify the process and make recommendations for improvement concerning the

application guidelines.

15. Pilot suggested civil service code improvements as noted by the consultant.


UNDP | 10

16. Organize a workshop and present results to other municipalities, regional authorities

and ministers of regions and NALA.

17. Support preparation of decree on scaling up of good experiences and application of

criteria

18. Apply guidelines in remaining municipalities in Kvemo Kartli region

19. Organize workshop and present municipal perspectives and results of research on

different promotion policies to national stakeholders

20. Organize workshop to present experiences of pilot municipalities in applying

performance evaluation criteria.

Under the organizational point of entry, some of the issues are the lack of job descriptions

and a standardized format (coverage, quality and inconsistency in format); lack of

standardized and transparent recruitment guidelines for short‐term posts (duration of

advertisement, what details are required in a TOR, where to advertise, selection panel);

fiscal and non fiscal incentives are subjective—there is no objective criteria that determine

which staff will receive them nor specification of type/amount of incentive; and

performance criteria for staff are not yet defined nor linked to annual work plans (which are

subsequently linked to department work plans).

Under this point of entry, the Kvemo Kartli region focuses on streamlining the number of

departments and review functions of each of those departments and develops job

descriptions for all the civil servants. Some of the other short‐, medium‐ and long‐term


1. Conduct functional analysis in collaboration with CEGSTAR.

2. Develop job descriptions in cooperation with relevant municipal HR focal points

based on accurate description of the post’s functions.

3. Develop training manual on job description formulation.

4. Hold workshop to train municipal administration in two pilots and regional

administration on job description formulation.

5. Conduct study on current incentives being offered and range of options based on

staff feedback and best practices in new EU members states

6. Hold workshop for municipal executive and legislative representatives to gain buy‐in

on application of policy.

7. Implement the pilot testing.


UNDP | 11

8. Conduct study on current practices in performance assessment in Georgia and new

EU member states.

9. Organize workshop to train administration in five other municipalities on how to

formulate job descriptions.

10. Document best practices and lessons learned of pilot and disseminate to relevant

stakeholders.

11. Pilot testing of performance evaluation in one municipality.

12. Documentation and dissemination of lessons learned.

Some of the issues under individual level point of entry are lack of technically skilled staff in

certain sectors. However, there are no short‐, medium‐ and long‐term activities because

this is beyond scope of the project and the region as this is related to education reform and

other factors.

Organizational arrangements: Some of the issues under the enabling environment point of

entry are: lack of alignment of local priorities and budget allocation provided by the central

government, municipalities lacking access to and/or understanding of key guidelines issued

by central government (including budgeting, procurement, public expenditure

management/accounting and reporting, financial control, audit, laws and decrees and

delegated responsibilities).

There are no short‐term activities under this section. Some of the medium‐ and long‐term


1. Hold workshop on BDD and MTEF processes for municipalities in Kvemo Kartli region

to ascertain impediments to their participation and understanding and to increase

dialogue between national stakeholders and municipalities in Kvemo Kartli region.

2. Develop an inventory of all applicable laws, decrees, and processes/procedures

relevant to municipal functions and responsibilities.

3. Establish a physical and e‐library of information

4. Disseminate findings/results of the workshop to relevant stakeholders at the

national level.

5. Analyse laws, decrees, legal acts, procedures, etc.

The issues under the organizational point of entry are: weak horizontal coordination and

information sharing between departments, lack of coordination between the head of the

executive and departments, lack of clear reporting lines within departments, lack of

alignment and overlap of department’s functions to the services the municipality has to


UNDP | 12

provide, limited transparency and understanding of the financial management process

within the municipality, and lack of coordination and information sharing between the

regional and local administrations. Some of the short‐, medium‐ and long‐term activities

under this point of entry are the following:

1. Conduct a functional analysis in collaboration with CEGSTAR.

2. Conduct a study on existing practices and impediments to coordination and

information sharing.

3. Develop guidelines on why and how information sharing between departments can

occur.

4. Organize briefing workshop on the draft guidelines.

5. Develop guidelines on why and how coordination should occur.

6. Organize briefing workshop on the draft guidelines.

7. Codify lessons drawn from functional analysis.

8. Implement in remaining five municipalities.

9. Organize workshop with all the Kvemo Kartli regional municipalities on the findings

on mapping and proposed changes.

10. Implement changes in department structure and functions in two municipalities.

11. Organize workshop with all the Kvemo Kartli regional municipalities on findings of

functional analysis and proposed changes.

12. Implement changes in two municipalities.

13. Organize workshop with all Kvemo Kartli regional municipalities on findings study

and positions.

14. Implement changes in all municipalities in the Kvemo Kartli region.

15. Document and disseminate best practices and lessons learned from pilot

experience.

16. Implement the process mapping across municipalities.

External accountability: Some of the issues under this section are lack of knowledge and

understanding of Georgian language for many citizens; municipalities’ weak communication

culture concerning consultation with and dissemination of information to communities;

weak system among the municipalities to receive feedback from the community; lack of


UNDP | 13

horizontal accountability between the executive and representative bodies; and weak

citizen participation in accountability mechanisms.

The enabling environment point of entry does not have any short‐ and long‐term activities.

One of the medium‐term activities is the following:

Preparation of an information package on citizens’ rights and responsibilities in

languages other than Georgian and distribution across the Kvemo Kartli region.

Under the organizational point of entry, some of the short‐, medium‐ and long‐term


1. Develop a draft communication strategy for two municipalities concerning

consultation and information dissemination (including budget process and result).

2. Prepare analytical study on strengths and weaknesses of current feedback

mechanism.

3. Conduct a presentation by municipalities to citizens on communication strategy.

4. Select a public information focal point within municipalities and implement the

communication strategy.

5. Hold a workshop with pilot municipalities concerning findings of analytical report

and other citizen feedback mechanisms.

6. Select and implement new/improved citizen feedback mechanisms.

7. Conduct study on existing practices in two pilot municipalities, document strengths

and weaknesses of system and provide recommendations for improvement.

8. Discuss findings of study with two municipalities and implement agreed upon

recommendations.

9. Support community in self‐organization efforts through provision of

examples/models utilized in other countries and elsewhere in Georgia.

Strategic planning: Different issues under this section are the following:

1. Lack of central government issued methodology/guidelines for data collection,


2. Lack of planning methodology and guidelines from the central government for the

municipalities.

3. Lack of proper participatory planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation

mechanisms for projects and activities.


UNDP | 14

4. Lack of practice to share information with other municipalities within the Kvemo

Kartli region in relation to strategy development and planning.


activities.

Under the enabling environment point of entry, the short‐, medium‐ and long‐term


1. Conduct a review of current municipal, line ministry and statistics department

practices in the area of data collection, etc. and provide recommendations for

improvement.

2. Hold a workshop for relevant central and regional government authorities and

municipalities to present findings and recommendations for review.

3. Conduct a study on current planning methodologies in use and provide

recommendations on a comprehensive planning methodology for consideration by

the national government.

4. Establish a working group at the national level on local level data collection, sharing,


5. Conduct pilot testing in two or three municipalities based on recommendations

made in the review.

6. Hold a workshop for relevant national and local stakeholders to discuss findings of

the study and endorse a standardized planning methodology.

7. Conduct training of trainers of relevant national government staff to ensure that

local level staff will be trained in new methodology.

Under the organizational point of entry, the Kvemo Kartli region plans to have series of

initiatives under the strategic planning cluster. Some of the short‐, medium‐ and long‐term


1. Conduct stakeholder analysis, form working groups, and provide training on

participatory planning.

2. Conduct data collection to analyse the situation.

3. Conduct study on the best practices in inter‐municipal cooperation in Georgia and

new EU member states and accession countries.

4. Hold a symposium for interested municipal stakeholders on study findings.


UNDP | 15

5. Train departments on participatory planning, budgeting, implementation, and M&E

methodology.

6. Implement selected pilot projects.

7. Implement selected pilot projects with criteria that will encourage inter‐municipal

cooperation in terms of planning and implementation.

8. Document and disseminate lessons learned and best practices from the pilot

projects to other municipalities.


UNDP | 16

1. Introduction

During the “Rose Revolution” of November 2003, many Georgians—spurred on by a state

failing to deliver basic services and rampant corruption—took to the streets to demand

reform. A new government was formed and, utilizing an amended constitution, began to

undertake a series of dramatic governance reforms targeting combating corruption,

improving macro‐economic stability, attracting foreign direct investment, balancing the

budget, and re‐structuring governance with an increased focus on municipalities and their

role in providing basic services. The results of this first wave of reforms have been

impressive in terms of economic growth, though this has not translated into broader human

development gains.

In terms of economic performance, growth has averaged five percent from 2004 to present.

General data on development within the country denotes a middle income level of a per

capita GDP of USD 3,365 annually, a high life expectancy of 70.2 years, and a 76.3 percent

combined gross enrolment ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary education. Other data,

however, illustrates the depth of human poverty with 61.9 percent of the population living

on less than USD 4 a day (according to 2004 data), a low expenditure per person on public

health (USD 171), a decrease in the percent of the population using improved sanitation

(from 97 percent in 1990 to 94 percent in 2004), and a relatively high infant mortality rate

(41 per 1,000 live births). Poverty in the rural areas and unemployment remain chronic

issues which have been exacerbated by the recent Russian embargo on Georgian

agricultural products.

Within this context, the Georgian government began a second wave of reforms in 2005 and

2006 to create a solid legal basis for self‐governance. Numerous laws were passed outlining

the broad responsibilities of the regional and municipal levels of government and

attempting to delineate their functions. Following the 2006 elections, and as a result of

subsequent studies and analysis, it became clear that the local government (both regional

and municipal levels) was having difficulties in fulfilling its functions according to law.

2. Context

The project aims to strengthen the local and regional governance structures in the Kvemo

Kartli region of Georgia. Through a combination of capacity development tools, the project

tries to enhance the seven municipalities and the region’s ability to become both better

governed and to deliver services to the full spectrum of local citizens, thus counteracting

poverty and disadvantage in the region.

The project provides the necessary assistance to new municipalities in assuming their new

roles and responsibilities while, at the same time, overseeing the delivery of local services in


UNDP | 17

an effective and efficient manner. Currently, very few local government officials (an

estimated 30 percent) have experience in local government. Even those that do have such

experience are operating in a completely different environment to that of the pre‐election

environment of October 20061. Consequently, the proposed project is essentially a capacity

development assistance project which focuses on the following objectives:

Improved regional governance: Increased capacity of the regional government to coordinate and facilitate the formulation and implementation of the regional development strategy and plans.

Improved local governance: Improved capacity of municipality officials to streamline administrative procedures and systems for efficient delivery of public services.

Secure policy mainstreaming of the project’s experience: Policy experience of the project is documented. Attempts taken in ensuring that the experience of the project is utilized by other districts in the country, as well as by policymakers at the national level.

UNDP, with support from SIDA, started a series of projects in Georgia in the area of Democratic Governance. One of these projects was Strengthening Local and Regional Governance in the Kvemo Kartli Region.

The Kvemo Kartli project will contribute to the achievement of the United Nations

Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) outcome, which is related to strengthening

the efficiency and accountability of governance structures at the central and local levels to

build an inclusive and participatory decision‐making process. This is translated into the

UNDP Country Programee Action Plan (CPAP) outcome as “increased capacities of regional

and local governments in line with national decentralisation strategy and efforts. Local

government institutions stregthened and able to undertake new responsiblities once

decentralisation actions (including fiscal decentralisation) are carried out.” On the outcome

level, this involves increasing the capacity of the local administration to perform new

competencies. It will contribute to poverty reduction by strengthening the local and

regional governance structures in the Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia. Through a

combination of capacity development responses, the project will enhance the seven

districts’ and region’s ability to become both better governed and to deliver services to the

full spectrum of local citizens, thus counteracting poverty and disadvantage in the region.

The project is providing the necessary assistance to new municipalities in assuming their

new roles and responsibilities while, at the same time, overseeing the delivery of local

services in an effective and efficient manner. The Kvemo Kartli project is essentially a

capacity development investment which focuses on the following themes:

1 “Strengthening regional and local governance in the Kvemo Kartli region (Project Document), UNDP, 2007


UNDP | 18

Capacity development of newly elected officials not only to understand fully their duties and responsibilities, but to develop appropriate policies and oversee the delivery of the full palette of local government services.

Capacity development to design and put in place the new organizational structure (departments, companies, links to central government and other players, etc.) consistent with the new remit of districts, customized to the nature of the locality.

Capacity development of the mayors and their civil servant staff. These are expected to become permanent and, as such, will represent a key focus of project support.

Capacity development of local citizens to engage with the governance structures and, in particular, to assist vulnerable groups to access local government services.

Capacity development of the governors and their offices to coordinate regional development, thus fulfilling a critical regional governance function.

The project started its operation in September 2007.

3. Methodology and process

3.1 UNDP’s approach to Capacity Development and Capacity Assessment

UNDP defines capacity as “the ability of individuals, institutions and societies to perform

functions, solve problems, and set and achieve objectives in a sustainable manner.”

Capacity Development is thereby the process through which the abilities to do so are

obtained, strengthened, adapted and maintained over time. Capacity development is seen

by UNDP as a primarily endogenous and domestically driven process.2

A capacity assessment is integral to the planning and programming process. The insights

into capacity assets and needs serve as key inputs into the formulation of capacity

development response strategies, and the indicators used to measure capacity assets serve

as a foundation for the subsequent monitoring and evaluation of capacity development.3

The Capacity Assessment Framework4 is composed of three dimensions:

Points of Entry: UNDP recognizes that a country’s capacity resides on different

levels—enabling environment, organizational and individual—and thus needs to be

addressed across three levels.

Core Issues: These represent issues that UNDP is most often called upon to address.

Not all of these issues will necessarily be analysed in any given assessment, but they

provide a comprehensive set of issues a capacity assessment team may consider as it

defines its scope:

2 Capacity Development practice note, UNDP, September 2007 3 Capacity Assessment practice note, UNDP, September 2007 4 Capacity Assessment Framework, UNDP, September, 2007


UNDP | 19

o Institutional arrangements and incentives

o Leadership

o Education, learning and knowledge

o Mutual accountability

Functional Capacities: Specific functional capacities are necessary for the successful

creation and management of policies, legislations, strategies and programs. UNDP

has chosen to prioritize the following functional capacities, which can be applied to

all three points of entry and core issues.

o Engage with stakeholders

o Assess a situation and define a vision and mandate

o Formulate policies and strategies

o Budget, manage and implement

o Monitor and evaluate

UNDP Georgia and the Kvemo Kartli project decided to use UNDP’s capacity development

framework for the regional and local governance reform in the Kvemo Kartli region. The

capacity development framework of UNDP suggests that the capacity development process

should go through five steps:

1. Engage stakeholders on CD process


3. Formulate capacity development strategies

4. Implement capacity development strategies

5. Monitor and evaluate capacity development strategies

UNDP’s capacity development framework also suggests a capacity assessment methodology

and a practice tool to diagnose capacity assets and needs at three levels where a country’s

capacity resides: individual, organizational and enabling environment. The Kvemo Kartli

project adapted the capacity assessment tool to factor in local requirements. According to

the CA methodology, three sources of information were used to collect data, namely

interviews with beneficiaries and stakeholders (using open ended questions), self‐

assessment questionnaires and focused group discussions.

3.2 Process followed

The capacity assessment process started with an institutional baseline mapping exercise

having the following objectives:

1. to understand the “current situation” and “state of affairs” of different layers of government, starting from the regional office of the governor, local level municipalities,


UNDP | 20

community members—especially from women and vulnerable communities and other stakeholders such as the private sector, civil society and international organizations.

2. to have better understanding of the requirements of the regional and local governments and vulnerable communities (such as Azeris, Greeks and Armenians)

3. to collect more information on the existing players in the region already active or interested in any future collaboration

4. to modify the targets (end of 2008 and end of 2009) already mentioned in the results and resources framework of the project

5. to prioritize needs of the regional, local governments and vulnerable communities to be reflected in the action plan or annual work plan of the project

6. to fix indicators against each area of work mentioned below to measure the success of the project during the midterm and final project evaluation.

7. to find out sources and availability of information for regional development strategy

The institutional baseline mapping exercise covered the following thematic areas:






6. Communication and implementation There is also a separate chapter of questionnaires covering issues and challenges related to the representative body (Sakrebulo). In the inception phase of the project, the Kvemo Kartli project built rapport with the regional and local administration and each municipality nominated one person each from the executive and representative bodies as focal points to work closely with the project. Before starting the institutional baseline mapping exercise, the project introduced the concept of the exercise and clarified different issues with the local and regional administration. All the focal points were asked to extend full support to the project in undertaking this exercise. At the project level, the Capacity Development Advisor developed the questionnaires, which were translated into Georgian and discussed with all the staff for feedback before they were finalized. Because of the technicality of the questions, the Kvemo Kartli project decided to complete the questionnaires using the project officers rather than hiring volunteers or external contractual staff. Two project officers were given the responsibility of three to four municipalities each to explain the questionnaires, work closely with focal points and different departments, ensure accurate filling of information and compilation. First of all, the questionnaires were circulated to all the departments of the executive and different committees of the representative body, and the procedures for filling in the questionnaires were explained to them. The departments and committees organized a series of meetings


UNDP | 21

to discuss different issues and to fill in the questionnaires. All the information received through these questionnaires was compiled by the project officers, and a single filled in questionnaire was prepared for each municipality. Although it took up to two months, in retrospect, the project feels that it was a good decision to do it internally using the project officers. It was very important for the Kvemo Kartli project to get an idea of the responses of the

community about service delivery. Two villages in each municipality were selected on a

random sampling basis, where project officers conducted focused group discussion and

raised a series of issues, which were prepared by the capacity development advisor. These

discussions were compiled into reports by the project officers.

All information gathered through the questionnaires and focused group discussions was

handed over to the capacity development advisor, who compiled them into an institutional

baseline mapping report.

After this, with support from UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre, training on a UNDP capacity

development framework was organized for the project staff, and on the job training was

provided to all the project staff in two municipalities and the regional development unit of

the regional office of governor. A self‐assessment questionnaire was designed and

circulated to a few departments of the two municipalities and regional development unit on

a pilot basis and then circulated to selected departments in all the municipalities. Analysis

of the questionnaires, focused group discussions and results of the self‐assessment

questionnaires were reviewed and made available for the preparation of the capacity

development response strategy.

The process of designing the capacity development response strategy went through all the

steps prescribed in the capacity assessment methodology user’s guide5.

1. Engage partners and build consensus: Just after the beginning of the project in

September 2007, the entire project team went to the regional office of the governor and

all seven municipalities to introduce the project and explain that the capacity

development approach will be used to implement all the activities. Presentations were

also made to explain and provide more information about this approach. The

municipalities and the regional office of the governor showed interest for this approach,

and steps were discussed to carry this activity forward.

2. Assess capacity assets and needs: Under this step, as mentioned above, the objectives

and expectations of this exercise were explained to the clients. The team was

formulated, which consisted of the project officers from the project, focal points from

the municipality and a representative of the regional office of the governor. The default

capacity assessment was studied properly and adapted to the local needs. Under the

core issues, it was decided to cover:

5 Capacity Assessment Methodology, User’s Guide, UNDP, May 2007


UNDP | 22

a. Institutional arrangements and incentives

i. Human resources

ii. Business processes

iii. ICT and physical resources

iv. Mission and strategy

b. Leadership

c. Mutual accountability.

Similarly, under functional capacities, the following functions were agreed to be covered:

a. Assess a situation (visioning and stakeholder mobilization)

b. Formulate policy and strategy

c. Plan, budget and implement

d. Monitor and evaluate

e. Communicate and coordinate

f. Procurement and service delivery

Through the institutional baseline mapping exercise and self‐assessment questionnaires, the

project conducted the capacity assessment.

3. Summarize and interpret results: Through the capacity assessment process, the Kvemo

Kartli project identified a set of capacity assets and capacity gaps. While summarizing

and interpreting results, the project deliberately started with capacity assets, which built

confidence among the local and regional administration. Both the project and regional

and local administrations agreed to build upon the capacity assets and address the

capacity gaps. For each of the activities, the Kvemo Kartli project worked very closely

with the regional and local administrations. In the beginning of this step,

representatives of the local administration were asked to group different gaps under

different core and sub‐core issues and under different functional capacities. In a

workshop organized by the Kvemo Kartli project, they were divided into different groups

and asked to prioritize the capacity gaps under each core issue. Then, they (all

participants together) were asked to prioritize the capacity gaps from the municipality

requirement point of view across all the core issues. The representatives from the

municipalities identified eight priority areas (please refer annex V for details). A similar

exercise was repeated for the regional administration.

4. Formulate Capacity Development Response Strategies: As mentioned above, all those

capacity gaps (mentioned in annex V) were grouped into four following clusters:

a. Human Resources

b. Organizational Arrangements

c. External Accountability

d. Strategic Planning


UNDP | 23

At this stage, the Kvemo Kartli project got support from the UNDP Bratislava Regional

Centre to design a capacity development response strategy matrix (Please refer to annex IV

to see four matrix). In separate consultations with the municipal and regional

administrations, Kvemo Kartli facilitated formulation of strategies from those clustered

gaps, having short‐, medium‐ and long‐term activities. For each of the agreed activities,

responsible parties were also chosen to implement or support the activities. Each activity

was linked to outputs and output indicators, which will help the local, regional

administration and the project to monitor the progress made on implementation.

4. Summary of capacity assets and gaps

By using the tools mentioned above, the Kvemo Kartli project collected all the information,

which consisted of capacity assets and gaps for both the regional and municipal

administrations.

4.1. Regional administration

Organization and human resource management

Some of the capacity assets under organization and resource management are:

1. Function and responsibilities are clearly defined by presidential decree and the law

on state supervision, and most of the departments under the Kvemo Kartli regional

administration are clear about their roles and responsibilities.

2. Almost all the staff have graduated from universities, and fifty percent of the staff

have more than ten years of work experience.

3. The regional office of the governor has good physical and technical (computers,

telephones etc) infrastructure. They also have a website.

Some of the capacity gaps are the following:

1. The regional office of the governor does not have clear and appropriate Human

Resources Management practices (recruitment, performance assessment and

promotion).

2. Some of the staff do not have well defined job descriptions.

3. There is a clear lack of gender balance in different departments under the regional

office of governor. Only six out of twenty‐three staff are females. None of the

female staff are in senior positions.


UNDP | 24

4. Even though most of the staff are graduates from the universities, they do not have

enough technical and functional capacity to carry out their daily business.

Planning and coordination

Under the planning and coordination component, the following capacity assets were

identified:

1. During the institutional baseline mapping exercise, it was discovered that there is an

existence of informal horizontal and vertical coordination mechanisms within

different departments of the regional office of the governor and between the

regional office of the governor and municipalities.

2. The regional office of the governor has prepared a draft regional development

strategy with support from UNDP, EC, ACH and OSCE.

3. According to the law, the regional development unit within the regional office of the

governor has been created, which is responsible for preparation of the regional

development strategy.

4. It was also learned during the institutional baseline mapping exercise that a

mechanism within the regional administration office exists to collect information

from municipalities (done separately by different departments), compile the

information and send it to the central government.


1. Even though horizontal and vertical coordination mechanisms exist within different

departments of the regional office of the governor or between the regional and local

administration, they need substantial improvement.

2. Similarly, a basic system of coordination and information sharing between the local

and regional administration exists.

3. Even though the regional development unit has been created according to the law,

there is insufficient organizational structure in the regional administration office for

strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation, and implementation.

4. The central government has not issued any methodology for data collection, storage

and analysis. That is why the regional office of the governor finds it difficult to

systematize the process.

5. During the institutional baseline mapping exercise, it was observed that planning at

the regional office of the governor happens on an ad hoc basis and is not supported

by systematically collected socioeconomic data.


UNDP | 25

6. The regional office of the governor does not have the formal structure to involve

different stakeholders in preparing a long‐term strategy.

7. Lack of supporting documents or regulations regarding strategic planning (such as a

manual, methodology, or guidelines for approval and formation of a working group)

Budgeting and financial management

Some of the capacity assets under budgeting and financial management are:

1. According to the law, the regional office of the governor supervises activities as well

as financial activities, including budget expenditure of activities at the municipal

level supported by central government.

2. The regional office of the governor participates in defining priorities of municipalities

for the annual budget plan and also receives analysed information on municipal

revenues and expenditures every month. But, the regional office of the governor

does not have any power or authority over the finances of municipalities.

3. There is a system in the central government which regularly undertakes an audit of

the finances of the regional office of the governor.


1. The regional office of the governor does not receive any budget from the central

government to implement the socioeconomic development strategy.

Communication and implementation

Some of the capacity assets under communication and implementation are the following:

1. During the institutional baseline mapping exercise, it was learned that the regional

office of the governor has a basic system in place to share information with

community.

2. The regional office of the governor has a basic paper filing system to store official

information.


1. Even though the regional office of the governor has basic systems in place for

communication within community, it needs substantial improvement.


UNDP | 26

4.2. Municipal administration

The project has identified some capacity assets and gaps for the local administration

through the institutional baseline mapping and self‐assessment questionnaires. They have

been summarized in the following paragraphs.

Organization and human resource management issues

The following organizational/human resource management issues have been documented:

Organization structure

Functional responsibilities

Staffing and qualifications

Training and development

Job descriptions

Recruitment, appraisal and promotion

Office equipment/facilities

Some of the capacity assets can be summarized as follows:

1. Organic law of local self‐government defines and regulates legal, financial and

economic foundations for local self‐government, state guaranties and rule of

establishing self‐government bodies, their authority, responsibilities, accountabilities

and relationships with state bodies. The roles and responsibilities of each

department in a municipality have been clearly defined by the statute of the

representative body.

2. During the institutional baseline mapping exercise, it was learned that there is a

smaller number of contractual staff and vacant positions in the municipalities. Most

of the staff are at least graduate and above, which reflects the high standard of the

workforce in the civil service.

3. The staffing structure and number is decided by the local administration, which gives

a lot of scope to manoeuvre assignments of staff depending on the priorities of a

particular municipality.

4. A few ministries, such as the Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Natural

Resources and Environment and Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs

provided some training to different municipalities. Some departments organize

trainings on their own and do not require support from any private training provider

at the municipal level.

5. According to Georgian law, all staff must have job descriptions. Job descriptions are

derived from the functions of departments, which are defined in the statute of the

executive. While conducting the baseline mapping exercise, it was learned that


UNDP | 27

some of the departments within the municipalities have completed job descriptions

for individual staff, although they need substantive improvement.

6. Sometimes, the community members express their dissatisfaction or satisfaction

regarding a particular project or service through the representative of executive.

But, they are not sure whether or not that information is communicated to the right

authorities.

Some broad conclusions on gaps can be made based on the above:

The structure and number of staff within departments vary in each municipality.

Names and functions of departments in different municipalities are not clarified

regarding provision of service delivery. Even if the roles and responsibilities of

departments are clearly defined by law, it is not clear to most of the departments.

The functions of the regional administration are defined in law in very general terms.

The governance system of the region and municipalities as a whole is based on a

strong upward accountability. Efficiency in administration and ultimately in service

delivery is compromised as there is considerable degree of lack of clarity of

functional responsibilities. Civil servants are occupied with ad hoc activities given by

the head of the executive.

The ratio of civil servant and population is 1:891, and most of the civil servants are

young, having between one to 10 years of experience. The percentage of minority

staff to the total staff is very low, even though the minority population in particular

municipalities is very high. Local authorities decide their staffing structure and cover

the salary cost.

There is significant training focused on the dissemination of information about new

rules, regulations and policies. There is not, however, a sequenced program of

training targeting a broad base of staff that is linked to wider policy objectives.

Moreover, training is also not systematically provided on the basis of identified

training needs. Rather, levels of training vary annually depending upon the

availability of funding (including external project related funding).

In a significant number of departments reviewed, staff had not received the required

technical training (for example in the use of computers or in financial management).

There does not appear to be any performance orientation in the current training

system, which means that none of the training is organized systematically to

enhance the skills and increase the performance of the staff.

The decree of Sakrebulo (representative body) defines functions of departments,

which determine individual job descriptions. But some of the departments within

different municipalities do not have individual job descriptions.


UNDP | 28

There is no formalized system of recruitment, promotion and performance

evaluation of civil servants. Recruitment of civil servants is done by the head of the

executive6 with recommendations from the heads of different departments.

Performance of the civil servants is measured by the head of the executive.

However, there are no formalized procedures or criteria for evaluation. The

recruitment of civil servants is done by the head of the executive. According to law,

the recruitment of staff is the exclusive responsibility of the head of the executive

body. However, the heads of departments also give their recommendations for the

person who is seeking for the job. In most of the cases, personal recommendations

are taken into consideration by the head of the executive.


This section reviews the current planning process at municipal level.

Some of the municipalities, such as Tetritskaro, Dmanisi and Rustavi are in the

process of developing their strategies. While this attempt is worth mentioning here,

it is also important to mention that substantial improvement is required regarding

the process and the content of the document.

At the regional level, long‐term strategic plans are being prepared. Initially, it was

supported by EC, OSCE and ACH. UNDP joined this process from 2007 onwards.

It was observed that the process followed to prepare the annual plans is ad‐hoc in

nature. The representative of executive speaks to the community and collects the

information regarding their requirement in an informal manner. This information

collection at the community level is not done in a participatory fashion.

The Ministry of Finance reviews the municipal plans and discusses with

municipalities directly in case they have any questions before allocating the money

for implementing the annual plan.

In municipalities like Dmanisi and Tsalka, the executives receive reports from the

village at least once every month. Most of the municipalities mentioned during the

baseline mapping exercise that they send regular reports to the regional office of the

governor.

The head of the executive of most of the municipalities calls for weekly meetings

among various departments to discuss different issues, which are considered the

main coordination mechanism at the municipality level. The regional office of the

governor invites the head of the executive and sometimes a few heads of other

departments for a coordination meeting.

6 In this document Gamgeoba will be referred as executive


UNDP | 29

Some of the capacity gaps are listed below.

All municipalities mentioned the lack of a short‐, mid‐, or long‐term socioeconomic

development strategy or plan, except Tetriskaro, Dmanisi and Rustavi, where they

have recently started this process; however, in the municipalities where it has

started, the process does not follow a particular methodology.

Municipal plans are prepared on an ad‐hoc basis. The primary purpose of the

municipal annual planning process is to define financial priorities as a part of the

annual budgeting process. During the baseline mapping exercise, it was mentioned

that work plans are prepared in order to submit information about future intentions

to central and regional authorities.

In some municipalities the Decree of the Representative Body on the Regulation of

the Activities of Executive does not define clearly exactly which department is

responsible for the development and implementation of annual, medium‐ and long‐

term socioeconomic development plans.

The problems in the planning process can be summarized as a lack of legislation and

supporting decree or documents to enable local authorities to prepare their

socioeconomic development plans; a lack of linkage between planning and

budgeting processes; and a lack of authentic data for the analysis and lack of

involvement of all stakeholders.

No formal coordination mechanism exists within the municipalities. The head of the

executive calls for weekly meetings among various departments to discuss a variety

of issues. Most of the time, different departments try to coordinate with other

departments informally rather than by sending formal letters.


The following elements of budgeting and financial management have been documented:

The budget preparation process

Accounting and financial reporting systems

Internal audit mechanisms

Arrangements for cash management


UNDP | 30

Some of the capacity assets under this section are the following:

Most of the municipalities follow the planning and budgeting cycle described in the

law on local self‐government unit budget and law on budget system. The budgeting

process starts at the end of February every year. The department of finance

coordinates all the budgeting activities at the municipal level under the responsibility

and guidance of the head of the executive. In February and March all the

departments and organizations at the municipal level are asked to prepare their own

budget for the next year and submit it to the department of finance for compilation.

While designing the budget for the departments, the opinion or the need of the

community is also taken into consideration through the executive representatives at

the community level.

Local authorities decide their staffing structure (number of staff and positions) and

they also cover the salary costs of the local staff from the local revenue.

In practice, the executive has some discretion to move funds between budget lines

(up to five percent of the total budget) but cannot exceed the total level of funding.

Capital funds are held at the municipal level, and payments are released when

certification is given that works have met the required standards defined in the

contract between the executive and the implementer.

All departments within a municipality send their financial reports related to the

project status to the department of finance. The department of finance compiles

and submits them to the head of the executive on a monthly basis. The office of the

executive compiles all the information in a comprehensive report and submits it to

the regional office of the governor and central ministries on a quarterly basis.

In most municipalities, cash is managed by a commercial bank, and civil servants

have their individual bank accounts and receive their salaries through a bankcard.

However, there are also exceptions to this. In Tetriskaro municipality, cash

management and salary transactions are not done by a commercial bank.

In most of the municipalities, they have three kinds of audit mechanisms:

o Inbuilt audit, which is done by the department of finance by tracking the

expenditures within the different departments in a particular municipality.

o External audit, hired by the representative body to review finances within

different executive departments in the municipality, and

o Central audit from the state chamber of control to audit special projects and

programs undertaken by the different municipalities.

The review highlights a series of weaknesses in the current system, in relation to

procedures, reporting and capacity issues. For example:

Weak linkages between capital and recurrent expenditure systems and

misclassifications of capital and recurrent schemes;


UNDP | 31

A significant degree of central control combined with lack of local funds

In some municipalities recurrent expenditure is very high. This gives very little scope

to the municipal administration to plan for their developmental activities.

The current internal auditing mechanism looks strong, having three types of auditing

practices: inbuilt audit, which is done by the department of finance; external audit,

which is done by external auditors hired by representative body; and finally, central

audit from state chamber of control, which audits special projects.

Procurement and service delivery

This section is concerned with the procurement and service delivery processes at both the

regional and municipal levels. Some of the capacity assets in this section can be

summarized as follows:

In Bolnisi municipality, they have additional regulations in addition to the law on

state procurement for social assistance activities.

Some of the public services of the municipality, which are delivered with support

from the private sector, are electricity, gas, water supply, road construction, garbage

collection, public health, sport, cultural and youth services.

In some municipalities, oversight of the public service provision is done by a special

unit established in the office of the executive, which controls the quality of the

services provided to the community.

The capacity gaps under the procurement and service delivery section are mentioned

below:

There is considerable misunderstanding and misinformation concerning present

procurement practices.

Some municipalities have established permanent committees, and some of the

municipalities have temporary committees having no permanent members.

Private sector capacity is variable across the region. Some of the public services,

which are delivered with support from private sector, are electricity, gas, water

provision, road construction, garbage collection, public health, sport, cultural and

youth services. Some of the public services are provided by organizations (LTDs),

which are established by municipalities.

Existing operation and maintenance of services by the regional and municipal

administrations is limited. Some operations and maintenance expenditures are

budgeted under capital projects, which are not assured or regular. There is no

scheduling of operations and maintenance. All municipalities are using an ad‐hoc,

reactive approach in this.


UNDP | 32

Communication strategy and implementation

The following are some of the highlights under the capacity assets under communication

strategy and implementation:

The formal sharing of information is done via regular meetings with the head of the

executive and by official letters

Sharing of information between the municipality and local population is done by:

o Representatives of executive within the community

o Local newspaper, television or radio, promotional posters

o Members of representative body

Future municipal plans are delivered to the population by regular meetings and

discussions. Community members can receive information from different

departments of the executive by paying a nominal fee.

The maintenance of collected information and data is ensured by the organization of

municipal archives. All official letters as well as requests received from citizens are

archived on annual basis.

In Dmanisi municipality, Concor limited, a private company, provides updated

information regarding government laws and decrees to different departments within

a municipality.

The capacity gaps under this section can be summarized as follows:

The information among different departments of the executive is shared formally

and informally. The formal sharing of information is done via regular meetings with

heads of the executives and by official letters. Information from the community is

collected by the executive representatives based within the community.

It is not a common practice to share information with other municipalities.

Sharing of information between a municipality and the local population is done by

representatives of the executive within the community; local newspaper, television,

radio, and/or promotional posters; and by members of representative body.

Information sharing practices of municipalities are reactive and not proactive in

nature. According to the law, information is open for public. Citizens can write an

official request to municipalities or the regional office of the governor and collect

information. However, they have to pay a nominal fee for this.

Monitoring and evaluation

The capacity assets and gaps under the monitoring and evaluation section are the following:

In general, there is no special mechanism in place for monitoring and evaluation.


UNDP | 33

Some of the activities, which are monitored at the municipal level, are the following:

o A contract is signed between the executive and different organizations to

undertake certain service delivery activities. Standards and conditions

towards project or service delivery are clearly defined in these contracts. A

special commission of the executive inspects and assesses implemented

works, conducts field visits, and prepares reports. The commission

recommends the department of finance to release payment after monitoring

the performance of the project.

o Each department prepares an annual work plan and implements activities on

the basis of that. The departments report to the head of the executive on a

monthly basis, and the head of the executive monitors different activities

undertaken by the departments. This report also gives enough scope to

different heads of departments to monitor performance of individual staff

members.

Some of the indicators used by municipalities to monitor results are time, quality

and opinion of local population.

Representative body of local self‐government

The capacity assets and gaps of representative body of municipalities can be summarized as

follows:

Within a local self‐government, a representative body is the final approving

authority. Different departments within the executive prepare plans, which are

compiled and sent to the representative body for approval. In case the

representative body does not have any suggestions/clarifications, the plan is

approved. The representative body signs the document and sends a copy to the

regional office of the governor or central ministries and one copy back to the

executive for implementation.

Lack of knowledge of Georgian language is an impediment.

Members of the representative body do not have even the basic equipment to make

their work efficient and effective.

The understanding of local self‐governance was very low among representative body

members.

Members also find it difficult to visit the community regularly due to lack of budget

to cover their travel expenses.

Lack of high qualification and understanding the nuances of law.


UNDP | 34

Support of the regional office of the governor for the executives makes the

representative much weaker.

In order to address some of the gaps, the project, in consultation with the local and regional

administrations, has come up with capacity development response strategies. These

strategies have been categorized as short‐, medium‐ and long‐term activities (Please refer

annex I for details). The Kvemo Kartli project will try to address some of the short‐ and

medium‐term capacity development response strategies within its project duration of two

years and initiate a few long‐term capacity development response strategies, which will be

undertaken and completed by the regional and local administration in future.

5. Capacity Development Response Strategy

As mentioned above, all the capacity gaps were grouped into four clusters for both the

regional and municipal administrations such as:

1. Human resources 2. Organizational arrangements 3. External accountability 4. Strategy and planning

For each of the clusters, the Kvemo Kartli project in consultation with other stakeholders

came up with short‐, medium‐ and long‐term strategies at three levels: enabling

environment, organizational and individual.

The capacity development response strategy will be described separately for both the

regional and local administrations. During the formulation of the capacity development

response strategy for the Kvemo Kartli region, it was realized that it is very difficult for one

project to implement all the activities during the shorter duration of the project. Capacity

Development Strategies require broad partnerships with a variety of actors and go beyond

the mandate of the project alone. The project endeavours to act as a catalyst to spur others

to support the local and regional administration.

5.1 Regional Administration

5.1.1 Human Resources

Some of the issues under this section are the following:

1. Unclear or inappropriate HR regulations and rules, which are necessary to

implement functions properly


UNDP | 35

Enabling Environment:

Under this section, the project tries to support some activities in the short‐term and

midterm to strengthen the processes related to recruitment, performance assessment and

promotion. Although, the number of staff to be recruited is clearly mentioned by the

central government, there are no clear guidelines on the processes to be followed. Under

the short‐term activities, the project will try to map the existing practices and discuss

suggested improvements with the regional administration. These suggestions will be

implemented as midterm activities.

Short‐term activities Mid‐term activities Long‐term activities

i) Map the processes related

to recruitment, performance

assessment and promotion,

and suggest improvements

i) Support implementation

of recommendations

related to recruitment,

performance assessment

and promotion

There are no long‐term

activities

Short‐term activities Outputs Output indicators

i) Map the processes related

to recruitment, performance

assessment and promotion,

and suggest improvements

i) Increase stakeholders

awareness of the HR

deficiencies of the regional

office of the governor

i) Key stakeholders attend

awareness raising workshop

and demonstrate increased

knowledge through pre‐ and

post‐workshop questionnaires

Mid‐term activities Outputs Output indicators

i) Support implementation of

recommendations related to

recruitment, performance

assessment and promotion

i) Recommendations

discussed and implemented

i) Clear recruitment,

performance assessment and

promotion criteria document

produced and applied

There are no long‐term activities.

Organizational

There are no activities under this section.

Individual


UNDP | 36

There are no activities under this section

5.1.2 Organizational Arrangements


1. Weak horizontal coordination and information sharing between departments

2. Lack of coordination and information sharing between regional and local

administrations


evaluation

4. Lack of central government issued methodology/guidelines for data collection,

storing and analysis.


Under this point of entry, the project tries to address the issues of data collection,

storage and analysis mechanisms. The project envisages conducting a review under the

short‐term activities, followed by a discussion on the recommendations of the study

with both regional and local administrations as midterm activities. As one of the

objectives of the project is to influence central level policy, under the long‐term

activities, the project plans to formulate a working group to share the experiences of the

Kvemo Kartli region and discuss with relevant central ministries for necessary changes in

the policies.


i) Conduct review of current

municipal and regional offices

of the governor, line ministry

and statistics department

practices in the area of data

collection, etc. and provide

recommendations for

improvement

ii) Organize workshop for

relevant central and regional

government authorities and

municipalities to present

findings and

recommendations for review

i) Discuss the

recommendations of the

study with the regional

administration and support

implementation

i) Establish a working group

at the national level on local

level data collection, sharing,

storage and analysis


UNDP | 37


i) Conduct a review of current

municipal and regional offices

of governor, line ministry and

statistics department

practices in area of data


recommendations for

improvement

ii) Organize workshop for

relevant central and regional



findings and

recommendations for review

i) Increased stakeholder

awareness of existing data

collection, sharing, storage

and analysis practices





post‐workshop

questionnaires


i) Discuss the

recommendations of the

study on the current practice

of data collection with the

regional administration and

support implementation

i) Recommendations from

the study are implemented

i) Recommendations from the

study are clearly documented

and implemented

Long‐term activities Outputs Output indicators

i) Establish a working group at

the national level on local



i) National policy

concerning data collection,

sharing, storage and

analysis influenced

i) Formal instructions on the

formation of the working

groups issued by the relevant

ministry

ii) At least two meetings of

the working group are

organized and minutes are

documented.


UNDP | 38

Organizational:

Under the organizational point of entry, the Kvemo Kartli region will try to address issues of

communication, coordination and the appropriate organizational framework for strategic

planning. The UNDP project will support the regional administration in undertaking a study

to find out the right organizational framework for the Kvemo Kartli region on the basis of

experiences that exist within Georgia or from international experiences from Europe and

the CIS region. These recommendations will be discussed with the appropriate authorities

as midterm activities and the experiences from the Kvemo Kartli region will be documented

and shared with other regions and central ministries under the long‐term activities.

The UNDP project plans to undertake a functional analysis and business process

reengineering to strengthen the communication and coordination mechanisms within

different departments of regional administration, between regional administration and

municipalities.


i) Functional Analysis and

business process mapping

and reengineering on

communication and

coordination

ii) Study to find out the

appropriate organizational

framework

i) Develop guidelines on

why and how information

sharing between

departments can occur

ii) Organize briefing

workshop on the draft

guidelines

iii) Implementation of the

recommendations on data

collection, analysis and

storage

i) Documentation and

dissemination of best

practices and lessons learned

from the Kvemo Kartli

experience


i) Functional Analysis and

business process mapping

and reengineering on

communication and

coordination

ii) Study to find out the


i) Awareness of

departments on the need

for improved

communication and

information sharing

increased

ii) Awareness of the

departments on the need

i) At least one workshop was

organized to raise awareness

ii) At least one workshop was


on coordination


UNDP | 39

framework for improved coordination

increased

iii) Stakeholder awareness

on issues concerning

coordination and

information sharing

between municipal and

regional administrations

increased.

iv) Increased awareness of

the regional office of the

governor on the


framework for the regional

strategy for development,

monitoring, and evaluation.


i) Develop guidelines on why

and how information sharing

between departments can

occur

ii) Organize briefing workshop

on the draft guidelines

iii) Implementation of the



storage

i) Improved coordination

and information sharing

between departments in


governor

ii) Guidelines endorsed and

applied by the regional

office of governor

iii) Recommendations on

data collection is endorsed

by the regional office of

the governor

i) At least two coordination

meetings organized with the

recommendations and

minutes documented.

ii) Key stakeholders attend

briefing workshop on

guidelines and demonstrate

increased knowledge through

pre‐ and post‐workshop

questionnaires

iii) Experience of

implementation of the



storage documented.


UNDP | 40





from the Kvemo Kartli

experience

i) Endorsement and

application of guidelines

by the regional

administration scaled up

across Georgia

i) Experience of application of

guidelines documented

There are no activities under the individual level.

4.1.2 External Accountability

The issues under this cluster are the following:

1. The regional office of the governor has a weak communication culture concerning

consultation with and dissemination of information to communities.

2. The regional office of the governor has a weak system to receive feedback from the

community.

There are no activities under enabling environment section.

Organizational:

Under the organizational point of entry, the Kvemo Kartli region will try to address the

communications issues between the regional administration and community and vice versa.

The UNDP project will try to address the communication issue by undertaking a business

process mapping exercise as a short‐term activity. The findings of the mapping exercise will

be discussed and implemented as midterm activities.


i) Functional analysis and

business process mapping and

reengineering on

communication

ii) Preparation of analytical

study on strengths and

weaknesses of current

feedback mechanism

i) Implement the

recommendations on the

reengineered processes

ii) Hold workshop

concerning findings of

analytical report and other

citizen feedback

mechanisms

iii) Select and implement

new/improved citizen


activities


UNDP | 41

feedback mechanism


i) Functional analysis and

business process mapping and

reengineering on

communication

ii) Preparation of analytical

study on strengths and

weaknesses of current

feedback mechanism

i) Strengthened external

communication system of


governor

ii) Increased stakeholder

awareness of issues

related to existing

community feedback

mechanism

i) External communication

system established and

functioning within two pilot

municipalities


workshop on existing

community feedback

mechanisms and demonstrate



questionnaires


i) Implementation of the

recommendations on the

reengineered communication

processes

ii) Hold workshop concerning

findings of analytical report

and other citizen feedback

mechanisms

iii) Select and implement


feedback mechanisms

i) Recommendations

agreed and implemented

ii) Suggested community

feedback mechanism

implemented

i) Current communication

practices of (regional office of

governor) between

departments and with the

community improved


workshop on existing

community feedback

mechanism and demonstrate



questionnaires

There are no long‐term activities under this section

There are no activities under individual categories of the external accountability cluster.

4.1.3 Strategy and Planning

Different issues under this section are the following:


UNDP | 42


activities

2. Lack of formal structure for involving different stakeholders in strategy preparation

3. Lack of supporting document or regulations to prepare strategic document (such as

a manual, guidelines of approving strategic documents and formation of working

groups for the preparation of strategic documents)

4. Lack of appropriate methodology to design the strategic plan


evaluation (addressed above under organizational arrangements)


Under the enabling environment point of entry, the Kvemo Kartli project plans to

conduct a study on the current planning methodologies in use as a short‐term activity

and to provide recommendations on a comprehensive planning methodology for

consideration by national government. Some of the organizations working in Georgia

have already come up with manuals on “How to Prepare a Regional and Municipal

Strategy.” If there is a need, the UNDP project plans to support the regional and local

administration in the preparation of such a manual, which will be helpful for them in the

future to prepare such strategies without any external assistance.


i) Conduct study on current

planning methodologies in use

ii) Provide recommendations

on a comprehensive planning

methodology for

consideration by national

government

i) Preparation of the

manual on “How to

Prepare a Regional

Strategy”


activities


i) Conduct study on current

planning methodologies in

use

ii) Provide recommendations

on a comprehensive planning


understanding of current


use



workshop and demonstrate



questionnaires


UNDP | 43

methodology for

consideration by the national

government

understanding on

impediments to strategy

implementation

iii) Increased

understanding of the

supporting documents

required for preparation of

a long‐term strategy by the

regional office of the

governor


i) Preparation of the manual

on “How to Prepare a

Regional Strategy”

i) The need of a manual on

“How to Prepare a

Regional Strategy” with

the regional

administration discussed

i) Manual on “How to Prepare

a Regional Strategy”

discussed and prepared.

There are no long‐term activities under this section.

Organizational:

Activities under this point of entry are linked to activities under organizational

arrangements.


i) Conduct study on the

organizational framework on

strategic planning including

involvement of different

stakeholders (linked to the

activity mentioned above)

i) Implement the agreed

recommendations


activities


i) Conduct study on the

organizational framework on

strategic planning including

involvement of different

i) Stakeholders increased

understanding of the

advantages of having a

formal structure of






UNDP | 44

stakeholders (linked to the

activity mentioned above)

involving different

stakeholders in the

strategic process.

questionnaires


i) Implement the agreed

recommendations

i) Recommendations of the

study with the regional

administration discussed

i) Document prepared

capturing the experience of

the implementation of the

recommendations.


Individual:

There are no short‐term activities under this section. Most of the activities under the

individual point of entry will be implemented by the regional administration with support

from the UNDP project as midterm activities. According to the law, the regional

development unit is responsible for the preparation and implementation of the long‐term

strategies. The regional office of the governor, with support from the UNDP project, plans

to organize a training program on strategic and participatory planning and to organize an

exposure visit to a country in this region which has similar experiences.


There are no short‐term

activities

i) Organize trainings for

staff of regional

development unit on

strategic and participatory

planning

ii) Organize exposure visit

to one of the European

countries having similar

experiences


activities


i) Organize training for staff of

regional development unit on

i) Generic and specific

trainings for the staff of

i) Key staff attend training and

demonstrate increased


UNDP | 45

strategic and participatory

planning

ii) Organize exposure visit to

one of the European

countries having similar

experiences

regional development unit

designed


post‐training questionnaires

ii) At least one workshop

organized after the exposure

visit to share the experiences

with other regional and

municipal administration staff

and to agree upon a plan of

action to change at least two

ongoing activities based on

the lessons learned from the

experience in the other

country.


5.2 Municipal Administration

5.2.1 Human resources

A robust human resources management system and the requisite policies are

essential for all organizations. Ensuring that the workforce is motivated, that the

right person is doing the right job and that the learning and career growth for the

best and brightest are available are the cornerstones to the effective performance

and relevancy of all organizations. Some of the capacity issues and corresponding

activities are mentioned below.

Enabling environment

Under this level, some of the capacity issues are:

Unclear or inappropriate criteria in municipalities for staffing structure (level

and number) – referring to executive

Lack of enforcement of the civil service code (permanent staff being forced

out when there are political changes)

No criteria for determining which recruitment process to use (professional vs.

short term) and lack of awareness at the municipal level of the recruitment

procedures

Promotion criteria not clearly defined in civil service code


UNDP | 46

Performance evaluation criteria not explained

Under this point of entry, the Kvemo Kartli region plans to implement activities to

streamline the human resource management system. As a short‐term activity, with support

from UNDP, the project will provide technical assistance in undertaking functional analysis

for two of the municipalities to develop guidelines for the staffing structure of the

municipalities and organize a workshop to raise awareness on the current civil service code

and existing practices related to human resources management. Under the midterm

activities, the Kvemo Kartli region plans to implement a functional analysis in two

municipalities, apply the recommended guidelines for recruitment in two municipalities and

provide technical support to municipal authorities on performance assessment and

promotion of civil servants. Most of the activities under the long‐term strategy are related

to influencing policy by organizing workshops on all aspects of human resources

management and sharing experiences on the basis of the pilot experience in the two

municipalities.


i) Functional analysis in

collaboration with CEGSTAR

ii) Design guidelines for

staffing structure of

municipalities

iii) Workshop organized for

municipal staff members,

specialized governance

organizations, and Ministry of

Regional Development,

Governor’s office

iv) Workshop on current

status/difficulties in

enforcement of the civil

service code

v) Workshop with municipal

and regional authorities to

increase understanding of

recruitment procedures

i) Develop criteria for

selection of municipalities

and subsequent selection

of the two pilots

ii) Application of guidelines

in the two pilots

iii) Codify process and

make recommendations

for improvement

concerning the application

of guidelines

iv) Provide advice to

municipal authorities on

how to improve civil

service code, experiences

from new EU member

states on civil service code

reform and best practices

v) Define criteria for

application of appropriate


selection of municipalities,

and subsequent selection of

the two pilots

ii) Application of staffing

structure guidelines in the

two pilots

iii) Codify process and make

recommendations for

improvement concerning the

application guidelines

iv) Pilot test suggested civil

service code improvements as

noted by consultant

v) Organize workshop and

present results to other

municipalities, regional

authorities and minister of

regions and NALA


UNDP | 47

recruitment processes

(whether to choose

permanent recruitment or

short‐term recruitment)

vi) Conduct research on

promotion policies

relevant to the Georgian

context

vi) Support preparation of

decree on scaling up and

application of criteria

vii) Apply guidelines in

remaining municipalities in

the Kvemo Kartli region

viii) Organize workshop and

present municipal

perspectives and results of

research on different

promotion policies to national

stakeholders

ix) Organize workshop to

present experiences of pilot

municipalities in applying

performance evaluation

criteria




ii) Design guidelines for staffing

structure of municipalities

iii) Workshop organized for

municipal staff members,

specialized governance

organizations, and Ministry of

Regional Development, and

Governor’s office

iv) Workshop on current

status/difficulties in

enforcement of the civil service

code

v) Workshop with municipal and

regional authorities to increase

understanding of recruitment


understanding of staffing

structure deficiencies

ii) Appropriate staffing

structure for

municipalities defined

iii) Generic/template job

descriptions developed

for department heads

and two key staff in eight

department in two pilot

municipalities





post‐workshop

questionnaires

ii) Model/template for

municipal staffing structure

elaborated

iii) 24 job descriptions

including competency profiles

developed (three per

department x eight

departments)


UNDP | 48

procedures

Med‐term activities Outputs Output indicators


selection of municipalities and

subsequent selection of two

pilots

ii) Application of guidelines in

two pilots


recommendations for


application of guidelines

iv) Provide advice to

municipal authorities on how

to improve civil service code,

experiences from new EU

member states on civil service

code reform and best

practices

v) Define criteria for

application of appropriate

recruitment processes

(whether to choose

permanent recruitment or

short‐term recruitment)

vi) Conduct research on

promotion policies relevant to

Georgian context

i) Staffing structure

guidelines implemented in

two municipalities

ii) Experience of pilot tests

of staffing structure

implementation codified

and lessons learned

documented

iii) Increased stakeholder

awareness of options and

best practices for civil

service code reform

iv). Recruitment criteria

defined and piloted in two

municipalities.

v) Increased stakeholder

knowledge concerning

different options of

promotion policies.

i) Two municipalities apply

staffing structure guidelines

with impact upon number

and placement of staff in

departments.

ii) Concise and reader‐friendly

document produced outlining

process and lessons learned

iii) Stakeholders demonstrate

increased knowledge in this

area through a pre‐ and post‐

information provision

questionnaire

iv) Clear recruitment criteria

document produced and

applied in the two pilot

municipalities with positive

impact upon recruitment

procedures

v) Key stakeholders attend




questionnaires


i) Develop criteria for i) Experience of functional i) Five municipalities of the


UNDP | 49

selection of municipalities,

and subsequent selection of

the two pilots

ii) Apply staffing structure

guidelines in two pilots


recommendations for


application guidelines

iv) Pilot test suggested civil

service code improvements as

noted by consultant

v) Organize workshop and

present results to other

municipalities, regional

authorities and minister of

regions, NALA.

vi) Support preparation of

decree on scaling up and

application of criteria

vii) Apply guidelines in

remaining municipalities in


viii) Organize workshop and

present municipal

perspectives and results of

research on different

promotion policies to national

stakeholders

ix) Organize workshop to

present experiences of pilot

municipalities in applying

performance evaluation

criteria

analysis scaled up to other

municipalities and regions

ii) National policy and

guidelines influenced

iii) Civil service code

amendment influenced

iv) National policy

concerning promotion in

civil service influenced

v) Policy dialogue based on

pilot experiences

influenced

Kvemo Kartli region piloted

functional analysis

ii) At least one central level

workshop organized to share

the findings on the guidelines

on recruitment, promotion,

and civil service code


UNDP | 50

Organizational

The issues learned under this section are the following:

Lack of job descriptions and standardized format (coverage, quality and

inconsistency in format)

Lack of standardized and transparent recruitment guidelines for short‐term posts

(duration of advertisement, what details are required in a ToR, where advertised,

selection panel)

Fiscal and non‐fiscal incentives are subjective – no objective criteria that

determine which staff will receive them nor specification of type/amount of

incentive

Performance criteria for staff are not yet defined nor linked to annual work plans

(which are subsequently linked to department work plans)

Under the organizational point of entry, the Kvemo Kartli region focuses on streamlining the

number of departments and review functions of each of those departments, develop job

descriptions for all the civil servants working in two pilot municipalities as short‐term

activities. Most of the activities under the mid‐term range are related to preparation for up

scaling job descriptions, such as the development of a training manual and organization of a

workshop to train municipal administration. Under the longer‐term activities, training will

be organized for the civil servants of the remaining five municipalities to develop job

descriptions for all the staff in the municipalities on their own.




(LINKED)

ii) Develop job descriptions in

cooperation with relevant

municipal HR focal points

based on accurate description

of the post's functions

i) Develop training manual

on job description

formulation

ii) Hold workshop to train

municipal administration in

two pilots and regional

administration on job

description formulation

iii) Conduct study on current

incentives being offered and

range of options based on

staff feedback and best

practices in new EU member

i) Organize workshop to

train administration in five

other municipalities on how

to formulate job

descriptions

ii) Document best practices

and lessons learned from

pilot and disseminate to

relevant stakeholders

iii) Pilot testing of

performance evaluation in

one municipality

iv) Documentation and


UNDP | 51

states

iv) Hold workshop for

municipal executive and

legislative representatives to

gain buy‐in on application of

policy

v) Implement the pilot

testing

vi) Conduct study on current

practices in performance

assessment in Georgia and

new EU member states

dissemination of lessons

learned




(LINKED)

ii) Develop job descriptions in

cooperation with relevant

municipal HR focal points

based on accurate description

of the post's functions

i) Improved understanding

within departments in two

pilot municipalities on need

for enhanced

communication and

information sharing

ii) Increased awareness of

departments and head of the

executive in two pilot

municipalities on need for

improved coordination

iii) Mapping of existing

reporting lines conducted in

all departments in two

municipalities

iv) Mapping existing

department functions vis‐à‐

vis services in two pilot

municipalities conducted

v) Mapping of existing

i) Key stakeholders show

increased knowledge

through fielding of pre‐ and

post‐ activity questionnaires

ii) Key stakeholders show

increased knowledge

through fielding of pre‐ and

post‐ activity questionnaires

iii) Reporting line diagrams

and descriptions formulated

for 16 departments (eight

departments x two

municipalities)

iv) Functions mapped to 16

departments (eight

departments x two

municipalities)

v) Budgeting and financial

management processes

mapped and analyzed


UNDP | 52

budgeting conducted and

financial management

process documented in all

departments in two

municipalities

within 16 departments

(eight departments x two

municipalities)


i) Develop training manual on

job description formulation

ii) Hold workshop to train

municipal administration in

two pilots and regional

administration on job

description formulation


incentives being offered and

range of options based on

staff feedback and best

practices in new EU member

states

iv) Hold workshop for

municipal executive and

legislative representatives to

gain buy‐in on application of

policy

v) Implement the pilot testing

vi) Conduct study on current

practices in performance

assessment in Georgia and

new EU member states

i) Capacity of

Administration Unit

developed to formulate

job descriptions

ii) Fiscal and non‐fiscal

incentive policy

developed, and criteria

for application of these

incentives mechanisms in

the executive established

iii) Incentive policy tested

in one municipality

targeting executive and

administrative unit of

Sakrebulo

iv) Performance

evaluation guidelines and

procedures developed

i) Training manual developed

ii) Administration Unit staff

attend workshop and

demonstrate acquisition of

knowledge in this area through

a pre‐ and post‐workshop

questionnaire

iii) Incentive policy developed

and mechanisms established

iv) Incentive policy applied in

one municipality as

demonstrated through staff

survey

v) Guidelines developed and

disseminated to relevant

stakeholders


i) Organize workshop to train i) Training on job i) At least one training having


UNDP | 53

Individual

Some of the issues under the individual level are the following:

i). Lack of technically skilled staff in certain sectors (no response in short‐, medium‐ and

long‐term as this is beyond scope of project) related to education reform and other factors.

5.2.2 Organizational arrangements

Enabling environment

Some of the issues under this cluster are the following:

Lack of alignment of local priorities and budget allocation provided by the central

government

Information fragmentation: Municipalities lack access to and/or understanding of

key guidelines issued by the central government (including budgeting, procurement,

public expenditure management/accounting and reporting, financial control, audit,

laws and decrees, and delegated responsibilities)

There are no short‐term activities under this section. Under the mid‐term activities, the

Kvemo Kartli region plans to hold a workshop on BDD and MTEF processes for municipalities

to raise awareness and develop an inventory of all applicable laws. Most of the initiatives

under the long‐term activities are related to dissemination of results of the study and

workshop at national level.

administration in five other

municipalities on how to

formulate job descriptions

ii) Document best practices

and lessons learned of pilot

and disseminate to relevant

stakeholders

iii) Pilot testing of

performance evaluation in

one municipality

iv) Documentation and


learned

descriptions to five other

municipalities organized

ii) National policy and

guidelines influenced

iii) National policy

influenced based on

experience from the pilot

iv) Policy on performance

evaluation influenced

representatives of five

municipalities organized


organized at the national level

to influence the policies and

guidelines


UNDP | 54



activities

i) Hold workshop on BDD and

MTEF processes for

municipalities in the Kvemo

Kartli region to ascertain

impediments to their

participation and

understanding and to increase

dialogue between national

stakeholders and municipalities

in the Kvemo Kartli region.

ii) Develop an inventory of all

applicable laws, decrees,

processes/procedures relevant

to municipal functions and

responsibilities.

iii) Establish physical and e‐

library of information

i) Disseminate findings/results

of workshop to relevant

stakeholders at the national

level

ii) Analyse laws, decrees, legal

acts, procedures, etc.


i) Hold workshop on BDD and

MTEF processes for


Kartli region to ascertain

impediments to their

participation and

understanding and to increase

dialogue between national

stakeholders and


Kartli region.

ii) Develop an inventory of all


processes/procedures

relevant to municipal

i) Increased awareness of

municipal and central

level stakeholders on lack

of alignment and its

impact on development at

the local level

ii) Establish a

clearinghouse of

information related to

municipal functions,

responsibilities, and

processes/procedures



knowledge acquisition

through a pre‐ and post‐

workshop questionnaire

ii) Inventory listing all


processes, procedures

iii) Physical and/or e‐library

containing the inventory in an

easily searchable format.


UNDP | 55

Organizational

The following issues were learned under this section:

Weak horizontal coordination and information sharing between departments

Lack of coordination between the head of the executive and departments

Lack of clear reporting lines within departments

Lack of alignment and overlap of department’s functions to the services the

municipality has to provide

Limited transparency and understanding of financial management process within the

municipality

Lack of coordination and information sharing between regional and local

administrations

Under the organizational point of entry, the Kvemo Kartli region, with support from the

UNDP project, plans to undertake a functional analysis and business process mapping for

coordination among different municipal departments as short‐ and midterm activities.

Under the long‐term activity, the Kvemo Kartli region plans to document the experience of

the business process mapping, implementation of the proposed recommendations in two

municipalities and discuss with central ministries for influencing policy at national level.

functions and responsibilities.

iii). Establish physical and e‐

library of information


i) Disseminate findings/result

of workshop to relevant

stakeholders at the national

level

ii) Analysis of laws, decrees,

legal acts, procedures, etc.

i) National policy

influenced concerning

BDD and MTEF processes

vis‐à‐vis municipalities

ii) Functions,

responsibilities,

procedures and processes

of municipalities clearly

defined

i) At least one national level

workshop to influence national

policy concerning BDD and

MTEF

ii) At least five municipalities

define functions,

responsibilities, procedures

and processes clearly


UNDP | 56




ii) Conduct study on existing

practices and impediments to

coordination and information

sharing




occur



iii) Develop guidelines on why

and how coordination should

occur

iv) Organize briefing


guidelines

v) Codification of lessons

drawn from functional

analysis

vi) Implementation in

remaining five municipalities

vii) Workshop with all the

Kvemo Kartli regional

municipalities on the findings

of the mapping and the

proposed changes

viii) Implement changes in

department structure and

functions in two

municipalities

ix) Workshop with all the

Kvemo Kartli region

municipalities on findings of

functional analysis and

proposed changes

x) Implement changes in two

municipalities



practices and lessons

learned from pilot

experience

ii) Implement the process

mapping across

municipalities


UNDP | 57

xi) Workshop with all the

Kvemo Kartli region

municipalities on findings

study and positions

xii) Implement changes in all


Kartli region




ii) Conduct study on existing

practices and impediments to

coordination and information

sharing

i) Improved understanding

within departments in two

pilot municipalities on need

for enhanced communication

and information sharing

ii) Increased awareness of

departments and head of the

executive in two pilot

municipalities on the need for


iii) Mapping of existing

reporting lines conducted in

all departments in two

municipalities

iv) Mapping of existing

department functions vis‐à‐vis

services in two pilot

municipalities conducted

v) Mapping of existing

budgeting conducted and

financial management

process documented in all

departments in two

municipalities

vi) Increased stakeholder

awareness on issues

i) Key stakeholders show

increase in knowledge

through fielding of pre‐

and post‐activity

questionnaires

ii) Key stakeholders show

increase in knowledge

through fielding of pre‐

and post‐activity

questionnaires

iii) Reporting line diagrams

and descriptions

formulated for 16

departments (eight

departments x two

municipalities)

iv) Functions mapped to 16

departments (eight

departments x two

municipalities)

v) Budgeting and financial

management processes

mapped and analyzed

within 16 departments

(eight departments x two

municipalities)


UNDP | 58

concerning coordination and

information sharing between

municipal and regional

administrations

vi) Key stakeholders attend

awareness raising

workshop and

demonstrate increased

knowledge through pre‐

and post‐workshop

questionnaires





occur



iii) Develop guidelines on why

and how coordination should

occur

iv) Organize briefing


guidelines

v) Codification of lessons

drawn from functional

analysis

vi) Implementation in

remaining five municipalities

vii) Workshop with all the



on mapping and proposed

changes

viii) Implement changes in

department structure and

functions in two

i) Guidelines on information

sharing developed

ii) Guidelines endorsed and

applied by two municipalities

leading to improved

coordination

iii) Guidelines on coordination

mechanisms and information

sharing developed

iv) Guidelines on improved

coordination endorsed and

applied by two municipalities

leading to improved

coordination between the

head of executive and

departments in two

municipalities

v) Lessons learned from

functional analysis codified

vi) Guidelines implemented in

the five remaining

municipalities

vii) Functions of departments

rationalized with the services

to be provided

i) Concise and pragmatic

guidelines for information

sharing produced in

Georgian language

ii) 16 departments in two

municipalities respond

positively to a pre‐ and

post‐guideline

questionnaire concerning


iii) Guidelines on executive

department coordination

produced in the Georgian

language and

disseminated

iv) Two municipalities

apply guidelines with a

positive result as

illustrated through pre‐

and post‐process

questionnaires

v) Codification document

produced and

disseminated

vi) Five municipalities

apply guidelines and

demonstrate the positive


UNDP | 59

municipalities

ix) Workshop with all the



of the functional analysis and

proposed changes

x) Implement changes in two

municipalities

xi) Workshop with all the


municipalities on findings

study and positions

xii) Implement changes in all


Kartli region

viii) Improved transparency

and understanding of financial

management processes within

departments in two pilot

municipalities

ix) Improved coordination and

information sharing between


administration in the Kvemo

Kartli region.

impact of the process

through pre‐ and post‐

process questionnaires

vii) Functions of

departments aligned with

the services provided by

municipality with clear

areas of responsibility and

lines of accountability

vii) Sixteen departments

demonstrate positive

changes and improved

understanding of

processes through pre‐

and post‐process

questionnaires

viii) Key stakeholders in


administrations

demonstrate improved

coordination processes

through a pre‐ and post‐

implementation

questionnaire





from pilot experience

ii) Implement the process

mapping across municipalities

i) Endorsement and

application of guidelines by

municipalities across Georgia

scaled up

ii) Process mapping in other

five municipalities in the

Kvemo Kartli region replicated

iii) National level stakeholders

influenced to endorse and

replicate coordination and

i) At least five

municipalities apply the

guidelines

ii) Five municipalities of


replicate process mapping

exercise

iii) At least one workshop

organized to influence the


UNDP | 60

5.2.3 External accountability


Lack of knowledge and understanding of the Georgian language for many citizens

Municipalities have weak communication culture concerning consultation with and

dissemination of information to communities

Weak system among the municipalities to receive feedback from the community

Lack of horizontal accountability between executive and representative bodies

Weak citizen participation in accountability mechanisms

Enabling Environment

This section does not have any short‐term or long‐term activities. During the institutional

baseline mapping exercise, it was learned that a number of people in the different

municipalities in the Kvemo Kartli region do not communicate in Georgian. So under the

midterm activities, the Kvemo Kartli region plans to prepare an information package on

citizens’ rights and responsibilities in languages other than Georgian.

information sharing practices national level stakeholders

Short‐term activities Midterm activities Long‐term activities


activities

i) Prepare information

package on citizens’ rights and

responsibilities in languages

other than Georgian and

distribute across the Kvemo

Kartli region


activities


i) Prepare information package

on citizens’ rights and

responsibilities in languages

other than Georgian and

i) Increased awareness of

municipal stakeholders to

provide unofficial translation

of documents for those who

i) At least five key documents

are translated into other

languages and disseminated


UNDP | 61

No long‐term activities.

Organizational

Under the organizational point of entry, the Kvemo Kartli region plans to develop

communication strategies for two municipalities on a pilot basis as short‐term activities.

Under the mid‐term activities, the Kvemo Kartli region will implement the communication

strategy, especially those that will strengthen the feedback mechanism between the

community and the local administration. The UNDP project plans to bring in experiences

from the region on similar issues, which will be discussed with local administration for

consensus and implementation.

distribute across the KK region do not speak or read Georgian


i) Develop a draft

communication strategy for

two municipalities concerning

consultation and information

dissemination (including

budget process and result)

ii) Prepare an analytical study

on strengths and weaknesses

of current feedback

mechanism

i) Presentation by

municipalities to citizens on

communication strategy

ii) Select public information

focal point within

municipalities

iii) Implement


iv) Hold workshop with pilot

municipalities concerning

findings of the analytical

report and other citizen

feedback mechanisms

v) Select and implement


feedback mechanism

vi) Conduct study on existing

practices in two pilot

municipalities, document

strengths and weaknesses of

system and provide

recommendations for

i) Document experiences of

two pilot municipalities and

share strategy and lessons

learned


UNDP | 62

improvement

vii) Discuss findings of study

with two municipalities and

implement agreed upon

recommendations

viii) Support community in

self‐organization efforts

through provision of

examples/models utilized in

other countries and

elsewhere in Georgia


i) Develop draft

communication strategy for

two municipalities concerning

consultation and information

dissemination (including

budget process and result)

ii) Prepare analytical study on


current feedback mechanism

i) External

communication system of

municipalities

strengthened

ii) Stakeholder awareness

of issues related to

existing community

feedback mechanism

increased

i) Two communication

strategies for two

municipalities developed



on existing community

feedback mechanism


i) Presentation by

municipalities to citizens on


ii) Select public information

focal point within

municipalities

iii) Implement communication

strategy

i) Communication

strategy approved and

implemented by two

pilot municipalities

ii) New/improved citizen

feedback mechanism

pilot tested in two

municipalities

iii) Oversight mechanism

i) Communication strategy

developed, approved and

distributed in Georgian

language

ii) Two public information focal

points selected in municipality

iii) Pilot mechanism developed,

tested and evaluated in two

municipalities through


UNDP | 63

iv). Hold workshop with pilot

municipalities concerning

findings of analytical report

and other citizen feedback

mechanisms

v) Select and implement


feedback mechanism

vi) Conduct study on existing

practices in two pilot

municipalities, document


system and provide

recommendations for

improvement

vii) Discuss findings of study

with two municipalities and

implement agreed upon

recommendations

viii) Support community in

self‐organization efforts

through provision of

examples/models utilized in

other countries and elsewhere

in Georgia

strengthened and

operationalized

iv) Increased citizen

participation in

accountability

mechanisms

community survey

iv) Current oversight

mechanism improved and

operationalized as

demonstrated through positive

citizen feedback gathered

through a questionnaire

v) Increase in the number of

citizens (including an increase

marginalized citizens)

participating in the

accountability mechanism as

illustrated in a pre‐ and post‐

activity survey


i) Document experiences of

two pilot municipalities and

share lessons learned and

strategy

i) Raised awareness

among other

municipalities in Georgia

on the need for a

communication strategy,

new community

mechanism, new

oversight mechanism and

community self‐

i). At least one workshop

organized to increase

awareness on need for a

communication strategy, new

community mechanism, new

oversight mechanism and

community self‐organization

efforts.


UNDP | 64

5.2.4 Strategic planning

Different issues under this section are the following:

Lack of central government issued methodology/guidelines for data collection,


Lack of planning methodology and guidelines from the central government for the

municipalities

Lack of proper participatory planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation

mechanisms for projects and activities

Lack of practice to share information with other municipalities within the Kvemo

Kartli region in relation to strategy development and planning

Lack of technical and experienced staff to carry out the planning and budgeting

activities


Under this point of entry, as a short‐term activity, the Kvemo Kartli region plans to review

the current municipal, line ministry and statistics department practices in the area of data

collection, etc. and provide recommendations for improvement. This review will be done at

the local, regional and central levels (Please find reference to similar activity under the

strategic planning section and the regional administration capacity development response

strategy). Other than this, the Kvemo Kartli region plans to conduct a study on the current

planning methodologies in use and provide recommendations on a comprehensive planning

methodology for consideration by national government as a short‐term activity. All the

recommendations of the above studies will be implemented as midterm activities with

support from the UNDP project. If some of the recommendations work well in the

municipalities, then the Kvemo Kartli project plans to influence the national policy.

organization efforts



municipal, line ministry and


practices in the area of data


recommendations for

i) Establish a working

group at the national level

on local level data

collection, sharing, storage

and analysis.

i) Conduct training of trainers

of relevant national

government staff to ensure

that local level staff will be

trained in new methodology


UNDP | 65

improvement

ii) Workshop for relevant

central and regional



findings and

recommendations of review



use and provide

recommendations on a

comprehensive planning

methodology for


government.

ii) Pilot testing in two or

three municipalities based

on recommendations

made in the review

iii) Workshop for relevant

national and local

stakeholders to discuss

findings of study and

endorse a standardized

planning methodology.



municipal, line ministry and


practices in area of data


recommendations for

improvement

ii) Workshop for relevant

central and regional



findings and

recommendations of review



use and provide

recommendations on a

comprehensive planning

methodology for


understanding of existing

data collection, sharing,


practices


understanding of current


use

iii) Increased stakeholder

understanding of

impediments to strategy

implementation



and demonstrate increase in


post‐workshop survey





post‐workshop questionnaire

iii) Key stakeholders attend




post‐workshop

questionnaires


UNDP | 66

Organizational

The Kvemo Kartli region plans to have a series of initiatives under the organizational point of

entry under the strategic planning cluster. To start with, as short‐term activities, the Kvemo

Kartli region plans to conduct stakeholder analysis and form working groups followed by

data collection and situation analysis at the municipal level, which will lead to a longer term

strategy. Some of the activities, like roads, cannot be implemented by one municipal

administration. There is a need for strong inter‐municipal cooperation, which can be


government.


i) Establish a working group at

the national level on local



ii) Pilot testing in two or three

municipalities based on

recommendations made in

the review

iii) Workshop for relevant

national and local

stakeholders to discuss

findings of study and endorse

a standardized planning

methodology.

i) National policy


data collection, sharing,


ii) National policy


standardized planning

methodology

i) Working group established

and functioning at national

level producing at least two

key recommendations on how

to improve national policy

towards data collection,

sharing and analysis.

ii) Workshop held with key

stakeholders and

standardized planning

methodology endorsed


i) Conduct training of trainers

of relevant national

government staff to ensure

that local level staff will be

trained in new methodology

i) Standardized planning

methodology across

Georgia applied

i) At least five municipalities

applied the standardized

planning methodology


UNDP | 67

initiated by undertaking a study as a short‐term activity and coming up with

recommendations for implementations later on.


i) Conduct stakeholder

analysis and form working

groups

ii) Provide training for

working groups on

participatory planning

iii) Data collection and

situation analysis

iv) Conduct study on best

practices in inter‐municipal

cooperation in Georgia and

new EU member states and

accession countries

v) Hold symposium for

interested municipal

stakeholders on findings of

study

i) Train departments on

participatory planning,

budgeting,

implementation, and M&E

methodology

ii) Implementation of

selected pilot projects

iii) Implement selected

pilot projects with criteria

that will encourage inter‐

municipal cooperation in

terms of planning and

implementation



learned and best practices

from the pilot projects to

other municipalities


i) Conduct stakeholder

analysis and form working

groups

ii) Provide training for

working groups on


iii) Data collection and

situation analysis

iv) Conduct study on best

practices in inter‐municipal

cooperation in Georgia and

i) Increase stakeholder

awareness concerning


implementation guidelines

and need for/purpose of

monitoring and evaluation

ii) Introduce concepts of

inter‐municipal

cooperation and

partnership to facilitate

more effective and

efficient strategy












UNDP | 68

new EU member states and

accession countries

v) Hold symposium for

interested municipal

stakeholders on findings of

study

development, planning

and implementation


i) Train departments on


budgeting, implementation,

and M&E methodology

ii) Implementation of selected

pilot projects

iii) Implement selected pilot

projects with criteria that will

encourage inter‐municipal

cooperation in terms of

planning and implementation

i) Participatory planning,


culture introduced in at

least two municipalities

and regional government

ii) Inter‐municipal

cooperation established in

regards to strategy

development and project

implementation

i) Two municipalities and

regional government have

operational participatory

planning, implementation and

M&E system in place by the

end of 2010

ii) At least two inter‐municipal

cooperation projects

developed and in initial stages

of implementation




learned and best practices

from the pilot projects to

other municipalities

i) Experience of


budgeting,


methodology scaled up

i) Scaling up of four to five

other municipalities in the

Kvemo Kartli region

Appendices

Appendix‐ I

Capacity Development Response Strategy Matrix (Regional Administration)

Clu

ster

Issues CD Level Short-Term responses Short-Term activities Respons-ible parties

Medium-Term responses

Medium-Term activities

Responsible parties

Long-Term responses

Long-Term activities

Responsible parties


i) Increase stakeholders awareness on HR deficiencies of regional office of governor

i) Map the processes related to recruitment, performance assessment and promotion and suggest improvements

KK project team and CEGSTAR advisors

i) Discussion and implementation of the recommendations

i) Support implementation of recommendations related to recruitment, performance assessment and promotion

KK project team

No long-term responses

No long-term activities

Organizational No short-term response No short-term activities

No medium-term response

No medium-term activities

HR

i) Unclear or inappropriate HR regulations and rules, which are necessary to implement functions properly

Individual No short-term response No short-term activities






UNDP | 70

Org

aniz

atio

nal

Arr

ang

emen

ts

i) Weak horizontal coordination and information sharing between departments ii) Lack of coordination and information sharing between regional and local administrations iii) Inappropriate organizational structure for strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation iv) Lack of central government issued methodology/guidelines for data collection, storage and analysis


i). Increase stakeholder awareness of existing data collection, sharing, storage and analysis practices

i) Conduct review of current municipal, regional office of governor, line ministry, and Statistics Department practices in area of data collection, etc. and provide recommendations for improvement ii) Organize workshop for relevant central and regional government authorities and municipalities to present findings and recommendations of review

Consulting firm and KK project team

i) Implementation of recommendations through the study

i) Discuss the recommendations of the study with the regional administration and support implementation

KK project team

i) Influence national policy concerning data collection, sharing, storage, and analysis

i) Establish a working group at the national level on local level data collection, sharing, storage, and analysis

i) UNDP CO and UN Country team, relevant national government stakeholders ii) KK Project team


UNDP | 71

Organizational

i) Increase awareness of departments on need for improved communication and information sharing ii) Increase awareness of departments on need for improved coordination iii) Raise stakeholder awareness on issues concerning coordination and information sharing between municipal and regional administrations iv). Increase awareness of the regional office of the governor on the appropriate organizational framework for regional strategy development, monitoring and evaluation

i) Functional analysis and business process mapping and reengineering on communication and coordination ii) Study to find out the appropriate organizational framework

KK project team and CEGSTAR advisors and consultant

i) Improve coordination and information sharing between departments in the regional office of the governor ii) Guidelines endorsed and applied by the regional office of the governor iii) Recommendations on data collection is endorsed by regional office of governor

i) Develop guidelines on why and how information sharing between departments can occur ii) Organize briefing workshop on the draft guidelines iii) Implementation of the recommendations on data collection, analysis and storage

KK project team

i) Scale up endorsement and application of guidelines by regional administration across Georgia

i) Documentation and dissemination of best practices and lessons learned from Kvemo Kartli experience

i) Central government, NALA






Ext

ern

al

Acc

ou

nt

abili

ty i). The regional office of

the governor has weak communication culture concerning consultation with and dissemination of


No short-term response No short-term activities






UNDP | 72

Organizational

i). Strengthen external communication system of the regional office of the governor ii) \Increase stakeholder awareness of issues related to existing community feedback mechanism

i) Functional analysis and business process mapping and reengineering on communication (linked to other activities) ii) Prepare analytical study on strengths and weaknesses of current feedback mechanism

KK project team and CEGSTAR advisors

i). Agreement on the recommendations and implementation ii) Implementation of suggested community feedback mechanism

i) Implementation of the recommendations on the reengineered processes ii) Hold workshop concerning findings of analytical report and other citizen feedback mechanisms iii) Select and implement new/improved citizen feedback mechanism

KK project team



information to communities ii) Weak system at the regional office of the governor to receive feedback from the community






Str

ateg

y an

d P

lan

nin

g

i) Lack of technical and experienced staff to carry out the planning and budgeting activities ii) Lack of formal structure for involving different stakeholders in strategy preparation iii) Lack of supporting document or regulations to prepare strategic document (such as manual, guidelines for approving strategic documents and formation of working groups for the preparation of strategic documents) iv) Lack of appropriate methodology to design the strategic plan v) Inappropriate organizational structure for strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation (addressed above under organizational arrangements)


i). Increase stakeholder understanding on current planning methodologies in use ii) Increase stakeholder understanding on impediments to strategy implementation iii) Increase regional office of governor's understanding on the supporting document required for preparation of long-term strategy

i) Conduct study on current planning methodologies in use ii.) Provide recommendations on a comprehensive planning methodology for consideration by national government

Consultant and KK project team

i) Discuss the need for a manual on “How to Prepare a Regional Strategy" with the regional administration

i) Preparation of the manual on "How to Prepare a Regional Strategy"





UNDP | 73

Organizational

i) Increase stakeholders understanding on the advantages of having a formal structure of involving different stakeholders in the strategic planning process

i) conduct study on the organizational framework on strategic planning including involvement of different stakeholders (linked to the above activity)


i) Discuss the recommendations of the study with the regional administration

i) Implement the agreed recommendations

KK project team




i) Design generic and specific training for the staff of regional development unit

i) Organize training for staff of regional development unit on strategic and participatory planning ii) Organize exposure visit to one of the European countries having similar experiences

KK project team




UNDP | 74

Appendix ‐II

Capacity Development Response Strategy Matrix (Local Administration)

CD Response Table

CD Response and Activities

Clu

ster

Priority Issue

(Description)

CD

Lev

el

Short-Term Responses (by end

2008)

Short-Term Activities

Short-Term Responsible

Parties

Short-Term Costs

Short-Term Indi-

cators

Medium-Term

Responses (2009 & 2010)

Medium-Term

Activities

Medium-Term

Responsible Parties

Med- Term Costs

Med- Term Indi-

cators

Long-Term Responses

(2011 and up)

Long-Term Activities

Long-Term Responsible

Parties

Long-Term Costs

Long-Term

Indicators

Hum

an R

esou

rces

i) Unclear or inappropriate criteria at municipalities for staffing structure (level and number) - referring to executive

Ena

blin

g E

nvir

onm

ent

i) Increase stakeholder awareness of staffing structure deficiencies ii) Define appropriate staffing structure for municipalities

i) Functional analysis in collaboration with CEGSTAR (LINKED) ii) Design guidelines for staffing structure of municipalities iii) Workshop organized for municipal staff members, specialized governance organizations, Ministry of Regional Development, Governor’s office

i) KK Project in partnership with CEGSTAR, NALA and municipal authorities ii) KK Project in cooperation with NALA iii) KK project in cooperation with municipal government, NALA

i) Pilot testing implement-ation in two municipalities ii) Codification of pilot tests and documenting of lessons learned

i) Develop criteria for selection of municipalities, and subsequent selection of the two pilots ii) Application of staffing structure guidelines in two pilots iii) Codify process and make recommenda-tions for improvement concerning the application guidelines

i) KK Project in collaboration with office of the governor and minister of regions, NALA ii) Municipali-ties with support from KK project iii) NALA with support of KK project

i) Scale up to all municipalities in KK region ii) Scale up to municipalities in other Regions iii) Influence national policy and guidelines

i) Organize workshop and present results to other municipalities, regional authorities, and minister of regions, NALA ii) Support preparation of decree on scaling up and application of guidelines iii) Apply guidelines in remaining municipalities in KK region

i) KK project ii) CEGSTAR and NALA iii) KK Project in collaboration with NALA and CEGSTAR


UNDP | 75

ii) Lack of enforcement of civil service code (permanent staff being forced out when there are political changes)

i) Increase stakeholder awareness of civil service code and labour regulations

i) Workshop on current status/difficulties in enforcement of civil service code

i) KK project in partnership with CEGSTAR and NALA

i) Increase stakeholder awareness on options and best practices for civil service code reform

i) Provide advice to municipal authorities on how to improve civil service code, experiences from new EU member states on civil service code reform, and provide project with best practices

i) KK project in cooperation with independent expert(s)

i). Influence amendment of civil service code

i). Pilot test suggested civil service code improvements as noted by consultant

i). KK project in cooperation with NALA and CEGSTAR

iii) No criteria for determining which recruitment process to use (professional vs. short-term) and lack of awareness at municipal level of the recruitment procedures

i) Increase stakeholder awareness on recruitment procedures as defined in civil service code

i)\ Workshop with municipal and regional authorities to increase understanding of recruitment procedures

i) NALA in cooperation with KK Project, CEGSTAR, and central level authorities

i) Pilot testing of criteria in two municipalities

i) Define criteria for application of appropriate recruitment process (whether to choose permanent recruitment or short-term recruitment)

i) KK project in cooperation with NALA, CEGSTAR, independent experts

i) Scale up testing of criteria to all municipalities in KK Region ii) Influence national policy

i) Organize workshop and present results to other municipalities, regional authorities, and minister of regions, NALA ii) Support preparation of decree on scaling up and application of criteria iii) Apply guidelines in remaining municipalities in KK region

i) KK project ii) CEGSTAR and NALA iii) KK Project in collaboration with NALA and CEGSTAR


UNDP | 76

iv) Promotion criteria not clearly defined in civil service code

No response in short term.

No activities in short term.

N/A

i) Increase stakeholder awareness concerning different options of promotion policies

i) Conduct research on promotion policies relevant to Georgian context ii) Prepare advocacy materials to be shared with relevant stakeholders

i) KK project in cooperation with municipali-ties, NALA, CEGSTAR, independent experts

i) Influence national policy concerning promotion in civil service

i) Organize workshop and present municipal perspectives and results of research on different promotion policies to national stakeholders

i) KK project in cooperation with municipalities, NALA, and CEGSTAR

v) Performance evaluation criteria not explained No response in

short term. No activities in

short term. N/A No response in medium-

term.

No activities in medium-term. N/A N/A N/A

i) Influence policy dialogue based on pilot experiences

i) Organize workshop to present experiences of pilot municipalities in applying performance evaluation criteria

i) KK project in cooperation with municipalities, NALA, and CEGSTAR

i) Lack of job descriptions and standardized format (coverage, quality and inconsistency in format)

Org

ani

zatio

nal

i) Develop generic/template job descriptions for department heads and two key staff per department in two pilot municipalities

i) Functional analysis in collaboration with CEGSTAR (LINKED) ii) Develop job descriptions in cooperation with relevant Municipal HR focal points based on accurate description of the post's functions

i) KK project in partnership with municipalities, and CEGSTAR

i) Administration unit capacity developed to formulate job descriptions

i) Develop training manual on job description formulation ii) Hold workshop to train municipal administration in two pilots and regional administration on job description formulation

i) KK Project and CEGSTAR ii) KK Project, NALA, CEGSTAR

i) Scale up training to remaining five municipalities in KK region ii) Influence national policy and guidelines

i) Organize workshop to train administration in five other municipalities on how to formulate job descriptions.

i) KK project, NALA, CEGSTAR


UNDP | 77

ii). Lack of standardized and transparent recruitment guidelines for short-term posts (duration of advertise-ment, what details are required in a ToR, where advertised, selection panel)

Addressed at enabling environment level

Addressed at enabling

environment level

N/A N/A N/A


environment level


environment level

N/A N/A N/A


environment level


environment level

N/A N/A N/A

iii) Fiscal and non-fiscal incentives are subjective - no objective criteria that determine which staff will receive them, nor specification of type/amount of incentive No response in

short term. No activities in

short term. N/A N/A N/A

i) Develop fiscal and non-fiscal incentive policy and criteria for application of these incentives in the executive ii) Pilot testing of incentives policy in one municipality targeting executive and administrative unit of sakrebulo

i) Conduct study on current incentives being offered, and range of options based on staff feedback and best practices in new EU member states ii) Hold workshop for municipal executive and legislative representa-tives to gain buy-in on application of policy iii) Implement the pilot testing

i) KK project, independent experts, NALA, and municipalities ii) KK Project, NALA iii) KK Project and municipality

i) Influence policy based on experiences of pilot

i) Document best practices and lessons learned of pilot, and disseminate to relevant stakeholders

i) KK Project, NALA

iv) Performance criteria for staff are not yet defined. Not linked to annual work plans (which are subsequently linked to department work plans)



N/A N/A N/A

i).- Develop performance evaluation guidelines and procedures

i) Conduct study on current practices in performance assessment in Georgia and new EU member states

i) KK Project, independent experts, CEGSTAR

i) Influence policy on performance evaluation

i) Pilot testing of performance evaluation in one municipality ii)Documentation and dissemination of lessons learned

i).CEGSTAR, KK project, and independent consultants. Ii) KK Project


UNDP | 78

i) Lack of technically skilled staff in certain sectors In

divi

dua

l

No response in the short term. Beyond scope of project -

related to education reform, and other

factors.


N/A N/A N/A No response in medium-

term.

No activities in medium-term.

N/A N/A N/A No response in long term

No activities in long term

N/A N/A N/A


UNDP | 79

CD Response Table


Clu

ster

Priority Issue (Description)

CD

Lev

el

Short-Term Outputs (by end 2008)

Short-Term

Activities


Parties

Short-Term Costs

Short-Term Indi-

cators

Medium-Term

Outputs (2009 & 2010)

Medium-Term

Activities

Medium Term

Responsible Parties

Med- Term Costs

Med- Term

Indica-tors

Long-Term Outputs

(2011 and up)


Long–Term Responsible

Parties

Long-Term Costs

Long-Term Indi-

cators

Org

ani

zatio

nal

Arr

ang

emen

ts

i) Lack of alignment of local priorities and budget allocation provided by central government

Ena

blin

g E

nviro

nme

nt

No short-term

responses

No short-term

activities N/A N/A N/A

i) Increase awareness of municipal and central level stakeholders on lack of alignment and its impact on development at the local level

i) Hold workshop on BDD and MTEF processes for municipalities in KK Region to ascertain impediments to their participation and understanding and to increase dialogue between national stakeholders and municipalities in KK region

i) KK Project and Ministry of Finance

i) Influence national policy concerning BDD and MTEF processes vis-à-vis municipalities

i) Disseminate findings/ results of workshop to relevant stake-holders at national level.

i) Ministry of Finance


UNDP | 80

ii) Information fragmentation. Municipalities lack access to and/or understanding of key guidelines issued by central government (including budgeting, procurement, public expenditure management/ accounting and reporting, financial control, audit, laws and decrees, and delegated responsibilities)

No short-term

responses

No short- term


i) Establish clearing-house of information related municipal functions, responsibili-ties, processes/ procedures

i) Develop an inventory of all applicable laws, decrees, processes/ procedures relevant to municipal functions and responsibili-ties ii) Establish physical and e-library of information.

i) CEGSTAR and NALA

i) Clearly define functions, responsibilities, procedures and processes of municipalities.

i) Analysis of laws, decrees, legal acts, procedures, etc.

i) Central government

i) Weak horizontal coordination and information sharing between departments

i) Increase awareness of depart-ments in two pilot municipali-ties on need for improved communica-tion and information sharing

i) Functional analysis in collabora-tion with CEG-STAR (LINKED)

i). KK Project in cooperation with CEGSTAR

i) Improve coordination and information sharing between departments in two municipali-ties ii) Guidelines endorsed and applied by two municipali-ties

i) Develop guidelines on why and how information sharing between departments can occur ii) Organize briefing workshop on the draft guidelines

i) KK project and independent consultants

i) Scale up endorsement and application of guidelines by municipalities across Georgia

i) Documen-tation and dissemina-tion of best practices and lessons learned from pilot experience

i). Central government, NALA

ii) Lack of coordination between head of executive and departments

Org

aniz

atio

nal

i) Increase awareness of depart-ments and the head of the executive in two pilot municipali-ties on need for improved coordination


i) KK Project in cooperation with CEGSTAR

i) Improve coordination between executive and departments in two municipali-ties Ii) Guidelines on improved coordination endorsed and applied by two municipali-ties

i) Develop guidelines on why and how coordination should occur ii) Organize briefing workshop on the draft guidelines

i) KK project and independent consultants


i) Documen-tation and dissemina-tion of best practices and lessons learned from pilot experience



UNDP | 81

iii) Lack of clear reporting lines within departments

i) Mapping of existing reporting lines in all depart-ments in two munici-palities


i) KK Project in cooperation with CEGSTAR and two municipalities

i). Scaling up of application of guidelines to other munici-palities in KK Region

i) Codification of lessons drawn from functional analysis ii)Implemen-tation in five remaining municipalities

i) KK Project


i) Documen-tation and dis-semination of best practices and lessons learned from pilot experience in KK Region


iv) Lack of alignment and overlap of departments' functions to the services municipality has to provide

i). Mapping existing department functions vis-à-vis services in two pilot municipali-ties


i). KK Project in cooperation with CEGSTAR and two municipalities

i) Rationalize functions of departments with the services to be provided

i) Workshop with all KK Regional municipalities on findings on mapping and proposed changes ii) Implement changes in department structure and functions in 2 municipalities

i) KK Project ii) Two pilot municipalities, and office of governor at regional level

i) Replicate process in other five municipalities in KK region

i). Documenta-tion and dissemina-tion of best practices and lessons learned from pilot experience in KK Region ii) Implement the process across municipali-ties.

i) KK Project with independent consultants ii) Municipalities and regional administration

v) Limited transparency and understanding of financial management process within municipality

i) Mapping of existing budgeting and financial management process in all depart-ments in two municipali-ties


i) KK Project in cooperation with CEGSTAR and two municipalities

i) Improve transparency and understand-ing of financial management processes within departments in two pilot munici-palities

i) Workshop with all KK regional municipalities on findings of functional analysis and proposed changes ii) Implement changes in two municipalities

i) KK Project ii) Two pilot municipalities, and office of governor at regional level

i) Replicate process in other five municipalities in KK region

i) Documenta-tion and dissemina-tion of best practices and lessons learned from pilot experience in KK Region ii) Implement the process across municipali-ties.



UNDP | 82

vi) Lack of coordination and information sharing between regional and local administrations

i) Raise stakeholder awareness on issues concerning coordination and information sharing between municipal and regional administrations

i) Conduct study on existing practices and impedi-ments to coordina-tion and informa-tion sharing

i) KK Project

i) Improve coordination and information sharing between municipal and regional administra-tion in KK Region

i) Workshop with all KK Region municipalities on findings study and propositions ii) Implement changes in all municipalities in KK Region

i) KK Project ii) Municipalities, and office of governor at regional level

i) Influence national level stakeholders to endorse and replicate coordination and information sharing practices

i) Documenta-tion and dissemina-tion of best practices and lessons learned from pilot experience in KK Region ii) Implement the process across Georgia


No issues to address at this

level

Indi

vid

ual

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A


UNDP | 83

CD Response Table


Clu

ster


CD

Lev

el

Short-Term Responses

(by end 2008)



Parties

Short-Term Costs

Short-Term

Indica-tors

Medium-Term

Responses (2009 & 2010)

Medium-Term

Activities

Medium-Term

Responsible Parties

Med-Term Costs

Med-Term

Indicat-ors

Long-Term Responses

(2011 and up)

Long-term Activities

Long-Term Responsibl

e Parties

Long Term Costs

Long Term

Indica-tors

i) Lack of knowledge and understanding of Georgian language for many citizens

En

ablin

g E

nvi

ron

men

t

No short-term responses

No short-term activities

N/A N/A N/A

i) Increase awareness of municipal stakeholders to provide unofficial translation of documents for those who do not speak or read Georgian

i) Prepare information package on citizen rights and responsibilities in languages other than Georgian and distribute to across KK Region

i) KK Project, NGOs, municipalities

No long term responses -

heavily politically influenced

No long term activities

N/A N/A N/A

Ext

ern

al A

cco

un

tab

ility

i) Municipalities have weak communication culture concerning consultation with and dissemination of information to communities

Org

aniz

atio

nal

i) Strengthen external communication system of municipalities

i) Develop draft communica-tion strategy for two municipalities concerning consultation and information dissemination (including budget process and result)

i). KK Project and two pilot municipalities

i) Approval and implementa-tion of strategy by two pilot municipalities

i) Presentation by municipalities to citizens on communica-tion strategy ii) Select public information focal point within municipalities iii) Implement communication strategy

i). KK Project, municipalities ii). Municipalities iii) Two pilot municipalities

i) Raise awareness amongst five other municipalities in KK Region on need for communication strategy

i) Document experiences of two pilot municipalities and share strategy and lessons learned

i). KK Project


UNDP | 84

ii) Weak system among the municipalities to receive feedback from the community

i) Increase stakeholder awareness of issues related to existing community feedback mechanism

i) Prepare analytical study on strengths and weaknesses of current feedback mechanism

i) KK Project

i) Pilot test new/improved citizen feedback mechanism in two municipalities

i) Hold workshop with two pilot municipalities concerning findings of analytical report and other citizen feedback mechanisms ii) Select and implement new/improved citizen feedback mechanism

i) KK Project and municipalities ii) KK project and municipalities

i) Raise awareness amongst other municipalities in Georgia on need for new/improved community mechanism

i) Document experiences of two pilot municipalities and share lessons learned

i) KK Project, NALA

iii) Lack of horizontal accountability between executive and representative body



N/A N/A N/A

i) Strengthen and operationa-lize oversight mechanism

i) Conduct study on existing practices in two pilot municipalities, document strengths and weaknesses of system, and provide recommenda-tions for improvement ii) Discuss findings of study with two municipalities and implement agreed upon recommenda-tions

i) KK project and municipalities ii) KK Project and municipalities

i) Raise awareness amongst other municipalities in KK Region on need for new/improved oversight mechanism

i) Document experiences of two pilot municipalities and share lessons learned

i) KK Project, NALA


UNDP | 85

iv) Weak citizen participation in accountability mechanisms



N/A N/A N/A

i) Increased citizen participation in accountability mechanisms

i) Support community in self-organization efforts through provision of examples/ models utilized in other countries and elsewhere in Georgia

i) KK project, selected communities in two2 pilot municipalities

i) Raise awareness amongst other municipalities and communities on community self-organization efforts

i) Document experiences and share lessons learned

i) KK project

No issues at this level

I nd i v i dua l

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

CD Response Table


Clu

ster


CD

Lev

el

Short-Term Responses

(by end 2008)



Parties

Short-Term Costs

Short-Term

Indica-tors

Medium-Term Responses

(2009 & 2010)

Medium-Term

Activities

Medium-Term

Responsible Parties

Med-term

Costs

Med-term

Indica-tors

Long-Term Responses

(2011 and up)


Long-Term Responsibl

e Parties

Long-Term Costs

Long-Term

Indica-tors

Str

ateg

y an

d P

lan

nin

g

i) Lack of central government issued methodology/guidelines for data collection, storage and analysis

En

ablin

g E

nvi

ron

men

t

i) Increase stakeholder awareness of existing data collection, sharing, storage and analysis practices

i) Conduct review of current municipal, line ministry, and Statistics Department practices in area of data collection etc. and provide recommendations for improvement ii) Workshop for relevant central and regional government authorities and municipalities to present findings and recommendations of review

i) KK Project, CEGSTAR, Statistical Department ii) KK Project

i). Influence national policy concerning data collection, sharing, storage, and analysis

i) Establish a working group at the national level on local level data collection, sharing, storing, and analysis ii) Pilot testing in two or three municipalities based on recommenda-tions made in the review

i) UNDP CO and UN Country team, relevant national government stakeholders ii) KK Project

No long-term

responses No long-term



UNDP | 87

ii). Lack of planning methodology and guidelines from the central government for the municipalities

i) Increase stakeholder understanding on current planning methodologies in use ii). Increase stakeholder understanding on impediments to strategy implementation

i) Conduct study on current planning methodologies in use ii) provide recommendations on a comprehensive planning methodology for consideration by national government

i). KK Project, donors ii) other partners who have developed other planning methodologies

i) Influence national policy concerning standardized planning methodology

i) Workshop for relevant national and local stakeholders to discuss findings of study and endorse a standardized planning methodology

i) UNDP CO, other donors who have developed planning methodolo-gies, relevant national government stakeholders

i) Apply standardized planning methodology across Georgia

i)Conduct training of trainers of relevant national government staff to ensure that local level staff will be trained in new methodology

i) To be determined

i) Lack of proper participatory planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation mechanism for projects and activities

Org

aniz

atio

nal

i) Increase stakeholder awareness and capacity concerning participatory planning, implementation guidelines, and need for/purpose of monitoring and evaluation

i) Conduct stakeholder analysis and form working groups ii) Provide training for working groups on participatory planning iii) Data collection and situation analysis

i) KK project ii) local coordinators

i) Introduce participatory planning, implementation, M&E culture in two or three municipalities and regional government

i) Train department(s) on participatory planning, budgeting, implementa-tion, M&E methodology ii) Implementa-tion of selected pilot projects

i) KK Project

i) Scaling up to four or five other municipalities in KK Region

i) Documenta-tion and dissemination of lessons learned and best practices from the pilot projects to other municipalities

i). KK Project


UNDP | 88

ii). Lack of practice to share information with other municipalities within Kvemo Kartli region in relation to strategy development and planning

i) Introduce concepts of inter-municipal cooperation and partnership to facilitate more effective and efficient strategy development, planning and implementation

i) Conduct study on best practices in inter-municipal cooperation in Georgia and new EU member states and accession countries ii) Hold symposium for interested municipal stakeholders on findings of study

i) KK Project

i) Facilitate inter-municipal cooperation in regards to strategy development and project implementation

i) Implement selected pilot projects with criteria that will encourage inter-municipal cooperation in terms of planning and implementa-tion

i) KK Project

No long-term

responses No long-term


i). Lack of technical and experienced staff to carry out the planning and budgeting activities

Ind

ivid

ual

Addressed at organizational

level and through

functional analysis

Addressed at organizational

level and through functional analysis

Appendix III

Executive Summary of Institutional Baseline Mapping Report

Strengthening Regional and Local Governance in the Kvemo Kartli region project started its

implementation by UNDP in September 2007 with financial assistance from SIDA. The

project has the following objectives:

Improved regional governance: Increased capacity of the regional government to coordinate and facilitate the formulation and implementation of the regional development strategy and plans.

Improved local governance: Improved capacity of municipal officials to streamline administrative procedures and systems for efficient delivery of public services.

Secure policy mainstreaming of the project’s experience: Documented policy experience of the project. Attempts taken to ensure that the experience of the project is utilized by other districts in the country as well as by policy makers at the national level.

Through a combination of capacity development tools, the project tries to enhance the

seven municipalities and the region’s ability to be both better governed and to deliver

services to the full spectrum of local citizens, thus counteracting poverty and disadvantage

in the region.

In order to implement these objectives, the Kvemo Kartli project initiated a capacity

assessment by undertaking an institutional baseline mapping exercise to find out capacity

strengths and weaknesses. The institutional baseline mapping exercise has covered the

following thematic areas:






6. Communication and implementation

There is also a separate chapter of questionnaires covering issues and challenges related to

the Sakrebulo (representative body)7.

Organization and human resource management issues

The following organizational/human resource management issues have been documented:

Organizational structure

7 In this document, Sakrebulo will be referred to as the representative body


UNDP | 90

Functional responsibilities

Job descriptions and appraisal

Staffing and qualifications

Recruitment, appraisal and promotion (human resource management system)

Training and human resource development

Office equipment/facilities

Based on these management issues, some broad conclusions can be made:

The structure and number of staff within departments vary in each municipality.

Even if the roles and responsibilities of departments are clearly defined by law, it is

not clear to most of the departments.

Functions of the regional administration are defined in the law in very general terms.

The governance system of the region and municipalities as a whole is based on a

strong upward accountability. Efficiency in administration, and ultimately in service

delivery, is compromised as there is a considerable lack of clarity of functional

responsibilities. Civil servants are occupied with ad hoc activities given by the head

of the executive.

The ratio of the civil servant to the population is 1:891. Most of the civil servants are

young and have one to ten years of experience. The ratio of minority staff to the

total staff is very low, even though the minority population in the particular

municipalities is very high. Local authorities decide their staffing structure and cover

the salary costs.

There is significant training focused on the dissemination of information about new

rules, regulations and policies. There is not, however, a sequenced program of

training linked to wider policy objectives that targets a broad base of staff.

Moreover, training is not systematically provided on the basis of identified training

needs.

There does not appear to be any performance orientation in the current training

system.

The decree of the Sakrebulo (representative body) defines the functions of

departments, which determine individual job descriptions. But some of the

departments within different municipalities do not have individual job descriptions.

There is no formalized system of recruitment or of promotion and performance

evaluation of civil servants. Recruitment of civil servants is done by the head of the


UNDP | 91

executive8 with recommendations from heads of different department.

Performance of civil servants is measured by the head of the executive.


This section reviews the current planning process at both the regional and municipal levels.

Some of the important issues in this sector have been explained below:

Almost all municipalities mentioned the lack of a short‐, mid‐ or long‐term

socioeconomic development strategy or plan. The exceptions are Tetritskaro,

Dmanisi and Rustavi, who have recently started this process, but they do not follow

a particular methodology.

At the regional level, long‐term plans are being prepared with support from UNDP,

EC, OSCE and ACH.

Municipal plans are prepared on an ad hoc basis. The primary purpose of the

municipal annual planning process is to define financial priorities as a part of the

annual budgeting process.

Some municipalities' Decrees of the Representative Body on the Regulation of

Activities of the Executive do not define clearly which department is responsible for

the development and implementation of annual, medium and long‐term

socioeconomic development plans.

The problems in the planning process can be summarized as: lack of legislation and

supporting decrees or documents that enable local authorities to prepare their

socioeconomic development plans; lack of linkage between the planning and

budgeting processes; lack of authentic data for analysis; and lack of involvement of

all stakeholders.

No formal coordination mechanism exists within the municipalities. The head of the

executive calls for weekly meetings among departments to discuss various issues.

Most of the time, different departments try to coordinate with other departments

informally rather than by sending formal letters.


The following elements of budgeting and financial management have been documented:

The budget preparation process

Accounting and financial reporting systems

8 In this document Gamgeoba will be referred as executive


UNDP | 92

Internal audit mechanisms

Arrangements for cash management

The review highlights a series of weaknesses in the current system in relation to procedures,

reporting and capacity issues. For example:

Weak linkages between capital and recurrent expenditure systems and

misclassifications of capital and recurrent schemes;

A significant degree of central control combined with a lack of local funds

Recurrent expenditures are very high in some municipalities. This gives very little

scope to the municipal administration to plan for their developmental activities.

Current internal auditing mechanisms look strong having three types of auditing

practices: inbuilt audit, which is done by the department of finance; external audit,

which is done by external auditors hired by the representative body; and finally,

central audit from the state chamber of control, which audits special projects.

Procurement and service delivery

This section is concerned with the procurement and service delivery processes at both the

regional and municipal levels. Some of the findings in this section can be summarized as

follows:

There is considerable misunderstanding and misinformation concerning present

procurement practices.

Some municipalities have established permanent committees, and some of the

municipalities have temporary committees with no permanent members.

Private sector capacity varies across the region. Some of the public services, which

are delivered with support from the private sector, are electricity, gas, water

provision, road construction, garbage collection, public health, sport, and culture

and youth services. Some of the public services are provided by organizations (LTDs)

established by municipalities.

Existing operations and maintenance of services by regional and municipal

administrations are limited. Some operations and maintenance expenditures are

budgeted under capital projects, which are not guaranteed or regular. There is no

scheduling of operations and maintenance. All municipalities are using an ad hoc,

reactive approach to operations and maintenance needs.


UNDP | 93

Communication strategy and implementation

The following are some of the highlights of this section:

The information among different departments of the executive is shared formally

and informally. The formal sharing of information is done via regular meetings with

the head of the executives and by official letters. Information from the community is

collected by the executive representatives based within the community.

Information is not commonly shared with other municipalities.

Information sharing between the municipal and local population is done by

representatives of the executive within the community; local newspaper, television,

radio, or promotional posters; and by members of representative body.

Information sharing practices of municipalities are reactive and not proactive in

nature. According to the law, information is open to the public. Citizens can write

an official request to municipalities or to the regional office of the governor and

collect information. However, they have to pay a nominal fee for this service.

Monitoring and evaluation

In general, there is no special mechanism in place for monitoring and evaluation.

Some of the activities, which are monitored at the municipal level, are the following:

o A contract is signed between the executive and different organizations to

undertake certain service delivery activities. Standards and conditions

towards the project or service delivery are clearly defined in these contracts.

A special commission of the executive inspects and assesses implemented

works, conducts field visits and prepares reports. The commission

recommends the department of finance to release payment after the

evaluation of the performance of the project.

o Each department prepares an annual work plan on the basis of that plan and

implements activities. They report to the head of the executive on a monthly

basis, and the head of the executive monitors different activities undertaken

by the departments. This report also gives enough scope to different heads

of departments to monitor the performance of individual staff members.

Some of the indicators used by municipalities to monitor results are time, quality

and opinion of the local population.


UNDP | 94

Representative body of local self‐government

The issues and challenges of the representative body of municipalities can be summarized

as follows:

Lack of knowledge of Georgian language is an impediment.

Lack of basic equipment for the members of the representative body to make their

work efficient and effective.

Low understanding of local self‐governance among representative body members.

Lack of budget to cover travel expenses makes it difficult for members to visit the

community regularly.

Lack of high qualifications and understanding of the nuances of the law.

Perceived closeness of the regional office of the governor to the executive body of

municipalities makes the representative body much weaker.


UNDP | 95

Appendix IV

Prioritized Capacity Gaps (In consultation with the stakeholders)

1. Lack of formalized HRM (recruitment, promotion, incentive, performance

evaluation and community feedback mechanism) system.

- Mismatch of functions and skills

- Lack of job descriptions (coverage, quality and inconsistency in format)

- Unclear or inappropriate criteria at municipalities for staffing structure (level

and number)

2. Inappropriate or inadequate organizational set up (overlapping of functions, lack

of clarity in roles and responsibilities among staff of different departments,

inappropriate horizontal coordination, lack of clearly defined reporting lines)

- Lack of service orientation, while designing functions of departments at

municipality level

- Inefficient and ineffective service delivery by the local administration

3. Inadequate practice in the assignment of powers, functions and responsibilities for

representative body

- Limited understanding of local self governance among representative body

members

4. Lack of short‐, medium‐, and long‐term strategies

- Lack of methodology for designing strategies

- Lack of clarity on responsibility of any particular department to design

strategy for municipality

- Lack of proper participatory planning, implementation, monitoring and

evaluation mechanism for projects and activities

- Lack of planning methodology and guidelines from the central government

for the municipalities

- Limited scope for responding to local priorities

- Lack of technical and experienced staff to carry out the planning and

budgeting activities

5. Lack of weak communication culture


UNDP | 96

- Dissemination of information with community

- Lack of access to information for the municipalities (civil servants) regarding

the revision of law and decree by the central government

- Lack of knowledge and understanding of Georgian language for many civil

servants and representative body members in some of the municipalities

- Inappropriate system among the municipalities to receive feedback from the

community

- Lack of practice to share information with other municipalities within the

Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia

- Lack of dialogue between local and central government

6. Accountability

- Lack of downward accountability (executives towards community members)

- Lack of motivation to form village development committee in most of the

villages

- Strong upward accountability mechanisms to central government (e.g.

present procurement procedures force local self government to be more

accountable to central government than the local population)

- Lack of horizontal accountability between line departments staff and elected

representatives (municipal council and representative body)

7. Lack of specific methodology/guidelines for data collection, storage and analysis

- Uncoordinated effort among municipal departments and the regional office

of the governor for data collection

- Inconsistency in data at municipal level

8. Lack of common understanding of guidelines issued by central government for

budgeting, procurement, public expenditure management (accounting and

reporting, financial control and audit)

- Limited transparency of budgeting and financial management process

- Lack of linking budgetary planning with socioeconomic development plans

ppendix‐V

Sample questionnaire for planning and coordination component

Baseline mapping

Strengthening local and regional governance in the Kvemo Kartli region

Department/Organisation

Interviewer

Date

2. Planning and Coordination

2.1 What is the current status of regional development strategy and municipality action plans?

Approved Completely finished Partially finished Not started yet

Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No


UNDP | 98

2.2 Which donor/donors supported preparation of the regional development strategy and municipality action plans?

Sl No Name of the donors

1

2

3

4

2.3 Does the municipality have any other long‐term and short‐term strategies?

Yes No

2.4 If yes, then what are they?

1

2

3

4


UNDP | 99

2.5 Does the municipality have any specific methodologies to develop strategy/action plans?

Yes No

2.6 If yes, then what are those methodologies?

1

2

3

2.7 Name of the stakeholders involved in preparing the municipality strategy or action plans?

1

2

3


UNDP | 100

strengthening regional and local governance in the kvemo kartli region

Documents

thekvemokartli region

kvemo kartli region

series of projects

capacity developmentapproach

solutions forsomeof

numerous laws

streets todemandreform

broad responsibilities