Experts to develop public expenditure tracking system methodology for the sectors of power and social affairs

Entity Background

Transparency International Lebanon (TI-LB) was established in 1999 with the aim of reducing rampant corruption in Lebanon, promoting the principles of transparency and accountability, establishing the rule of law and respecting the fundamental rights inaugurated in international laws and the Lebanese Constitution, by focusing on systematic improvement, building alliances, and encouraging civil society organizations to take measures towards transparency and accountability. LTA later became the national chapter of Transparency International (TI).  

Our mission is to promote transparency and integrity as well as prevent and fight corruption through collaboration, advocacy and active engagement, in public, private and non-governmental organizations, contributing thus to the fulfillment of our vision of a Lebanon with well governed, transparent and accountable institutions, free of corruption and built on the rule of law. 

TI-LB has worked to enhance transparency in the public and private sectors in Lebanon for more than a decade, by implementing a number of projects that ranged from contributing to the development to lobbying the anti-corruption laws (such as the draft law on the Right to Access to Information, the Whistleblowers Protection Law, the Asset and Interest Declaration and the Punishment of Illicit Enrichment Law etc.), and the monitoring of parliamentary elections since 2009, in addition to other projects aimed at empowering youth and municipalities on issues related to good governance. 

TI-LB was selected as a member of the first Independent Oversight Board (IOB) for the Reform, Recovery and Reconstruction Framework (3RF), which is a framework launched by the World Bank Group (WBG), United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), Civil society, Lebanon’s government, and the international community in response to the aftermath of the Beirut Port explosion.  

The framework for Reform, Recovery and Reconstruction (the 3RF) is part of a comprehensive response to the massive explosion on the Port of Beirut on August 4, 2020. The 3RF is structured around four strategic pillars: (1) improving governance and accountability; (2) jobs and opportunities; (3) social protection, inclusion, and culture; and (4) improving services and infrastructure. Each pillar identifies a set of strategic objectives and priority areas across both the recovery track and the reform and reconstruction track.

For the first time, and through the 3RF governance structure, CSOs have the opportunity to actively engage and contribute to implementation or monitoring of reconstruction and reforms efforts. 

Project Background

The project – Strengthening Accountability Networks among Civil Society (SANCUS) – aims to contribute to enhancing democratic accountability of public institutions, specifically by empowering civil society organizations (CSOs) to push for a fundamental change to address accountability and anti-corruption discrepancies.

SANCUS countries (Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Gambia, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Maldives, Morocco, Nigeria, Palestine, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Zimbabwe) demonstrate certain common accountability and anti-corruption deficiencies, with various differences according to context. On the supply side of accountability, these deficiencies typically include a lack of integrity in state institutions as well as weaknesses of oversight institutions. This is often accompanied by a frail rule of law, which impedes the implementation of formal rules. On the demand side, CSO led accountability initiatives are increasingly challenging due to shrinking civic space and the exclusion of affected communities from policy and budgetary processes.

The Lebanese version of SANCUS project sheds the light on the opacity and lack of accountability in budget formulation, execution and oversight due to the absence of robust national budgeting process coupled with weak oversight of public funds and lack of transparency, enhancing risks of embezzlement, bribery and personal profit and resulting in growing citizen mistrust in the Lebanese state. Some of the sectors most affected by poor budgeting and corruption are power and social affairs.

Therefore, the main objective of SANCUS Lebanon is to improve the responsiveness of duty bearers by pushing for reform in the power, health and social affairs sectors, as well as encouraging greater citizen participation in budgetary processes through four components:

Democratic Accountability Problem:

Core problem: Opacity and lack of accountability in budget formulation, execution and oversight. 

Root causes: Absence of robust national budgeting process coupled with weak oversight of public funds and lack of transparency, enhancing risks of embezzlement, bribery and personal profit.

The effect: Growing citizen mistrust in the Lebanese state. Some of the sectors most affected by poor budgeting and corruption are energy and social affairs.

Main Objective: Improve the responsiveness of duty bearers by pushing for reform in the energy and social sectors, as well as encouraing greater  participation in budgetary processes.

Network Building: 

1- Establish national -taskforce among CSOs working on governance issues that meets quarterly to coordinate advocacy efforts.

2- Organise a training workshop for CSOs and investigative journalists focused on Public Participation in Budget Processes and the importance of budget reform.

Vertical Accountability Action: 

1- Adapt and adopt the TI-developed Public Participation in Budget Processes Assessement Tool

2- Produce Public Participation in Budget Processes Assessment report and conduct findings-based advocacy through target and mass dissemintation

3- Develop a CSO budget monitoring tool to assess the use of funds in the sectors of energy and social affairs

4- Organize a training workshop for CSOs and investigative journalists focused on Public Expenditure monitoring

5- Monitor anti-corruption budget reforms in the energy and social affairs sectors

6- Launch advocacy campaigns (including bilateral meetings, social media posts, press releases if needed and relevant to the general context) centred on the identified reforms needed to strengthen governmental budgetary processes in the two sectors of interest – energy and social affairs 

Horizontal Accountability Actions:

1- Adapt and adopt INTOSAI’s Resource Guide for Civil Society Organizations to the Lebanese Context

2- Develop an oversight institutions tracker tool to monitor the oversight bodies’ commitment to curbing corruption from a CSO perspective by analyzing the cases these oversight bodies process. The results will be posted online and into charts and graphs that would help simplify the findings

3- Monitor the Central Inspection Bureau and the Court of Audit in terms of cases of corruption, mass media and international reports related to targeted institutions and conducting bilateral interviews (joint assessment)

4- Conduct two meetings with decision makers and oversight institutions to build consensus and momentum on recommendations for improved policies and procedures.

5- Launch advocacy campaigns (including bilateral meetings, social media posts, press releases if needed and relevant to the general context) centred on the identified recommendations to enhance accountability through strengthening the role of SAI.

Scope of work

Under this project, TI-LB aims to recruit a consultant to undertake an assessment of public participation in budget process. The consultant’s responsibility is to adapt a TI-designed public participation in budget processes assessment toolkit to the Lebanese context. The assessment tool generally aims to generate evidence around the depth and quality of public participation in countries assessed. In the context of Lebanon, the consultant is expected to adopt the toolkit upon its adaptation to carry out an assessment of the levels of readiness for participation and actual participation in budget processes in the sectors of power and social affairs.

The exercise will result in a report that would 1) determine the readiness of public institutions to facilitate participation through assessing the depth and quality of the framework considerations to facilitate pubic participation in budget processes, 2) assess the design and implementation of participatory initiatives, processes, or mechanisms through assessing the depth and quality of actual public participation in existing budget processes and mechanisms, and inform advocacy efforts and present lessons learnt through a resource guide by assessing the extent to which participation has contributed to responsiveness, inclusive outcomes.

TI-LB seeks to use the consolidated evidence from the assessment to formulate targeted advocacy campaigns aiming at enhancing fiscal transparency through promoting participation in the public budgeting processes, most particularly in sectors that are vital to citizens’ needs and rights.

Proposal Submission

Required Competencies:

The Researcher(s) should have the following knowledge and experience:

•  Master Degree in Economics, Political Science or related fields
•  Experience in public budgeting

Methodology

Applicants are requested to send the methodology they are willing to follow to perform the task.

Financial Proposal:

Applicants are requested to send a detailed Financial Proposal that includes all costs related to developing the policy paper.

Award criteria

TI-LB will award the Contract to the Candidate whose proposal has been determined to be substantially responsive to the documents of the Request for Proposal and which has obtained the highest overall score.

Relevance, technical expertise, language skills, education, analytical skills (20 points)

Realistic and adequate work plan in responding to the scope of work and activities, with clear timeframe and milestones leading to the set deliverables (20 points)

Proposed Methodology (30 points)

Technical Expertise in Power and Social Affairs (20 points)

Experience with similar assignments (10 points)