GUIDELINES FOR THE PREPARATION OF CONCEPT NOTES FOR RESIDUAL BALANCES OF THE DEVELOPMENT ACCOUNT (2014-2015)
These guidelines are issued to assist implementing entities in developing structured concept notes for projects to be considered for funding from the residual balance resulting from the 5th and 6th tranches of the of the Development Account (DA). Entities need to use the Word document template available on the DA website for completing the concept notes. The deadline for submitting concept notes is 14 March 2014. The concept notes should be submitted electronically to Martin Kraus () and Mikael Rosengren (). Samples of concept notes used for the 9th tranche can be fund on the website at: http://www.un.org/esa/devaccount/projects/proposed_projects.html document.
1. THEME FOR THE RESIDUAL BALANCE (same as for the regular 9th tranche)
Based on the recommendation of the Development Account Steering Committee, the Programme Manager of the Development Account established the theme of the 9th tranche as: Supporting Member States in designing and implementing strategies and policies towards sustainable, equitable and inclusive development. This theme is closely aligned to the Rio +20 outcomes, and the Development Account’s overall objective of ‘enhancing capacities of developing countries in the priority areas of the UN Development Agenda’. As the projects to be funded from the residual balance will be programmed along the regular 9th tranche projects, the theme for the residual balance will remain the same as for the regular 9th tranche.
2. GENERAL ASSEMBLY ESTABLISHED CRITERIA
All projects submitted for funding should be guided by the following criteria established by the GA:
Ø Result in durable, self-sustaining initiatives to develop national capacities, with measurable impact at field level, ideally having multiplier effects;
Ø Be innovative and take advantage of information and communication technology, knowledge management and networking of expertise at the sub regional, regional and global levels;
Ø Utilize the technical, human and other resources available in developing countries and effectively draw on the existing knowledge/skills/capacity within the UN Secretariat;
Ø Create synergies with other development interventions and benefit from partnerships with non-UN stakeholders.
3. ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE PROVIDED
The concept notes should draw on the policy guidance provided by the General Assembly in its resolution A/RES/67/226 on the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR) of the operational activities for development, notably on the contribution of United Nations operational activities to national capacity development and development effectiveness as well as the improved functioning of the United Nations development system in terms of coherence and effectiveness, including through the role of the resident coordinator system facilitating the contribution of non-resident agencies in the country programming processes.
It is desirable that consultations be conducted with relevant development partners as well as, when appropriate, with Resident Coordinators and UN Country Teams in countries concerned, to ensure that the project is effectively responding to needs and priorities of Member States.
Recognizing the relative modesty of resources available to the Account and strong guidance by Member States to attain tangible and measurable outcomes in capacity development, it is advised that the implementing entities target the projects to address the needs of selected beneficiary countries to ensure that the projects yield maximum benefit and impact.
4. TIMELINE
14 February 2014: / Programme Manager requested Implementing Entities to submit concept notes14 March 2014 / Deadline for submitting concept notes
April 2014 / - Development Account Programme Management Team (DA PMT) discusses short list with Focal Points.
- Presents the short list of projects to the Steering Committee for review and endorsement.
- The Programme Manager subsequently approves the list based on the recommendation of the Steering Committee
April 2014 / DA PM Team submits the concept notes to the Review Group, for quality assurance processes, and works with implementing entities to finalize concept notes
May 2014 / Programme Manager submits a information note to PPBD with a summary of the concept notes for transmission to ACABQ
May-June 2014 / Implementing Entities prepare project documents based on the concept notes using internal quality assurance mechanisms.
September 2014 / Deadline for submission of project documents to DA PMT
December 2017 / Projects are expected to have been successfully completed
5. MAIN ELEMENTS OF THE CONCEPT NOTES
Concept notes need to include the following elements (template is available on the DA website),
i. Title
ii. Implementing entity and partners
iii. Background
iv. Relationship to the Strategic Framework for the period 2014-2015 and the Millennium Development Goals
v. Objective
vi. Expected accomplishments
vii. Indicators of achievement
viii. Main activities
ix. Budget narrative
These components are expanded on below:
i. Title
The title should reflect the main programmatic thrust of the project. It should be short, concise, one sentence long and include an indication as to who will be the main beneficiaries, including the geographical scope of the project, and what capacities will be strengthened. The scope of the project should be realistic and commensurate with the project’s budget. Elements of titles normally include: Strengthening of capacities of (beneficiaries) in (countries / sub-regions / regions) on (substance of the project).
ii. Implementing entity and partners
This section should list the implementing entities starting with the main entity. Normally the partners are UN Secretariat entities and, in some cases, other UN funds and programmes, if they have a major role to play.
Concept notes which involve collaboration and/or cooperation with other UN Secretariat partners should be shared, with them, for comments and agreement, in principle, to participate.
iii. Background:
The background needs to be concise and describe the (a) development issue that the project intends to address. This section should spell out what are the capacity assets, needs and priorities of the target countries which the project intends to work with, and emphasize the demand emanating from these countries. (b) It should refer to the most recent intergovernmental legislation in this area and the mandate which calls for action. When relevant, it should make reference to how the activities respond to Rio+20 outcomes. (c) This section should explain how the project fits with the overall normative and analytical work of your Department, and detail your comparative advantages in this area. (d) It should highlight lessons learned and achievements from earlier projects in the area, when applicable. (e) It should elaborate on the implementation arrangements with project partners within the UN Secretariat and with the broader UN System and funds and programmes and specialized agencies, where appropriate.
iv. Relationship to the Strategic Framework for the period 2014-2015 and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs):
The section should provide a reference to the relevant expected accomplishment(s) of the concerned sub programmes of the Strategic Framework for the period 2014-2015 (please include it for all UN Secretariat partners). This section should indicate which MDG(s) the project intends to contribute to.
Example: Economic and social affairs subprogramme 8 (Public administration and development management); Millennium Development Goal 8.
v. Objective:
The objective is the overall intended goal of the project. The project’s delivery will contribute to the attainment of the objective, but may not be fully achieved during the implementation period of the project. It should be concise, not longer than one sentence; it should include the beneficiaries and the geographical scope and should not attempt to explain how the implementing entity intends to go about achieving the objective, ie should not include ‘through’. There should be only one objective. Examples of objectives include: to increase national / local government capacity to identify/ apply/ develop…; to assist countries with the formulation of national/ local policies on…; to increase the capacities of institutions and/or ministries….
vi. Expected accomplishments (EA):
The EAs describe the desirable future conditions of the individual stakeholders or institutional changes of partner organizations or the society as a whole that can be reasonably attributed to or associated with the project. Expected accomplishments should be achievable within the project timeframe and budget, and specific enough to be measured by the associated indicators of achievement. A clear distinction should be made between the expected accomplishments (results) and the activities utilized for achieving each of them. The activities are the means that should result in the achievement of one expected accomplishment. There should be a maximum of three expected accomplishments that contribute to the achievement of the objective. Examples of expected accomplishments include: increased levels of knowledge and awareness of…; increased skills in…; increased understanding of…; establishment of a network to…; improved organization of…; adoption of international measures of….
vii. Indicators of achievement:
Indicators of achievement are tools that serve different management purposes throughout the project’s life: monitoring the progress of ongoing activities as the project is implemented and, upon its completion, assessing whether, and to what extent, the stated expected accomplishments have been achieved. Every indicator must provide clearly defined units of measurement and targets, detailing the quantity, quality and timing of expected results.
Many projects use indictors measuring outcomes of training activities. These indicators should not measure only the number of people trained. Instead they should aim at measuring how participants or their organizations use the skills and knowledge gained to achieve the specific goals set out at the workshops, like for example action plans created, legislations drafted, methodologies developed.
Examples of indicators include: increased number of national/ local personnel able to identify/ apply/develop…; increased number of project countries/ institutions utilizing; national policy or strategy documents reflecting (substance of the project); increased number of countries developing action plans or executing action plans
Entities are encouraged to include benchmarks for all indicators. When providing benchmarks, it should be ensured that there is a baseline for measurement or assessment of change quantitatively and/or qualitatively.
viii. Main activities:
Main activities are actions to be taken to achieve the expected accomplishments. Well-formulated activities should answer the question, “What are the best specific actions that need to be taken by the project team, in cooperation with the beneficiaries, to achieve the expected accomplishments?” Examples of main activities include: workshops/seminars; publications; training modules and advisory services.
Each activity should have a code that clearly links it to the expected accomplishment it contributes to, i.e. A1.3 contributes to EA1.
Logical Framework
The four elements outlined above (objective, expected accomplishments, indicators and main activities) need to be clearly linked through a logical framework. In order to ascertain the validity of the logical framework, a top down and bottom up review should be conducted.
Top down questions:
1. How can the objective be met? …By achieving the expected accomplishments.
2. How can the expected accomplishments be achieved? ...By delivering the main activities.
Bottom up questions:
1. If the project delivers the main activities, will they contribute to achieving the expected accomplishments?
2. If the project achieves the expected accomplishments, will this help meeting the objective?
ix. Budget narrative:
The funding envelope of the residual balance is expected to be around $6.0 million. It is expected that about 10 - 12 projects will be funded under the residual balance, with an average budget of $500,000 per project. The funding distribution among the implementing entities will be in line with past tranches. Projects which involve more than two implementing entities may have higher budgets, while staying within the overall budget allocation of the participating entities.
The projects should make use of existing human resources capacities within the implementing entities. In light of this guidance from the intergovernmental process, the use of General Temporary Assistance (GTA) and consultancies should be limited. Whenever feasible, national and regional consultants should be used to draw on local knowledge and expertise and to promote sustainability in the country. The same applies to the use of contractual services with local and regional institutions and/or NGOs to support selected activities of the projects. At least two percent of the total budget needs to be allocated for the final evaluation.
The eight budget categories used to prepare the concept paper are:
a. General temporary assistance
GTA is to be used to assist in administrative matters and backstopping of limited substantive tasks through recruitment of temporary staff normally to be placed within the entity implementing the project. As the projects are to be implemented largely with existing human resources, GTA should be of a limited duration. The Development Account does not fund staff positions.
b. Consultants
A distinction should be made between international consultants and national/regional consultants. The proposed budget should provide details on the purpose(s) of the consultants, and a breakdown of fees, and their related travel. Resource persons, such as panellists at meetings, workshops and seminars should be budgeted under consultancies and not under workshops. A minimum of 2% should be budgeted for the final external evaluation of the project.
c. Expert group Meetings
Expert groups meetings (EGMs) are organized to provide expert advice to the implementing entity e.g. in the context of finalizing methodologies, studies etc. EGMs are not intended to be used for strengthening knowledge and/ or developing skills of the participants from the target countries. If the main purpose of a meeting is to transfer knowledge and skills to the target countries (including government official and national experts) then such a meeting should be budgeted under workshops. If experts to an EGM receive a fee for services provided in the context of the EGM such costs should be budgeted under consultancies.
d. Travel of staff
This budget line should be used for all staff travel against the project (participation in expert groups, workshops, and provision of advisory services). The project should foresee (and allocate) funds for travel of UN staff from the implementing partners, if it is a part of the implementation plan. Travel of UN staff should not be budgeted under workshops or EGMs.
e. Contractual services
Contractual services are used for institutional contracts with NGOs, national or regional institutions or commercial providers for specialised inputs to the project such as preparing and printing publications, organizing certain project activities, through subcontract or grant arrangements, etc. The use of local and regional institutions and/or NGOs, when it can facilitate the delivery of the project, is seen as a good practice.