Major Decisions and Next Steps: Meeting of the Working Group of the Joint Venture for Procurement

The meeting of the Working Group of the Joint Venture for Procurement was held on 13-14 September 2006 at the UNDP headquarters in New York, New York, United States.

1. Participants

Jocelyn Comtois: Co-Chair, Henry Malinga: Co-Chair, Fernando Fernandez: InterAmerican Development Bank, Pam Bigart: World Bank, Mari Matsumoto: UNDP, Mogens Strunge Larsen: Nordic+ bilateral donors, Kirsten Ejlskov-Jensen: UNDP, Micheal Lawrance: OECD-DAC Secretariat 

2. Summary: Major Decisions

a) The working group discussed and agreed on some of the key issues:

• We need to address how to proceed in a harmonized way to develop a methodology and a process for the field pilot exercise.
• In accordance with the Paris Declaration, we need to be able to measure and to report on the progress achieved in strengthening procurement systems.
• We must explore ways to deal with the areas of weakness that are identified.

b) It was discussed and agreed that the JV, in a harmonized way, will be able to foster a consistent approach and methodology to assessing the quality and measuring the performance of a public procurement system by means of a managed field pilot exercise.

c) The objectives of the pilots will be:

• To test version 4 under varying country conditions.
• To draw lessons and update the methodology and tool, as agreed.
• To test the ability of the tool to support the partner country in developing a capacity development strategy and Action Plan.
• To harmonize an approach to implement the Action Plan.
• To define reporting needs, including the criteria, nature and extent of information to be reported.
• To explore ways to increase the capacity of partner countries’ public procurement systems, while enhancing opportunities for donor involvement in the strengthening process.

d)  The “process model” describing how the pilots are to be carried out will be:

• Phase 1 – benchmarking / assessment of the system using the version 4 Benchmarking and Assessment Tool and Methodology; the results of the self-assessment by the partner or the donor-assisted assessment must be validated by means of an open, transparent and objective process of validation between the partner and donors. The result has to be deemed satisfactory by all parties and be reliable enough for all donors and the partner to use for their respective purposes, such as in Phase 2.
• Phase 2 – development of the Capacity Development Action Plan using the results of Phase 1. The intended outcome is not to serve as a justification for additional donor funding but to strengthen the procurement capacity of the partner government.
• Phase 3 – implementation of the Action Plan and periodic measurement / reporting of achievements and any necessary adjustments to the Action Plan. It will be important to be able to report and measure improvements.

It was agreed the pilot exercise will end with a report of the results achieved to date to the HLF3. Each Action Plan will continue after the HLF3 as part of the pilot partner country’s ongoing development program.

e) The selection process to identify the pilot countries includes the following:

• A letter will be sent from the Chair, OECD-DAC Working Party for Aid Effectiveness (WP-EFF), to all partner country adherents of the Paris Declaration (copied to all JV members) in which the country will be invited to submit an “Expression of Interest” which responds to the following criteria:

• Upon reception by the DAC Secretariat of the Expressions of Interest, the donor members of the JV will be informed in order for them to then consult with their respective field offices in these partner countries. The objective will be to identify a lead donor and to confirm the willingness of donors to support the pilot exercise including the implementation of the Action Plan. JV members will inform the DAC Secretariat of the results of the consultations. The DAC Secretariat will prepare a summary of partner countries who have submitted an Expression of Interest and the names of the lead and other interested donors; the working group will receive the consolidated list.
• Depending on the number of Expressions of Interest received, the working group will judge the usefulness of a formal meeting to conduct the selection.
• The Co-Chairs will send letters to all those partner countries which provided Expressions of Interest to inform them of the status of their requests eg if the request is not selected as one of the JV’s pilots, it could be supported by an interested donor.
• The results of the selection will be posted on the JV website.

It was noted and agreed that there will be other, similar exercises being run by donor members of the JV involving the field testing of version 4 with other partner countries that will not be part of the JV pilot exercise. The experiences and lessons learned in all these parallel exercises will hopefully be shared at the appropriate regional meeting. If feasible, a list of these parallel, non-JV pilots will be made available to JV members.

f) There will be regional meetings held during the implementation of the pilot exercises to provide partner countries and donors a forum in which to raise awareness about the common methodology and tool and to discuss related issues such as procurement capacity development. Where applicable, the regional meetings will also serve to share the results and lessons learned from: testing the version 4, implementing the validation process with donors and in developing and implementing the Capacity Development Action Plans. It is hoped common tools and processes (such as checklists and training materials), shared guidelines and Good Practice Papers will result that will be used as parts of a common, harmonized “tool box”.

These regional meetings are part of the normal business operations of the World Bank, the Regional Development Banks and the UNDP in the regions and are intended to deal with issues relating to strengthening procurement capacity development in partner countries in the region; the version 4 Benchmarking and Assessment Methodology and Tool will normally feature as a key discussion item on the various agendas. While they are not officially “JV meetings”, they are to be planned and implemented by the banks and UNDP “in collaboration with the Joint Venture for Procurement”.

Concept Notes for these meetings will be jointly prepared by the World Bank Regional Procurement Offices and the three Regional Development Banks, in collaboration with the local UNDP offices, for input by the Co-Chairs and the members of the JV. Donor and partner country members of the JV will be invited by the organizers to participate at these meetings. Of particular interest to both donors and partner countries will be the issue of financing the participation of partner country participants; the Concept Notes will normally indicate whether some financing may be available and whether there are gaps for which contributions are required.
The first regional meeting will be in Nairobi, tentatively in early December, 2006.

g) The implementation phase of the pilot exercise will be planned and undertaken jointly by a “consortium” consisting of the partner country as the owner of the exercise, the lead donor and the other participating donors. The consortium will be responsible to plan and ensure sufficient resources are available (from existing programs or from new sources) to implement the Procurement Capacity Development Action Plan. Many models are possible, depending on country needs and capacities and on donor capacities: part of the implementation could be contracted out and this could support the development of a pool of experienced consultants. At the same time, testing new approaches and material for training and communications, learning-on-the-job assignments for donor and partner staff and the appropriate management of the resulting knowledge will be key outputs.

An important consideration is how to establish and maintain the acceptable level of quality of the support by especially the lead donors; this is important to enable donors and partner countries to readily accept and use the results of the pilot exercise. How this is done will be an important input to the regional meetings.

h) It was agreed the Compliance and Performance Indicators (CPIs) form an integral part of the methodology with the BLIs. The CPIs are country specific and both donors and partners need this information for risk assessments and for defining capacity needs.

i) Micheal Lawrance, DAC Secretariat, reported that letters had been sent from the DAC Secretariat to ten partner countries on behalf of the Co-Chairs asking them to participate in the Retrofit Exercise (see the JV website for the Concept Note). The working group was asked for procurement contacts for the following countries in order for the last letters to be sent: Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and Morocco.

3. Next Steps

a) Draft summary distributed to the members of the JV and comments received at the DAC Secretariat: by Oct. 9
b) Final summary translated into French and both versions posted on the JV website: by mid-Oct.
c) Draft letter to Paris Declaration adherents reviewed / commented by working group members: by Oct. 9
d) Final English version of the letter to be translated into French and Spanish: by Oct. 18
e) Letters to be signed by the Chair WP-EFF and sent to Paris Declaration adherents: by Oct. 16 (French and Spanish letters: by Oct. 20)
f) Deadline for receiving Expressions of Interest: Nov. 3
g) Consultation between JV donor reps and local donor offices regarding support for the various Expressions of Interest: by Nov. 17
h) Selection by the working group of the pilot countries: by app. Dec. 1
i) Letters from the Co-Chairs to all partner countries: by app. Dec. 6
j) Posting the list of pilot countries on the JV website: by app. Dec. 8.