Expertise: management
Expertise Group: Organization Management & Strategy Development
Consultant Source: International
TOR Keywords: Governance and Management Specialist; Advisor
Objective and Purpose of the Assignment
The technical assistance (TA) Strengthening the Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions
seeks to increase transparency,
accountability, and quality of services in institutions that oversee and deliver water supply and
sanitation (WSS) services in Tajikistan. The TA
will provide policy, capacity, and knowledge support to help (i) the Antimonopoly Service (AMS)
effectively regulate the sector; and (ii) the state
unitary enterprise (SUE) Dushanbevodokanal (DVK) and the State Executive Authority of Dushanbe City
(Dushanbe Municipality) achieve good corporate
governance and financial prudence for improved WSS services.
The TA is aligned with the following impact: living conditions and public health in Tajikistan improved.
The TA will have the following outcome:
governance and institutional capacity for sustainable and resilient WSS improved. This will be achieved
through the following outputs: (i) sector
regulatory capacity developed, (ii) DVK management effectiveness improved, and (iii) DVK’s climate
adaptive capacity increased.
The objective of the assignment is to support the ADB task manager to ensure outputs of the TA are
achieved on time and with quality.
Scope of Work
The expert will lead the implementation of output 2 under the TA. Output 2 will (i) provide skills
training, tools, and resources to promote good utility governance and effective management at
DVK based on DVK’s approved business plan; (ii) identify and engage multiple entry points and champions,
especially women, to foster consensus and support while introducing basic rules of corporate governance
and promoting women’s representation on the board; (iii) implement and provide capacity support to
establish a skills-based board at DVK and facilitate other critical institutional changes for sound
corporate governance; (iv) provide the Dushanbe Municipality with corresponding capacity support to
strengthen and better exercise its ownership function and enable a performance-based public service
agreement with DVK; (v) with the underlying agreement granting DVK autonomy and accountability for
operations, prioritize building management and operational capacity, which includes developing
procedures and systems for annual reporting on DVK’s management and performance while
recommending a feasible, sustainable business model to improve efficiency.
Detailed Tasks and/or Expected Output
Tasks include but are not limited to:
(i) using good practice on SOE governance issued by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development and ADB as a reference, identify barriers and constraints to implement corporate governance
as recommended in the 5-year rolling DVK business plan;
(ii) identify legal, regulatory, policy and institutional, financial, and non-financial interventions
required to achieve good corporate governance in DVK;
(iii) develop a corporate governance action plan, gain buy-in for implementing the proposed changes and
assist DVK and the Dushanbe Municipality to executing the action plan;
(iv) implement a sequence of policy, knowledge, and capacity support to establish a skills-based board
at DVK; and facilitate other critical institutional changes;
(v) support DVK in establishing a board, including adjusting the DVK charter and organization structure,
and assisting with the approval procedures for all necessary registration documents;
(vi) introduce a performance monitoring regime and strengthen the ownership function of the Dushanbe
Municipality;
(vii) refine draft performance service contract (PSC), present and discuss PSC specifications and
principles, support negotiations, final signatories, and the setup of systems and processes;
(viii) support DVK in reviewing and updating financial and non-financial key performance indicators
(KPIs) and advise DVK management towards achieving corporate targets and KPIs;
(ix) identify noncore activities that can be outsourced or sold to improve efficiency and reduce costs;
and prepare an implementable roadmap for private sector participation and public–private participation;
(x) prepare a medium- and long-term action plan for implementing the DVK turnaround, including
recommending a feasible sustainable business model; prepare position paper(s) as required; develop a
short-, medium-, and long-term capacity building plan, and execute the plan for stakeholders involved in
implementing the DVK turnaround action plan;
(xi) organize and conduct knowledge sharing, training, seminars, study tours for DVK, Dushanbe
Municipality, senior government officials from various ministries, agencies, SOEs, and vodokanals. This
should align with the short-term capacity building plan in close coordination with TA coordinator; and
(xii) coordinate with DVK and other ADB-funded loan/TA (consultant) teams to ensure alignment of
activities and outputs.
(xiii) Undertake other tasks as reasonably assigned by ADB task manager.
Minimum Qualification Requirements
The expert will have at least a master’s degree in business administration, finance, economics, or
relevant fields with at least 10 years’ of relevant professional experience in corporate governance and
related areas, preferably in developing countries. Strong track record of stakeholder management and
ability to influence and communicate with senior government officials. Experience in state-owned
enterprises (SOEs), water utilities restructuring and change management, and private sector is an
advantage.
Minimum General Experience: 10 Years
Minimum Specific Experience (relevant to assignment): 10 Years
