TABLE OF CONTENTS ` LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ..................................................................................... 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................... 3 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 5 2. PROJECT RATIONALE ............................................................................................................... 6 3. ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES ....................................................................................................... 6 4. METHODOLOGY AND SCOPE OF THE ASSESSMENT ............................................................... 7 5. FINDINGS ................................................................................................................................. 9 5.1 Recruitment and Deployment of Civil Service Support Officers ........................................... 9 5.2 ‘Twinning’ as a Capacity Building Strategy and Sustainable Transfer of Knowledge ......... 13 5.3 Challenges to Twinning and Transfer of Knowledge .......................................................... 21 5.4 Supervision, Coordination and Management ..................................................................... 28 5.5 Wellbeing and Security of CSSOs ........................................................................................ 30 6 CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................................... 31 7. RECOMMENDATIONS AND WAY FORWARD ........................................................................ 34 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................................. 37 1. CSSO Professions (Total Number of CSSOs)....................................................................... 37 2. Government Grading Structure in South Sudan ................................................................ 38 3. Professions of Twins .......................................................................................................... 39 4. Professions of Supervisors ................................................................................................. 40 5. RSS/IGAD Project Output Objectives ................................................................................. 41 Annual Work plan (Year 1): September 2010 to August 2011 ................................................ 41 6. RSS/IGAD Organizational Structure ................................................................................... 43 7. Additional Case Studies of CSSO Achievements ................................................................... 44 Page 1 of 51 ACRONYMS CES Central Equatoria State CME Continual Medical Education CPAP Country Programme Action Plan CSSO Civil Service Support Officer CTA Consolidated Technical Allowance DG Director General DSA Daily Subsistence Allowance EES Eastern Equatoria State FGD Focus Group Discussion GRSS Government of the Republic of South Sudan ICT Information and Communications Technology IGAD The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development IT Information Technology MoARF Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries MoFA Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation MoFEP Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning MoH Ministry of Health MoHPP Ministry of Housing and Physical Planning MoI Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Investment MoIB Ministry of Information and Broadcasting MoLPS&HRD Ministry of Labour, Public Service and Human Resource Development MoPA Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs MoPM Ministry of Petroleum and Mining MoU Memorandum of Understanding MoWR Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation NBG Northern Bahr el Ghazal State PEB Project Executive Board PMU Project Management Unit QMS Quality Management System RCPI Rapid Capacity Placement Initiative RSS Republic of South Sudan SME Small and Medium Sized Entrepreneurs SOP Standard Operating Procedures SSDP South Sudan Development Plan UN United Nations UNDAF United Nations Development Assistance Framework UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNMISS United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan WBGS Western Bahr el Ghazal State WES Western Equatoria State Page 2 of 51 Mid-Term Assessment (2011-2012): The RSS/IGAD Regional Initiative for Capacity Building in South Sudan EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Republic of South Sudan/Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (RSS/IGAD) Project is a capacity enhancement initiative in South Sudan. The Project promotes regional collaboration and South-South linkages through the placement of 200 qualified Civil Service Support Officers (CSSOs) from Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda within RSS institutions. The Project employs a unique method for long-term institutional capacity development and transfer of knowledge to South Sudanese civil servants known as ‘twinning’. It is a strategy that pairs a CSSO with a South Sudanese counterpart to facilitate on-the-job mentoring and coaching for two years. Project implementation began in September 2010. Between June 2011 and April 2012, 164 CSSOs (82%) were successfully deployed within 19 government institutions at the national and state levels. This included 16 ministries, 15 public hospitals, the National Legislative Assembly, the Council of States, and the South Sudan HIV/AIDS Commission. UNDP conducted an internal mid-term assessment of the Project between May and July 2012, which covered the end of the first year of deployment for the first group of 46 Kenyan CSSOs. The assessment confirmed that twinning has been an effective strategy for capacity building, particularly in the post-conflict context of South Sudan where there is a significant lack of expertise and qualified human resources within government institutions. Feedback received suggests that on-the-job coaching and mentoring is a valuable learning tool for civil servants with low academic and practical experience. The method addresses capacity gaps by focusing on practical experience and a hands-on approach. However, successful twinning has not been applied uniformly across all institutions and roughly 13% of CSSOs do not have a twin, or are not twinned with an adequate partner. Government stakeholders stated that the performance of institutions has improved due to increased levels of learning, motivation and a positive attitude towards service delivery since the arrival of CSSOs. CSSOs have also played a key role in developing institutional strategic plans. At the policy level, CSSOs contribute to institutional capacity development by drafting policy frameworks for labour inspections, drafting and reviewing laws for the National Legislative Assembly and training staff in the implementation of a new National Pensions Scheme. Key results within participating government institutions are improvements in basic administrative systems, standard operating procedures and quality management systems. Coaching and mentoring in areas of records management, accounting and bookkeeping, infection prevention practices in hospitals, and systematic documentation of institutional activities are at the core of CSSO activities. CSSOs have initiated and engaged in national and inter-state task force teams that focus on improving ministry performance through standardized procedures, budgeting and strategic planning. These results are indicative of significant levels of civil service reform and strengthening of capacity within institutions where CSSOs have been deployed. At the implementation level, the twinning process has had to contend with several challenges, particularly with regard to inadequate twinning and sustainability i.e. institutionalizing the transfer of knowledge. For example, the survey revealed that roughly 26% of the twins were Page 3 of 51 Mid-Term Assessment (2011-2012): The RSS/IGAD Regional Initiative for Capacity Building in South Sudan simultaneously also supervisors of the CSSOs, which creates a conflict of interest in terms of performance assessments and leave monitoring of CSSOs. Government austerity measures throughout 2012 coupled with high staff turnover and a lack of institutional strategic plans and work plans for the implementation of government activities has caused considerable strain on effective coaching and mentoring. The mid-term assessment also revealed that the level of government ownership- through engagement in Project monitoring, evaluation and coordination- amongst mid-level managers at the institutional level was fairly weak. There was a general lack of awareness of Project objectives within receiving institutions, and CSSOs were often seen as additional workforce rather than coaches and mentors. Particularly at the institutional level, the role of supervisors’ vis-à-vis the Project Management Unit (PMU) remains blurred, and implementation guidelines for receiving institutions are not stipulated clearly. In this regard, the Project allows for a great deal of flexibility to CSSOs once they are deployed. The results achieved in civil service reform and strengthening of institutional capacity therefore are subject to the CSSO and the assignments they receive from management within their institutions. This points towards a certain level of government ownership at management level; however, the process is not coordinated nor applied uniformly across all institutions. Key recommendations