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WATER WITNESS MALAWI TERMS OF REFERENCE
BUDGET ANALYSIS
1. Introduction
The Behavioural Adaptation for Water Security and Inclusion project (BASIN) is part of the Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CLARE) programme funded by IDRC and FCDO. The overall programme goal is to support innovative climate adaptation and resilience interventions. The BASIN project is using behavioural and psychological science approaches to investigate the drivers and blockers of climate adaptation in water at different levels of society.
Through this project Water Witness Malawi aims to integrate behavioural and psychological science concepts within our transformative participatory community adaptation framework, “Uhakika Wa Maji.” This approach will serve as a catalyst to foster collaborative platforms for participatory climate adaptation planning while actively engaging local authorities and national stakeholders. Our initiatives will integrate behavioral dimensions pertaining to information utilization and action within communities and early warning agencies. This strategic integration aims to empower these entities to effectively process information and take decisive actions in response to climate change and water-related challenges.
2. Background
The Malawi 2063 (MW2063) vision, which guides the country’s development agenda, outlines the aspirations of Malawians to become an inclusively wealthy, self-reliant, industrialized upper-middle-income nation by the year 2063. The MW2063 vision succeeded the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) III (2017-2022), which was the country’s mid-term development instrument. To ensure the effective implementation of the MW2063 vision, Malawi has planned to develop and roll out four 10-year implementation plans. The first of these plans, launched in 2021, covers the period from 2021 to 2030. The MW2063 First 10-Year Implementation Plan (MIP 1) aims to achieve two key milestones: attaining lower-middle-income status with a per capita income of at least US$1,036 by 2030, and meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are set to be achieved by 2030. MIP 1 supports the Decade of Action for attaining the SDGs and is guided by a set of prioritized interventions that, if implemented effectively, will help Malawi reach lower-middle-income status and fulfill the SDGs by 2030. Annually, to support the implementation of these strategies and interventions, the Government of Malawi, through the Ministry of Finance, develops a national budget that funds all sectors and departments contributing to the execution of national strategies.
The Government has renewed its commitment to improve access to quality WASH services in Malawi, as part of the recent high-level ministerial emergency meeting on cholera epidemics and climate-related public health emergencies. The lack of quality WASH services across Malawi is linked to several challenges. These include the frequent malfunctioning of WASH supply systems due to recurring disasters such as floods and droughts, and an inadequate capacity for planning and implementing climate-resilient innovative solutions. Additionally, the inability of households to contribute towards the operations and maintenance (O&M) of WASH infrastructure is a significant bottleneck affecting the effective delivery of WASH services. The increasing frequency of climate change-related shocks is worsening Malawi’s WASH challenges, with over half of the country’s districts being disaster-prone. Donor funding plays a crucial role in sustaining Malawi’s WASH sector. Donor funding constitutes an average of 80% of on-budget WASH development projects over the past five years. In the 2023/24 period, about 70% of water infrastructure projects are financed by donors (DI), while the remaining 30% are funded by the Government (DII). The World Bank is the largest contributor to on-budget development projects, providing up to 80% of the funding for key water supply and sanitation projects included in the national budget.
3. Purpose
Water Witness Malawi plans to analyze the 2023/24 National budget with a focus on Water security and climate resilience to understand how financial resources are allocated and disbursed efficiently by the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Water and Sanitation, Local Government, and District Councils, and other relevant Ministries. The budget analysis seeks to explore the following questions:
Are adequate resources provided for Water security and climate resilience, in particular climate change adaptation, in Malawi, and where do these come from?
Are the resources provided being used in the most effective ways to improve water security and climate change adaptation?
4. Objectives
The objectives of the analysis are to:
i. Determine the allocation to Water security and climate adapatation and resilience in relation to the overall national and district WASH budgets.
ii. Assess the extent to which previous WASH national and district budgets have responded to Water security and climate resilience needs and issues that were prevalent in previous budget analyses and joint sector review reports, including responsiveness to current water security needs in health care facilities and in schools.
iii. Provide evidence to support the development of a sustainable WASH Financing Strategy that will set out approaches on how the WASH sector can finance its overall programmatic and operations to meet the sector’s objectives in the short- and medium-term
iv. Identify any gaps, challenges, and bottlenecks in the budget process and implementation.
v. Highlight any budget gaps in WASH budget allocations and outputs with reference to country priorities and priority themes articulated in the MW2063 vision (MIP1), Malawi National Resilience Plan (2018-2030); National Water Policy (2005) and Water Sector Investment Plan (WSIP) 201
vi. Develop and update a district-level real-time budget tracking tool to ensure budget accountability. This comprehensive tool should display all relevant information regarding WASH budget accountability, and include mechanisms, platforms, spaces, and linkages to processes that facilitate further action.
5. Scope of work
The study will involve a combination of desk reviews, field visits, and meetings with key stakeholders. The consultant will create customized tools to gather and analyze the necessary information, which will be reviewed and approved by the client before use. The consultant will also have to develop an appropriate methodology for the study including the work plan which will be vetted by the client.
The analysis should at least address the following questions:
I. How are WASH budgets planned and accounted for?
What is the process for planning the funding required by the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, (i.e. how are size, water resources, water users/population considered?)
What is the calculated/estimated need vs the amounts requested, allocated, dispersed, received and actually spent?
Are funds dispersed and used efficiently, and what are the time lags between request, approval, dispersement and spend?
What are the reasons for any differences?
How is expenditure by the MoWS tracked and what oversight procedures are in place to manage fiduciary risks?
II. Where does the money flow?
The consultant should perform a comparative analysis (descriptive statistics) of the proportion of total government spending that goes towards water supply, O&M as well as Other Recurrent Transactions (ORT), which are crucial to support the continued functionality of water supply systems, building on the recently launched (climate-resilient) WASH financing strategy.
III. Priority advocacy messages and approach
Based on the analysis, when and where are the key opportunities to influence the budgeting process for water security and climate resilience and adaptation or WASH in general?
The consultancy will be required to also achieve the following:
Analysis should include data on the source of finances – whether these are from the government, development partners, and the proportion generated by the Ministry itself.
Identify, track, and document the Government’s budget allocations for WASH for the fiscal years 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24.
Track and document the Government’s budget disbursements for WASH for the fiscal years 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24.
Track and document the Government’s budget spending and outputs for WASH for the fiscal years 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24, with a focus on inequalities by comparing actual geographical coverage against areas of greatest need and district-level plans.
Some of specific tasks that the consultant will be required to do will include:
i. Document Review and stakeholder mapping to understand the WASH sector financing landscape
The consultant will conduct a comprehensive mapping of current public, donor, and private expenditures based on a review of relevant literature to understand the current investment levels in the WASH sector.
§ While the analysis will include government expenditures within the defined budget lines, it will also account for significant WASH investments made through other government agencies and budget lines not currently included in the WASH investment analysis.
§ The analysis will extend beyond the Ministry of Infrastructure/Water and Sanitation Corporation to encompass other agencies involved in WASH investments, such as the Local Government, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Natural Resources and climate change and Water Boards. Additionally, the assessment will include an in-depth analysis of WASH sector expenditure trends by financing source, including domestic resources, grants, loans, and household expenditures through tariffs.
§ Review of budget documents, financial statements, sector reports, and relevant policy documents will also be done
§ Conduct interviews with key stakeholders, including government officials, sector experts, and representatives from civil society organizations.
ii. Assess the challenges and opportunities for mobilizing resources for WASH
Perform a comprehensive analysis of the challenges the WASH sector faces in attracting private investors and development partners, referencing current strategic documents and reports related to water security and climate resilience.
Outline the connections between the WASH sector and other sectors, such as Health, Education, Natural resources, Agriculture, Energy, Mining, and Urbanization, to facilitate joint resource mobilization.
iii. Develop a strategic financing plan
The strategic financing plan will be developed as a roadmap to leverage more resources for sector priorities, including taxes, transfers, and tariffs.
This consultancy will provide technical assistance to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Infrastructure and WASH stakeholders, equipping them with the necessary evidence and strategic actions to prioritize adequate financing and increase the fiscal space for the WASH sector. The consultancy will carry out key activities to ensure the timely availability of information and analysis required to develop a robust Sustainable WASH Financing Strategy.
The whole analysis should be guided by the following budget analysis principles:
i. Relevance: the work has strategic and logical relevance to the country’s development goals. The work ‘makes sense’ and is related to tangible issues of concern to stakeholders.
ii. Rigor: Budget analysis should: draw on accurate data from referenced sources so that data can be traced; use a transparent methodology which can be replicated by others – it should show its working. Results should be double checked for validity, accurate, and evidence based.
iii. Clear change objectives: Budget analysis should result in a clear ask, targeted to encourage or inform change by specific stakeholders. Conclusions and recommendations should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound).
6. Deliverables
The consultant is expected to produce the following:
i. An inception report outlining the methodology/approach, work plan with clear timelines on how the assignment will be carried out
ii. Review of relevant literature/reports
iii. Data collection and analysis tools
iv. One policy brief based on the critical findings of the budget analysis.
v. Development of WASH sector expenditure analysis
vi. Presentation of the key findings of the draft budget analysis.
vii. A final report
7. Duration of the assignment
This assignment is expected to be completed within a period not exceeding 25 days from
contract signing.
8. Mode of Application
Interested consultant(s) should send electronic financial & technical proposals by 5pm on Thursday, 11th February 2025 to [email protected] with the subject line “2023/2024 WASH National and District Level Budget Analysis and Expenditure Tracking”, outlining the exact availability in line with the approximate timeline. The expression of interest should contain: (a) a technical offer and (b) a financial offer,
comprising:
1. Technical offer:
• Technical proposal detailing proposed methodology.
• At least three traceable references and references from clients for similar assignments successfully delivered.
• An example of a report from similar work which demonstrates evidence of the skills and experience required.
• Up-to-date CV of the consultant(s) and all team members to be required and available for the assignment
2. Financial offer:
• Details of charges and expenses in line with a proposed methodology strictly in Malawi Kwacha and in compliance with the country’s tax requirements.
To apply for this job email your details to adminmalawi@waterwitness.org