Main Features of a Twinning Project Funded by the SSNED

Stage I: Exploratory Stage

  1. Identification of institutional gaps: The potential Beneficiary State (BS) shall identify an institutional gap through an appropriate line Ministry or government agency, termed the Beneficiary Institution (BI).
  2. Submission of expression of interest: The BI shall express interest in requesting funds for a twinning project 1 to address the identified institutional gap. This is done  by filling in the appropriate form (Form TW1) and submitting it to the Small States Network for Economic Development (the Network). 
  3. Drawing up of an Interim Project Proposal:  The secretariat will draw up an interim project proposal (IPP) document with information relating to the proposed project title, the potential beneficiary state/institution, objectives of the project, as well as a tentative budget. The World Bank, in consultation with the Commonwealth Secretariat, and following feedback from the other Board members, will decide whether to give its approval to proceed on the basis of the IPP. Once such approval is given, the Secretariat will liaise with the potential BI to proceed with the implementation of the project.
  4. Submission of detailed request: The potential BI shall submit a detailed Twinning Project Request Document (TPRD) using an appropriate template  (Form TW2). The secretariat of the Network will assist the potential BI in drawing up the Twinning Project Request Document.
Stage II: Preparatory Stage
  1. Circulation of request: The Network shall circulate the TPRD among potential Small State Twinning Partners (SSTPs) 2 specifying a deadline for responses. Public and private sector Service Providers (SPs) in these SSTPs can propose to offer the services requested.3
  2. Submission of proposals:  Proposals for service provision shall be made by SPs on the appropriate template (Form TW3 ),  submitted to the secretariat of the Network. If the SP is a private sector organization, the proposal has to be endorsed by the Government of the SSTP where the organization is located and/or registered. If no proposals are received from SPs in SSTPs, or if the proposals do not meet the requirements of the TPRD, the secretariat of the Network can invite an SP from non-small states to submit a proposal.
  3. Assessment of proposals: The Secretariat of the Network shall assess all proposals and shall select an SP on the basis of pre-established and transparent criteria, in consultation with the potential BI.  

Stage III. Identification of Officials and Experts Designate

  1. Project Leaders. The SP and BS shall each designate a Project Leader (BS-PL and SP-PL)4 to oversee and monitor the Project on behalf of both parties.
  2. Twinning Advisor: The SP shall designate a Twinning Advisor (TA).5
  3. Project Manager: The BS shall designate a Project Manager (BS-PM).6
  4. Project Monitoring Committee: The BS-PL shall set up a Project Monitoring Committee, (PMC), which shall include a representative of the line Ministry, the BS-PL,  the BS-PM, one or more stakeholder representatives, and others, as appropriate. The Network shall have the right to appoint a member on the PMC.  The TA can be invited to attend meetings of the PMC as observer.

Stage IV: Contract Signing Stage

  1. The Contract: The BI, the SP and the Network shall draw up and sign a Twinning Contact, containing a budget with allocations to BI and SP according to their respective expected expenditure to be funded by the Network. 
  2. Terms of Reference: The Contract shall be accompanied by detailed Terms of Reference (ToR) of the Project.7
  3. Payment of first tranche of funds: As soon as the Contract is signed, the Network may pay an advance to the BS and the SP not exceeding 30% of the allocation contained in the Contract.

Stage V: Inception Stage

  1. Inception meeting: Soon after the signing of the Contact, the BI shall convene an inception meeting. The TA can also be invited to attend. The ToR will be discussed during this meeting.
  2. Inception report: Following the Inception meeting, the BS-PL shall draw up a concise inception report, which describes the proceedings of the first meeting of the PMC, the preparatory work already carried out in connection with the Project, and confirms the expected outputs and the time-frames of the Project, as laid out in the ToR. This report is to be submitted to the Network secretariat not later than 2 weeks after the convening of the PMC. All requests for advances have to be endorsed by the BS-PL.

Stage VI:  Implementation Stage8

  1. Commencement of the project: The substantive part9 of the Project shall commence in line with the time frames indicated in the ToR.
  2. Visits by the TA: During the implementation stage the TA shall visit the BS as per ToR and executes the project in the BS supported by the BS-PL and BS-PM, and other personnel, as required, assigned by the BI.
  3. Visits by trainees: During this stage, officials from the BI may visit the SSTP to undertake training in connection with the Project, as specified in the ToR.
  4. Meeting of the PMC: About half-way through the implementation period,10 the BS-PL shall convene a meeting of the PMC to monitor progress up to that time.
  5. Mid-term report: The BS-PL shall write a concise mid-term report summarising the proceedings of the Meeting of the PMC and indicating what went particularly well and what went wrong in the implementation of the project, with recommendations as to how the Project implementation can be improved, if required. The first progress report shall be submitted to the Network secretariat not later than 2 weeks after the convening of the PMC.11
  6. Payment of funds: Eligible expenses incurred by the BI and SP shall be refunded in line with the allocations set in the Contract, accompanied by receipts and related documentation. All requests for advances, payments and refunds have to be endorsed by the BS-PL.12
  7. Mid-term evaluation: The Network may carry out a Mid-term evaluation of the Project some time after the submission of the mid-term report, to assess the efficiency, effectiveness, relevance, sustainability, and impact of the Project. The mid-term report shall be made available to those conducting the evaluation.

Stage VII: Completion Stage

  1. End of the Substantive Part of the Project: The substantive part of the project shall be completed, in line with the time-frame indicated in the ToR.
  2. Extension of the time-frame: In special circumstances, the Board of Trustees of the Network shall grant an extension of the substantive part of the Project, upon a formal request by the BS explaining the need for such an extension, provided that the Board is of the opinion that circumstances warrant such an extension.
  3. Meeting of the PMC: At the end of the substantive part of the project, the BS-PL shall convene a final meeting of the PMC. 
  4. Final Report:  The BS-PL, in consultation with the PM, TA and the SP-PL, shall draw up a final report, with an overall assessment of the Project and a summary of the expenditures incurred. The final report shall be submitted to the Network secretariat not later than 8 weeks after the completion of the substantive part of the project.
  5. Receipts and invoices: The BS-PL shall submit, with the final report, the remaining receipts and related documents with regard to expenditures eligible for reimbursement, as indicated in the Contract.
  6. Expenditure shortfalls: If the actual expenditure is less than that indicated in the Contract, only the actual expenditure will be refunded.
  7. Excess expenditure: If the actual expenditure exceeds that provided in the Contract, the Network will not refund the excess expenditure, unless there are special circumstances on the basis of which a case is made by the BS to justify such expenditure, provided that the Board of Trustees of the Network is satisfied that the excess expenditure was warranted.
  8. Final Evaluation: Following the completion of the Project, the Network may conduct a final evaluation of the Project to assess the efficiency, effectiveness, relevance, sustainability, and impact of the Project, as well as an audit relating to the expenditures effected in connection with the Project.

Notes:

1 A twinning project involves essentially the utilization of expertise  by one small state provided by another small state with the aim of transferring knowledge and strengthening institutional capacity.
2An SSTP should be a member of the Small States Forum. The Forum meets once a year in the wings of the IMF/World Bank annual meetings.
3 The selected Service Provider may operate within the public sector or a private sector. The service provider shall undertake  to transfer the requested hands-on expertise available in the public or private sectors  of the SSTP. This includes first and foremost the secondment of Twinning Adviser  (TA) for  a period of time as well as the provision of training for officials from the BS in the SSTP
4 The Project Leader in the Beneficiary State (BS-PL) should be a high-ranking civil servant, who shall be in a position to operate at the appropriate political level, with the remit of directing the implementation and monitoring of the Twinning project in the BS on behalf of the line Ministry. The Service Provider Project Leader (SP-PL) shall supervise and co-ordinate the project on behalf of the SP.  The SP-PL shall act as the counterpart of and cooperates with the BS-PL in the implementation of the Project. These two officials should be indicated in the TRPD.
5 The Twinning Advisor is the Key Expert appointed by the Service Provider to implement the Project. He can be assisted by other experts appointed by the Service Provider, as specified in the ToR. This official should be indicated in the TRPD.
6 The Project Manager should be appointed by the beneficiary ministry to manage the project on the ground and to work closely with the visiting TA. He should also liaise with all persons involved in the running of the project. When required this person should also take care of logistics relating to the project.
7 The ToR shall form an integral part of the Contract and shall contain (a) brief background  information about the BS and the line ministry involved (b) objectives of the project and the results to be achieved (c) project description in detail, including the functions of the project managers (d) assumptions and risks (d)  logistics and timing presented as a work programme (e) physical and personnel requirements including qualifications of  the experts involved (f) reporting requirements (g) methods of monitoring, including definition of Indicators.
8 This scheme applies for projects that have one phase only. If the Project has more than one phase, there will be more than one implementation stage, with each stage by and large being similar to the implementation stage indicated above. All phases taken together should not normally exceed 24 months.
9 The substantive part of the project commences when the Twinning Advisor starts offering his/her services in the BS or when Officials from the BS start their training visit in the SSTP, whichever is the earlier.
10 The implementation period is the time span between the beginning and the end of the substantive part of the Project.
11 If need be, additional meetings of the PMC can be convened and corresponding progress reports submitted at the discretion of the BS. This should be specified in the ToR.
12 Payments will be effected to the Beneficiary Institution and the  Service Provider directly by Network, in line with the approved budget. The BI and SP will have to identify a bank account in which payments are to be transferred. All requests for advances, payments and refunds are to be made on the appropriate forms.