Location: Kabul
Deadline: Sunday, 04 August 2013
Description
UNOPS mission is to expand the capacity of the UN system and its partners to implement peacebuilding, humanitarian and development operations that matter for people in need. Working in some of the world’s most challenging environments, UNOPS vision is to always satisfy partners with management services that meet world-class standards of quality, speed and cost effectiveness. By assisting UN organizations, international financial institutions, governments and other development partners, UNOPS makes significant, tangible contributions to results on the ground. UNOPS employs more than 6000 personnel and on behalf of its partners creates thousands more work opportunities in local communities. With its headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark, a network of five regional offices and a further 20 operations and project centres, UNOPS oversees activities in more than 80 countries. UNOPS is committed to achieving a truly diverse workforce.
Background Information - Job-specific
Efforts have been made in the past to streamline clearance and other Customs procedures, but have had limited effect - often stalled due to conflicts between the Customs Code and incompatible legislations of different departments and agencies impacting cross-border movements. The lesson learnt is that only limited progress can be achieved until a suitable legislative framework for customs and cross border operations has been devised to support various reforms. To achieve this, the project will assist in carrying out a holistic legislative and regulatory review resulting in a matrix of functions and responsible authorities, leading to proposals for legislative changes- or at least a consistent interpretation- and strategy for overcoming institutional, legislative and procedural blockages. The Customs Advisor (Governance) will help Afghan Customs Department (ACD) in carrying out these reviews and recommend appropriate changes to build an enabling environment for Customs reform through adequate legislative, institutional and administrative framework. The incumbent will specifically identify the need for these changes to support trade facilitation on one hand and improved compliance on the other, particularly concerning post clearance control, risk management, law enforcement, etc. The Customs Advisor (Governance) will also be required to assist ACD on policy issues for building an adequate regulatory and institutional framework for improved compliance and other reform measures in Afghan Customs. Another key area requiring attention of the Customs Advisor (Governance) would be to ensure that the systems developed are utilized up to their optimal level and that impediments to implementation are addressed. For instance, the incumbent would be concerned with devising robust institutions and procedures for implementing various value added functions of ASYCUDA, such as valuation database, risk management module and import manifest module etc. This would be done in close association with ASYCUDA experts in order to take care of technical issues involved. A similar exercise would also be necessitated in ensuring full implementation of the newly developed automated exemption module. The Customs Advisor (Governance) would also help ACD in the development and adoption of a business model of border management in consultation with various stakeholders. The business model will provide effective use of resources, inter agency cooperation and cross border coordination and reinforce the cooperation mechanism among various Ministries and agencies with Customs in lead.
Functional Responsibilities
Specific duties Reporting directly to the Team Leader & Chief Technical Advisor (TL/CTA) of the project, the Customs Advisor (Governance) shall perform the following duties and responsibilities, but not limited to: Improvement in Customs governance
- Examine the administrative set up of Afghan Customs and improve governance both within as well as in its relations with the Ministry of Finance and other government institutions.
- Recommend measures for strengthening administrative control and accountability at various levels of the Afghan Customs Department for transparency, effective administration and efficient delivery of services.
- Work towards optimal control and delegation of authority in the Afghan Customs in line with the modern management principles and best international practices.
- Help ACD in bringing institutional changes in conformity to the World Bank’s Governance and Accountability Action Plan (GAAP) for customs.
- Comprehensively review the Customs Code to identify bottlenecks impeding Custom reforms and trade facilitation and suggest amendments in line with the best international practices.
- Examine other laws impacting cross-border movement of goods and recommend changes to complement customs reform and trade facilitation.
- Scrutinize Customs laws, rules and regulations and recommend changes to make them WTO and WCO compliant to facilitate Afghanistan’s accession to the WTO.
- Streamline Customs processes to facilitate international trade and improve compliance.
- Assist ACD on policy issues concerning custom reform and trade facilitation, particularly in the area of transit and warehousing.
- Build capacity of counterparts in development and implementation of policies.
- Assist ACD in developing and populating the valuation database for all major import commodities in consultation with ASYCUDA experts
- Help in evolution and implementation of new customs exemption procedures in coordination with users and other stakeholders
- Review import clearance operations and procedures.
- Help in implementation of various reform plans and procedures evolved under the project.
- Coordination with other Ministries and agencies
Key Competencies
- Ability to establish and facilitate inter-agency cooperation
- Ability to analyze business processes and identify issues based on experience
- Experience in providing assistance and support in evaluation and performance monitoring.
Education/Experience/Language requirements
Qualifications and Experience
- Masters Degree in Law, Political Science, Social Sciences, Business Administration, Public Administration and/or Customs Development related studies. A First Level University Degree, with additional years of relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of the Masters.
- Degree or Professional Certificate in government administration a distinct advantage
- Minimum 7 years of work experience in policy making, legislation reform and modern customs governance
- Experience in monitoring, control and evaluation of the progress of customs reform projects in Afghanistan or similar developing countries
- Significant demonstrated experience in Business Process Re-engineering
- Excellent command of both oral and written English is mandatory
- Working knowledge of the local language considered an advantage
- Working knowledge of word processing, spreadsheets and other computer programs for office
Additional Considerations
- Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time (CET)
- Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
- Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
- Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
- For staff positions UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
- The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.
- Candidates who applied for this job previously are not required to apply again
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