Job: DEVELOPMENT PLANNING CONSULTANT

Location :

Nairobi (with travel to Somalia), KENYA

Application Deadline :

21-Nov-13

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Post Level :

International Consultant

Languages Required :

English

Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start)

06-Jan-2014

Duration of Initial Contract :

28 Days

Expected Duration of Assignment :

28 Days

Background

UNDP Somalia implements programmes and projects aimed at delivery of recovery and development assistance to Somalia, based on priorities identified by Somalia authorities.

One of these projects is the Somali Institutional Development Project (SIDP) which commenced in August 2008 with the merging of a number of projects namely:

• The Somali Institutional Capacity Development Project (SICAD);
• The Qualified Somali Technical Support Project (QUEST);
• The Emergency Technical Assistance Project (ETA) with its component 'Aid Management and Coordination'
• Start Up Package Project (SUP) and the Somalia Institutional Support Project (SISP).

SIDP responded to the need for Somali government and public institutions to function more effectively and deliver more services to the public, especially to the poor and other disadvantaged group with its overall goal 'of developing key central functions more effectively which, in turn, will lead to more effective and efficient service delivery to the Somali people.'

The UNDP Somalia intends to commission an end of project evaluation to measure qualitatively and quantitatively the project progress and will attempt to measure impact in terms of whether and how the project's support to different institutions, organizations and individuals resulted in the expected and needed impact at the enabling environment level, organizational level and individual level. The evaluation also aims at understanding the relevance of the project and its design, the sustainability of project interventions, the effectiveness of the institutional arrangements and the partnership strategies. The result of the term evaluation will be used to inform the future interventions of UNDP in the capacity building and national institutions building area. The report should be able to enhance the understanding of key strength areas within UNDP's work strengthening public sector institutions in Somalia, providing recommendations on improvement management arrangements, structures and objectives of future initiatives.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope & Objectives

The review will conducted by a team of three consultants who should have an understanding of the Somali context and is very versed in issues of governance and public sector reform in post conflict societies. It is expected that the consultant will be familiar with all of the three major areas of SIDP:

• Public Sector and Civil Service Reform,
• Public Finance Management,
• Development Planning.

The expert on Public Sector and Civil Service Reform will be the Team Leader.

The review will look at the programme in all regions of Somalia and make separate recommendations based on regional context and common recommendations based on project's progress towards its intended objectives in the subject-matter area of public sector and civil service reform, public financial management, and development planning and aid coordination.

• To examine to what extent the project has achieved the intended outputs, and in what specific areas the project excelled or failed in progress toward intended outputs;
• To indicate whether or not intended project impacts and outcomes are being met and/or, for specific outcomes, whether satisfactory progress was made;
• To analyse underlying factors that are influencing project impacts and outputs;
• To identify and analyse barriers and constraints that have delayed implementation, including challenges emanating from internal and external sources;
• To identify a list of 'lessons learned' and make recommendations for corrections, including in relation to i) the specific CD services provided by the project (are they appropriate for the client and do they respond to the demands and felt needs of the client?); and ii) the sourcing of capacity (what is the general experience and are steps be taken to source capacity from institutions and networks beyond those considered under the project?);
• Extract the lessons learned and best practices that can be considered in the planning and design of future support activities for government and recommendations for future direction and areas of focus for the next phase of project;
• To state whether or not targets are being achieved and whether current and planned outputs can be sustained, including determination of measures needed to ensure continued sustainability of results in the future;
• Review the project progress, recommendations and action plan in light of the prevailing security situation in South and Central Somalia, Somaliland and Puntland.

Monitoring & Review

The review will be conducted in a participatory and transparent manner, whereby all stakeholders will have the opportunity to share their views. The review will take gender as a cross-cutting element.

It is expected that the information gained from this review will go into informing a future programming cycle and interventions. Before the start of the review, the consultant will prepare a detailed work plan which will: present the methodology to be utilized in the conduct of the review; identify the review issues to be addressed and a schedule/timeline of planned activities.

The Evaluator will be one international consultant not involved with the formulation, appraisal, approval and/or implementation of daily management of the project. The consultant will be selected by the UNDP/SIDP evaluation support team. An Evaluation Inception Report is required, but a final decision about the specific design and methods for the evaluation will emerge from consultations among the programme unit, the evaluators, and key stakeholders about what is appropriate and feasible to meet the evaluation purpose and objectives and answer the evaluation questions, given limitations of budget, time and extant data.

Deliverables. The consultant will provide a:

• Evaluation inception report;
• Draft evaluation report;
• Final evaluation report.

Other Information

• The expert will be required to have a personal laptop computer;
• Payments will be made at the successful accomplishment of each pre-determined milestone.
• For more information on the above position, please click on the link SIDP - End of project evaluation- 4 Nov 2013.

Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN's values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment;
• Good interpersonal, presentation and teamwork skills;
• Ability to set priorities.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced University Degree in political science or related fields, such as conflict studies, peace building, public administration, governance studies;

Experience

• A minimum of ten (10) years of relevant professional experience in the areas of governance, international development, political science, public policy, peace building and/or public administration in the context of fragile and post-conflict states,
• Expert technical leadership and knowledge of theories, principles and methods in the combination of selective fields of the following: Public sector reform, institution and capacity building, human resource development, public finance management, development planning;
• Experience in and knowledge of UN (preferably UNDP) systems and approaches;
• Possess a broad knowledge and understanding of the major economic and social development issues and problems in Somalia.
• Evaluation expertise and experience will be rated highly;
• Experience in the project cycle and knowledge of the activities of multilateral development donors will be an added advantage;
• Background or familiarity with conflict and post conflict situations may also be required, both for the conduct of the exercise itself, and for understanding the particular context of the evaluation.

Language

• Ability to communicate and write effectively in English;
• Somali language skills will be an asset.

Terms of Service

This is a non-staff contract under the Individual Contractor (IC) modality of hiring of the UNDP. Individuals engaged under an IC serve in their individual capacity and not as representative of a government institutions, corporate body or other authority external to UNDP. The incumbent shall not be considered as staff of UNDP, the UN common system or the government and are therefore not entitled to any diplomatic privileges or any other special status or conditions.

Application:

Applicants are requested to upload a copy of their latest updated P11 Form instead of a CV which can be downloaded from this website: http://www.sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

More Info and Application