Job: Programme Analyst (Development Effectiveness)

Location: Yangon, Myanmar
Closing Date: Monday, 25 November 2013

Job code title: Programme Analyst (Development Effectiveness)

Pre-classified

Grade: NOB

Supervisor: Component Manager of PAR under Pillar 3

Duty Station: Based in Yangon

II. Organizational Context

Myanmar has gone through a phase of unprecedented change since the November 2010 generalelections. The transition to nominally civilian rule under a new Constitution was the first step in anon-going sequence of rapid and far-reaching political and economic reforms that have unleashedtremendous changes in the political and economic landscape. In the past few years, thePresident and legislatures have pushed forward a remarkable transformation process that wasdifficult to imagine not so long ago.

The 2008 Constitution provides a new framework for governance in Myanmar. The main featuresdistinguishing it from the previous order are the distribution of power among different institutionsby formally establishing a system of separation of powers among the legislative, executive andjudicial branches and devolving legislative and executive powers to the 14 States and Regions.Given this new order, institutional boundaries and power sharing arrangements are not alwaysclear, causing occasional frictions between institutions. Eventually, the way constitutionalprovisions will play out in practice and the system of checks and balances will largely depend onthe interactions between institutions and leaders.

The first stage of the reform process comprised political reforms which are still on-going and haveled to significant changes in the country, and to a rapid scaling up of development assistance. InMay 2012, the President launched the second stage of reforms aimed at improving the social andeconomic wellbeing of the people. The economic reforms are centred on poverty reduction andinclusive growth and are guided by the President's aim to reduce poverty from 26% to16% by2015. The opening of the country is leading to rapid foreign investment and infrastructuredevelopment. In December 2012, the President announced the need for attention to the thirdwave of reforms which are required to improve the performance of the public administration andits civil service, and clarify the division of powers between the Union and the State and RegionalGovernments. Public sector management is thus high on the list of priorities of the Myanmargovernment. 'Democracy will be promoted only hand in hand with good governance. This is whyour government, responsible for Myanmar's democracy transition, will try hard to shape a goodadministrative machinery'. (President Speech before the Union Hluttaw, 30 March 2011).

UNDP will support these processes by means of three main pillars:

(1) Livelihoods andcommunity development, (2) Energy and Environment and (3) Policy support and DemocraticGovernance. Under pillar three, UNDP will support all branches of the government (the executive,the legislative and judiciary both at the national and sub-national level) and will improve theoverall institutional environment in which citizens interact and within which economic, political,legal and administrative authority are exercised. The project will focus on four closelyinterâ€connected and mutually reinforcing areas which are all essential to the strengthening ofgovernance and social cohesion: (a) development effectiveness, (b) parliamentary strengthening,(c) rule of law and access to justice and (d) public administration reform.

Project activities under pillar 3 will be implemented under the same framework with the other twopillars, and UNDP will promote integration in design and implementation. Given the prominenceof capacity building activities in all three pillars, the UNDP program will maintain a coherent andintegrated capacity building approach. Cross-cutting issues will be human rights basedapproaches, gender equality and women's empowerment and south collaboration and knowledgesharing.

Specific context of this assignment

Component 1 of the UNDP Pillar 3 country program aims to strengthen the capacity of nationalinstitutions for socio-economic policy-making, planning and development effectiveness with broadstakeholder participation (including women, people with disabilities and HIV/AIDS). The projectwill have four outputs described below:

Output 1 aims to strengthen the capacity of institutions at the Union and state/region level tocollect and analyze data, and to use it to establish clear baselines and monitor progress in theimplementation of development plans. Activities in this area will focus on first supporting thepublication of the next Integrated Household Living Conditions Assessment (IHLCA) – UNDP'sflagship product as well as other surveys focused on specific issues related to people's well-beingor governance such as the socioeconomic impact of HIV and etc. The project will create aplatform for integrating the most comprehensive poverty and governance data possible inMyanmar and will include important capacity-building activities related along the way.

Output 2 aims to strengthen the capacity of national and state/regional institutions to formulatepoverty-focused strategies and plans with clear links to national budget, and based on sector aswell as state/regional priorities. Activities in this area will build upon existing assistance to MNPED to further support the development planning processes at both Union and state/regionlevel in Myanmar in a more scaled-up and systematic way.

Output 3 aims to strengthen the capacity of government agencies, parliament, civil society andothers for transparency and accountability for progress in implementing national andregional/state level plans. The project will establish a process for engaging key stakeholders inthe process of formulation, implementation and monitoring of the development plans that will besupported in the framework of output 2.

Output 4 aims to strengthen the capacity of MNPED, MOF and other key governmental and non-governmental stakeholders at the Union, state/regional and sectoral levels, to align developmentcooperation with national plans, budgets and monitoring and evaluation. Activities will focus onestablishing a donor coordination mechanism that's fully integrated in the development planningsystem and an Aid Information Management system.Against this backdrop, UNDP is now seeking to engage a national development effectivenessspecialist to work on component 1 of UNDP pillar 3 programs in areas described below.

III. Functions / Key Results Expected

Summary of Key Functions:

• Policy Advocacy and Advisory Services
• Policy Development
• Partnership Building

Policy Advocacy and Advisory Services:

Support the Country Office in developing and strengthening policy dialogue and capacity development

support for government counterparts in pursuit of more effective governance of aid and over-all development resources. These will cover two areas:

1) Engagement with government and other stakeholders to support the development andimplementation of aid policy in order to enhance development effectiveness and transparencyand accountability in the use of development resources

2) Strengthen the effectiveness of democratic governance programming, with a focus onsupporting the establishment of appropriate aid delivery modalities in specific areas ofgovernance programming and ensuring coherence with national development plans and aidpolicies. Work will also cover support to development of democratic governance programs orsector specific interventions that apply principles of aid effectiveness, accountability, humanrights, and gender equality

Policy Development:

Facilitate national policy development on democratic governance that are grounded on cutting-edge development effectiveness principles and practices from the region.

1) Strengthen UNDP's democratic governance and development effectiveness policies andprograms at the country level by effectively channeling the views and perspectives frompartner countries in the region to the country office;

2) Promote UNDP policy on democratic governance, grounded on strong aid effectivenessprinciples at the country level through advice to country teams and by facilitating engagementbetween HQ and country teams in priority areas including the design and use of aid modalitiesin specific areas in governance programming;

Partnership Building:

Effectively position the country office's democratic governance team to ensure that its approach todemocratic governance and development effectiveness policy and programming is understood andsupported by UN and external partners.

1) Support the component manager of Development Effectiveness Program to develop andimplement strategies to approach existing and potential development partners, governmentcounterparts, and other stakeholders to mobilize resources and strengthen partnerships inpursuit of national democratic governance practices;

2) Support the country office in its negotiations and relationship development, cultivation, andmaintenance with actual and potential development partners, government counterparts, andrelated other stakeholders;

The national specialist will work closely with the component manager of development effectivenessprogram who is based in Yangon. He/she is expected to serve as the key liaison person between thecountry office (both Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw) and the government. He/she is also expected to be thekey coordinator among all parties engaged (including consultants, development partners, civil societystakeholders, etc.) in the implementation of the development effectiveness program.

IV. Impact of Results

The results of the specialist's work will serve as significant inputs to the Aid Effectiveness processin Myanmar. It will enable the government, donors and stakeholders to collaborate moreeffectively in identifying and achieving common goals and a common way forward to ensure mosteffective utilization of ODA for the people of Myanmar. In addition the specialist's work isexpected to build and strengthen relationship between UNDP and Myanmar senior policy makersthrough relevant discussions and advices.

V. Competencies

Corporate:

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness, by modelling the UN/UNDP's values and ethicalstandards;
• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptabilityFunctional:
• Demonstrated capacity to integrate principles of aid effectiveness, accountability, humanrights, and gender equality in policy making and programming;
• Capacity to interact with senior officials
• Strong analytical, negotiation and communication skills, including ability to produce highquality practical specialized reports and knowledge products;
• Professional and/or academic experience in one or more of the areas of the DemocraticGovernance Practice.Managing Relationships:
• Demonstrated well developed people management and organizational skills;
• Excellent negotiation and networking skills;
• Outstanding and effective communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to identify and develop partnerships and maintain good relations with governmentinstitutions and other relevant partiesJudgment/Decision-making:
• Mature judgment and initiative;
• Proven ability to provide strategic direction in practice area;
• Independent judgment and discretion in advising on handling major policy issues andchallenges.Coordination, Communication and Organization skills:
• Outstanding and effective coordination ability
• Ability to write clear, concise and effective correspondence
• Ability to identify and analyse trends, opportunities and threats to the implementation ofthe project
• Ability to articulate and communicate ideas effectively, efficiently and accurately amongall parties
• Attention to details and ability to prioritize
• Ability to multi-task and work under pressure to keep with tight deadlines
• Solution-oriented, driven and practical

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