Background


A team of four consultants will be hired to provide expert inputs to the various parts of the wider assignment of developing the policy paper on the options for future form of government and decentralisation in Yemen. The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Policy Specialist and in close coordination with the rest of the team and under overall guidance and supervision of the LSGP Project Manager and MOLA.

Duties and Responsibilities

The goal of this assignment is to carry out an analysis of the available policy options for the future form of government in Yemen to form the basis for the Government vision paper designed to inform discussions and decision-making in the Conference for National Dialogue and the Constitutional Commission.

The objectives of this consultation include:

  • Improve the understanding of national stakeholders about the main forms of political regimes and decentralization systems, their advantages and disadvantages and the practical experiences of their application in various country contexts;
  • Provide analysis of the main forms of government in the Yemeni context, including division of legislative, executive and judiciary responsibilities between various layers of government, issues of political representation at the national level and fiscal decentralization; the advantages and disadvantages of these options in terms of political, economic and social implications, including maintaining the status quo; 
  • Identify the actions required for implementation of each option together with an approximate timeline in keeping with the framework for the transition period and estimate approximate budget requirements for each policy option.

Each following objective should built on the previous one and all of them should be implemented in a mutually dependent and complementary manner.

The Economist is specifically responsible for:

  • Contributing to the design of the methodology for the policy paper to ensure an adequate coverage of economic issues and delivery of basic socio-economic services;
  • Conducting desk reviews of the existing research and proposals concerning the future political arrangements for Yemen, with focus on economic and development issues and delivery of basic socio-economic services;
  • Conducting interviews, discussions and consultations with relevant stakeholders as may be required to gather data for the policy paper;
  • Drafting the relevant sections of the report, specifically:
    (a) an analysis of the development issues and delivery of basic socio-economic services in various political and administrative settings (a unitary state, including various gradations of decentralization; federation, including an asymmetric federation, and confederation);
    (b) an analysis of the impact of various forms of government in the Yemeni context on socio-economic development and delivery of basic services; the criteria for economic viability and sustainability of subnational governments, including management of natural resources; 
  • Detailing an action plan in the area of economic development and delivery of basic socio-economic services required for the implementation of each options and costing of these measures;
  • Providing support to other experts in the team to perform the economic analysis of the proposed measures in their subject areas;
  • Preparing presentation materials summarizing and explaining the main findings and recommendations of the study with regard to economic development and delivery of basic socio-economic services.

Competencies

  • An excellent knowledge and understanding of socio-economic development in various political and administrative settings;
  • A profound understanding of the Yemeni context, particularly the main challenges in socio-economic development and delivery of basic services at the central and local levels;
  • Excellent writing skills; ability to express complex political and governance issues in a clear, comprehensive and instructive manner in writing;
  • Excellent research and analytical skills;
  • Ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team of experts;
  • Good IT literacy, including word processing, use of database information, and the Internet.

Required Skills and Experience

  • Master’s Degree in Economics, Development Economics, Development, or similar;
  • An advanced degree would be an asset.