Background

The Governance Programme of UNDP Somalia currently consists of three pillars: (i) public sector capacity building and institutional development, (ii) democratic governance (constitutional dialogue and elections) and (iii) local governance/ decentralization. The Somali Institutional Development Project (SIDP) focuses on implementing the capacity building and institutional development pillar of UNDP Somalia’s governance portfolio.
 
SIDP was set up in 2008 and works with governance institutions in South Central Somalia in Mogadishu, in Puntland and in Somaliland to build their capacity so that they can perform their functions more effectively. The SIDP project team operates with staff in Nairobi, Hargeisa (Somaliland) and Garowe (Puntland). Local staff will shortly be recruited for Mogadishu and Bossaso. In 2011, a redesign process shifted the emphasis for support away from specific institutions to thematic support to four key pillars working across a variety of institutions. These pillars are:
  1. Public Financial Management, Transparency and Accountability;
  2. Development Planning and Aid Coordination;
  3. Public Sector and Parliamentary Reform and;
  4. Good governance tasks which assist a political transition.
The new project design significantly shifts the way that SIDP is going to operate in the future. It moves SIDP away from providing core operational support to Ministries to supporting strategic public sector reforms. Under the redesign project, SIDP is expected to deliver the following Development Planning and Aid Coordination outputs between 2012 and the end of 2015:
 
Objective: External aid is effectively coordinated and managed, and used according to national planning processes.
  • Outputs 1: Somali men and women have information on what aid and development assistance they receive;
  • Output 2:Government authorities have the capacity to manage information on aid flows;
  • Output 3: Effective analysis of aid flows results in more aid aligned to national planning processes;
  • Output 4: Coherent planning results in the implementation of development plans which are owned by Somali men and women.
This consultancy focuses on the delivery of output 4 and the improvement of planning processes which produce relevant and realistic national/ state development plans. In all three regions of Somalia (Mogadishu, Puntland and Somaliland) there is political willingness to develop national develop plans which can serve to identify development priorities behind which international assistance can be aligned. In 2011, the Somaliland Authorities developed a 5 year National Development Plan from 2012 to 2016 titled ‘For Full Recovery and Rapid Development’. The Puntland National Plan came to end in 2011 and an internal review of the implementation of that review has just been concluded by the Puntland Authorities. In Mogadishu, the roadmap on ending the transition was signed in August 2011; it calls for the initiation of process to develop a National Plan by February 2012. This is still pending
 
The consultant will provide technical assistance to the State Authorities in Somaliland and Puntland and the Federal Authorities in Mogadishu to help them to improve their planning processes, develop national development plans (Puntland) and set up systems and processes to monitor and evaluate the implementation of national plans.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will report to the SIDP project manager, he/ she will work in close collaboration with the SIDP Project Manager, the SIDP Public Sector Reform Consultant, UNV Project Officer and relevant field staff in Mogadishu, Garowe and Hargeisa. The consultant will also liaise with staff from the UNDP Local Governance project and from the UNDP Poverty Reduction and Environment Programme (PREP) who support district level planning processes and statistical capacity building respectively. The consultant will:
 
1. Review and map existing state level (Somaliland and Puntland) and federal level (Mogadishu) development planning processes and coordination paying particular attention to :
  • Existing legislation, policies, programs and strategies for planning;
  • Whether existing legislation, policies, programs and strategies follow international best practice;
  • Whether existing legislation, policies, programs and strategies are practically implemented;
  • The policy and practical interface between district level (especially District Development Frameworks) and state/ national level planning processes including sectoral planning processes;
  • The practical linkages between state/ national planning processes and state/ national level budgetary processes both in terms of content, implementation and timelines;
  • The practical linkages between district level planning processes and district level budgetary processes in terms of functions, content, implementation and timelines;
  • The role of the District (particularly the departments of planning and statistics) in the national planning and budgetary process (in line with local government laws in Somaliland and Puntland and the accompanying district planning operational modules development in cooperation with the UN Joint Programme on Local Governance and Decentralized Services); the use of data to inform planning and budgetary processes; and
  • Technical capacities amongst line ministries and planning ministries to coordinate the plan.
2. Based on the review:
  • Develop participatory planning processes for each zone which outline roles and responsibilities of ministries of planning, sectors and districts in line with international best practice and taking into consideration existing local legislation, best practices and technical capacities;
  • Develop regional action plans which are owned by the Federal Government and Somaliland and Puntland Authorities which set out how state and federal planning processes will be improved over a four year period in line with international best practice;
  • Map out a four year SIDP project workplan which include timelines and costing (using existing project templates) to improve planning processes and build capacities for their implementation in the three regions (Somaliland, Puntland and Mogadishu) between 2012 and 2015.
3.Provide technical assistance, skills transfer and trainings to the Puntland Authorities to help them develop a new two year development plan (2013-2015) using an improved and participatory planning process by:
  • Assisting the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation to develop a concept note on how a National Plan can be developed which takes into consideration existing data and human resource constraints and outlines how the process can contribute to skill transfer, long term capacity building and improvements to long term planning processes;
  • Assisting the Ministry to carry out qualitative and participatory data collection processes such as Participatory Poverty Assessments;
  • Assisting the Ministry of Planning, other line ministries, and in conjunction with the Joint Programme on Local Governance - Local Government Authorities, to implement the steps outlined in the concept note ensuring that a draft national development plan is ready for consultation by mid-November;
  • Make initial linkages between the national development planning process and the Puntland budget process ensuring that any line ministry budget submissions with non –recurrent cost activities have some consistency with identified development priorities.
4. Provide technical assistance to the Somaliland Authorities to improve sectoral planning, and develop a system and process for the monitoring and evaluation of the Somaliland National Development Plan by;
  • Building on SIDP support provided to the Somaliland Ministry of Planning and National Development through training of ministry staff and mentoring of local consultants and peer reviewing the monitoring and development framework developed by the local consultant and the indicators developed as part of that framework;
  • Working with the local consultant in developing pilot monitoring and evaluation tools and providing trainings to staff on how they should be used;
  • Reviewing the ongoing sectoral coordination process facilitated by local consultants and where necessary suggest ways that it can be improved.
5. Following the conclusion of the transition in Mogadishu, and in conjunction with the Public Sector Reform Consultant engage with the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation to:
  • Assess how capacities can be built to improve planning processes initially in the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation;
  • Set out a process for the development of a new national plan (This is dependant on political buy-in from the new government).
Final product/deliverable:
In collaboration with the SIDP team, the consultant will coordinate the delivery of the following tasks:
 
Months 1-7
 
Output 1 (10%):
  • A detailed operational work plan for the development planning consultancy is developed and agreed on by the Project Manager;
  • Draft document outlining existing planning processes in Somaliland and Puntland developed and shared internally within UNDP and the Resident Coordinator Offices for comments;
  • Plan on how to improve monitoring and evaluation of the Somaliland National Plan developed and agreed with Ministry of Planning and National Development.
Output 2 (15%)
  • Final document outlining existing regional planning processes in Somaliland, Puntland and Federal planning processes finalized and distributed;
  • Concept Note on process to develop a Puntland National Development Plan finalized.
Output 3 (15%)
  • Revised planning processes for Somaliland and Puntland finalized and draft developed for South Central;
  • Regional action plans developed and agreed with the Somaliland and Puntland Authorities.
Output 4 (15%)
  • Four year SIDP workplan outlining actions to improve planning processes finalized.
Output 5 (15%)
  • Ongoing technical assistance provided to the Puntland Authorities to take forward development of the national plan;
  • Ongoing technical assistance provided to the Somaliland Authorities to roll out monitoring and evaluation of the Somaliland National Plan;
  • Revised planning processes for South Central finalized and if appropriate, develop a process to develop a federal national plan. (This decision will be taken in consultation with the Resident Coordinator’s Office and will be dependant on a number of factors including political stability);
  • Regional action plan for South Central.
Output 6 (10%)
  • Ongoing technical assistance provided to the Somaliland Authorities to roll out monitoring and evaluation of the Somaliland National Plan;
  • Ongoing technical assistance provided to the Puntland Authorities to take forward development of the national plan.
Output 7 (20%)
  • Ongoing technical assistance provided to the Puntland Authorities to take forward development of the national plan;
  • Ongoing technical assistance provided to the Somaliland Authorities to roll out monitoring and evaluation of the Somaliland National Plan.
Final report submitted.
 
Monitoring and Progress controls:
  • Monitoring will be carried out by the UNDP SIDP project manager;
  • Monthly reporting by the Consultant indicating progress on project as per the TORs and operational workplan.
Review/approval time:
  • Approval and payments will be made within 14 days of the successful completion of agreed milestones.

Competencies

  • Ability to organize and manage results-oriented strategic and thematic evaluations. Substantive knowledge and understanding of evaluation and development evaluation in particular;
  • Excellent knowledge of current development issues. Ability to conceptualize issues and analyze data;
  • Good technical skills in measurement and evaluation, including grasp of methodological and operational dimensions;
  • Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
  • Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
  • Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
  • Excellent communication skills (spoken, written and presentational);
  • Good interpersonal skills and ability to work in and with teams;
  • Ability to set priorities and manage time effectively.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:
  • Advanced University degree in Economics, Development Planning or other relevant fields.
Experience:
  • 7 years working in the field of international development with a focus on institutional development and development planning;
  • At least 3 years experience in providing technical assistance to national development plans processes and/ or national planning processes;
  • Proven experience in developing Monitoring and Evaluation tools for national plans and use of participatory methodologies;
  • Strong training and facilitation skills on development planning processes, coupled with good report writing skills is a requirement;
  • Proven experience of bringing together different stakeholders in facilitating complex processes;
  • Experience in providing training on development planning processes is desirable;
  • Recent or longstanding experience working with diverse actors including the international community, senior government officials and Politicians in Somalia is desirable;
  • Experience working with the UN is desirable.
Language Requirements:
  • Fluency in written and oral English is essential.