UNDP Jobs - 31692- International Consultant/Evaluator

INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT/EVALUATOR
Location :	Home - based, Astana
Application Deadline :	27-Aug-12
Type of Contract :	Individual Contract
Post Level :	International Consultant
Languages Required :	English Russian
Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start)	15-Oct-2012
Duration of Initial Contract :	one month
Expected Duration of Assignment :	one month
Background
In 2009, Kazakhstan adopted a new Strategic Plan 2020 to enter the world’s 50 most competitive states. One of the primary tasks for the Government under this Strategic Plan is to increase the efficiency of the state planning and execution of public services. Improvement in the sphere of public services is meant to be achieved via increased efficiency of state governance. It is envisaged that following the Presidential Decree dated 19 March 2010, the President’s Administration takes the lead in the development of the methodology of public administration assessment including the preparation of the respective regulations. As a result, in November 2010 the Administration of the President outlined draft public administration assessment methodology focusing on 6 main focus areas: Execution of strategic goals and tasks within the area of responsibility Implementation of Presidential decrees and Governmental regulations Budget execution Public services delivery Personnel management Use of Information technologies The main goal of public administration assessment is to evaluate the quality of execution of functions by the state bodies, including their service delivery to citizens, proper management of resources. A special government regulation also specifies how civil society is to be involved in the monitoring of public services and public administration assessment. It regulates a publication of a relevant announcement and involvement of NGOs on a non-commercial basis. In 2010, the Center for Strategic Development and Analysis of the Presidential Administration and responsible government bodies piloted an assessment in 3 public administration offices: Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, Agency on Regulation of Natural Monopolies and Akimat (local administration) of the Akmola oblast. In November 2010, the Center for Strategic Development and Analysis of the Presidential Administration approached the UNDP with a request to provide an international expertise to improve the assessment methodology and tools. The mission of two experts representing UNDP/Oslo Governance Centre reviewed the methodology and highlighted that “for many scores although objective data may guide the assessment, the actual scoring is in the end subjective”. Analysis suggested some better ways to assess governance performance by improving its diagnosing capacity as well as increasing public participation in the assessment and giving more account to gender and vulnerable groups’ interests. Expert’s recommendations were taken account when methodology has been finalizing in 2010. In accordance with the Presidential Decree, starting from 2011 an annual public administration performance assessment is obligatorily introduced for 26 central governing bodies (ministries) and all 16 local executive bodies (administrations) of Kazakhstan. In view of the ambitious development goals of Kazakhstan, further reforms in the governance system and further improvements of public administration assessment become crucial. In 2011, UNDP in co-operation with the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and Administration of the President initiated a project to improve the public administration assessment methodology and build capacity of state and non-state stakeholders in conducting the evaluation of performance of public administration. The project's aim was to strengthen responsive governing institutions by assisting the Administration of the President and the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade as the lead institutions to develop and improve new system of public administration performance assessment at central and local levels, including its impact on vulnerable groups; and empower citizens to hold government to account for its performance. The performance assessment helped to identify governance problems, provide means for assessing the effectiveness of policy reforms to address those problems and formulate better policies.
Duties and Responsibilities
The evaluation will cover the project’s period of 2011-2012. The main objectives of this assignment are to: Measure to what extent the project has fully implemented its activities, delivered intended outputs and attained outcomes, purposes and specifically measuring development results defined in Project Document. Identify lesson-learned from the project interventions with a view to ascertaining suitability of such interventions for continuation, discontinuation, refining and adoption in future work. The evaluation will cover the following key areas in line with the OECD/DAC evaluation criteria. Below are indicative questions for each criterion: RELEVANCE: the extent to which the project activities are suited to the priorities and policies of the country at the time of formulation: Have the projects activities responded to the needs and priorities identified by UNDP and national stakeholders? How has UNDP contributed to strengthening national and local capacity in public administration assessment? EFFECTIVENESS: the extent to which project activities attain its objectives: Have the project’s expected results been achieved and what was the supporting or impeding factors? To what extent has the project contributed towards democratic governance principles in assessment methodology and public administration assessment framework of Kazakhstan EFFICIENCY: measurement of the outputs in relation to the inputs. Was the project management structure appropriate to the objective and activities of the project Have the project actions been implemented within intended deadlines and cost estimates SUSTAINABILITY: the benefits of the project related activities that are likely to continue after the project fund has been exhausted Will the outputs delivered through the projects be sustained by national capacities, after the end of the project duration
Competencies
Excellent knowledge of the UNDP programming principles and procedures, the UN system and the UN common country programming processes; Understanding of public administration assessment framework; Understanding of results-based management principles, logical framework analysis; Specific monitoring and evaluation skills; Experience with quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis; participatory approaches; Awareness and sensitivity to enable working with people of various cultural backgrounds; Strong knowledge of the social and political situation in CIS countries. Knowledge of the context of Kazakhstan is an advantage; Understanding and ability to abide by the values of the United Nations; Excellent reports writing skills as well as communication and interviewing skills; Excellent written and spoken English, knowledge of Russian is an asset
Required Skills and Experience
Advanced university degree in political science, public administration or any other related social sciences 8-10 years of relevant professional experience is highly desirable, including previous substantive involvement in evaluations and/or reviews

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.