UNDP Jobs - 48337- International Consultant for the Development of Po

International Consultant for the Development of Policy Planning and M&E Framework in Mongolia

Location :

Ulaanbaatar, MONGOLIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Sep-2014

Application Deadline :

04-Aug-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

70 days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Driven by the mining sector, Mongolia’s economy has grown rapidly on average by more than 9 percent in the last decade. Since 2011 the growth rate has been in double digits as large mining projects have come on-stream. As a result, the planned public investment financed from the state budget and the Development Bank has increased by ten times in the period 2008-12.

To effectively use the increased revenues for balanced and equitable growth, Mongolia needs a strategic planning framework for coordination and implementation of public investment projects that reflect local priorities.

The Government has approved two key legislations that strengthen the development planning and budgeting processes - the ‘Fiscal Stability Law’ in 2010 and the ‘Budget Law’ in 2011. The third important piece of legislation, the draft ‘Law on Development Policy and Planning’ has been endorsed by the Cabinet and is to be presented to the Parliament later in 2014.

Together, these Laws will help streamline the government’s functioning and make it more responsive to local needs. They are interrelated to support effective policy formulation, planning and budget implementation. The Fiscal Stability Law is primarily to help smooth volatility in fiscal spending and make stable long-term sectoral allocations. The Budget Law is aimed to help increase allocative and operational efficiency of public investments, promote fiscal decentralization, and improve service delivery. Implementation of these Laws is the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance.

The draft Law on Development Policy and Planning aims to establish an integrated development policy and planning system by (i) setting up governing principles for development policy and planning in Mongolia; (ii) strengthening cohesion across long-, medium- and short-term planning; (iii) ensuring policy continuity; (iv) harmonizing the planning and budgetary processes; (v) ensuring coordination across central and local government planning processes; and (vi) defining responsibilities and duties of stakeholders in planning and budgeting.

With the roll out of the Budget Law from January 2013, and Cabinet endorsement of the draft Planning Law, the focus is now squarely on decentralized planning and implementation. There is widespread support for the draft Planning Law and it is expected to be approved by the Parliament in the next session.

The Ministry of Economic Development (MED) is leading the government’s efforts to streamline public investment planning, harmonise the planning and budgeting functions, and provide a strong thrust to economic policy formulation. MED is leading the work on the design of the DPL, its approval of in Parliament, and will coordinate its implementation.

UNDP support

UNDP is supporting MED to strengthen national capacity for developing a comprehensive planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation framework under the project ‘Strengthening the Government Capacity of National Development Policy & Planning’.

The intended outcome of the project is to strengthen Government capacity to put in place a stable and robust national policy and planning system framework that will help improve service delivery and effectively manage the mining revenue.

Challenges

MED faces a number of key challenges that affect its ability to effectively implement the DPL.

One, there is lack of legal regulations, guidelines or a manual on how to actually implement the provisions of the draft DPL. These need to be developed even while awaiting approval of the draft Law by the Parliament.

Two, there are serious capacity gaps at all stages of the national planning framework that affect the preparation of sectoral and local-level plans and their implementation. The aimags and soums have increased planning and budgeting responsibilities as outlined in the new Budget Law, but lack the requisite capacities.

Three, while the system for monitoring the implementation of development plans in Mongolia has improved, still there are large gaps in understanding how best to undertake monitoring and evaluation of development policies and how to undertake mid-course corrections if required. Use of Performance or Result-based Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) is limited and there is lack of regular and systemized assessments based on performance. Therefore there is need to set up an M&E system in support of the decentralized planning framework in Mongolia.

Rationale for the assignment

As part of the project, MED and UNDP are keen to work with a team of national and international experts in order to address the challenges outlined above and strengthen the implementation of the decentralized planning framework.

For this purpose UNDP wishes to hire a team of one (1) international and three (3) national consultants who will work, both independently as well as together, to undertake the tasks as outlined subsequently.

Duties and Responsibilities

Working with national consultants, the International Consultant is expected to bring international knowledge and expertise to lead the preparation of planning and M&E Guidelines, manuals, and the capacity building master plan; assessment of institutional structure, data requirements, and capacity for M&E at national and local levels; strengthening national capacities for planning, implementation and M&E; and the acceptance among key stakehokders of the key provisions of the Guidelines, Manuals, and Capacity Master Plans. Each consultant will have their own Terms of Reference (TORs) that will outline separately a set of independent and joint deliverables.

Tasks

The international consultant will lead a team consisting of national consultants and be responsible for the final output of the team.

The international consultant will undertake five sets of key tasks as outlined below:

Lead the team of national consultants

Allocate work among national consultants;
Coordinate the work to ensure timely completion;
Prepare regular reports.

Prepare Planning and M&E Guidelines, Manuals, and Capacity Building Master Plan

Develop Planning Guidelines;
Develop M&E Guidelines
Develop implementation manuals based on the guidelines

Assess institutional structure, data requirements, and capacity for M&E

Assess current monitoring and evaluation institutional structure and capacities at national and local levels;
Identify data needs for M&E and assess quality of data collection, collation and analyses;
Propose a sound M&E system for plan implementation.

Strengthen national capacity for planning, implementation and M&E

Conduct institutional capacity assessment for planning and define institutional capacity development needs;
Conduct institutional capacity assessment for M&E and define institutional capacity development needs;
Develop National Capacity Building Master Plan based on the training modules prepared;
Develop training curriculum, modules, training materials on planning for capacity building of government officers in charge of planning and M&E;
Conduct capacity building training (Training of Trainers) on development planning, monitoring and evaluation.

Ensure acceptance of the key provisions of the Guidelines, Manuals, and Capacity Master Plans

Facilitate meetings and workshops;
Present draft and final versions of these products at workshops, meetings.

Competencies

Functional competencies:

Strong ability in development policy planning and research;
Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
Ability to research and analyze national development issues and priorities;
Displays a good understanding of development policy formulation and implementation issues such as planning, budgeting, implementation, monitoring and evaluation processes;
In-depth conceptual and practical knowledge of development issues and policies;
Strong writing and communications skills in English;
Ability to prioritize, plan and deliver task with expected output and results;
Ability to cooperate and provide constructive feedback to coworkers.

Corporate competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UNDP;
Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

PhD/Master Degree in Development Economics, International Development, Public Administration and Policy, Political Economy, or a related field.

Experience:

Minimum 10 years of related work experience, with a large portion on national planning, and/or implementation and M&E systems;
Direct or consulting experience in planning and policy-making in developing countries similar to Mongolia;
Publications related to economic, social and public policy, human development and public administration;
Experience in drafting development policy related documents and regulations are an advantage;
Demonstrates experience of working with national experts.

Language:

Fluent spoken and written English.