UNDP Jobs - 51057- National Consultant for Supporting to Develop Five

National Consultant for Supporting to Develop Five Year Development Plan for Ampara District

Location :

Ampara, SRI LANKA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Dec-2014

Application Deadline :

10-Nov-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

210 days within the period from 1st Dec 2014 to 31st Oct 2015

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

210 days within the period from 1st Dec 2014 to 31st Oct 2015

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

UNDP is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. The UNDP Programme adopts a UN inter-agency approach, and has built partnerships with a range of stakeholders, from government ministries and local government agencies to community-based and non-government organizations.

The UNDP’s Governance for Local Economic Development Programme (GLED) will serve as one of UNDP’s umbrella delivery programme for strengthening local governance capacities and improving socio-economic opportunities in identified vulnerable regions of the country in partnership with the Ministry of Public Administration and Home Affairs.

The GLED Programme will comprise of 4 main outputs:

Vulnerable Groups enabled to engage in sustainable local economic development initiatives;
Local level governance institutions plan and manage service delivery with increased effectiveness and inclusiveness;
Policy makers and development partners have an increased knowledge on good practices and lessons learned on local economic development and local governance to policy decisions;
Vulnerable communities have increased skills and ability to participate in local governance activities.

The European Union funded Support for District Development Programme (EU –SDDP) will complement the national efforts in improving the living standards of local communities in terms of livelihoods, local economic development and strengthening of social services and will be well aligned with the local priorities which will be set out in the District Development Plans (DDPs) of the targeted districts. One of the aims of the EU-SDDP programme is to strengthen the Local Governance of Sri Lanka. The Local Governance component of the programme emphasize preparation and development of Seven(7) Divisional and District Development Plans for Monaragala, Ampara, Batticaloa, Puttlam, Anuradhapura,Vavuniya and Mannar Districts.For this purpose UNDP intends to contract a leading consultant to work with District and Divisional Secretaries of the above mentioned districts.

Duties and Responsibilities

Responsibilities:

Support UNDP to identify sector specialist and Sector Policy Specialist and form Task force for each sector;
Review existing divisional plans and district plans and recommend the point of departure of the Planning process;
Identification of sector intervention areas/Thrust Areas and develop appropriate strategies, policies(if needed) and recommend legal provisions need for policy implementation along with sector heads;
Guide the Task Force including the sector heads to develop the Divisional and District Plans with support of Director Planning and Assistant Director Planning. Ensure quality of the DDPsproduced in collaboration with Director Planning of the District Secretariat and Assistant Director of Divisional Secretariats;
Participating in workshops related to the development planning;
Supporting for validation of the plans;
Submission of Final Divisional plans and District Plans;

Expected Outputs

Task, Timeframe and Deliverables are as follows:

Task: Discussion with UNDP, and GAs and obtain their view and expectations;
Time frame: 1st to 15th December 2014.

Deliverable: A discussion note with inclusions of thoughts of the key stakeholders.

Task: Develop TORs for Task Force members, identify Task Force members and develop detailed Work Plan for whole assignment and obtain approval from UNDP.

Time frame: 16th December to 14th January 2015

Deliverable:List of Task Force Members, TORs, Work Plan

Task : Review the existing annual or five year Divisional and Development Plans, Planning practices and the existing capacity level including capacity assets and suggest GAs/DP and UNDP about the point of departure of the planning process for developing 5 year District Development plan.

Time frame: 15th January to 14th February 2015

Deliverable:Twenty (20) Divisional Plans review papers and a district plan review paper with recommendations and an outline of a strategic intervention framework

Formulation and development of 20 divisional plans.

Task: Submission of Monthly Process report with achievement of key milestones stipulated in the Time frame : work plan and presenting progress in monthly meetings organize by GA jointly with UNDP.

Deliverable: Monthly Meetings and Progress Report.

Task: Submission of Mid Assignment Progress Report.

Time frame: 15th March 2015.

Deliverable: Mid assign report/work.

Task: Submission of Semi Final five (5) year Divisional Development Plans for 20 divisions to UNDP and divisional secretaries and GAs

Time frame: 14th May 2015.

Deliverable: 20 Semi Final Divisional Development Plans.

Task: Presenting the plans in a validation workshop in collaboration with UNDP and GA.

Time frame: 15th June 2015.

Deliverable:Validation workshop.

Task: Submission of Final five (5) year Divisional Development Plans for 20 divisions by incorporating the comments obtain from the validation workshop.

Time frame: 1st July2015.

Deliverable:Submission of Final twenty(20) five year divisional development plans.

Developing the District Five (5) Year development plan for the district.

Task: Submission of semi-final draft to UNDP and GAs.

Time frame: 31st July 2015.

Deliverable :Submission of a five year district development plan.

Task: Incorporating the comments of UNDP and GAs and submit the final draft plan.

Time frame: 15th August 2015.

Deliverable: Submission of final draft of the five year district development plan.

Task: Presenting the plans in a validation workshop organized by GAs and UNDP and obtains the forums comments and suggestion.

Time frame: 1st September 2015.

Deliverable: Validation workshop and presenting the plans.

Task : Submission of Final District plan.

Time frame: 31st September 2015.

Deliverable :Final District development plan for the district.

Task : Supporting for Publishing the Divisional and District Plans.

Time frame: 31st October 2015.

Deliverable :Submission of final edited version (after all proof readings) of the Plan for publishing the plans.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Strong expertise in Result Based Planning Process and Participatory approaches;
Familiarity with theSri Lankan Government’s Planning administrative structures and also has knowledge about" Mahinda Chinthana" and government development priorities;
Maturity and confidence in dealing with senior members of national institutions;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Excellent written communication skills, with analytic capacity and ability to synthesize relevant collected data and findings for the preparation of quality analysis for the project proposal;
Excellent coordination skills and result oriented collaboration other national level consultants;
Excellent communication (both oral and written) and partnership building skills with multi-dimension partners;
Computer proficiency, especially related to professional office software packages (Microsoft Office);
Good team player who has ability to maintain good relationships.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

Master’s Degree in the field of Development studies, public administration, development planning or any other related fields;

Experience

Minimum of 15 years of demonstrable experience in the field of planning/sector planning;
Minimum of 5years of demonstrated strategic technical and intellectual skills in the substantive area;
Minimum of 5years of demonstrated leadership, facilitation and coordination skills, ability to manage technical team;
Experience in Development Planning and carried out similar assignment for government institutions. Good leadership qualities and familiar with Sri Lankan Government’s Administrative structure and has link with government Institutions are essential.

Language

Excellent English language skills, particularly in the preparation of written documents.

How to Apply

The application should contain:

A brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work;
Updated CV to include qualifications/competencies and relevant past experience in similar projects and name/contact details of 2 professional referees who can validate and recommend your professionalism, competencies and suitability to undertake this assignment;
Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a combination of factors including cover letter, the credentials on offer, brief interview and the offer which gives the best value for money for the UNDP;
Please duly fill the below financial proposal and attach to the last page of the CV along with all other required documentation above;

Financial Proposal

Description Fees

Consultancy and Professional fees Rs

Communication costs, such as telephone/ internet usage Rs

Printing/Stationery costs Rs

Travel cost (to respective divisions in the district(s) Rs

Other (any other foreseeable costs) Rs

All inclusive Lump sum amount for the contract (total of the above cost) Rs

Note

Payments will be based on invoices on achievement of agreed milestones i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR and certification of acceptance by the UNDP. The applicant must factor in all possible costs in his/her “All Inclusive Lump Sum Fee” financial proposal including his/her consultancy and professional fee, honorarium, communication cost such as telephone/internet usage, printing cost, return travel from home to office, ad-hoc costs, stationery costs, and any other foreseeable costs in this exercise. No costs other than what has been indicated in the financial proposal will be paid or reimbursed to the consultant. The UNDP will only pay for any unplanned travel outside of this TOR and Duty Station on actual basis and on submission of original bills/invoices and on prior agreement with UNDP officials. Daily per-diemand costs for accommodation/meals/incidental expenses for such travel shall not exceed established local UNDP DSA rates.

For an Individual Contractor who is of 62 years of age or older, and on an assignment requiring travel, be it for the purpose of arriving at the duty station or as an integral duty required under the TOR, a full medical examination and statement of fitness to work must be provided.

Payment for Services

The National Consultant forDeveloping Five Year Development Plan shall receive payment in fourinstalments from UNDP as follows:

10% on submission of twenty(20) Divisional Plans review papers and one(1)district plan review paper with recommendations and an outline of a strategic intervention framework;
20% on submission of Twenty(20)Semi Final draft Divisional Development Plans;
30% onSubmission of Final Twenty(20) divisional development plans upon clearance by UNDP;
40%on submission of a Final District development plan upon clearance of UNDP.