UNDP Jobs - 58708- Financial Management Consultant (Revenue Collectio

Financial Management Consultant (Revenue Collection) – Team Member

Location :

El Fasher, North Darfur State, SUDAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

24-Aug-2015

Application Deadline :

10-Aug-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

40 days

Languages Required :

Arabic English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

40 working days

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

The states in the Darfur region have taken some steps in resolving their planning and public expenditure management issues. Each state’s ministry of finance is entrusted with tasks relating to both planning and public expenditure management. In addition to the department of planning, in the ministry, there are planning units in line ministries and locality institutions. However, a study funded by UNDP at the request of the Minister of Finance, in the states, highlighted a number of challenges which should be addressed in order to further improve state planning and expenditure management. Human as well as institutional capacity was found to be lacking in various professions related to the broad field of public expenditure management including planning, revenue collection, accounting, reporting and budget control and management. The Darfur authorities therefore requested UNDP to develop a project that would address those lacking capacities. The project intervention will be at the states’ ministries and locality institutions levels. The following baseline data/information justifies the need for this project:

Local revenue is too low amounting to nearly 15% (ND), 20% (SD) and 3.5% (WD) of total revenue receipts in 2009. Most of the financing to the states came from the Central Government through transfers;

Inaccuracies in record keeping of revenue data due, in part, to improper classification of sources of revenue during reporting;

There is no technical analysis of budget preparation, control and performance as a management as well as a development tool due to capacity limitations. Also budget preparation in all states doesn’t follow the Government Financial Statistics (GFS) system as required for all levels of government in Sudan. Furthermore, there is lack of co-ordination for external aid as most of this is not on-budget assistance;

Ministries and localities receive allotments from the Ministry of Finance on a lump sum basis (not on the basis of GFS items). They are then expected to report back providing details of spending items. Recording and reporting is on cash basis; transactions are reported when cash is obtained or expenditures made. As a result, the lag between release of funds and payments often leads to inconsistencies in reports;

The wage cost accounts for 80% (ND), 59% (SD) and 80% (WD) of total state expenditure. This is significantly higher than the internationally advocated level of 25%. This high wage bill is leaving no fiscal space for other public expenditures;

The current manual system/spreadsheets for processing the payroll is highly susceptible to financial losses and should be reviewed and strengthened;

Availability of huge payroll arrears in all states that need to be verified, cleared as soon as possible or kept under control;

The States’ Strategic Plans (SSP) 2007-11 were subjected to a mid-term review and their performance rated unsatisfactory for a number of reasons notably weak human resource capacity and difficulties in accessing accurate and reliable data;

Institutional and human resources capacities continue to be major constraints to the state planning process. The SSP2012-16 for North Darfur, which is essentially a listing of sector projects, falls short of addressing the issues identified in the mid-term review. For instance, it does not provide an appropriate context to the state of affairs in Darfur; and

Though the project does not have explicit components on peace building and conflict resolution, it is envisaged that those issues will be indirectly addressed. For instance decentralization and local development in localities go a long way in power sharing and raising the living standards. These and other socio-political considerations contribute to the conflict situation in the state. Addressing them, in the way project does, contributes to peace building. On the other hand, women in Darfur are a force to reckon with in all fields of life. Their participation is crucial to the success of any development project in that region. Finally, the project will ultimately benefit the people of Darfur, including men, women and children from the good governance that will be achieved through promoting transparency and accountability and the consequential peace and economic prosperity of the region.

Duties and Responsibilities

In consultation with key stakeholders in alignment with relevant government and regional strategies including the Darfur Development Strategy, and under the overall guidance of the Team Leader for the consultancy, the Consultant (Team member) will undertake the following:

Review methodologies and approaches for local revenue mobilization currently in each state (and locality), and support locality/state governments in the Darfur region to develop and improve local revenue mobilization and collection so as to enhance discretionary powers, improve citizen participation, strengthen participation and consequently contribute to the sustainability of decentralized service delivery;
Conduct analysis of the institutional capacities for revenue collection and management at the locality/state level, identify major capacity gaps, formulate key capacity development measures adapted to the specific conditions of the selected states and localities and propose capacity development interventions;
Working with the relevant Ministries, government agencies in Darfur, farmers unions, livestock producers, revenue and tax authorities, UNCT and UNAMID counterparts, identify technical support required for selected localities to initiate improved local revenue mobilization initiatives and establish a participatory, inclusive and technically sound process leading to the development of enhanced, transparent and accountable local revenue mobilization plans for two pilot localities in each state of Darfur (a total of ten);
Through a combination of informal and formal methods, share experiences with stakeholders on the local revenue mobilization and management interventions in different countries but with similar contexts as Darfur/Sudan. In addition, share other relevant issues identified in the course of the institutional capacity analysis for revenue management.

Competencies

Knowledge of Microsoft Office (word, excel, access, and outlook);
Ability to work in a hardship environment;
Inter-cultural communication and people skills;
Ability to organize and prioritize work and function as part of a team;
Strong facilitation skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Bachelor’s Degree in Public Finance, Economic Policy, Accountancy, Public Policy, Development Studies, Economics or any relevant disciplines;
Possession of an advanced degree (Master’s degree or higher) will be a distinct advantage.

Experience:

Minimum 5 years of experience in the field of public financial management, fiscal decentralization, local government finance and intergovernmental relations;
Demonstrated sound knowledge and understanding of local revenue mobilization, particularly in post-conflict and transitional countries.
Demonstrated experience in tax and inter-governmental fiscal systems design and implementation;
Experience in the assessment of government systems and processes;
Proven experience of bringing together different stakeholders to carry forward complex processes;
Previous experience in Arab States and/or Africa and in conflict/post conflict contexts preferably with the UN / UNDP/Bretton Woods institutions would be an advantage.

Language:

Excellent written and spoken English;
Fluency in written and spoken Arabic is a must.