UNDP Jobs - 59768- International Consultant

International Consultant - Macro-Economist

Location :

UNDP/SNPPM, Kabul, AFGHANISTAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

16-Sep-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

2 months with maximum 44 working 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

Project Objective

The SNPPMC primary objective is to strengthen national policy and decision making at the center of government. The project seeks to strengthen institutional capacity of the central government offices for development of a system for effective policy planning, development coordination and management.

The project adopts a holistic approach to capacity development by addressing capacity gaps at three levels; i.e. institutional, organizational and individual. The project approach is focused on enhancing the current capacity of the policy analysts of the sectoral departments of the Administrative Office of the President (AoP) in order to enable them to assume their functions in a professional manner. In addition, the project will address the gaps in the current policy planning process through providing support to AoP for policy planning, establishing guidelines, SoPs, formats and templates to streamline and regulate the process for policy planning and management and will draw on experiences and expertise of other countries as relevant.

SNPPMC main stakeholder is the Administrative Office of the President (AOP), which is the entity responsible for coordinating government business processes. It also works with all relevant offices within the center of government such as the offices of the 1st and 2nd Vice Presidents and the Office of the President’s Special Representative for Reform & Good Governance. However, the project focuses on AOP in its capacity as the Secretariat to the Cabinet as well as the coordinating hub for policy processes and policy planning, management and execution.

The Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Strategic Planning (DPSP) requires special attention, specifically in the area of national economic development plans and strategies.

Background

The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan of 2004 created an executive branch designed to exercise considerable power. The President, who is directly elected for a period of five years for a maximum of two terms, is both head of state and head of government.

The Existing Center of Government machinery consists of key units: the Administrative Office of the President (AoP), and the Offices of the First and Second Vice Presidents (VP1 and VP2). Additionally, the Office of the Special Representative for Reform & Good Governance (OPSR) has been introduced in accordance to the President’s decree no 49 in order to accelerate the government reform process.

The AoP is responsible for supporting the President. The current status reflects the need to support the AOP in assuming its functions especially with regards to policy formulation and coordination at Center of Government.

The Administrative Office of the President consists of the Chief of Staff, four Deputies, and a number of national experts whose remit is mainly to support the President in setting broad national objectives.

The AoP functions as a coordinating body among government entities; executive, legislative and judicial to facilitate the implementation of the State’s policies and plans. The AoP is also responsible for analysis, evaluation, research and assessment of policies submitted to the President, prepares policies and reports for the President, monitoring and evaluation of implementation of the President’s decrees and National Priorities and Plans (NPPs). On another level, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has the responsibility to organize and prepare documentation for the Council of Ministers, notify the decision of the Council of Ministers to Ministries and other government entities, and prepare documentation for meetings of the committees of the Council of Ministers. The AoP’s senior managers identify as the main challenges for the fulfillment of the AoP mandate, the need for capacity enhancement in the area of policy planning, management, coordination and implementation.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

Context

In view of the 2014 Presidential elections, reforms in the structures and functions of the AOP of the President have been taking place. The Deputy for Policy & Strategic Planning (DPSP) has evolved as a key policy making office to identify macroeconomic and social policy challenges and formulate high impact country wide economic and social policies.

Afghanistan faces immense challenges to achieve a sustainable socio-economic development. They include inter alia, poverty, security, access to infrastructure, basic services, etc. This requires evidence-based and well informed strategic policy formulation at the center of government.

In this respect, the DPSP’s main responsibilities include inter alia, the following:

Supporting the realization of the President’s Vision of “Realizing Self-Reliance” through policy advicethat is in concert with the national priorities;
Coordinating sectoral policies with line ministries;
Leading specific policy initiatives, especially where there is a gap at the ministries’ level;
Initiating policy advice on issues of urgency that and that can positively contribute to the improvement of the overall socio-economic conditions;
Responding to specific ad-hoc requests for policy advice coming from the President;
Preparing specific background papers on political and economic files relevant to the President’s program;
Analyzing and recommending specific policy options coming from civil society and private sector;
Reviewing policy recommendations of the line ministries and ensuring that they are in line with the President’s vision and national priorities and strategies;
Standardizing business model in order to streamline templates for policy notes.

The DPSP is comprised of 5 different Directorates as follows:

Directorate of Policy Research & Development;
Directorate of Public Policy Formulation;
Directorate of Economic Strategic Planning;
Directorate of Cluster Policy;
Directorate of Defense & Security.

In particular, the Office of the DPSP is newly established. For this, purpose, and in order for the project to best address the need to enhance policy planning capacity needs within DPSP and for the policy advisors working in it, it requires the expertise of a senior macro-economist.

The main purpose is to enable the team of policy advisors within the department and the AoP to develop a well-informed, evidence based and targeted policy planning recommendations that are directly linked to the President’s vision and plans to improve the overall socio-economic conditions in the country.

This Technical support is in line with Output 1 of SNPPMC; “The AOP has better capacity to effectively coordinate and manage the process for national policy, planning, development and decision making”. It is specifically in response with identified challenges by senior advisors at the AoP. This includes the identification of reform and streamlining of government business processes and procedures, a robust regulatory framework in place to effectively support policy and decision making, developing guidelines, formats, and templates for policy and decision making and strengthening administrative and management capacity for effective management of the AoP.

The expert will be based in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy & Strategic Planning (DPSP) and will be working under the direct supervision of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy & Strategic Planning and the UNDP SNPPMC Project Manager. The expert should possess highly technical and analytical skills in field of macro-economic, social and economic planning. She/he will be based in the DPSP at the AOP and will support the Deputy Chief of Staff and his team in conducting macro-economic analysis, preparing policy recommendations and mentoring the staff within DPSP.

Expected Outputs, Deliverables and Timelines

The overall scope of work of the consultant will be to support the review of the overall macro-economic conditions and national development challenges in Afghanistan in close collaboration with the team of the DPSP at the AOP by jointly mobilizing the national leadership and ownership for this process to design an overall framework/road map for national development with a focus on socio-economic development.

The expert will work in close collaboration with the Deputy Policy and Strategic Planning Advisor at the AoP, the SNPPMC Technical Specialist/ Project Manager, provide support, guidance and leadership to deliver the following:

Deliverables:

Provide a list of literature review (within first week / 3 days);
Meetings with DPSP, UNDP and any other relevant agencies (throughout the consultancy period);
Work methodology including outline or economic review report (within first week / 2 days);
Report on analytic review of overall economic conditions and economic challenges in Afghanistan (within second week / 5 days);
Review of economic related policies and priorities as stated by the President in the London Conference Dec 2014 “Realizing Self-Reliance” and recommendations for policy implementation decisions to be included and taken into consideration in the Policy recommendation (Economic Development Road Map) (within fifth week/ 15 days);
Specific Economic Policy recommendations in line with the Presidents program on “Realizing Self-Reliance” that are feasible and realizable in the short, medium and long-term (during the consultancy period / 17 days);
Back to Office report including recommendations for DPSP and UNDP on the way forward (within eighth week/2 days).

Working arrangement

Institutional Arrangements:

The consultant will work under the overall supervision of the SNPPMC Technical Specialist/Project Manager of UNDP. The consultant shall work in close collaboration with the Director of Cluster Policy within the DPSP/ AOP and his staff;
The consultant is expected to be available to meet with the project staff at UNDP including the SNPPMC Project Manager as frequent as possible and in general, keep them aware of the course of the assignment and any possible challenges that may impede the delivery or expected outputs. The consultant is also expected to be flexible to meet with the counterparts at their convenience and be able to have informative and consultative sessions;
SNPPMC will provide office space and internet facility, logistical and other support service including transportation and security applicable to UNDP personnel and external consultants. UNDP may provide the consultant with a local sim card. The consultant is expected to have his or her personal laptop and mobile phone.

Duration of the Work

The expected duration of the contract shall take place during a period of four months (September-December). The target date for the start of work will be around the first week of September 2015 depending on the availability of the consultant.

Duty Station

The duty station for the consultant is Kabul, Afghanistan for the entire duration of the contract. The consultant will be based at the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy & Strategic Planning at the AoP with availability for meetings at the UNDP-SNPPMC project office at UNDP at the UNOCA compound in Jalalabad road. The consultant’s will be responsible to coordinate his or her meetings schedule with support for contacts and logistics from the SNPPMC project.

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payment:

The contractor shall submit a price proposal as below:

Daily Fee – The contractor shall propose a daily fee, which should be inclusive of his professional fee, local communication cost and insurance (inclusive of medical health insurance and evacuation). The number of working days for which the daily fee shall be payable under the contract is 44 working days;
The contractor shall propose a Living allowance at the Kabul applicable rate of USD 181 per night for his/her stay at the duty station. The number of nights for which the Living allowance shall be payable under the contract is 60 nights. The contractor is not allowed to stay in a place of his choice other than the UNDSS approved places. UNDP will provide MORSS compliant accommodation in Green Village (GV) to the contractor. The payment of GV accommodation shall be made directly to GV by the contractor;
Travel & Visa – The contractor shall propose an estimated lump-sum for home-kabul-home travel (economy most direct route) and Afghanistan visa expenses.

The total professional fee, shall be converted into a lump-sum contract and payments under the contract shall be made on submission and acceptance of deliverables under the contract in accordance with the schedule of payment linked with deliverables.

Evaluation Method and Criteria

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.
Technical Criteria - weight 70%;
Financial Criteria - weight 30%.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Technical Criteria – Maximum 70 points:

Criteria A: Relevane of Education - 15 points;
Criteria B: Special skills such as language – 5 points;
Criteria C: Relevance of experience – 30 points;
Criteria D: Description of approach/methodology – 20 points.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly and without favoritism;
Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Functional Competencies:

Demonstrates a strong understanding of macro-economics, socio-economic indicators and statistical analysis, macro-economic-modeling and economic governance;
Demonstrates openness and ability to understand issues pertaining to economic development in Afghanistan;
Knowledge and expertise in supportinggovernment offices in the areas of policy planning and research;
Ability to draft clear reports;
Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
Excellent presentation skills for senior level people;
Strong communication and interpersonal skills;
Strong knowledge of information and computer technology;
Strong analytical skills with regards to macro-economics and policy planningin a conflict-and post-conflict and complex situations;
Demonstrates sound judgment, ability to handle confidentiality and politically sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner;
Ability to design clear policy notes.

Communications and Networking skills:

Excellent oral communication skills and conflict resolution competency to manage inter-group dynamics and mediate conflicting interests of varied actors;
Excellent ability to communicate sensitive issues with senior political leaders;
Excellent representation and understanding of the local context.

Management and Leadership:

Excellent discipline and management of multi-stakeholders;
Focuses on impact and result for the center of government as the main beneficiary;
Ability to analyze work processes, provide reasonable solutions in accordance with the local context;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive and constructive attitude;
Ability to build counterpart understanding, buy-in and support for internal change management;
Results oriented and ability to work under pressure;
Proven networking, team-building, and organizational and communication skills;
Strong understanding and actual practice of capacity development of public institutions.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

A Ph.D in macro-economic development and Planning or a closely related field or a Master’s degree with at least 15 years of experience in the related field.

Experience:

A minimum 15 years of work experience in the area of macro-economic development and socio-economic planning preferably at the center of government;
Experience and or familiarity with UNDP’s development approachand ability to adapt international practice to national context;
A minimum of 10 years of practical qualification experience in macro-economic development, economic modeling and economic research and analysis in complex environment.Experience working in post-conflict countries is a plus.
Proven intellectual and practical capacity to understand and interpret national development issues, particularly in post conflict/ crisis country setting;
Strong knowledge of State of Practice in developing economic policy and strategic planning and monitoring and evaluation of public policies at the center of government;
Proven experience with coaching, advisory and capacity development of national government counterparts in post-conflict recovery process;
Experience with UNDP agencies is an asset.

In addition, the following professional experiences will be taken into consideration:

Familiarity with Afghanistan and its political, socio-economic and institutional context
Familiarity with institutional development especially in the field of policy, strategic planning and monitoring and evaluation.

Language:

Excellent command of written and spoken English;
Some knowledge of Dari/Pashto would be an asset.

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document:

Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP (Annex II);
Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references.

Technical proposal:

Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment;
A methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment.

Financial proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided (Annex II).

Annexes (to be downloaded from UNDP Afghanistan Website, Jobsite section: www.undp.org):

Annex I - Individual Contractor General Terms and Conditions;
Annex II – Offerors Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual Contractor Assignment;
P11.