Historique

As part of the plan for accelerating the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals consistent with the implementation of Agenda for Transformation (AfT), Liberia as a fragile and conflicted affected state, is committed to the implementation of the New Deal as one of the pilot countries that have agreed to pilot the New Deal with willing development partners in order to catch-up, sustain, consolidate development gains and accelerate progress toward the MDGs. By piloting the New Deal, Liberia   will establish or reinforce the existing frameworks, defining a new way on how donors, the  government  and other partners will work together to  strengthen  strong state institutions and norms that can sustain peace. In so doing further steps   aimed at concurrently facilitating progress toward the Millennium Development Goals and making commitment to engaging  differently to  improve results will be taken.  The implementation of the five peace building and state building goals and the FOCUS and TRUST principles of the New Deal will lay the foundation for achieving the MDGs, and entails committing national and international partners to new ways of working to support building and consolidating peace in Liberia. Other countries piloting the New Deal are: Somalia Timor Leste, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Central African Republic. The New Deal has five peace building and state building goals most of which are linked to the current AfT:  Legitimate Politics, Justice, and Security, Economic foundation and Revenue and services. 

The New Deal was adopted by Liberia and other members of the international community through the Fourth High Level Forum in Busan in 2011.  Since 2011, the New Deal has had significant impact in influencing the discourse and policies of international and national partners. The New Deal represents the first time fragile and conflict-affected states have come together to coordinate their own efforts through a body known as the g7+.  The New Deal comes at the time when more than 1.5 billion people (among which are Liberians) live in conflict-affected and fragile states.  Liberia, like many of these states is farthest from reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In Liberia, only three out of the eight goals are likely to be met. The wisdom of the New Deal is that accelerating progress towards MDGs, and addressing conflict and fragility requires a fundamental shift in the way international partners and all stakeholders engage in fragile states. The New Deal has five Peacebuilding and Statebuilding Goals (PSGs) most of which are linked to the current AfT:  Legitimate Politics, Justice, and Security, Economic foundation and Revenue and services.  There is renewed emphasis on FOCUS and TRUST principle and commitment.

Progress toward the New Deal implementation include the setting up of a technical working group (comprising members of the GoL, development partners and civil society) to on New Deal implementation, conducting a fragility assessment, developing indicators for each of the 5 peace building and state building goals and based on the principles of FOCUS and TRUST. The technical working group has produced a draft fragility assessment report and a proposed list of country level indicators to monitor the PSGs.  

The next step is to move toward the   development and signing of a New Deal Compact, which is intended to complement rather than replace or duplicate existing priority frameworks for development. The GOL has been working with partners to ensure that the spirit of the New Deal is reflected in its National Vision, Liberia Rising 2030, and further that the New Deal principles are reflected in the national development plan, Agenda for Transformation.

The Government has developed a timeline for developing a New Deal Compact.  At the first donor coordination meeting held in February 2014, government of Liberia informed development partners that among issues, any New Deal compact should focus on the use of country systems, against the backdrop of international commitments on the use of country systems, such as the Paris Declaration ( 2005), the Accra Agenda for Action ( 2008) and the Bussan partnership for  Effective Development Cooperation.  The Government and development partners believe that the use and strengthening of country systems is central to building effective institutions. This use and strengthening of country systems must be based on a joint assessment of country systems using mutually agreed diagnostic tools, the result of which will determine the extent to which country system can be used.

Toward this end, Liberia intends to validate the indicators and report of the fragility assessment, the results of which will foster the internalization of the PSGs in national planning framework, such as the translating the PSG goal of Legitimate politics into concrete, achievable interventions. The pilot partners seek to determine the existence of interventions in the current Agenda for transformation that will contribute towards New Deal benchmarks, based on the review of the AfT, the results matrix and the Liberia priority plan.  The validation exercise, informed by a comprehensive review of   AfT vis-à-vis the PSGs, fragility assessment and the indicators will lead to a compact to guide government and donor engagement in implementation of the New Deal.  This compact will reflect the national indicators, the interventions required to achieve them, the resources and partnership that should deliver the intended results,  the set of mutually binding  commitments, including the mechanisms and tools for taking stock of specific indicators linked to soft issues of the New Deal such as legitimate politics. Given that emphasis has been placed on the use of country systems as a key component of the New Deal compact, both the government and partners recognize that the conduct of a use of country system inventory to provide base information on current use of country system, and how that can be improved upon within the context of the OECD definition of the use of country system and the expanded typology and definition provided by Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative (CABRI).  It is in light of the foregoing that the government of Liberia with support from the New Deal Partners seeks the services of an International Consult to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the use of country system, leading to an inventory, by delivering the indicated results as below:

Devoirs et responsabilités

The encumbent will be expected to perform  the following:
  • Assess development partners´(DP)  current use of country systems in Liberia as defined by OECD/DAC and New Deal guidelines;
  • To determine how/where DP’ can increase their use of country systems in the short and medium  term based on individual DP’s requirements, capacities, and constraints to use different components of country PFM systems;
  • Identify and recommend options for increased donor coordination on use of country systems, such as joint risk assessments and analyses;
  • Identify the challenges/obstacles that the GoL need to address in order for donors to be able to increase their use of country systems and propose a step by step approach on how this can be accomplished, with reference to ongoing reforms in line with Liberian PFM Reform Strategy and Action Plan.
Working under the direct supervision of the Team Leader, Sustainable Economic Transformation and  New Deal Focal Point at UNDP, the Consultant’s duties, responsibilities and key deliverables shall be:
  • Facilitation of common understanding of the use of country systems:
  • Undertake, based on the common understanding of the term “  use of country system”,  an assessment  of progress made with respect to the use  of country systems in Liberia based on an analytical framework for country systems;
  • A final consolidated report constituting an inventory of the use of country system, gaps, and limitations, and recommendations on how to improve and the instrument for tracking progress:
  • Review of available documents ( desk reviews), initial interaction with key stakeholders, stock taking/ analysis) preparation and delivery  of a PPP for common understanding of the definition of use of country systems based on applicable experiences elsewhere)
    Submission of an inception report including a and detailed work plan
  • An assessment  of progress made with respect to the use  of country systems in Liberia based on an analytical framework for country systems  Leading to a draft report for review, comments
  • Submission of Final  consolidated report constituting an inventory of the use of country system, gaps, and limitations, and recommendations on how to improve, and the instrument for tracking progress. A Power Point Presentation of findings to Government and Development partners

Compétences

 Operational Skills
  • Capacity to perform effectively under pressure and hardship conditions;
  • Good interpersonal and teamwork skills, networking aptitude, ability to work in a multicultural environment;
  • Excellent writing skills to draft reports for submission to the Liberia Development Alliance (LDA) Secretariat;
  • Excellent interpersonal skills and cultural and political sensitivity to effectively interact with a cross section of government officials, members of donor organizations, international and national NGOs, civil society representatives, etc.;
  • Excellent organizational and presentation skills;
  • Strong inter-personal skills with ability to promote participation and teamwork;
  • Ability to undertake field travel in order to achieve objectives;
  • Active commitment to promoting the interest of marginalized people;
  • Highly motivated, flexible, and capable of working under pressure;
  • Excellent computer skills (especially Microsoft office applications) and ability to use information technology as a tool and resource;
  • Good analytical skills

Qualifications et expériences requises

The following key qualifications and skills would be required:

Education

  • Advanced University degree (Masters or equivalent) preferably in the Economics, Social Sciences: Development Studies, Peace Studies, Political Science, Public Administration, International Relations, Rroject Design and Management, other relevant field or the equivalent combination of education and experience in a related area.

 Experience

  • An understanding of the OECD definition of the use of country system and the expanded typology and definition provided by Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative (CABRI) and  engagement in similar work;
  • At least 5 years experience in conflict/post-conflict/highly fragile environment with PFM, program/ project  management, monitoring and evaluation experience;
  • Sound knowledge of the New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States, and experience in conflict sensitivity and peace building and local capacity development;
  • Sound knowledge of Public Financial Management concepts and development financing models, and aid/development effectiveness principles (including Busan)
  • Full working knowledge of English, including excellent drafting and presentation skills.

Language Requirements:

  • Excellent written and spoken English.

Criteria for Shortlisting:

  • Relevance of Education/ Degree - 15 points;
  • Years & Relevance of Experience - 50 points;
  • Regional Experience - 15 points;
  • Adequacy of Competencies for the Assignment - 20 points.  

NB:

Only shortlisted candidates will be forwarded the UNDP Procurement Notice.