Background

Mainstreaming trade into national development strategies can enhance policy coherence, institutional coordination and facilitate the mobilization of resources for the implementation of trade-related priorities. This is because national development strategies represent the current choices and priorities of the nation and therefore provide the essential foundation for leveraging the contribution trade can make to the development process. The objective of this assignment is to systematically gather information on how Nigeria has approached the challenge of trade mainstreaming to shed further light on

• polices for trade development
• institutional processes and
• the extent of support from external partners to achieve trade objectives.

The objective is to identify elements of success in mainstreaming trade in national development strategies as well as challenges that are encountered and to distil lessons learned. Accordingly, the country case study will focus on the three dimensions of mainstreaming, namely:

• Mainstreaming trade at the policy level
• Mainstreaming trade at the institutional level
• Mainstreaming in donor-partner country dialogue

Consequently, the study aims at deepening the analysis of trade mainstreaming in Nigeria through a country review (i.e. case study), which will bring to the fore information about how Nigeria has approached the process of trade mainstreaming, the challenges they have encountered and the results they have achieved. The case study will be used to draw a set of recommendations and lessons learnt, for broad dissemination

Duties and Responsibilities

The expected result of this assignment is a country review on trade mainstreaming. The review is expected to provide substantive and analytical inputs for a forthcoming publication. The review should include background research on Trade Mainstreaming, collation/compilation of results from the exercise, characterization of the current statuses of the country on the level of Trade integration in their national strategies and suggestions/recommendations on how to merge/integrate Trade issues into their national strategies.

The consultant is expected to ensure timely and high quality delivery of the following:

• Record of interviews, group meetings and completed questionnaire
• First draft report for review by the RBA’s Regional Trade Programme and the Geneva Trade and Human Development Unit
• Final report to take account of feedback from the review of the first draft
• Active participation in orientation and final workshops

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

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

Knowledge Management and Learning

• Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example 
• Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more Practice Areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills 

Management and Leadership

• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback 
• Ability to share knowledge and experience, good interpersonal skill, a good team player, possess leadership and self-management.
• Competent in leading project monitoring and evaluation control and ensuring all parties are well informed regarding project financial status and achievement.
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude, always in control even under pressure.
• Builds strong relationship with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback
• Consistently approach work with energy and positive, constructive attitude
• Demonstrate openness to change and ability to manage complexities
• Leads teams effectively and shows mentoring as well as conflict resolution skills
• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Demonstrate strong oral and written communication skills

Development and Operational Effectiveness

• Strong knowledge and hands-on experience in project reporting, monitoring, evaluation  and audit
• Strong project management skill with experience in results-based management and results-oriented approach.
• Excellent written communication and skills in English, with analytical capacity and ability to synthesize project issues and compile high quality financial and narrative documents.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience in project financial and narrative report reviews and provision of feed back as necessary to respective national project coordinators.
• Ability to conceptualize issues and analyze  data
• Ability to coordinate the works of others
• Ability to implement new systems ( business side), and affect staff behavioral / attitudinal change 

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• A post-graduate degree in economics, economic development, or a related field;
• At least 7 years of experience working on trade related issues;

Experience

• Experience in conducting quantitative and qualitative economic research, particularly in the area of trade and trade policy;
• In-depth knowledge of Nigeria's economy and institutional framework is required.
• Experience in working with government officials is welcomed;
• Ability to interpret results and provide practical recommendations;
• Previous work experience with international organizations or donors, particularly in the area of trade, is required;
• Experience in conducting studies to assess the impact of economic policies on human development is welcomed;
• Excellent communication, particularly writing skills, in English and any national language.