Background

UNDP Tajikistan is currently in the penultimate year of implementation of its Country Programme Document (CPD) 2016-2022.

During this programme cycle, UNDP country programme focused on supporting the achievement of the national development goals outlined in the NDS 2030 and the Medium-Term Development Plan till 2020.  These as ensuring food security, expanding effective employment, ensuring energy security, and development of country’s communication potential.

The programme is largely aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and prioritizes four areas:

  • Improved governance, rule of law and access to justice
  • Sustainable and equitable economic growth
  • Social equity and protection of vulnerable groups from violence and discrimination
  • Resilience and environmental stability

UNDP Tajikistan has embarked onto the development of its new CPD which will cover the period of 2023-2026 and will be developed in full alignment to the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for which the elaboration process is currently ongoing. The UNSDCF – is the primary UN system-wide instrument for country programming, the Cooperation Framework establishes government ownership of the programme. UNDP participates fully in the preparation of the UNSDCF and contribute to achieving its strategic results through its own country programmme. The CPD outlines UNDP’s contribution to national results through the UNSDCF and is expected to fully align to the key result areas as defined by the Country Team in the Cooperation Framework, to the UNDP Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and to the Regional Programme Document.

This integrated approach is taken to effectively support national efforts to achieve the transformative ambitions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs. The core principle of leaving no one behind is underpinned by three other programming principles: human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment; sustainability and resilience; and accountability.

Development of a new CPD strictly follows a participatory approach and is formulated in close consultation with the government and other national stakeholders, including a meaningful cross-section of civil society and private sector actors. Key partners are to be consulted at early stages of CPD design to ensure that priorities and approaches reflect partnership and funding commitments towards successfully delivering planned development results.

In 2019, UNDP Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) has carried out the Independent Country Programme Evaluation of the CPD 2016-2020 with the purpose to capture and demonstrate evaluative evidence of UNDP’s contributions to national development priorities, as well as the effectiveness of UNDP’s strategy in facilitating and leveraging national efforts for achieving development results. The ICPE report outlines some key findings, conclusions and recommendations that should guide development of a new CPD. One of the important recommendations that the consultant should focus on is that the new CPD should be founded on well-articulated theory of change and supported by a results framework that includes measurable and realistic indicators for measuring change at the outcome level. Sound analysis based on a clear theory of change, including references to international evidence, lessons learned and UNDP policies, is a prerequisite for effective development planning for the new CPD.

The new CPD, when developed and agreed upon following the Government/donor consultation process, will be submitted to the UNDP Executive Board for approval in September 2022. The CPD development timeline has been prepared to ensure sufficient time is allotted for internal and partner consultations and for the internal quality review by UNDP prior to submission to and approval by UNDP’s Executive Board.

Duties and Responsibilities

The primary objective of the assignment is to provide substantive contributions, quality assurance and facilitation to the development process of the new CPD 2023-2026 for UNDP in Tajikistan.

Under the overall guidance of UNDP Resident Representative and direct supervision of the Deputy Resident Representative, the consultant will be closely working with UNDP’s Thematic Team Leaders and Assistant Resident Representative/Programme and will be responsible for implementation of the following tasks:

  1. Facilitate internal and external consultations for development of the new CPD, having ensured the participatory approach that involves a diverse range of partners and stakeholders such as government representatives, civil-society organizations, private-sector representatives, UN agencies, multilateral organizations, bilateral donors, and beneficiaries of the programme as needed;
  2. Provide substantive inputs to the CPD theory of change (TOC) having ensured that ICPE recommendations are followed and that the TOC clearly identifies areas where UNDP has a comparative advantage and potential to mobilize funding, based on evidence from evaluation and lessons learnt;
  3. Prepare draft Results and Resources Framework that includes measurable and realistic indicators for measuring change at the outcome level;
  4. In a participatory and evidence-based manner and following the internal and external consultations, prepare full draft of the new CPD (as per the standard UNDP template) having ensured that it is fully aligned to the new UNSDCF and adheres to the corporate UNDP quality standards;
  5. Provide inputs for preparation of the Partnerships and Communication Strategy and Action Plan (PCAP) that should be incorporated in the final CPD;
  6. Participate in the consultations, discussions, meetings and workshops of the UNSDCF Result Groups and contribute as needed (jointly with the Thematic Team Leaders);

 

For detailed information, please refer to annex 3 - Terms of Reference.

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;
  • Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

 

Functional Competencies

  • Maintains and establishes network of contacts with national counterparts and development partners for information sharing and responding to capacity development request;
  • Analyzes and selects materials for strengthening strategic alliances with partners and stakeholders;
  • Technical expertise in elaboration of development programmes;
  • Relevant international experience and cross-cultural communication skills;
  • Proven interpersonal skills;
  • Attitude and ability to motivate people;
  • Flexibility and resourcefulness;
  • Computer skills (common software programmes).

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications:

Advanced University degree in international development, economics, social sciences or related field; MA required, PhD as an asset.

 

Professional experience.

  • A minimum of 8 years of professional experience specifically in the area of international development initiatives in working with development organizations;
  • Experience in developing and reviewing strategic documents including country programme documents and development assistance frameworks for UN organizations;
  • Previous experience with UNDP and familiarity with UNDP formulation and implementation of development programmes;
  • Programme/project management and partnership-building in low-income and middle-income countries
  • Extensive knowledge of and experience in systems thinking and applying, qualitative and quantitative analytical methods
  • Previous work experience in Central Asia region as well as strong understanding of the development and political context of the region is an important asset.
  • Strong analytical and report writing skills;

 

Knowledge of languages:

  • Fluency in spoken and written English and Russian language

Application Procedure:

Please follow the link to download Individual Consultant Procurement Notice and follow the application procedures indicated in the downloaded ICPN:

http://www.undp.tj/va/upload/va/ICPN%20International%20consultant_CPD.pdf 

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.

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS.

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP.
Personal CV and/or resume.
Brief description of approach to work/technical proposal of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a proposed methodology on how they will approach and complete the assignment; (max 1 page)
Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price and all other travel related costs (such as flight ticket, per diem, etc.), supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template attached to the Letter of Confirmation of Interest template. If an applicant is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the applicant must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.
All application materials should be submitted by email at the following address ONLY: (ic.tj@undp.org) by (22 September 2021). Incomplete applications will be excluded from further consideration.