Background

The Policy Advisor (Water), under the overall guidance of the Country Director and the direct supervision of the Deputy Country Director and in close coordination and cooperation with responsible UNDP Programme Analyst/Portfolio Manager, will assist the Government, programme team and CO to deliver policy advice and technical support to the Government of Tajikistan on water sector reform implementation and trans-boundary water cooperation.

In Central Asia, water is becoming more and more critical and a potential source of regional conflict. The growing demand in hydropower, especially in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan with no natural oil and gas resources, and the growing need for agriculture water in the region are already causing tension between the riparian states, especially Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The planned Roghun Dam construction in Tajikistan has already escalated the fragile peace between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan while growing agriculture in Kyrgyzstan and the need for more irrigation water has been the source of timely minor border incidents between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, such as the recent events in December 2013.
 
While drinking water supply in much of the urban areas is being addressed thanks to major investment by development partners, notably the Swiss, the World Bank and EBRD, access to clean drinking water in rural areas remains a major challenge in all of the Central Asian countries. With the growing industry, especially in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and with attempts to improve management of the natural resources, especially in view of deteriorating environment, coupled with the impact of climate change, demand for water keeps growing.
 
There is no lack of water in the region but prevailing miss-management of water resources continues to reduce access to water. According to national reports, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the two upstream states, for instance utilize only 20-30% of the available water resources, while continued deterioration of the irrigation infrastructure causes further losses in the system, further reducing the actual water available for the users.
 
In Tajikistan, the government has taken the initial step towards water sector reforms in November 2013, by separating the water resources regulation and policy development from day-to-day management and operation. Overall policy and regulation responsibilities have been transferred to the newly restructured Ministry of Energy and Water Resources (MoEWR) and the irrigation management and operation has been shifted to the newly established Agency for Land Reclamation and Irrigation (ALRI). The approved regulation of the MoEWR state that “Ministry of Energy and Water Resources of the Republic of Tajikistan (hereinafter - the Ministry) is the central body of executive power that works on the state policy formulation and implementation and on legal regulation in the sphere of fuel and energy and water resources.” (Article 1. of I. General Provisions of the draft regulation)
 
Yet, considering the severe brain drain and as a result of lack of necessary policy and regulatory skills and institutional abilities as well as lack of sufficient financial resources, the implementation of these reforms remains a challenge. Therefore, without a systematic approach to policy dialogue, including provision of necessary Technical Assistance, the implementation of these reforms will remain a challenge. 

Duties and Responsibilities

The Policy Advisor, under the overall guidance of the Country Director and the direct supervision of the Deputy Country Director and in close coordination and cooperation with responsible UNDP Programme Analyst/Portfolio Manager, will assist the Government, programme team and CO to deliver on the results of the project “Support to IWRM-based water sector reform implementation in Tajikistan”. The Policy Advisor is the lead international expert in the area of Integrated Water Resources Management. S/he will maximize efforts to achieve expected project results, by providing strategic guidance for the implementation of activities in accordance with the water sector reform roadmap agreed upon between UNDP, donors, implementing partners and as well as other relevant plans and decisions. Specifically, the Policy Advisor will carry out following duties and responsibilities:
 
Policy advice

The incumbent will provide policy advice to the Government, relevant ministries and agencies, as well as to the partners of the programme, in the following areas:
  • Provide policy advice on advancing IWRM-based policy and institutional reform implementation in the water sector and on the optimal design and sequencing necessary improvements in the legal framework and institutional strengthening;
  • Prepare policy papers, discussion notes on issues arising, for consideration by government and other stakeholders;
  • Provision of strategic guidance and substantive technical inputs with regard to the IWRM policy dialogue and ensure well-functioning of the policy dialogue framework;
  • Ensure good planning and organization of the national IWRM policy dialogue;
  • Systematically ensure that relevant experiences and lessons learnt elsewhere in the region or world-wide inform the implementation IWRM policy agenda in Tajikistan and extract learning and document lessons learnt from the experiences in Tajikistan to articulate them with the regional and global body of knowledge of the UNDP.
  • Develop a communication and dissemination strategy in the area of IWRM and support the Government in its implementation.
Technical Advice and Monitoring Support

The incumbent will provide technical advice and monitoring support in the following areas:
  • Technical support to design national policies and regulatory frameworks for advancing IWRM and dialogue on water issues;
  • Plan and carry out capacity gaps assessment and ensure the design and delivery of focused response programs (training, on-the-job training, coaching, ToT, etc) to enhance the capacity of the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources, Agency for Land Reclamation and Irrigation, and subordinated institutions (WUAs, Basin Organizations, sub-basin committees, etc), to implement GoT adopted water sector reform road map;
  • Advise on the development and establishment of a sustainable mechanisms for capacity development and oversight of reformed institutions in the water sector;
  • Support the establishment of monitoring frameworks and provide ongoing feedback and technical backstopping and regularly monitor progress towards the identified indicators;
Knowledge Management

The Policy Advisor will contribute to building the corporate body of knowledge in UNDP in the area of IWRM, by:
  • Systematically communicating and sharing knowledge in the area with all stakeholders, in the form of case studies, presentations, etc;
  • Systematically ensure that relevant experiences and lessons learnt elsewhere in the region or world-wide inform the implementation of the project in Tajikistan.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:
  • Proven skills in policy dialogue and development of efficient policy dialogue platforms, including excellent knowledge in national policy and strategy development. Both the platform and policy and strategy development must be government driven rather than donor driven.
  • Excellent knowledge of Integrated Water Resources Management and River Basin Management approaches;
  • Excellent diplomacy skills and the ability to effectively communicate and work with high-level government officials;
  • Proven skills and ability to effectively work with a team of national experts as counterparts.
  • Professionalism;
  • Planning &Organization;
  • Accountability.
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.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:
  • University degree in Development Management, preferably in the water sector or equivalent.
Experience:
  • At least 10 years of working experience in similar leading positions, of which 5 years in Central Asia, preferably in Tajikistan.
  • Good knowledge of the socio-economic context in Tajikistan, especially the water sector context.
  • Ability to travel extensively within the country.
  • Excellent understanding of capacity building and institutional development skills and the ability to effectively design and implement capacity building and institution development activities.
Language:
  • Fluent in English and Tajik or Russian.