UNDP Jobs - 78612- Facilitating and Drafting the National Development

Facilitating and Drafting the National Development Plan (NDP) 2019/20 - 2021/22

Location :

Mbabane, SWAZILAND

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Jun-2018

Application Deadline :

21-May-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

100 working days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

100 working days

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

Swaziland, categorized as a lower-middle income country, over the past few years, has been faced with economic challenges resulting in low economic growth, a trend that has also been observed regionally. In 1997, the country launched its long-term national Vision to cover the period 1997-2022. The long-term framework defines the aspirations of the Government and people of Swaziland, stating that by 2022, Swaziland aspires to be “A first world country where all citizens are able to sustainably pursue their life goals and enjoy life of value and dignity in a safe and secure environment. By the same period, the country aspires to be in the top 10% of the human development group of countries founded on sustainable development, social justice and political stability. This implies equitable access to sufficient resources, education, health, food security, quality infrastructure and services as well as good governance”. The long-term framework focuses on improved standard of living in the country, with emphasis on poverty eradication, employment creation, gender equality and environmental protection.

In January 2013, the Government finalized the review of the National Development Strategy (NDS) 1997 – 2022. The review took stock of the emerging challenges and opportunities that were not foreseen during its formulation in 1997. Following the review process, the country revised the NDS with a new theme, “The Development Strategy for Swaziland – Promoting Sustainable Development and Inclusive Growth” (SSIDG). The revised strategy identified four thematic areas as critical for the attainment of the Vision; namely: a) good governance, b) a vibrant and diverse economy, c) environmental sustainability, and d) highest human capital and social development.

Underpinning the Vision is the need to fast-track the growth of the economy and ideally transform Swaziland from her current limited agricultural and manufacturing base to a higher state of industrialization, which will in turn pave the way for an advanced and knowledge-based economy. Given the relatively small domestic market and population size, coupled with an aggressive external environment, this perceived development direction will be realized through a recourse to inclusive and sustainable development pathways anchored on regional and international competitive creativity, technological innovation and adaptation capabilities in addition to continuous public investment in human capital and strategic infrastructure development.

Current Development Context

Economic growth in Swaziland has slowed significantly in recent years. Average annual Real GDP growth has been far below the 5 percent target needed to reduce the high level of poverty and large unemployment numbers in Swaziland. The El-Nino induced drought had a negative impact on the primary sector, the effects of which impacted the secondary sector activities. Real GDP growth had slowed to 0.4 percent in 2015. Nevertheless, the economy recovered from the drought more quickly than anticipated and was further supported by increased government expenditures, resulting in estimated economic growth of 1.4 percent in 2016 and 1.9 percent in 2017. The increase in government expenditure has amplified fiscal challenges and contributed significantly to increased government arrears, placing further pressure on economic growth. Government fiscal pressures persist in the medium term, due mainly to a decline in revenue as projected, ongoing commitments and the continued implementation of public infrastructure projects which require huge investment and will in turn pose negative impact on the economy.

Medium-term focus areas

Therefore, Government development agenda will in the medium-term draw from the seven (7) macro strategic areas of the SSIDG including the following:

Governance and Sound Economic Management
A Vibrant and Diverse Economy
Agricultural Development
Research for Development
Strategic Infrastructure
Environmental Sustainabililty
Human Capital and Social Development

Since the formulation of the NDS, a series of development policies, strategies and plans have been developed to operationalise it such as the National Development Plan (NDP) 2014/15-2016/17, the Poverty Reduction Strategy and Action Plan (PRSAP) (2006), Fiscal Adjustment Roadmap (FAR) 2010/11-2014/15, the Economy Recovery Strategy (ERS) 2012 and the Government Programme of Action 2013-18. These development instruments have all served as means of supporting the implementation of the long-term vision of the Kingdom of Swaziland. The National Development Plan thus have played an important role is this direction.

The NDP, which is a three-year rolling development plan, focused on accelerating inclusive economic growth and sustainable development. It outlined the policy direction and strategies aimed at addressing the development constraints faced by the nation, and effective planning instruments to be pursued by government and operationalised through the budget for 2014/15 into the medium term. The plan identified the programmes, strategies and projects implemented by sectors through the different ministries in the medium term to achieve the country’s principal development objectives articulated in the long-term National Development Strategy (NDS). The implementation of the NDP 2014/15-2016-17 has elapsed, thus prompting the need to develop the new NDP 2019/20-2021/22 by the Government of Swaziland through the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development (MEPD) with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Swaziland and other development partners and actors including the private sector, civil society, academic and research institutions, and bilateral and multilateral partners.

In view of the above, the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development with the support of UNDP is seeking the technical services of an expert Consultant to guide, facilitate, coordinate and technically support the drafting of the new NDP 2019/20-2021/22.

Purpose of the Assignment

The primary objective of the consultancy is to assist the Government of Swaziland to develop the new National Development Plan 2019/20 - 2021/22. This will entail working with the Technical Working Group and various sector working groups in ministries to ensure they produce sector specific interventions that will be included in the new NDP. As such, the consultant is expected to work with the Technical Working Group and all Technical Working Group that will be producing chapters and/or sections of the NDP. S/he will be expected to play a facilitative role, guide the entire drafting process, provide technical inputs in each sector specific interventions and at the end consolidate all inputs to produce the new NDP 2019/20 - 2021/22 for presentation at a validation workshop comprised of all participating stakeholders.

Further, the consultant is expected to play a lead role in providing a clear understanding in defining the current development context of the Kingdom of Swaziland, with close reference to regional and global development issues and perspectives. S/he will provide clear linkages between SSDIG, RISDP, Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030 (SDGs), as well as help to define key sectoral policy issues and priority programmes to address issues thereof in the national development plan for the medium-term.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of work and core duties and responsibilities:

Assess the past NDP based on the review done on it and the lessons learned and recommendations emerging from it and recommend a suitable layout of the new NDP through an Inception Report for approval by the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development and the Technical Working Group. The inception report must consider the inputs from sector ministries that should form a large part of the new NDP.
Develop the national development framework, elaborating the priorities, and identify priority sectors that should drive the attainment of the SSDIG.
Conduct a comprehensive situational and gap analysis that will cover the following key areas:
Diagnostic analysis that should inform elaboration on the national development priorities, indicating the country’s critical development challenges and elaborating on key interventions and strategic actions to address the underlying challenges based on the opportunities available to the country;
Align the SDG Agenda 2030 and AUC Agenda 2063 – based planning as well as with other internationally and regionally (SADC) agreed instruments;
Review existing national indicators, identify gaps and priority indicators for monitoring and evaluation of programmes in the medium term that will be articulated in the new NDP.[1

Identify relationships and linkages of the socio-economic performance and the ongoing various sector programmes to establish their impact on development.
Identify specific programmes to grow the economy in the medium to long term to ensure sustainability of interventions;
Develop a costed implementation action plan of the NDP.
Working with sector ministries, develop a costed implementation action plan for prioritised programmes and projects in the new NDP.
Working with sector ministries, identify indicators that can be used to develop a monitoring and evaluation framework of NDP
Validate the National Development Plan 2019/20 -2021/22 with all participating and relevant stakeholders.
Incorporate comments from the validation meeting and submit final consolidated draft for approval by the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development (MEPD) Principal Secretary and the Technical Working Group.

Documents to be included when submitting the applications

Interested candidates must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their interest in the consultancy:

Technical Proposal: The technical proposal should include the following:

Profile of consultant and an outline of recent experience on assignments of similar nature.
The consultant’s comments or suggestions on the TORs and appreciation of the assignment and timeline, where required.
A clear description of the methodology and work plan that the consultant proposes to execute the assignment; illustrate where appropriate.
An implementation matrix/timeline for carrying out the assignment.

Financial proposal:

Lump-sum consultancy fee
The lump sum should be broken down to clearly indicate: travel, per diems, and actual consultancy fees (daily fee)
An indication of whether this rate is flexible or not.
Personal CV, which must include past experiences undertaking similar assignments and at least three (3) references for ease of background check.

Deliverables/Outputs and number of days

The inception report (30 days);
Inputs from sector ministries for the new NDP (30 days);
Consolidation of the sector inputs to produce the first draft of the NDP, which will be presented at the validation meeting (20 days); and
Final draft of the NDP (20 days).

[1] Ensure that the targets and indicators of the SDGs and possibly AUC Agenda 2063 are appropriately utilized where applicable in the monitoring and evaluation framework and the alignment process.

Competencies

Ability to set and implement activities for timely results.
Good facilitation and communication skills.
Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards.
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
Team building approach.
Sound judgment and strong client and results orientation.
Treats all people fairly without favouritism.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Minimum of Master’s degree in Development Economics, Economic Policy Analysis, Economics, Development Studies, or any other social sciences.

Experience:

Must have extensive experience in preparing development plans, strategies, programmes and projects.
At least 10 years of relevant work experience with demonstrated evidence in previous assignments.
Must be thoroughly conversant with the overall national planning and budgeting processes of the Kingdom of Swaziland.
All potential consultants should be able to show proof of having worked on similar assignments in the past and do understand the development landscape of Swaziland.
Must understand the national development priorities and challenges within Swaziland, at both the national and sub-national levels.
Must be conversant with the global and regional development issues and perspectives and the impact on the economy of Swaziland.
Must be conversant with the NDS 1997-2022, NDP 2014/15-2016/17 and SSDIG 2017.

Language:

Fluent in English both verbal and in writing.