Background

The Constitution of Nepal turned Nepal into a federal state with three levels of government with the intent of transforming the country from a centralized unitary state into a federal country and to ensure economic equality, prosperity and social justice. The Constitution marks a fundamental paradigm shift in the system, structure and functioning of sub-national governance in Nepal and requires massive reorientation of the institutions, systems, work cultures and styles of functioning.

The Provincial and Local Governance Support Programme (PLGSP) is the national flagship programme of the Government of Nepal (GoN) to build institutional, organizational and individual capacity at all levels of government, with special focus on the provincial and local levels. The ultimate goal of the programme is to attain functional, sustainable, inclusive and accountable provincial and local governance. The Programme aims to contribute to delivery of quality services at provincial and local levels, promote better local infrastructure and enhance economic prosperity. The Programme will achieve 14 outputs under the following three outcomes:

• Government institutions and inter-governmental mechanisms at all levels are fully functioning in support of federal governance as per the Constitution;
• Provincial and local governments have efficient, effective, inclusive and accountable institutions; and
• Elected representatives and civil servants at provincial and local governments have the capacity and serve citizens to their satisfaction.

The PLGSP is envisaged to serve as an umbrella programme of the Government in providing capacity development support to the provincial and local governments. As such, the programme will provide a common framework for coordination and coherence of all governance-related programmes at the provincial and local levels and accommodate other donor-funded programmes.

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MoFAGA) is the executive agency of the Program. The seven provincial governments, the 753 local governments, the restructured Local Development Training Academy (LDTA), seven provincial-level training centers (Provincial Centres for Good Governances - PCGG) are the implementing agencies of the Programme. The programme is supported by international development partners, namely, the Department for International Development (DfID) of the United Kingdom, the European Union (EU), the Government of Norway, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and the United Nations.

MOFAGA is partnering with UNDP to receive Technical Assistance (TA) for the implementation of the Programme. As the first step, a key priority of the TA is recruitment of TA staff, their capacity building and knowledge enhancement, including orientation and continuous backstopping support in coordination with the Programme Management so that they deliver on the intended outputs.

The province governments have a major role to facilitate and implement the Programme, benefitting both province and local governments. All the province governments have entered into the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with MoFAGA to be a part of the Programme implementation. To support the provincial governments in the implementation of the Programme, a Provincial Programme Implementation Unit (PPIU) will be established in the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers (OCMCM). 

Likewise, the Programme envisages that all province governments will establish their training centers, proposed as the Provincial Center for Good Governance (PCGG), with the role of serving the capacity development needs of the local governments in the province as well as the province government.  In relation to the Programme, PCGGs will function as the capacity development service provider to the provincial and local governments.
 
Against this background, a number of technical assistance personnel will be deployed by the Programme to support the PCGGs in discharging their roles. This Terms of Reference (ToR) describes the functions and responsibilities of the assignment, expected results, and qualifications/experience and competencies and selection criteria required of the Public Financial Management (PFM) Experts in the PPIUs.

Duties and Responsibilities

Functions / Key Results Expected

The overall responsibilities of the assignment are to:

1. Provide technical support and guidance to strengthen the province government’s PFM capacity in close coordination with the team of experts at PPIU and the PFM Specialist in the Programme Coordiantion Unit (PCU);
2. Directly contribute to the achievement of Output 6: Provincial governments manage core public administration functions more effectively;
3. Support the  planning and implementation of PLGSP activities for the PPIU;
4. Support the PCGG  on issues related to PFM and fiscal federalism, in coordination with the Local Governance Expert (PCGG) and the PFM Specialist (PCU);
5. Ensure mainstreaming of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) throughout programme interventions;
6. Perform any other tasks assigned by the concerned authorities at the PPIU and PCU, including the Governance and Legal Expert in PPIU.

1. Provide technical support and guidance to strengthen the province government’s PFM capacity in close coordination with the team of experts at PPIU and the PFM Specialist in the Programme Coordiantion Unit (PCU):

• Keep track of the province governments’ PFM initiatives undertaken by relevant authorities;
• Provide support and inputs, and interact with relevant counterparts on joint initiatives, advocacy for policy and legal drafting/revision and review of province government frameworks on issues relating to PFM and fiscal federalism;
• Provide backstopping support and technical guidance to the Provincial Programme Director /Manager (PPM) of the PPIU on areas relating to PFM and fiscal federalism.
• Keep track of the revenue sharing  between province and local governments’ fiscal transfers from the province government to the local governments and own source revenue of the province government;

2. Directly contribute to the achievement of Output 6: Provincial governments manage core public administration functions more effectively:

• Provide technical support to the concerned provincial government through the respective PPIU, in strengthening areas of public administration and PFM functions;
• Obtain updates from the PCU on the Government of Nepal policies, guidelines, models, templates, standards and norms related to  PFM and fiscal federalism;
• Capture good practices in the respective province with regard to progress made on the PFM;
• Support the development, implementation and follow-up of initiatives rolled out to strengthen the PFM systems at the provincial level, including various trainings/mentoring and follow up on implementation of systems and support required to ensure public accountability and fiscal transparency and liaise closely with the Province level Treasury Control Office, as required;
• Regularly review and take stock of budget execution, and expenditure management systems, gather areas of demand based support required for inclusion in the Annual Strategic Implementaion Plan (ASIP) and provide advice and support on the same; and
• The incumbent will work closely and get and guidance from the PFM Specialist in PCU as needed.

3. Support, the planning and implementation of PLGSP activities for the PPIU:

• Support the preparation of the PPIU ASIP and trimester workplan based on the ProDoc, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Framework of the Programme, and the guideline provided by the PCU, particularly on Output 6 and areas relating to promoting effective PFM;
• Provide inputs for the overall progress report and prepare narrative and financial reports related to PFM and fiscal federalism close coordination with other PPIU Experts;
• Provide inputs to the log of issues and challenges in implementation of the ASIP of the PPIU/PCGG in its regular update to the Provincial Coordination Committee; and
• Provide support to the Governance and Legal Expert in the planning and implementation of PLGSP activities for the PPIU related to PFM and fiscal federalism.

4. Support, as required, PLGSP activities for the PCGG relating to PFM and fiscal federalism, in coordination with the Local Governance Expert (PCGG) and the PFM Specialist (PCU):

• Provide technical support to the PCGG through the PPIU on capacity building and training programmes on PFM and fiscal federalism;
• In coordination with the Local Governance Expert and PFM Specialist, support  the PCGG on  activities on strengthening province and local  governments PFM capacity; and
• Facilitate the activities to be carried out the Financial Comptroller General Office in regard to the PFM strengthening of the local governments in the province  through the PLGSP.

5. Ensure mainstreaming of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) throughout programme interventions:

• Support the mainstreaming of GESI throughout programme interventions related to PFM;
• Provide advice and direction on strategic and policy issues to strengthen GESI initiatives in the programme plan and implementation strategy, in relation to PFM and fiscal federalism efforts;
• Facilitate in creating an environment to support the promotion of GESI and address GESI issues through PFM and fiscal federalism related programming; and
• Liaise with CO Gender Specialist and PCU GESI Specialist as required for effective implementation of the GESI strategy and other guiding tools.

6. Perform any other tasks assigned by the concerned authorities at the PPIU and PCUs, including the Governance and Legal Expert in PPIU.

Impact of Results

• Programme outputs are achieved within the given resources and time with high quality standards;
• Strengthened PFM systems are available and utilised at the provincial and local levels.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the Government of Nepal (GoN) and UN values and ethical standards;
• Serves and promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of the GoN and UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Excellent inter-personal skills;
• Clear and upfront communication skills;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Collaborates effectively in a team environment;
• Organized and good with following-up on pending issues; meets deadlines;
• Promotes learning and knowledge management/sharing;
• Focuses on delivering results by taking calculated-risks and problem-solving approach; and
• Fair and transparent decision making; regularly shares information with team members.

Functional Competencies:

• Experience working with Public Finance Management frameworks and instruments;
• Experience in developing business plans for financial institutions;
• Experience in coordination, technical assistance and advisory support to public and private institutions;
• Experience in delivering training and other needed capacity/ institutional building support to a wide range of stakeholders including financial institutions;
• Demonstrates excellent organizational and administrative skills;
• Promotes sharing of knowledge and experience, and actively works towards continued learning and development on personal level as well as for supervisees;
• Good practical knowledge of inter-disciplinary development issues;
• Demonstrates strong numerical and analytical skills;
• Ability to go beyond established procedures and models, propose new approaches which expand impact;
• Able to promote sharing of knowledge and experience, and actively work towards continued learning and development at personal level as well as for colleagues and supervisees;
• Identifies with and in a position to advocate GoN and UNDP’s mandate with a variety of audiences;
• Analyzes and selects materials for strengthening strategic alliances with partners and stakeholders;
• Understands and applies fundamental concepts and principles of a professional discipline or technical specialty relating to the position;
• Demonstrates good knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments;
• Can effectively networks with partners at the subnational level to build strategic alliances;
• Ability to assesses project performance to identify success factors and incorporates best practices;
• Capacity to monitor specific stages of projects/programme implementation;
• Researches linkages across programme activities to identify critical points of integration;
• Oversees and documents the process of strategy formulation for programmes at Project level.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s Degree in Finance, Accounting, Public Administration, Business Administration, Economics, or any other related field.

 
Experience: 

• At least five years of experience of working in development and governance;
• Three years of experience of working in the area of PFM or fiscal federalism in a Government agency (at federal or sub-national level) or with well recognized national institution and/or international agency;
• Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of the PFM systems and procedures of the Government of Nepal and that of the province and local governments;
• Sound understanding of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and their implications to the local governance;
• Demonstrated social skills of coordinating with different stakeholders and facilitating discussions;
• Demonstrated skills on preparing quality reports and other knowledge products;
• Experience of working with the Government, UN and international agencies will be an advantage; and
• Demonstrated knowledge of computer applications especially MS Office, Word, Excel and PowerPoint and other applications related to PFM.

Language requirements:

• Fluency in English and Nepali, both written and oral, at professional level are essential;
• Knowledge of any of the local languages will be an added advantage.