UNDP Jobs - 98352- Consultant for Facilitating Cooperation with Acade

Consultant for Facilitating Cooperation with Academia in Development of the Regional Development Strategy 2021-2025

Location :

Podgorica, MONTENEGRO

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

10-May-2021

Application Deadline :

21-Apr-21 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

10 May 2021 - 30 September 2021

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

50 consultancy 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

Since 2017, Montenegro has significantly improved policy coordination and strategic planning in the context of the EU “fundamentals first” approach within EU Enlargement policy, good governance being an important segment of the Public Administration Reform (PAR). The European Commission Country Report for Montenegro 2019 underlined significant progress in policy coordination and strategic planning framework, yet coordination with stakeholders for policy development needs to be enhanced. Furthermore, inclusive and evidence-based policy and legislative development remain only partially ensured. Administrative data collection and its systematic use for policy and law-making needs to improve across the administration.

To avoid slowing down the pace of EU negotiations and affect policy planning, as well as programming and absorption rate of IPA funds, more focus should be put on outcome-oriented, evidence-based approach when drafting strategies, in synergy with researchers and academia at all stages of policy development. As a small administration, Montenegro should make most of its human capital. Research and science should be more firmly linked to policy making, so that strategic planning and decision-making processes become more informed and based on evidence. Opportunities should be explored of finding ways to systematically engage Montenegrin academia, researchers and think-thanks to support development of Government strategies, thus improving use of analytical tools and quality of the relevant policy solutions.

A further step in raising the quality of strategies will be realised with better problem analysis which explores cause and effect and serious efforts to prioritise between strategic objectives and implementation approaches. Research projects should be oriented towards Government policy priorities to support more informed decision-making and policy development. Despite many individual, often EU funded, projects and ad hoc initiatives for common action, the Government and researches still do not cooperate in a systematic way. Putting the available research potential in Montenegro in function of Government policies may lead to better quality of policy instruments and maximise human capital of Montenegrin academia.

In order to pilot cooperation with academia in developing evidence based public policies, four strategic documents to be developed by the end of 2021 were selected and one of them is the Regional Development Strategy 2022-2026. The strategic goal of the Regional Development Strategy for the period 2014–2020. was to achieve a more balanced socio-economic development of all units of local self-government and the region, based on competitiveness, innovation and employment. This is very important horizontal strategic document within the public policies system in Montenegro, therefore it is very important that it is fully based on evidence.

The project “Strengthening capacities for the acceleration of EU accession of Montenegro II” is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and implemented by UNDP in partnership with the Office for European Integration and the Secretariat General of the Government. The general objective of the project is to assist, advise and support EU accession negotiations through strengthening the capacities of the Government of Montenegro in responding to the demands of the new phases of accession process, including the areas of policy planning and coordination.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of the assignment:

The objective of the assignment is to provide guidance to development of the evidence-based Regional Development Strategy 2022-2026 (hereinafter: Strategy) in cooperation with academia and the Working Group for development of the Strategy.

Job content:

Under the supervision of the UNDP Programme Manager and in consultation with the Assistant Secretary-General of the Government and the Ministry of Economic Development, the consultant will perform the following tasks:

Conduct the desk research of the relevant legal and strategic framework, including good international practices. Analyse priority areas related to regional development in overarching strategy documents – National Sustainable Development Strategy 2030, Economic Reform Programme 2021-2023, framework for the new Montenegro Development Directions 2022-2026, as well as obligations stemming from the negotiation process with the European Union. Prepare an overview of key findings relevant for the Situation Analysis.
Liaise with the relevant faculties in the universities in Montenegro. Identify pool of researchers and a selection of research papers available from Montenegrin and international research community for the area of regional development, and develop a database of this information. Prepare an overview of the most relevant findings in these research papers.
Analyse data available on the website of the Statistical Office and other relevant data providers, and identify those that are relevant for this Strategy.
Coordinate gathering of the information from the Working Group for development of the Strategy in order to draft Situation Analysis based on the guidelines in the Methodology for policy development, drafting and monitoring of strategic documents. Identify problems, consequences, underlining and root causes, and identify priority problems.
Coordinate the Working Group for development of the Strategy in preparing Stakeholder Analysis and in development of the SWOT and/or PESTLE analysis.
Coordinate the Working Group for development of the Strategy in identifying strategic and operational goals, measures and Indicators (including baselines and targets).
Organise training for the Working Group for development of the Strategy and other interested stakeholders on where to find data and how to use it for policy development and monitoring and evaluation of the policy implementation.
Propose systematic cooperation mechanism between the Government and the academia.
Prepare a list of potential research projects, oriented towards Government policy priorities to support more informed decision-making and policy development, based on the Annual Work Plan of the Government.
Prepare the Final report on undertaken activities to the UNDP Project Manager. It should contain sufficient details and information that would allow for the appraisal of the effectiveness to date of the assignment’s activities.

Expected results:

Under the supervision of the UNDP Programme Manager, the consultant is expected to deliver the following results:

An overview of key findings from the legal and strategic framework.
An overview of key findings from the relevant research papers.
A list of relevant data available on the website of the Statistical Office and other relevant data providers.
Draft Situation Analysis, Stakeholder Analysis, the SWOT and/or PESTLE analysis, strategic and operational goals, measures and Indicators (including baselines and targets), based on the guidelines in the Methodology for policy development, drafting and monitoring of strategic documents.
A training for the Working Group for development of the Regional Development Strategy 2022-2026 and other interested stakeholders on where to find data and how to use it for policy development and monitoring and evaluation of the policy implementation.
A proposal for systematic cooperation mechanism between the Government and the academia.
The Final Report on undertaken activities.

Timing and reporting: The local consultant will be engaged under individual contract, for total of 50 consultancy days, during the period May 10 – September 30, 2021. The consultant will work under direct supervision of UNDP Programme Manager and in consultation with the Assistant Secretary-General of the Government and the Ministry of Economic Development. The national consultant will be responsible to prepare the Final report to the UNDP Project Manager, and it should contain sufficient details and information that would allow for the appraisal of the effectiveness to date of the assignment’s activities.

Time duration and travel: The local consultant will be engaged under individual contract, for total of 50 consultancy days, during the period May 10 – September 30, 2021. The consultant should be based in Podgorica and no travel is envisaged.

Competencies

Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UN/UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Excellent communication skills, facility in working with teams and capacity to compose clear and readable narrative reports;
Demonstrates ability to manage complexities and work under pressure, as well as conflict resolution skills;
Excellent organizational and time management skills;
Knowledge Management and Learning;
Shares knowledge and experience;
Actively works towards continuing personal learning, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills;
Ability to perform a variety of standard tasks related to Results Management, including collecting of documentation, data entering, preparation of revisions, filling, provision of information;
Ability to provide input to business processes re-engineering, implementation of new systems;
Excellent inter-personal and communication skills;
Ability to work independently and in a team.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree, preferably in economy or other related area.
Academic engagement and/ or research in economy or other related area relevant for development of the Regional Development Strategy is mandatory;

Experience:

Minimum two years of working experience in a university or a research centre;
Experience in drafting strategic planning documents or policy planning papers is considered an important asset;
Experience in text analysis in general, as well as analysis of strategic planning documents or policy planning papers is an asset;
Proven experience in working with data provider, such as Statistical Office is considered an asset;
Experience in working with public administration is considered an asset;

Languages:

Fluency in Montenegrin language;
Good command of spoken and written English language.

Other:

Computer literacy.

Criteria for selection:

Combined Scoring method will be used. When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: (i) responsive, compliant, acceptable, and (ii) having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical criteria weight - 70% (Background and education 10%; Relevant previous experience 20%; Substantial knowledge/Required competencies 30%; Required language 10%);
Financial criteria weight - 30%.

Only offerors obtaining a minimum 490 points for technical criteria will be considered for the financial evaluation. For more information on procurement methodology for Individual Contractors, please refer to Procurement Notice.

Application procedure:

Interested applicants are requested to submit their applications by April 21, 2021 by using the Apply now button. The application should contain CV or P11 that can be downloaded at https://www.me.undp.org/content/montenegro/en/home/jobs.html. Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file.

Only the short-listed applicants will be contacted and requested to submit a letter of interest including a price quotation indicating the lump sum (in EUR) requested for the work envisaged in the section "Description of Responsibilities".