UNDP Jobs - 70710- Strengthening Capacities in Macroeconomic Planning

Strengthening Capacities in Macroeconomic Planning and Forecasting

Location :

Juba, SOUTH SUDAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

01-Mar-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

30 working days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

30 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

Public revenue sources continue to be undiversified with oil constituting up to 95%. The fall in oil revenue starting in 2012 with a shutdown to the 2013 conflict and the 2014 drop in global oil prices has severely reduced government’s fiscal space. This has created renewed impetus to consolidate and grow non-oil revenues at all levels of government. In addition, the conflict in 2013 and 2016 further demonstrated significant gaps in capacities for macroeconomic planning and forecasting as the development partners withdrew their technical backstopping support.

The United Nations Development Programme is supporting the Government of South Sudan to strengthen the skills of a critical mass of public officials to undertake macroeconomic planning and forecasting, including budget projections, and expenditure management towards recovery and stabilization. Lessons learnt over the period since independence suggests that when conflict happens, while a few stay and deliver, many evacuate safety and security. This continues to create a skills gap in the area of public finance at the national as well as at the state level of government. Sustainability will only be achieved when we take a systems perspective that creates and builds on synergies across actions and builds the national capacities.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives and Scope

The overall main objective of the assignment is to build capacity of South-Sudan authorities and equip them with skills to undertake macroeconomic analysis. This work will specifically help the authorities to undertake the following with limited support from external consultants:

Preparing annual macroeconomic frameworks;
Collect and update the required data to prepare budget frameworks as well as sector budgets;
Authorities will be able to undertake their own debt sustainability analysis;
Authorities will be able to run simulation models such as computable general equilibrium models.

Expected Deliverables

Orientation retreat and up to 2-additional sessions of up to 40 participants drawn from the Ministries of Finance and Planning, Petroleum, National Bureau of Statistics, Bank of South Sudan, Academia and non-government organizations.
Diagnostic Report that maps out the gaps, needs, ongoing partnerships and how they link with strengthening capacities for macroeconomic planning and forecasting, benefiting from consultations with development partners.
A roadmap for strengthening capacities for macroeconomic planning and forecasting for South Sudan.

Payment Schedule
20% upon submission of draft diagnostic report.

60% will be paid in equal installments for each of the training sessions.

20% upon submission of the final report.

Travel
The consultant(s) is expected to undertake missions to Juba, South Sudan to undertake the training as part of the mentoring process, the dates of which are to be determined. The consultant is expected to arrange her/his own travel and be responsible for ticketing, visa and accommodation.

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

Extensive knowledge of United Nations System;
Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional Competencies:

Strong interpersonal and communication skills;
Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities skills;
Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines;
Outstanding communication, project management and organizational skills;
Excellent presentation and facilitation skills;
Positive, constructive attitude to work.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree in economics, social sciences, international development or closely related fields.

Experience:

At least 7 years of experience working on economic and social development issues;
Demonstrated experience with capacity strengthening in macroeconomic planning and forecasting especially in conflict-affected nations.

Language:

Excellent command of English both written and spoken.

Evaluation of Applicants

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation:

Quality of previous assignments: max. 20 points;
Quality of proposed approach to the assignment: 25 points;
Experience Conflict-or-post-conflict affected nations: max. 25 points.

Only candidates who will receive at least 49 out of 70 marks in the technical will be considered for financial evaluation.

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation
Application procedures:

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online.
The application should contain:

Cover letter explaining your approach to the assignment and why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application;
Financial Proposal* - specifying a total lump sum amount in USD for the tasks specified in this announcement consisting of a) all-inclusive professional fee and b) travel costs for missions to Juba (including costs for flight tickets, per diem, terminals);
Written samples of previous work relevant to the assignment should be provided either attaching the document or providing the link;
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials. Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

Payments will be made only upon confirmation of delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.
Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org
Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.

Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.

(Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services...). All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal).