Development Effectiveness Expert - Yangon

Expected Duration of Assignment :Myanmar is at an historic stage in its development. A new Constitution was adopted in May 2008 and elections were held in November 2010 with bi-elections in April 2012. Parliament and governments have been formed at the national and region/state levels. A number of reforms have already been undertaken focusing on good governance, human rights, socio-economic development and reaching cease-fire agreements in a number of conflict areas. Against this rapidly changing background, UNDP Myanmar has undergone strategic repositioning and ramped up its capacities in order to effectively support national priorities of democratic transformation and poverty reduction.

In 2013, a new UNDP Myanmar Country Programme Action Plan was developed which aims  to help Myanmar manage a “triple transition”: nation-building, including securing a sustainable peace with ethnic minorities; state-building, or democratizing and modernizing state institutions; and economic liberalization, moving the country from a closed, command economy to an open and transparent market. UNDP Myanmar’s programme activities are clustered into three Pillars: Pillar 1. Local Governance; Pillar 2. Disaster Risk Reduction, Environment and Energy; Pillar 3. Democratic Governance.

Pillar 3 (Democratic Governance Pillar) of the Country Programme includes four Outputs. These outputs are (i) Development Effectiveness; (ii) Parliamentary Strengthening; (iii) Access to Justice and Rule of Law and (iv) Public Administration.

UNDP seeks to engage an international consultant through UNDP’s Individual Contract modality. The international consultant is expected to provide technical expertise for successful delivery of the Development Effectiveness Output, focusing on two areas: strategic directions for programme and programme management.

The Development Effectiveness Output is “Strengthened capacity of national institutions for socio-economic policy-making, planning and development effectiveness with broad stakeholder participation (including women, people with disabilities and HIV/AIDs).” It brings together a number of strands of work covering statistics and data collection, technical assistance to government to develop national and regional plans, aid effectiveness and Myanmar follow up to Busan and the Myanmar component of the UNDP/ UNEP Poverty Environment Initiative. By 2015, the following sub-outputs should be achieved:

Key government institutions develop national and regional plans using up to date accurate and gender disaggregated poverty data;The Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development manages international aid cooperation and aligns it with national priorities and budgets.During the timeframe of this consultancy, the UNDP Myanmar Country Office will be carrying out a number of high profile activities under this output including preparations for the next round of the Integrated Household Conditions Living Assessment Survey, providing technical assistance to the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development for the conclusion of the 20 Year National Comprehensive Development Plan and for the commencement of the 20 Year State and Regional Development Plans and also helping Myanmar develop its aid effectiveness work under the Busan commitments.

The International Consultant will be engaged with focus on two areas: strategic programme directions and programme management.

On strategic programme directions:

Provision of strategic directions for project activities under the Development Effectiveness Output; Introducing success cases that can be adopted to the project activities during its planning, implementation and monitoring phases. On programme management:

Ensuring quality and timeliness of the project activities under the Development Effectiveness Output;Provision of recommendations and implementation of the agreed recommendations for effective and efficient delivery of intended project activities.In a brief summary, the following key deliverables are expected during the assignment per the Activity Result of the Annual Work Plan:

On the Strategic Programme Direction:

Activity Result 1.1. Capacities of design, collection and analysis of socio-economic data strengthened and developedKey deliverables:

Preparatory work such as forming a team and arranging inception workshops for the household level socio-economic survey and macro-economic data related surveys (in consultation and coordination with the Chief Economist);Initiation of the feasibility study of Green GDP (in consultation with UNDP Asia Pacific Regional Centre in Bangkok and coordination with the Poverty Environment Initiative Operational Coordinator);Provision of strategic guidance for HIV/AIDS Socio-Economic Impact Study to ensure data is collected, analyzed and presented to the Steering Committee.Activity Result 1.2. Strengthened planning institutional architecture

Key deliverables:

Provision of strategic guidance for UNDP’s support to the formulation of the National Comprehensive Development Plan to ensure UNDP’s successful delivery of support within agreed timeline (end May 2014)Provision of strategic guidance for UNDP’s support to the formulation of the pilot Regional Comprehensive Development Plan(s). Activities envisaged include developing Terms of Reference for procuring an expert(s), capacity building trainings, consultation workshops, outline of the RCDP and if possible, a preliminary draft of selected pilot RCDP.Activity Result 1.3. Support capacity of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) to attract and monitor quality investment in natural resources as part of the global UNDP Poverty Environment Initiative (PEI)

Key deliverables:

Provision of strategic guidance for all PEI related activities including technical support to the development of national investment strategy, capacity building for investment screening and monitoring. Activity Result 2.1. Development cooperation mechanisms strengthened

Key deliverables:

Provision of strategic directions on the areas UNDP can support for the advancement of development effectiveness in Myanmar (in line with the Busan commitments and Nay Pyi Taw Accord)Contribution to development effectiveness coordination meetings, as requestedIntroducing success cases within UNDP Country Office and with relevant Government and Development Partners on other countries’ experience with their development cooperation mechanisms Activity Result 2.2. Establishment and operation of the Aid Management Information System (AIMS)

Key deliverables:

Organization of capacity building activities for effective use of the AIMSProvision of substantive inputs to the improvement of the AIMS through contracting an expert On the Programme Management:

Key deliverables:

Work planning, budget allocations and revisions, programme implementation, monitoring, narrative and financial reporting on Development Effectiveness Output;Provision of programme implementation directions to team members of the Development Effectiveness Output Timeline of the deliverables will be determined through discussions with the Team Leader, Democratic Governance Pillar.

Core Competencies:

Demonstrating/safeguarding ethics and integrity; 
Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment;Self-development, initiative-taking;Acting as a team player and facilitating team work;Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively;Creating synergies through self-control;Managing conflict;Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others;Informed and transparent decision making;Strong interpersonal and written and oral communication skills; Ability to work well in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams.Education:

Bachelors Degree in Economics, political, social sciences, development, management or other relevant fields with 7 years of experience or Masters Degree with 5 years of experience.

Experience:

A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in the area of development effectiveness, national/sub-national level development planning, statistical development;Proven management experience, preferably with UNDP or another UN agency, with sound knowledge and experience in all aspects of project cycle (design, implementation, monitoring & evaluation);Prior experience of development work in Myanmar, South-East Asia and/or countries in transition would be an asset.Language:

Excellent command of written and spoken English. 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.

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