TERMS OF REFERENCE

Post Title: Senior Expert on National External Assistance Strategy development

Duration of Employment: 4 months

Duty Station: Kyiv/Ukraine

Nationality: Ukrainian

1. Background and Situation Analysis

The process of external aid coordination is a broad participatory process, based on the commitment of all stakeholders. The parties involved are: (a) representatives of government, primarily relevant ministries and state committees, (b) representatives of civil society organisations, and, of course, (c) international donors. The process is traditionally been a difficult one, as coordination in this sphere involves merging a diverse set of interests, both international (relative to international donor foreign policy and international technical assistance priorities) and related to the realities and development priorities of the host National government.

Within this framework, the role of the external aid coordination and National strategy becomes increasingly important. With the aim of ensuring long-term sustainability of the dialogue-driven approach to external aid programming, it is crucial to further strengthen the national capacity for policy analysis and planning, TA coordination and management of the governmental bodies involved in the decision-making process, comprising the definition of the national strategic priorities for external aid to Ukraine.

Coordination at a national level of external aid is of major importance in harmonisation of donors priority policies with the development strategy of Ukraine. The Directorate for Coordination of International Technical Assistance (DCITA) acts as a binding link in this process, balancing Ukrainian needs/requests with donor priorities and adapting the most acceptable national initiatives/proposals to priorities and capacities of donors, both within bilateral and multilateral cooperation schemes.

The DCITA is a key national structure for TA coordination, as well as for implementation/monitoring of relevant programmes/ projects. It is an integral part of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine.

Proper communication and working relations among bodies managing TA and donors are undoubtedly necessary for successful implementation of technical assistance. In this respect, the DCITA plays an important role which should be both reactive and proactive. The DCITA is the main contact point, which promotes communication among other partners in the governmental management system and donor organizations, active in the country.

The past few years have seen a clear trend of making aid work more efficiently in Ukraine. The coordination mechanism through which the DCITA carries out its activities is oriented at the development of the strategies related to external assistance in Ukraine and promoted adhering by Ukraine the Paris Declaration principles.

With the support of the UN System in Ukraine a lot has been done with regard to ODA Coordination improvement over the past two years. Though, this process has also posed a number of new mid-term and long-term challenges for the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, particularly for the Directorate for Coordination of International Technical Assistance (DCITA).

According to the order of the Cabinet of Ministries of Ukraine the National External Assistance Strategy and Paris Declaration Action Plan should be elaborated by the DCITA until the end of the year. In order to complete the proposed strategic planning process the input of a National Expert is desirable, considering the lack of resources in DCITA for such an important exercise.

Objectives

The assignment, to be implemented, has the following specific objectives:

Þ To assist DCITA in elaboration of National External Assistance Strategy;

Þ To contribute to drafting a set of recommendations to be laid down in the Paris Declaration Action Plan.

The assigned tasks are:

To examine new approaches and donors’ policy towards Ukraine elaborated as a response to the changing geopolitical situation.

1. To assist DCITA staff to review an external aid in the context of large-scale reforms in Ukraine.

2. To assist DCITA staff to define the achievements and constraints of multilateral and bilateral cooperation of Ukraine with other donors in the area of external assistance.

3. To assist DCITA staff to carry out an analysis of donor co-ordination as a factor of synergy and increased impact of technical assistance on the implementation of reforms in Ukraine.

4. To analyse the National Development Strategy for Ukraine and the Donors Strategies and their areas of cooperation.

5. To assist in drafting the External Assistance Strategy for Ukraine.

6. To elaborate a set of recommendations to be set out in the Paris Declaration Action Plan

7. Facilitate contacts and networking within the Donor Government Working group with regard to Strategy recommendations

In this regard he/she will:

Ø Establish and maintain partnerships with all stakeholders;

Ø Facilitate the establishment of and then functioning and work of the forum for strategic discussions on the ODA coordination web site;

Ø Liaise with non-governmental stakeholders and other partners to ensure proper coordination and partnership

Ø Make an analysis and recommendations based on the existing National Development Strategy to be incorporated into the External Assistance Strategy 2008 – 2013 for Ukraine

Ø Together with DCITA drafts the PD Action Plan

Ø The Consultant will analyze the existing situation in ODA coordination system of Ukraine as well as the National Development Strategy through studying analytical papers prepared by experts and international organizations during the last few years and through the 10-15 interviews with experts and state officials.

Qualifications and competencies

Ø PhD or advanced knowledge in economics, social sciences, public administration, and/or related discipline, or an acceptable combination of experience and education

Ø Minimum 4 years of professional working experience in the area of governance issues and policy making;

Ø Experience in assessing technical work in the filed of coordination of external assistance in Ukraine;

Ø Previous experience in operationalizing policy as well as the ability to develop strategic policy measures

Ø Demonstrable experience of working with government organizations in areas such as strategy development and drafting of laws;

Ø Possess good management skills, including administrative and organisational aspects and must be computer literate;

Ø History of collaboration and communication with a variety of stakeholders at different levels-from government officials to community-based organization level;

Ø Proven excellent verbal and written skills in Ukrainian.

Remuneration

A Consultant will be remunerated on the daily basis according to UN rates.

Indicative timetable of activities and deliverables

Input 1

Activity	Date	Local Expert Deliverables	Date
Provide preliminary advice and contribute to drafting the Strategy and the PD action plan	01/09 to 30/09 2007	Input to the Strategy as per the analysis	due by 30/09/2007
		Draft interim report to the DCITA	due by 15/10/2007
		Interim report	due by 25/10/2007

Input 2

Render assistance in drafting the Paris Declaration Action Plan and provide required expertise in editing the final draft of the National External Assistance Strategy	25/10 to 25/11 2007	Input to the Strategy as to be included in final report	due by 30/11/2007
		Draft final report to the DCITA	due by 10/12/07
		Final report	due by 30/12/07

Reporting

During his/her assignment the expert will report to the DCITA management. The expert will submit a draft final report at the end of his/her assignment and a final report within one week from the end of his/her assignment/mission.

Applications (most recent CVs) in English language with the reference “Senior Expert on National External Assistance Strategy development” are to be submitted to e-mail address: vacancies@undp.org.ua

Please mention the minimal salary level expected in your application/CV.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS 10 September 2007

UNDP will use a transparent and competitive screening process, though will only contact those applicants in whom there is further interest. Applications may only be submitted for specific vacancy. We regret that we will not be able to acknowledge all unsolicited general applications for employment.