National Consultant: Preparation of Project Document- Functional And Inclusive Markets in Selected Sub Sector- Job Vacancy

Job Title: NATIONAL CONSULTANT: PREPARATION OF PROJECT DOCUMENT -- FUNCTIONAL AND INCLUSIVE MARKETS IN SELECTED SUB SECTORS IN PLACE

Location :	Kampala, UGANDA
Application Deadline :	31-Jan-11
Additional Category	Poverty Reduction
Type of Contract :	SSA
Post Level :	National Consultant
Languages Required :	English
Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start)	07-Feb-2011
Duration of Initial Contract :	30 working days
Expected Duration of Assignment :	30 working days

Background

In April 2010 UNDP and the Government of Uganda (GOU) endorsed the Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP) 2010 -2014, a five year plan that guides the implementation of development interventions that respond to government priorities as stated in the National Development (NDP). Aligning to national development priorities, the UN system in the country developed the United Nations Development Assistance framework (UNDAF 2010-2014) which aims to support the government in addressing challenges identified in the NDP. The CPAP therefore responds to the priorities as articulated in the UNDAF. The country programme has two main components which are Accountable Democratic Governance (ADG) and Growth and Poverty Reduction (GPR).

Under the GPR component, the proposed project is to be developed for the delivery of the CPAP output

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Functional and inclusive markets in selected sub sectors in place” which in turn contributes to the outcome area on “Increased productivity, competitiveness and employment in Agriculture, Trade and Tourism sectors particularly benefitting women and youth.”

Weak market chains that are not pro-poor are a key challenge in Agriculture, Industry, Services and Tourism sectors which are defined in the Competitiveness and Investment Climate strategy 2006-2010 (CICS) as the key productive sectors to drive Uganda's competitiveness. At enterprise-level, the constraints include the lack of access to affordable and appropriate finance, lack of business and technical skills, poor access to market information, inappropriate technology and inefficient operations.

The NDP more specifically identifies some of the constraints in the Agricultural sector as weak value chain linkages between the production, processing and marketing of agricultural produce; weak marketing mechanisms especially in Northern Uganda to enable access and participation in input and output markets. The Tourism sector faces specific challenges of insufficient capacities especially in the areas of market development, lack of business skills and weak public and private institutional capacities; whilst the National Export strategy specifically identifies inadequate trade promotion and business support institutions to facilitate the development of domestic and international markets.

The proposed project will therefore support the design of interventions that address bottlenecks that prevent the establishment of inclusive product and service value chains including constraints to productivity, competitiveness, access to energy, entrepreneurial capacity, access to markets by micro and small producers and to new employment opportunities. Interventions will also be designed to engage the corporate private sector to promote innovative pro-poor business models including the creation of business linkages and advocacy for the alignment of resources in ways that contribute to the development of inclusive markets and the achievement of the MDGs. The project will support interventions that particularly benefit the women and youth and that will promote the use of environment friendly technologies.

Scope of Work

The consultant is to prepare one project document with interventions that contribute to the increased productivity, competitiveness and employment through the development of functional and inclusive markets in selected sub-sectors.

The consultancy will cover the key aspects below:

* Identification of niche for UNDP support within the output area in line with the existing policies and regulations, gaps and the on going interventions by government and development partners. Project scope should contribute to achieving the outcome at the end of the programming cycle and build synergies with other programme interventions (GPR and ADG)
* Selection of the appropriate implementing partners , responsible parties and collaborating partners to deliver the project
* Develop annual work plans with outputs and activities, baselines, indicators and targets for the duration of the project with a view to ensure continuity over the 4 year CPAP period.
* Integrate cross cutting issues of gender and environment and human rights based approach to programming
* Develop a monitoring and evaluation strategy in line with the CPAP and UNDAF M&E framework
* Develop a clear partnership / collaboration strategy
* Identify appropriate management arrangements with clear responsibilities for project management; oversight/ assurance; implementation and accountability for resources
* Conduct an initial analysis of risks that will impact on the project formulation and implementation
* Define a clear exit strategy for the project

To ensure project quality, the consultant will consult closely with key stakeholders and build on lessons learnt during the implementation of CPAP 2006-2010. Key operational principles to be considered in the project design are:

* Relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of project activities
* Building national capacities and ownership
* Strengthening capacity development
* Promoting south-south cooperation
* Focus on key cross cutting themes of UNDP programming

Relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of project activities

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant shall undertake the following activities

Attend detailed briefing on the UNDP programming facilitated by the UNDP programme team.

* Review critical documentation/literature related to the CPAP and UNDP /UN programming.
* Present inception report and discussion guide for agreement with UNDP prior to consultations.
* Undertake consultations with key stakeholders from UNDP, UN agencies, Government, NGOs, development partners and private sector to ascertain priorities areas, on going interventions etc
* Identify areas of interventions that aim at achieving the stated output 2.2.2, identify target beneficiaries and establish the baselines.
* Articulate conceptual linkages of the output and outcome while addressing cross cutting issues like gender
* Identify opportunities for resource mobilization and partnership.
* Make presentation of key findings and recommendations to stakeholders' validation workshop and incorporate relevant comments into the draft project document.
* Make presentation at internal pre-Project Appraisal Committee(PAC) meeting with UNDP Senior Management and staff to review the revised draft project document
* Make presentation of final draft project document at PAC meeting with selected key stakeholders including Government, proposed IPs and collaborating partners and incorporate comments for the finalization of project document.

Key Deliverables

* Inception report detailing the understanding/ interpretation of the TORs; the methodology of carrying out the assignment; work plan and implementation schedule as agreed upon with UNDP team.
* Draft project document
* Presentations to stakeholder validation, Pre-PAC and PAC meetings
* Final project document

The assignment is expected to take 30 working days from the signing of the contract and the consultants will be expected to be available on a full time basis and deliver the outputs as per schedule proposed below:

Output

* Inception report is due 7 days after signing of contract
* Presentation of findings to stakeholder validation meeting is due 21 days after signing contract
* Draft project document is due 23 days after signing
* Presentation of draft project document to pre-PAC meeting is due 27 days after signing Final Project document is due 30 days after signing

Reporting Arrangements

The consultant will report to the team leader of the Poverty Reduction Unit, who will take the lead in providing technical backstopping; they will work closely with the programme consultants.

At the conclusion of each deliverable, there will be a presentation to the programme team leaders in UNDP for review. The consultants will work under the overall guidance and leadership of the Country Director and Resident Representative.

Competencies

Technical Competencies

* Strong leadership and task management competencies
* Strong analytical skills
* Good communication and writing skills in English.

Personal Competencies

* Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN's values and ethical standards.
* Positive, constructive attitude to work.
* Ability to act professionally and flexibility to engage with government officials, donor representatives, private sector and communities

Required Skills and Experience

Required Skills and Experience

The assignment will be a carried out by one international consultant and one national consultant .

This advertisement is for the National Consultant and the following skills and expertise are required:

* Masters degree in Economics, Business, Development Studies or related field
* At least 7 years progressive work experience in area of private sector development, poverty reduction, SME and/or value chain development
* Extensive experience in project and programme formulation and management
* Experience in addressing MDGs and mainstreaming issues of gender, energy and environment
* A good knowledge of the development context of Uganda (Agriculture, Tourism, Trade)
* Experience in strategic planning

UNDP invites eligible candidates to submit their application and detailed curriculum vitea.

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.